Port of Othello focused on large and small business development

OTHELLO — The Port of Othello’s mission can be summed up in one sentence.  

“The port is here to bring jobs and build Adams County and the Othello area,” said Executive Director Chris Faix.  

Summing it up is the easy part. Not all prospective employers — or prospective residents — are looking for the same thing when they express interest in Othello. Building Othello and Adams County requires a lot of options, and cooperation with others working toward the same end.  

It starts with land that can be developed. 

“We provide the land so you can build the building that provides the jobs that, in turn, (drives demand) for houses for those people who shop in your stores and buy your gas and all that stuff. So it’s a trickle-down thing,” Faix said. “If you don’t have the land, you can’t build the building.” 

The port takes in a pretty big area around Othello. 

“The Port of Othello encompasses 181 miles, basically a circle around Othello,” Faix said. “Othello is kind of the center, not exactly, but close to the center.” 

It’s the only port in Adams County. Othello is not, of course, close to any navigable body of water, but the port has water projects all the same. The port supplies water to its customers in its industrial park at Bruce, four miles west of Othello.  

“We run the Bruce water system and that’s kind of our big project right now,” Faix said. “We’re doing our water tower project; hopefully, (we’re) going to break ground next spring or summer.” 

The industrial park has room for expansion, and building a second water tower will make that easier. The new reservoir will hold about 200,000 gallons of water for use by the port’s customers, which would double the system’s capacity.  

“We have plenty of water, plenty of water rights. We just need (the second reservoir) for fire flow,” Faix said in an earlier interview.  

The Bruce property is zoned light industrial; most of its current tenants are in agriculture-related businesses, but Faix said there’s room for lots of other options. 

“If the right (business) comes and we can fit it under the light industrial umbrella, come on in,” he said.  

Bruce is one of the port’s projects; the port also operates the Othello Municipal Airport and owns a business incubator in Othello. The port has land available for development in Bruce and other places around Othello, including some at the intersection of South Reynolds Road and State Route 26. Othello Mayor Shawn Logan said that property is an example of the way economic development works when organizations cooperate. 

With the Columbia Basin Health Association clinic just off SR 26, it’s a busy intersection. Developing the property south of the intersection requires some preparation. It’s under cultivation with an open ditch canal providing irrigation water.  

“The city has applied for grant money to pay for a traffic study. Any economic development has to take into account how much traffic, and what kind of traffic, and what kind of improvements are going to be needed (to provide) access to this new development,” Logan said.  

The city’s experience with grant writing is being used for the traffic study, while port officials are working on another piece. 

“In the meantime, the port is working with the East Columbia Irrigation District to bury the canal lateral into a pipe,” Logan said.  

He estimated the property could be ready for development within two years, maybe sooner. 

“What we do is take the things we’re good at, and they take the things they’re good at and that they’re able to do,” Logan said. “So that 80 acres right next to Highway 26 with an intersection and accesses will become an excellent development property for commercial and possibly residential at the south end.”

Faix said the port also receives assistance from the Adams County Development Council. 

“They work closely with the Department of Commerce, which sends them projects and companies that are looking for land with access to water and power, natural gas, people to work the jobs that are created. Yeah, ACDC is very active, and they help us immensely,” Faix said. 

The Othello airport was expanded with the addition of a fourth hangar in 2020. There’s aviation activity around Othello, enough that all 32 individual hangar bays and four individual storage spaces are leased, Faix said. 

“We’re in the process of looking into building a pilot’s lounge or a (full base operator) out there,” he said. 

A full base operator would offer services to pilots using the airport. 

The port’s business incubator, 615 S. Broadway Ave., is full too; there is a waiting list. 

“It’s a 10,000-square-foot building broken up into four 2,500-square-foot (units),” Faix said. “If anyone is trying to get a startup business going, we provide considerably less expensive rent. We’re kind of a launching pad for them to get started.”  

Tenants lease the space for a limited time, and once they find new quarters the space is available to new businesses. It houses all kinds of businesses, from a spice company to a boxing gym. 

    Port of Othello Executive Director Chris Faix discusses a project with port commissioners.
  

    The Port of Othello’s Bruce Industrial Park is one of its main projects.
  

    The Port of Othello’s business incubator hosts small businesses of every kind, including the Grind Gym owned by Jacob Johnston.