Jason Story, owner of Pasco Machine, stands underneath his machine shop’s current sign while holding a much older one from the company’s earlier days. The business celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. (Photo by Kristina Lord)A 100-year-old Pasco company is charting a course to ensure it can navigate another century...
Unique among nearly all Eastern Washington population centers, the greater Tri-City manufacturing sector doesn’t land in the top five sectors. By headcount, it usually ranks fifth in Eastern Washington. Should we be worried? Perhaps. Perhaps not.One reason for the difference from neighboring economies lies in the presence a large sector...
The coronavirus pandemic has shown us how easy it is to take things for granted. Family barbecues, baseball games and kids going to school are just a few examples.As some of our old way of life comes back, it’s worth noting another thing that’s easy to take for granted: Washington’s...
VP Global Manufacturing, Lamb WestonMark SchusterEmployees you oversee:5,000What is your current role? How long have you been in it? Where are you based? Where do you spend most of your time?My current role is to lead global manufacturing and global engineering for Lamb Weston. We currently have 15 facilities in...
The past year and a half has not failed to provide society with various crash courses on industry and science.During March and April 2020, our first lesson was on the unreliability of lean supply chains during the Great Toilet Paper Shortage. It seems appropriate that we have now come full...
By National Association of ManufacturersNow that all American adults are eligible for vaccination and largely have easy access to vaccines, it’s even more important to convince those still on the fence about getting their shots.To help manufacturers convince their hesitating employees, The Manufacturing Institute has partnered with the Center for...
Lampson International is the Kennewick-based manufacturer of heavy lift cranes used all over the world. The company employs 300 people worldwide, with offices in the U.S., Canada and Australia, and it has performed work in more than 55 counties in the 74 years that it has been in business. Kate...
Molly Monson-StutesmanVice president of sales and marketingGoose Ridge Estate Vineyards and WineryNumber of employees you oversee: 300Tell us about Goose Ridge Estate Vineyards and GR Distillery:Goose Ridge Estate Vineyards and Winery is family owned and operated. As a fourth-generation agribusiness, our family started herding cattle and began sowing the land...
Manufacturing in the greater Tri-Cities certainly isn’t the largest sector. By recent (2018) average annual headcount, it ranks ninth, with about 8,200 workers.If you’re wondering, government – at all levels – is largest.Manufacturing also isn’t a greater provider of high wages in the local economy. In 2018, it paid an...
Rob MercerPresidentMercer Wine Estates / Mercer RanchesNumber of employees you oversee: 80How did you come to this kind of work? Family heritageWhy did your family settle here?Looked west for economic opportunity, originally raising sheep.How has your approach evolved?From the late 1800s to the late 1960s we raised sheep and then...