Columbia Industries has added another business to its

portfolio of profit-making enterprises to support its mission

to serve hundreds of Tri-Citians with disabilities. 

The Kennewick nonprofit announced it purchased Harmon

Express, a Lewiston, Idaho-based FedEx Ground independent provider. The deal

closed on Nov. 10. Terms were not disclosed. 

Harmon Express is now rebranded as CI

Express Inc. and services delivery routes in Pullman, Moscow, Idaho, as well as

rural communities in Washington and Oregon. 

The delivery deal is the latest in a series of

purchases that brought businesses ventures into the Columbia Industries family.

Collectively, they generate revenue to support its day center, training

programs, job placement and other services.  

The all-cash deals were funded with proceeds from an

insurance settlement, as well as the sale of real estate, said Brian McDermott,

president and chief executive officer. There is no debt. 

The settlement stems from a refrigeration

system failure at a Columbia Industries packing site nearly a decade ago. The

failure forced the agency to shut down the operation. McDermott said the

board set the money aside while it developed a strategic plan to boost

Columbia Industries’ cash flow to support operations.  

Columbia Industries previously

acquired four Round Table Pizza restaurants and Paradise

Bottled Water using a mix of settlement funds and real estate

proceeds. 

Columbia Industries operates the businesses as for-tax

enterprises, using after-tax profits to support programs that

help people with disabilities and barriers to employment live fuller

lives. 

“CI Express is expected to provide important cash flow

support to the very substantial expansion of our mission

programs,” McDermott said in a press release. 

Columbia Industries has expanded its offerings in the

past year to include Opportunity Kitchen, a 12-week program that equips clients

to work in the hospitality and restaurant industries, and Empowerment Place, a

drop-in center that links individuals with housing, employment, food benefits,

transportation and other necessities of life. It is housed at the Columbia

Industries complex at 900 S. Dayton St., near Kennewick High School. 

The restaurants and bottled water and delivery services

join an existing lineup of for-profit businesses that support its primary

mission.  

Columbia Industries reported expenditures of

nearly $2 million in 2017, according to its most recent financial

report to the IRS. 

Formed in 1963 as the United Cerebral Palsy Association

of Benton and Franklin Counties, the organization adopted its present name

in 1981 to reflect its expanded mission to provide jobs and services

to those with disabilities.