
The Port of Pasco has selected the consultant that will help inform efforts to revitalize Connell’s economy after Lamb Weston closed its production facility there.
ECOnorthwest was one of six firms that submitted proposals to the port for the Connell Industrial Site Readiness/Economic Development Market Analysis Project, according to port officials. It will receive $125,000 to conduct the study, funded largely by the state’s Community Economic Redevelopment Board (CERB), with matching funds from the port and Avista Corporation.
Company leaders met with port and Connell officials in mid-April to begin developing a work plan for the study.
“The firm has a proven track record in similar projects throughout the Pacific Northwest,” port officials told port commissioners in a March 21 meeting.
The study is expected to identify potential industrial sites and conduct infrastructure, environmental and cultural assessments in and around Connell. Under the terms of the grant from CERB, the study must be completed in the next two years.
ECOnorthwest has offices across the Pacific Northwest and in California and uses interdisciplinary research to assist communities facing challenges in housing, land use, natural resources, education and social supports.
One of ECOnorthwest’s most recent projects was an economic development action plan for the city of Burien, according to the company’s website. It was developed as the city emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic and faced shifts in how people work, tourism and rising costs. Burien city leaders adopted the final version of that plan in the summer of 2024.
The firm also helped craft an economic response plan to wildfires in New Mexico, partnered with the state of Washington to manage and provide analysis to a tax structure work group and supported the Oregon Business Development Department with developing a strategic plan to assist communities recovering in the wake of the pandemic.
Lamb Weston is one of the Tri-Cities’ largest employers, with 2,660 employees in Benton and Franklin counties, according to Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business’ Largest Employers list. It announced the closure of the Connell potato production plant on Oct. 1, 2024, as a cost-cutting measure.
The company originally applied for permits to demolish the 450,000-square-foot plant but has since listed the property for sale.
Roughly 150 of the plant’s 375 former workers reportedly live in Connell. About $580,000 of the city’s water utility’s annual revenues, representing more than half of the utility’s budget, came from the plant, and it also generated another $200,000 or so in other revenue for the city’s general fund.
Port officials have worked with city leaders to find long-term solutions for the plant’s closure. That led the port to pursue and secure the CERB grant for $100,000 to conduct the study.