O’Reilly Auto Parts to repay lost sick time to workers

O’Reilly Auto Parts will pay a total of $163,458 to current and former Washington workers after the state discovered it illegally eliminated unused sick leave they had earned. 

Officials with the state’s Department of Labor & Industries discovered O’Reilly’s actions and began investigating in September 2023, according to a release. The investigation revealed that 2,327 employees at nearly 160 locations statewide were impacted when the company switched to a new payroll vendor at the end of 2022. 

The company has five locations in the Tri-Cities. 

State law requires employers to allow workers to carry over up to 40 hours of unused paid sick leave from one year to the next. 

Typically, the state would allow workers to choose whether to have their leave reinstated or receive a payout for the value of the leave. However, most of the workers in the case no longer work at O’Reilly so the state ordered the retailer to pay all the workers the value of the lost leave. 

“Washington workers should always get the money they’ve earned, and paid sick leave is part of a worker’s total compensation,” said Labor & Industries Director Joel Sacks in a release.

AtkinsRéalis acquires majority share in NW engineering company

Engineering services and nuclear company AtkinsRéalis has entered an agreement to acquire a majority stake in David Evans Enterprises Inc., the parent company of David Evans and Associates.

David Evans is an employee-owned engineering and staff augmentation services firm founded in 1976 and based in Portland, Oregon. The company has 1,250 employees and 34 offices in 10 states.

AtkinsRéalis was recently selected as the owner’s engineer for Energy Northwest’s small modular reactor project. The company’s SMR work is based out of its Richland AtkinsRealis Technology Center, completed in 2024.

AtkinsRéalis will acquire a 70% stake in the David Evans for $300 million with a clear path to entire ownership in the future. David Evans will continue as a legal entity until the deal closes, and its leadership team will remain in place and employee shareholders will remain minority shareholders in the company. 

The deal will give both companies a leading position in the western U.S., and the future combination will increase AtkinsRéalis’ total U.S. workforce by 25%. 

David Evans is a regional leader in transportation design and generates about $275 million in annual revenue. The company consistently ranks among Engineering News Record’s Top 100 Pure Design Firms in the U.S. and is ranked in the top five in the Northwest Top Design Firms.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025.

Gesa named top small business lender for second straight year

Gesa Credit Union continues to be a major source of capital for small business owners in Washington and Oregon. 

The Richland-based credit union provided 47 loans and $37.2 million to borrowers who qualified for government-backed SBA 7(a) loans in 2024, beating its own stats from last year. 

SBA 7(a) loans are the primary tool of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s loan program to help small businesses access financing while providing guarantees to lenders. 

The maximum amount a borrower can qualify for is $5 million. Key eligibility factors are based on what the business is, its credit history and where it operates.