The Port of Pasco continues to step up to do its part as an economic engine for the region.

Its industrial properties are retaining and drawing new tenants in everything from food processing to logistics. The Tri-Cities Airport has seen nothing but growing passenger counts for years. And it’s looking to the future with plans for developments connected to the agriculture industry and even becoming a player in the energy market.

There are challenges and rough spots to smooth out. Osprey Pointe, the mixed-use development home to the port’s offices, remains stalled years after the port began working with a developer. The sudden closure of Lamb Weston’s potato processing plant in Connell has drawn time and resources from the port as it works to help the city find and secure a new industrial partner to provide jobs and replace lost tax revenue.

But port officials say they are focused on their goals and making Pasco and the Tri-Cities as a whole a destination for business and industry.

“We have a lot on our plate,” said Adam Lincoln, the port’s executive director.

Industrial centers

Much of the port’s current industrial recruitment efforts are focused on the Reimann Industrial Center, a 300-acre property located in north Pasco just east of Highway 395.

Reimann is home to Darigold’s recently completed milk processing facility. That facility coming online drew the dairy collective’s longtime logistics partner, LTI Inc., to ink a deal with the port to set up shop. Another company tied to food logistics, cold storage provider Cold Summit, also plans to build its newest cold storage facility at Reimann.

In August the port’s commissioners awarded the contract for the first phase of rail track to be laid at Reimann. Goodman and Mehlenbacher Enterprises Inc., or GAME, will receive $3.98 million for the project, which is anticipated to take about four months. The project came in below the engineer’s estimated cost of $5.8 million to $6.4 million.

At the same time, the port is teaming up with Cold Summit to pursue $5 million in joint loan and grant funding from the state’s Community Economic Revitalization Board (CERB) to expand Reimann’s water system. And in late September, port commissioners authorized Lincoln to pursue a purchase and sale agreement with agricultural outfit Balcom & Moe, Inc., which sold the initial property for Reimann to the port, in order to add another 320 acres to the industrial center.

“Reimann we thought would be a 20-year build-out but it’s looking more like a five- or 10-year build-out,” Lincoln said.

An aerial of the new Darigold plant at 8201 N. Railroad Ave. in Pasco. Darigold said the Pasco project is a $1 billion investment.

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Courtesy Darigold

Tri-Cities Airport

The growth of the airport has been one of the most noticeable achievements for the port. Six airlines currently provide flights from its five gates, with Breeze Airways in 2026 picking up the slack from outgoing Avelo Airlines.

The airport in Pasco recorded 282,452 enplanements through July, 8% more than was recorded through the first seven months of 2024. That has it on pace to surpass 500,000 passengers departing from its gates before the end of the year, a new record.

“We’re seeing incredible demand for our airport, buoyed by our economy,” Jack Penning of Volaire Aviation Consulting told port commissioners in May 2025. “We’re actually pulling customers from Yakima and Walla Walla, who have lost 50% capacity.”

That growth is the motivation behind the latest round of capital improvements and expansions at the airport terminal. Richland-based Fowler Construction is conducting $13 million worth of work, expanding the baggage area for outbound baggage and improvements at two gates.  Fowler also will build three jet bridges at Gates 2 and 5 as part of the project.  

The project is the first of four phases that the airport has planned for the next 10 years at an estimated cost of $120 million to $145 million.

But the port has more than jetsetters in mind when it comes to the airport’s future, Lincoln said. Port officials are increasingly turning their attention to the three industrial parks on the airport’s perimeter, the Aerospace Innovation & Manufacturing Center in particular.

Lincoln said port staff are beginning to attend aviation industry conferences to build relationships that can lead to recruiting partners interested in the property.

“That’s our best opportunity to diversify the local economy right now,” he said.

Ag, energy innovation

Port leaders also see more opportunity to further develop and expand agricultural industry in the region. In February, nonprofit The Vine Institute, working on behalf of the port and other partners, published a feasibility report that found creation of an Agricultural Innovation Center “would be a unique proposition and catalytic venue to further spur agricultural development.”

Such a facility, which the institute said would cost an estimated $15 million to $30 million to build or refurbish, would need to offer everything from dry and wet laboratories and meeting space to a test kitchen and packaging laboratory and classrooms.

In a separate effort, port leaders also are looking at developing an Ag Symbiosis Industrial Park, where the byproducts of agricultural production could be used for industrial purposes, such as production of renewable natural gas or sustainable aviation fuel, Lincoln said. In April, the port received a $150,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce to begin planning for such a development.

And the port also is looking at how it can secure energy resources for its tenants and partners, possibly via small modular reactors, or SMRs.

It’s been years since the port announced its plans with developer James Sexton to turn the 55-acre Osprey Pointe site into a mixed-use development with hundreds of residential units along with commercial spaces and larger public facilities. Currently there is only a single office building on the parcel – half of it occupied by the port’s offices – with the rest as parkland.

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Photo by Nathan Finke

Uncertainty at Osprey Pointe

Despite the port’s successes, there is one effort where it has struggled: Osprey Pointe.

Developer James Sexton has detailed ambitious plans for the 55-acre site. They include nearly 1,000 residential units in apartments and detached condos, dozens of commercial spaces, including a large Market Hall with wine tastings and an art gallery, and an event center with an outdoor amphitheater.

It’s been years since the port announced its plans with Sexton and his company, JMS Construction. Sexton has attributed the delays to everything from partners backing out and state and local code and zoning issues to the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently there is only a single office building on the parcel – half of it occupied by the port’s offices – with the rest essentially as parkland.

Sexton sought to buy the land for the first phase in July, but port commissioners and officials said they needed more documentation outlining timelines and other details. They also raised concerns about why the project has dragged on for so long.

Lincoln said Sexton continues to work with the port as well as with the city of Pasco on permitting, adding that the port is still hopeful the development will become a reality.

“This is a development, if it happens, that is super exciting,” he said.

Supporting Connell

The port was quick to come to Connell’s aid after french fry maker Lamb Weston shuttered its plant there as part of cost-cutting measures in late 2024.

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.

Lamb Weston originally applied for permits to demolish the 450,000-square-foot plant but then listed the property for sale. Lincoln said there have been companies interested in the site but Lamb Weston has not accepted any offers on the facility.

The company pulled the property sale listing in September 2025.

Port officials secured a $100,000 grant from the state Community Economic Revitalization Board, or CERB, to identify potential industrial sites in and around the north Franklin County city, as well as possible industrial partners. However, that effort is anticipated to take between one to two years to complete.

Looking ahead

Even with a full plate of projects, port officials are constantly scanning the horizon, looking for additional industrial property it can make available for development, expanding infrastructure or keeping its current properties up to industry needs.

Lincoln said the port does have its hands in a lot of pots, which is challenging, but he added that the port is in a good position financially to be involved with so many projects.

“We are poised to be able to invest when opportunities come up,” he said.

The port has an operating budget of $20.1 million, non-operating budget of $29.5 million, capital budget of $12.2 million and collects $3.1 million from property tax revenue.