An unassuming West Richland lavender farm brims with purple and possibility as the owners dream well beyond U-pick bunches to becoming the largest lavender-cutting supplier in the state.Terri and Steve Szendre operate SunKissed Lavender on Flat Top Mountain, off Collins Road, where they nurture 2,000 lavender plants, land once covered...
For 28 years, Paleteria La Jalpita has been handcrafting icy Mexican treats on a stick in downtown Pasco.“We have six pots a day, with each pot producing 800 paletas, for 4,800 total paletas a day,” said Rom Romero, whose dad, Jesus Romero, owns the shop.Paletas are Mexican ice pops that...
Aaron BrinkIn just a few short years, Aaron Brink went from an annoyed homeowner, frequently stung by bees while mowing, to a commercial beekeeper who laughs off daily stings while tending to hundreds of beehives.“I’m immune to bee stings,” said Brink, owner of Brink’s Bees. “I got into the bees...
Richland sisters Elena Gavin and Concetta Gulluni admit they were never good friends as teenagers.Being 3 ½ years apart in age, they had their own friends.But now, as business partners in Layered Cake Artistry, 117 W. Kennewick Ave., Suite 110, in downtown Kennewick, Elena, 41, and Concetta, 38, have become...
A fashion enthusiast followed her dream of owning not just one – but two – businesses, now located under one roof in downtown Kennewick.Jamie and Loren Wikstrand bought the 68-year-old David’s Shoes store earlier this year. The longtime business is located in a historic brick corner building outfitted with green...
As a teenager Veronica Delgado worked in the Pasco Specialty Kitchen with a woman who made her own jams and sold them at the farmers market.After graduating, she worked in a grocery store selling produce.Later she began selling produce from her uncle’s Pasco farm off Road 100 at the Pasco...
Valentino Robles played basketball during his high school days in Pasco.Tino, as most people know him, never thought much back then about lifting weights.“I hated lifting weights back in high school,” he said. “I liked being skinny and agile.”But lifting weights – and helping others learn how to lift them...
“We do weddings. We do bonsai trees.”Not the typical services you might see offered together, but Brandon Andersen, owner of Bonsai Audio, has found a way to marry the two successfully.“Bonsai stands for an aesthetic. It’s a small work of art that’s also alive,” he said.The Kennewick man’s lucrative business...
Susan Mendenhall is a fighter.It doesn’t matter whether it’s a pandemic or trying to educate the public that her two Tri-City IHOP stores are local restaurants.She won’t lose her fight because after 20 years with IHOP, she still loves and believes in what she does.She loves the people, whether it’s...
Fancy a fancy quail egg?A Pasco farm’s flock supplies them by the dozen to several Tri-City retailers.These quail eggs don’t come from the kind of wild quail commonly seen around the Tri-Cities. The small, speckled eggs are produced by their larger cousin, the Japanese coturnix.These quail look like a small...
