Articles by Jeff Morrow
K-12 education: New schools open as Tri-Cities grows
As the Tri-City’s population climbs toward 300,000, its three school districts continue to work to keep pace with it. Student enrollment numbers for 2018-19 put Kennewick’s student enrollment at 19,750 students; Pasco’s at 18,774; and Richland’s at 14,204, according to data from the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Voters seem to understand the…
Higher education: New academic, rec buildings coming to Tri-City campuses
Continued growth at the higher education campuses in the Tri-Cities will be moving forward at a steady clip in the coming year. At Washington State University Tri-Cities, the school is proceeding with plans to build a 40,000-square-foot academic building for undergraduate studies in biology, chemistry and education in science, technology and math—or STEM studies. Columbia…
Couple see burger joint as place to bring community together
Three generations of Erstad family worked at Burger Factory before owning it Rhonda Erstad grew up in Connell. So did her husband, Mike. They’ve lived in the Connell area pretty much their whole lives, and Rhonda wouldn’t have it any other way. “I love Connell,” she said. “Our kids always had someone looking out for…
Longtime Pasco gardening family offers laid-back pumpkin picking
Job’s Nursery celebrates 80 years in business next year As the calendar flips to October, families begin to visit the region’s pumpkin patches. Many head to Job’s Nursery in Pasco. “We have two acres of pumpkins in our pumpkin patch,” said Alex Job, who has been a co-owner of the business since 2012, along with…
Tri-City couple’s business focuses on college-bound high-schoolers
SAGECollegePrep Services offers test prep classes, private tutoring, college counseling When Rich Quadrel retired from his research and development manager position at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 2015, he thought he’d return to something he really enjoyed years before—teaching. He and his wife Marilyn started SAGECollege Prep Services four years ago and have been running full steam…
Sponsors sought to buy weekend food kits for hungry kids
As a family advocate for the Richland Early Learning Center, Lisa Thompson has been on a mission to help as many children as she can. Because whether or not people believe it, there are a lot of people in the Tri-City region who don’t get enough to eat—and many are young children. Last year, Thompson…
Richland company lands $24.5M Hanford contract
Joe Gonzalez never wanted to be a business owner. He was happy being an electrician. “I was really comfortable in what I was doing,” he said. “And then sometimes you need to get out of your comfort zone.” That’s what Gonzalez finally did back in the early 1990s. “My old boss who I worked for…
New brewery to open in Pasco this fall
Sage Brewing Co. will serve up multiple IPAs, hop-fed pales, easy-drinking beers When Tyson Crudup and Ben Grogan met each other while working at Yakima Chief Hops a few years ago, little did they know at the time they would eventually become business partners. This fall, the men expect to open Sage Brewing Co. at…
Kennewick print shop’s new owners plan to transition to franchise
Esprit Graphic Communications will become Minuteman Press by year’s end Skip and Shannon Novakovich began Esprit Graphic Communications in downtown Kennewick in 1989. They’ve long been active in the Tri-City business community, as well as involved in local charities over the past 30 years. They’ve received numerous awards over the years—including Kennewick Downtowners of the…
Boys & Girls Clubs runs 27 sites, sees a thousand kids daily
The past year has been a wild ride for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Benton and Franklin Counties. The nonprofit took over the Richland School District’s before- and after-school child care program in June 2018. This meant more sites, children, staff and a bigger budget to manage. It also occurred while the nonprofit was…
