Spreading Ephrata’s wings

EPHRATA — The one thing Greg Becken likes about his new job as the executive director of the Port of Ephrata is he gets to be both in charge and still go out and work on projects.

“You’re in a position where you can effect change, but you’re still close enough to a project where you can go out and work on it,” said Becken. “We did a runway project, and I got to go out and be part of the supervisory team on that.”

“At a large airport, that executive director wouldn’t do that,” Becken added.

And he would know, having worked at the Port of Moses Lake for the previous 10 years, first in security and information technology, and then overseeing facilities and maintenance. Becken was hired in July to succeed Mike Wren, who served as the Ephrata port’s executive director for 16 years.

Becken sees his primary task as figuring out what kinds of businesses would fit best at the sprawling port, which encompasses much of the east side of Ephrata, and then doing what he can do to attract them.

While overshadowed by the Port of Moses Lake, with its busy, larger airport, and the Port of Quincy, with its various industrial parks and data centers popping up like mushrooms, Becken says the Port of Ephrata has some tremendous strengths, such as its airfield and direct access to a major railroad.

“We have three runways, which is very unusual for a small airport,” he said.

The port also has direct access through a spur to the Union Pacific rail line that rumbles through town, he said. Currently, Becken said around 30 tenants call the port home, including herbal products producer Trout Lake Farms and the Seattle Glider Council.

But Becken said his focus on attracting businesses to the port will take into consideration how compatible that development would be for both the port’s vision and the city of Ephrata’s needs. The port wants businesses that are “sustainable and compatible” and will provide steady, long-term employment rather than “surge” jobs that will only be in Ephrata for a season or several years.

“We don’t want surge jobs as much as we want sustainment,” he said.

The port has a fair amount of vacant land, with some of it already approved for quick development if a company wishes to build, Becken said. Some of it was eyed by the county as a future site for a new jail, but the port decided against it.

Becken said he’s also looking at marketing Ephrata’s airport, including its two giant World War II-era wooden hangars, as an alternative to smaller aviation companies, especially those that can’t find hangar space.

“There are certain things that we can’t do that Moses Lake will do forever, and certain things that Moses Lake might not be able to do, or might not want to do, that we might be able to do here. And so we’re trying to figure out if that will fit,” he said.

Becken noted a new county jail was not compatible with what the port was looking for.

“There’s no revenue stream,” Becken said of the jail. “We’re trying to use that land to develop money and revenue, and that wouldn’t.”

Ultimately, Becken believes a business, or several businesses, employing around 40 people full-time would be the best fit for the port, and for the city of Ephrata.

“It is a nice town, and it is easy in the sense that you can get around and that living here you’ve got what you need, so people come here to stay,” he said. “But if we can get a couple of businesses that can bring some tax levy, I think that’s what the community wants to see.”

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