Goodwill opens donation center in West Richland

Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Inc. has opened a new attended donation center at 3250 Kennedy Road in West Richland.

The center has a covered area for customers as well as a loading dock to facilitate distribution. The building is 1,200 square feet and includes storage space, break room and restroom.

Donation’s power Goodwill’s mission of “Changing Lives Through the Power of Work.” In 2019, Goodwill of the Columbia served 5,060 people and helped 897 individuals find employment

Donations to Goodwill Industries of the Columbia are sorted and sold at their retail stores in Tri-Cities, Sunnyside, Hermiston, Walla Walla and Wenatchee.

BIAW has guide to wildfire smoke rules

The Building Industry Association of Washington, or BIAW, has launched a website to help contractors and other employers navigate Washington’s new emergency rules to protect outdoor workers from wildfire smoke.

The Washington Department of Labor & Industries adopted the rules July 16. They apply through Nov. 13 and apply to employers who “should reasonably anticipate” that employees may be exposed to wildfire smoke.

Employers are generally required to be aware of potential smoke exposure and to take steps to mitigate it. At lower levels, employers are encouraged to reduce the exposure while at higher levels they must implement controls.

Go to bit.ly/WASmokeRules.

No-opioid pain clinic to open at Cynergy Centre

in Kennewick

Dr. John Groner plans to open Revitalize Spine and Sports Care at Kennewick’s Cynergy Centre building Sept. 13.

The clinic focuses on helping patients who suffer from pain with opioid-free pain management.

Groner brings a background in physical medicine, rehab and pain medicine to the practice. No referrals are required.

Go to revitalizessc.com or call 509-591-4966.

Blue Mountain Land Trust buys John Day site

The Blue Mountain Land Trust made its first purchase with the acquisition of Phipps Meadow, a 278-acre ecologically diverse site along the John Day River in Prairie City, Oregon.

The purchase was made in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon and financing from Craft3. The site includes wetland meadow, forest and nearly 1.6 miles of the John Day, a salmon- and steelhead-bearing tributary to the Columbia River.

The trust will work with local tribes and partners to restore the river and improve habitat for freshwater species. The trust, with offices in Walla Walla and John Day, focuses on long-term land stewardship.

High bids end plans for Burns Road pathway

The city of Pasco is shelving, for now, construction of a path along Burns Road between Broadmoor Boulevard and Road 90 after construction bids were higher than anticipated.

The lowest of two bids for the project was $304,000, too far above the estimated $190,000. The city noted the pricy bids were consistent with a busy construction climate and postponed the project until a later date.

MacDonald-Miller expands into Spokane market

Mechanical contractor MacDonald-Miller Facility Solutions Inc. has established an office in Spokane, its second in the area.

A staff of 10 work at the 900-square-foot office is at 818 W. Riverside in the Lincoln Plaza, the Spokane Journal of Business reported.

Based in Seattle, the company provides energy efficient building systems, mechanical repairs, construction services and building controls automation for new and existing commercial buildings.

The company has five other offices in Washington, including in Kennewick, and also in Oregon and Idaho.

Lamb Weston continues to invest in plants

Lamb Weston Holdings will spend $415 million on a new french fry processing line at American Falls, Idaho.

The capital investment will expand the capacity of an existing facility to produce more than 350 million pounds of frozen french fries and other potato products per year.

Lamb Weston is based in the Boise area and has significant corporate, research and manufacturing facilities in the Mid-Columbia.

“We continue to be confident about the long-term health and growth of the global french fry market,” said Tom Werner, president and CEO. The company has additional plans to build a new processing plant in China and expand its capacity in Russia through its European joint venture, Lamb-Weston/Meijer.

Lamb Weston reported annual earnings of $318 million on revenue of $3.67 billion or $2.16 per diluted share for its 2021 fiscal year, which ended May 31, in a July 27 earnings statement.

Property flippers must use certified electricians

A new law aims to protect those who buy or occupy flipped properties from bad electrical wiring.

Senate Bill 5267 requires property flippers to use certified electricians to perform any electrical work on homes, farms, places of business or other personally-owned property if the property is offered for sale within one year of obtaining it.

The bill was approved by the 2021 Legislature and came on the heels of stories involving homebuyers who had to pay to bring dangerous wiring up to code after buying flipped homes.

No Tri-City area lawmaker supported the bill.

It is beginning to look a lot like Halloween

Spirit Halloween began opening its seasonal stores on July 31, with 1,425 locations set to be up and running throughout North America by Labor Day.

Locally, Spirit plans to occupy space at the former Sears store at Columbia Center mall in Kennewick and across the parking lot in the former Toys R Us store.

Sears closed its 160,000-square-foot Kennewick store after it filed for bankruptcy in 2018.

Chain Store Age, a retail industry publication, reports the retailer, owned by Spencer Gifts, will hire 35,000 and will offer early hire pay incentives, flexible scheduling and potential bonuses.

Go to work4spirit.com.

Document recording fees going up by $100

The fee to record documents such as deeds, mortgages, liens and community property agreements went up $100 after the state Legislature authorized an increase to fund housing programs.

House Bill 1277 applies to all recorded documents, with limited exemptions. The increase helps support eviction prevention and housing stability services.

For information about recording services in Benton County, go to bentonauditor.com/Recording-Services.

For Franklin County information, go to bit.ly/FCfilingfees.

Fred’s Appliance to build $13M warehouse in Spokane

Spokane-based Fred’s Appliance Inc. plans to build a $13 million, 100,000-square-foot warehouse on 8 acres near the city of Spokane’s western edge, company owner John Amistoso told the Spokane Journal of Business.

The family-run company operates a store in Kennewick.

Construction is expected to start at 8817 W. Granite Ave. this fall. Yost Gallagher Construction LLC of Spokane is the general contractor.

Amistoso told the Journal the warehouse will serve as a distribution center for Fred’s Appliance. The company has four other distribution sites in the Spokane area.

Cedar & Sage begins new phase at Willow Pointe

Cedar & Sage Homes is beginning a new phase of The Tides, its apartment complex at Willow Pointe in north Richland.

The city of Richland issued a permit for a 32-unit, three-story apartment building with basement at 240 Battelle Blvd., near the Port of Benton, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Washington State University Tri-Cities in north Richland.

The project is valued at $7.5 million.

Eagle, Idaho-based Weyerhaeuser Apartments LLC purchased an undeveloped part of Willow Pointe, between Willow Pointe Drive and Richardson Road, in 2017 and the Weyerhaeuser name is attached to the permit.

Cedar and Sage previously broke ground on the first phase of what it calls a resort-style project in mid-2020 at 250 Battelle Blvd.

HAPO buys property in West Richland

HAPO Community Credit Union recently bought 1.83 acres in West Richland.

The Richland-based credit union paid $350,000 to buy the land in the Belmont Business District from the city in late May.

The property fronts Keene Road and is in front of West Richland’s municipal service building at 3100 Belmont Blvd.

Crystal Contreras, HAPO’s community relations director, said the credit union is excited about the growing area.

“We are in the initial planning and design phase to assess what will ultimately be built at the new location,” she said.

No timelines have been set.

New Dollar General store under construction in Pasco

A new Dollar General is under construction at 1409 E. Lewis St. in Pasco.

The one-story building will have 9,100 square feet and is being developed on a one-acre site by Oregon Street Group LLC, operating as Simon CRE SD III LLC.

Mour Group Engineering + Design of San Diego is the designer, according to a permit application submitted to the city of Pasco. The project is valued at $1.25 million.

Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, is a “deep value” retailer, with nearly 17,500 stores in 46 states. It opened 1,000 stores in 2020 and intends to open 1,050 in 2021. It reported $8.4 billion in first quarter earnings in May.

A Dollar General is under construction in Burbank and recently opened in Benton City.