PFLAG’s Benton-Franklin chapter offers several training sessions every month for employersJanie Romine remembers the time she was counseled byadministrators against openly talking about her gay son with her colleagues. It taught her a valuable lesson: the workplace is notinclusive and supportive by default.“That was a glaring example of discrimination of...
By D. Patrick Jones“Women hold up half the sky,” ChairmanMao Zedong famously uttered, when discussing the role of women in the Chineserevolution. Since then, the phrase has become a rallying point for many women.Do they hold up half of the economic sky in the greater Tri-Cities? Some dataare available to...
By Danielle Kane We’ve all heard the stereotypes:millennials are entitled. Gen Xers are slackers. Baby Boomers can’t adapt. AndGen Z? So far, the youngest generation to enter the work force has beenpigeon-holded as “too obsessed with themselves to produce quality work.”But, when we dig deeper, we find thatthe labels that...
The Evergreen State is among the top 10 best states forfemale entrepreneurs.That’s according to FitSmallBusiness.com, a digital business publication.Washington ranked No. 4 on the list after Texas (No. 1),Ohio (No. 2) and Minnesota (No. 3). FitSmallBusiness.com said the state is well positioned to be the next Silicon Valley, thanks to...
Columbia Basin College’s 2019 Martin Luther King Jr. Spirit Award winnerCompany/business/agency: U.S.Department of Energy’s Office of Science – Pacific Northwest SiteOffice/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (DOE-SC/PNNL)Tell us about your team: PNSO is a small staff of 30-plus people. Iwork with a team of five scientists and engineers. Kimberly L. Harper, Physical...
By D. Patrick JonesDiversity comes in many dimensions — gender, sexual preference, racial/ethnic makeup, to name a few. This column takes up one — racial and ethnic diversity — in part because it tells such an interesting story for the two counties.First, let’s state the obvious: Benton and Franklin counties...
The city of Pasco is working quickly to identify historic African American buildings and locations of significance in the community before they’re lost to city growth.“It just seemed like it was prime time, if you will, to capitalize on this opportunity and preserve the history of this community,” said Tanya...
Have an idea for a new business start-up or dreaming of expansion, but having trouble securing the funding to move forward? The Benton-Franklin Council of Governments may be able to help.Last year, the intergovernmental organization launched a new loan program intended to help women- and minority-owned businesses with micro-loans up...
Brief background of your business:Founded in 1898, Bechtel is one of the most respected global engineering, construction and project management companies. Bechtel is designing and building the world’s largest radioactive waste treatment plant for the U.S. Department of Energy at the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington state.The Waste Treatment and...
The Tri-Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce continues to seek new members as the organization expands its presence throughout the Tri-Cities and becomes involved with more regional and state-level committees that work to serve the needs of the Latino business community.“We’re the largest we’ve been and the strongest we’ve been financially,...
