Looking back at the 2022 state legislative session, it’s hard not to be disappointed at the missed opportunities.Yes, lawmakers accomplished some things that are good for the economy, like shoring up the unemployment insurance trust fund, lowering the B&O tax threshold for the smallest of small businesses and passing a...
With Covid-19 vaccines widely dispensed and masking requirements mostly lifted, will “work from home” end?Will workers return to the office at pre-pandemic levels?Probably not! It is expensive to drive, and it is a waste of time and fuel to idle in traffic jams. Safety is another factor.Gas prices continue to...
While many business owners felt fortunate to have emerged from the pandemic still operating, a handful of Tri-City entrepreneurs decided to take the plunge and expand – often to Spokane.After noticing other businesses entering the market two hours north, Rich Breshears of Breshears Professional Photography jokingly questioned, “Is that the...
Non-retirement investment accounts are often set up with wealth management firms.When the account is set up, there is an option to put a beneficiary designation on the account and oftentimes the account is then designated as a TOD (Transfer on Death) or a POD (Payable on Death) account.With this type...
Murray earmarks $3M for MLK Center in PascoPasco’s Martin Luther King Jr. Center will get a major facelift after securing $3 million in a federal appropriations bill signed into law in March.U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, directed $116.4 million to local projects across the state.Some of the other appropriations to...
Pasco’s oldest continuously operating restaurant has been serving the Tri-City community for 58 years.Chinese Gardens at 1520 N. Fourth Ave. has been a Pasco cornerstone since late founder Jack Lee opened it in 1965.The building is hard to miss with its mashup of pagoda-esque midcentury brick architecture and flamboyant, dragon-flanked...
Chauné Fitzgerald continues to make a mark on the Tri-City community through her volunteer work and advocacy, operating her own business and starting a successful nonprofit.She’s also working to launch a Tri-City chapter of the Washington African American Chamber of Commerce.But the Richland entrepreneur says she regularly feels unseen or...
Naima Chambers-SmithCEOTri-Cities Diversity & Inclusion CouncilNaima Chambers-SmithNumber of employees you oversee: We have less than five paid employees. However, we have approximately 30 members of the council and over 130 volunteers in the last year alone.Brief background of your businessor organization:Tri-Cities Diversity & Inclusion Council (TCD&IC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit...
Recently, the Eastern Washington University’s Institute for Public Policy & Economic Analysis was asked by the Port of Kennewick to conduct an “environmental scan” of the economy of the greater Tri-Cities. The overriding goal was to determine the impact of the pandemic on a variety of economic dimensions. One of...
Installing unique, shiny granite surfaces is The Granite Guy’s specialty.The family-owned company, located just upriver from the cable bridge in Pasco, has been in business for 10 years.“We basically do anything: kitchens, bathroom, outdoor kitchens, fireplaces,” said Irving Ortega.He, his wife Cassandra, and his brother Omar, own The Granite Guy...
