Articles by Guest Contributor
Northwest firms explore 3D, virtual reality, drones
Advanced technology helps architects better communicate with clients By Natasha Nellis The flood of technology over the past 10 years has changed the day-to-day operations of Inland Northwest architecture firms, and up-and-coming technology advances have the potential to change the industry even more, experts say. A growing industry of design and building information modeling software,…
Census 2020: 10 questions to influence the next 10 years
By LoAnn Ayers Census 2020 is unlike any of the 23 that came before it. For the first time, in addition to mail or phone, people will be able to respond online from any device. The U.S. Constitution requires this once-a-decade snapshot of how many people live in each community. A high response rate means…
PNNL’s 8 key science and technology highlights in 2019
Selecting 2019’s highlights for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a bit like choosing just one family photo for the holiday card among the dozens of important events and exciting adventures of the year. These eight exemplify how researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy lab are advancing scientific discovery and finding solutions to the nation’s…
Legislative session offers chance to examine state spending growth
By Kris Johnson Main Street businesses bore the brunt of the 2019 Washington legislative session. The $52.8 billion operating budget lawmakers approved in April included more than $1 billion in tax increases. Many of the increases hit small and medium-sized employers in the form of real estate excise taxes and a business and occupation, or…
Boeing needs strong tail winds to steer state’s economy
By Don C. Brunell As we begin 2020 and a new decade, the Boeing Co. faces strong head winds which are major concerns for those of us living in the Pacific Northwest. Things have changed in the past year. In my first column of 2019, I wrote that Boeing was poised to have its best…
Professional, technical services disproportionately large here
By Patrick Jones One of the startling aspects of the greater Tri-City economy is the juxtaposition of a large agricultural sector with one formerly called the white-collar sector. In the terminology of labor economists, the latter consists of professional and technical services. It, too, looms large in the two counties. Today, we might call the…
Take precautions to prevent adverse possession of property
By Beau Ruff Your property can be taken from you even though you have ostensibly done nothing wrong. You have paid your bills, you are current on your taxes, and you have exercised customary precautions in the acquisition and ownership of your property. Whether you like it or not, whether it’s fair or not, the…
Kennewick inventor’s new prototype electrifies judges at auto show
By Andrew Kirk Kennewick entrepreneur Reid Lunde named his company Kaizen Speed after the Japanese business term for continuous improvement. Since 2005, Kaizen Speed has been steadily growing, and in November won a prestigious industry award for Lunde’s new prototype. Fifteen years ago, Lunde was attending Columbia Basin College and started Kaizen Speed in borrowed…
New White Bluffs wine region will be north of Pasco
By Andy Perdue The Tri-Cities is philosophically and geographically in the heart of Washington wine country. And when the federal government approves a new American Viticultural Area north of Pasco, where some of the state’s oldest vines were planted nearly a half-century ago, the region’s position in the wine industry will be solidified. The AVA…
Hydrogen fuel cells gaining momentum
In the coming decade, investors are betting that hydrogen will become a prominent fuel that can eliminate carbon dioxide discharges from the vehicles it energizes. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the transportation sector has dominated the growth in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions since 1990, accounting for 69 percent of the total increase. It…
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