Todd BrixCEO and Co-founderOCOchemTodd BrixNumber of employees you oversee: 5What is OCOchem?OCOchem is a clean-tech startup that is developing and commercializing technology to convert carbon dioxide, water and renewable electricity into an energy-dense, non-flammable liquid hydrogen carrier and chemical known as formic acid.What is formic acid? A simple naturally occurring...

Hector Rodriguez smelled an opportunity while pressure washing garbage cans to earn extra money.He realized he could launch a business offering the service, as he knew just how stinky and filthy garbage bins could be. They also can be a breeding ground for all kinds of bacteria, especially on hot...

Over the next few years, we’ll be hearing a lot about Scope 1, 2 and 3.No, it’s not a revisit of a famous trial in Tennessee about a hundred years ago. The terms invoke science, however. Instead of a reflection on human ancestry, they look ahead to the future of...

Ben Franklin Transit’s director of planning and service development does not own a car.Keith Hall gets around the Tri-Cities by bike, scooter and by bus, something he says is becoming a realistic option as the transit agency invests in initiatives to make riding the bus more convenient to all residents.Ben...

Malin Bergstrom had never really planned on working in the family business.“I was going to be a veterinarian,” she said.But things quickly changed, said the president of Bergstrom Aircraft Inc.“Growing up, I worked summers and weekends to help out,” she said. “The summer after my senior year, I was approached...

Peninsula Truck Lines is based in western Washington, but the Northwest carrier is making inroads in the Tri-Cities.In 2021, Peninsula marked its 70th anniversary as a company. It expanded its Kennewick terminal on East Bruneau Street when it paid nearly $500,000 for a one-acre site next door. It demolished several...

Truck drivers are in demand for jobs based in the Tri-Cities. Teresa Maki, owner of T Enterprises, a Pasco private trucking school, said enrollment at her CDL school has almost doubled since 2020. (Courtesy T Enterprises)Teresa Maki, who has been in business for more than 30 years as owner of...

A roundabout planned to alleviate Hanford traffic in north Richland is now delayed until next spring.A traffic circle is planned at the intersection of Highways 240 and 225 and Route 10 adjacent to the Hanford nuclear site.“There’s been a lot of near misses in the area and also a lot...

By Gale Metcalf for Tri-Cities Area Journal of BusinessA century ago, the automobile had not yet completely replaced the horse and buggy as the main way of getting around in the United States.But, it was getting there.Yet getting to where you wanted to be – even with an automobile and...

When people vow to spend the rest of their lives together in wedded bliss, they sometimes bring a child or children from a previous relationship.Maybe after the union, the couple shares a child of their own in addition to the children from previous relationships. This is the typical “his, hers,...