Johnson Lighting Services, a commercial lighting maintenance company in Kennewick whose trucks have been a familiar sight around the Tri-Cities and Yakima region since 1972, has new owners.Preferred Industrial Electric LLC bought Johnson Lighting Services from longtime owner Bob Spaulding of Kennewick.The deal closed Nov. 21, 2021. Terms were not...
Washington state is dedicated to building an economic future that is as inclusive, diverse and resilient as the people who live here.We are looking beyond our borders for economic models that will strengthen our legacy industries, help communities create new sectors, fuel innovation and entrepreneurship, and ensure meaningful job opportunities...
Benton Franklin Legal Aid Society, the nonprofit legal services agency that connects clients with volunteer attorneys, pivoted to helping area residents facing eviction in 2021. Barb Otte-PotterBarb Otte-Potter, executive director, said that prior to the pandemic, about 80% of its work centered on family issues. The pandemic, coupled with the...
The Benton Franklin Legal Aid Society recognized two local attorneys with its highest awards for service to the community for 2021.The nonprofit matches Tri-City residents who can’t afford attorneys to represent them with volunteer lawyers to handle noncriminal cases, ranging from evictions to bankruptcy, family law, protection orders and more.Al...
Benton-Franklin Superior Court Judge Cameron Mitchell is resigning from the bench, effective March 11 after 18 years in office. Gov. Jay Inslee’s office announced the resignation on Jan. 3.Mitchell, the only Black member of the Benton-Franklin bench, was first appointed in 2004 and won his current term in 2020.A Richland...
Sharp-eyed travelers with time to kill at the Tri-Cities Airport have always been bombarded with information about local sites.For 2021 and now early 2022, they’ve had a chance to review something a bit more substantial – the best examples of local architecture from Walla Walla to the Columbia River Gorge,...
It will come as no surprise to readers that Benton and Franklin counties boast a high number of engineers.According to data from the state Department of Employment Security (ESD), the area’s economy supported nearly 3,000 engineers in spring 2020.Those are numbers from the latest survey, published in July 2021. But...
Doug MitchellPrincipalMMEC Architecture and InteriorsDoug MitchellNumber of employees you oversee: We have seven partners and a total staff size of 19.Brief background of your business:I along with three others formed MMEC in 1999 in Spokane. We opened our Kennewick office in 2012.We do a lot of public projects – many...
The new year brought good and bad for Mid-Columbia Meals on Wheels and its parent, Senior Life Resources Northwest.It has a new office to handle growth at its Richland campus, but a lack of volunteers forced it to delay plans to resume daily meal deliveries to its homebound clients.Kristi Thien,...
What a spectacular end to 2021 – the parties, the fireworks, Covid-19 omicron surges. Perhaps as an alternative to New Year’s Eve festivities, you were scurrying away in your home office, creating spreadsheets and gathering documents for the upcoming tax season. Or not. If you did, hopefully, you had a...