Grant EDC optimistic about future

MOSES LAKE — Grant County Economic Development Council (EDC) members heard updates about the area’s business future during the organization’s annual membership banquet Thursday.

Outgoing board President Lynn Garza of Accredited Appraisal Services told the audience it had been an honor to service and touched on 2008 events.

The EDC’s focus last year was developing infrastructure and workforce training, she explained.

An important item for the economy, commercial air service, will be returning to the area soon, thanks to the efforts of EDC members, she noted.

There is ongoing work to obtain funding for segments 2 and 3 to extend the Northern Columbia Basin Railroad project.

Also, a groundbreaking was held for the Quincy wastewater facility last year, which when completed, will use wastewater to keep computer servers cool at the area’s data centers.

The first preemployment training program course for entry level workers will start in April, which is a wonderful success, she says.

There have been layoffs in the area, but businesses have also shown interest in coming to Grant County, including Homegrown Oil, Intuit and Morse Steel.

She recognized the late Larry Peterson, a former Port of Moses Lake commissioner, who was also involved with the EDC and its board of directors. She called him a man of great integrity and deep sincerity.

Incoming President Mike Wren, who is also the Port of Ephrata’s administrator, spoke and gave words of encouragement to consider during a recession.

The area dodged a lot of problems with the economy, but there are people in the county who will say they are hurting.

He challenged EDC board members and directors to make time in their schedules and participate in meetings.

There’s also a need to educate the workforce so Grant County is ready when the economy picks up.

Now is the time for extraordinary individual efforts to help Grant County recover from a recession and emerge stronger than if we never went through it, he explained.

EDC Executive Director Terry Brewer talked about a state Department of Community Trade and Economic Development study measuring the total capital investment for new businesses in a group of Washington counties.

The investment in the group was more than $800 million.

But if you’ve been paying attention and reading the paper, Grant County far exceeded the above number, he commented.

Brewer mentioned Microsoft’s data center coming online in Quincy, Intuit and Ask.com, which represents a more than $500 million capital investment.

REC Silicon’s expansion project near Moses Lake comes to more than $800 million alone in a capital investment.

He also mentioned interest of starting an ammonia company at the Port of Quincy, work at the Port of Mattawa, efforts at the Titan Building near Moses Lake, which is trying to start a multi-tenant data center and a possible oilseed crushing plant at the Port of Warden.

Another proposed project is the building of a Washington Tire plant at the Port of Ephrata. Brewer said they think the project is for real and if it does materialize, it will be one of the biggest projects in the state.

Guest speakers were Tim Culbertson, Grant County PUD general manager, and Kevin Nordt, the utility’s power management director.

They gave a presentation on future resources for Grant PUD customers as more resources and continuous planning are needed because of future load growth.

Their presentation also stressed the importance of building resources instead of going to the market for power, which is more expensive.

Having different resources also helps with price stability for customers, according to the presentation.

Grant PUD customers haven’t seen a rate increase since 2004 and Culbertson mentioned the future possibility of smaller single digit rate increases. No rate increases are planned for this year, but the utility is reviewing industrial and irrigation rate structures.

Current PUD projects between 5 megawatts and 200 megawatts include exploring hydrokinetic energy, the Wapato Irrigation Project, using Grant County agricultural waste for a biomass fuel project and a wood-burning biomass fuel project on the Yakama Nation.

The PUD is also looking at a 100 megawatt to 200 megawatt project only referred to as “Project X” during the presentation.

Grant PUD would consider a wind project if someone approached the utility, but there’s only one PUD site at Wanapum Dam that sees a significant amount of wind, Culbertson said.

The PUD has said it endorses and supports nuclear energy.

EDC board officers were also elected during the banquet. They are: Wren, president, P.J. De Benedetti, secretary, Juliann Dodds, vice president and David Plate, secretary.

Incoming board members are Terry Dorsing, Dick Pulis, Tim Snead, Bob Adler, and Sheldon Townsend.

Outgoing board members are LeRoy Allison, Brian Dano, Matt Eisen, Mike Conley, Cathy Potter and Gerry Ramm.