Video promotes solar power, Adams County

OTHELLO — The video about the ribbon cutting at the Adams-Nielson Solar Farm near Lind is only about three minutes long.

But it’s really well made. And it’s the county’s latest tool to promote business growth and development.

“We obviously had this great project in Adams County, the largest solar farm in the state of Washington,” said Stephen McFadden, director of the Adams County Development Council.

“We’re promoting Adams County for future growth, so we asked this local company, an independent start-up, to do this on short notice,” McFadden continued.

The company McFadden asked to make the video of the ribbon cutting on the 28 megawatt facility, built and operated by North Carolina-based Strata Solar for Spokane-based utility Avista, was Beyond Sight Media, a firm started by Othello native John Lockard.

“I’ve been making videos since I was a kid,” Lockard explained.

Lockard, who currently resides in the Tri-Cities, said he began his video business as a hobby making wedding videos for friends. However, as demand for his services grew, he started working full time, eventually branching out to promotional videos for businesses, community organizations and even a campaign video for Adams County Commission candidate Terry Thompson.

“I don’t profess to be a videographer,” he said. “I use video to solve problems. We sit down with clients to help whatever problems they face as a business or an organization, to help them find ways to grow their business as a brand.”

Samples of Lockard’s work, including the solar farm video, can be viewed at his company’s web site, www.beyondsight.media.

Lockard said he was contacted by the Adams County Development Council only a few days before the late-November ribbon cutting that included Gov. Jay Inslee.

Normally, Lockard said it takes about seven days to create a finished video, but this project took longer because many parties — Avista, Adams County Development, the Adams County Commission, Strata Solar — were involved and wanted to provide some guidance or oversight on how the “story was told.”

“It was good working with everybody, there were clear goals, clear instructions, it was a really seamless process,” Lockard said. “It was very fun and enjoyable.”

Lockard said he’s already been contacted by the development council to do another video promotion project.

“He did a great job for us,” McFadden said. “We’re pretty proud of this. There are other renewable energy projects looking to make Adams County home.”

“This is great marketing for us,” he added.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached by email at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.