Articles by Jeff Morrow
A big bite: $3B apple industry is the MVP of Washington ag
The Washington apple industry has had a challenging year. Retaliatory tariffs. Labor shortages. And now a pandemic that has contributed to a slowdown in the supply chain. On the other hand, growers of Washington’s top agricultural product produced another large crop featuring a new star — the Cosmic Crisp, a new variety that is quickly…
Richland company rushes to roll out temperature screenings
Richland’s Lisa Chapman-Rosa is always looking for innovative ways to help her companies thrive. Not that she’s really needed to. Her Tri-Cities Mobile Drug & Alcohol Testing business has had plenty of work around the Mid-Columbia. The construction company she started in 2007, Total Site Services LLC, a woman-owned business, has earned millions of dollars…
Sylvan Learning pilots app to connect tutors to Tri-City students
The franchise owner of the Sylvan Learning Centers in Kennewick and Richland has figured out several ways to meet student needs in the Tri-City area since 2005. There are the learning centers in Kennewick and Richland where students come for tutoring. There are in-home visits, where Sylvan sends a tutor to the student. And then…
Physical therapy clinic expands to telehealth services
For years, Mindi Irvine had the idea of offering a video-type health care service as part of the Oasis Physical Therapy daily routine. But it just never happened, thanks to the busy, day-to-day operations of her five clinics in the Tri-Cities and, most recently, in Walla Walla. “We’d been talking about this for a while,”…
Richland company continues to evolve to best serve customers
When your company has been in business for 76 years, you’ve been doing something right. You can expand and thrive during the best of economic times, and you adapt and become more flexible during the rough times. With the coronavirus pandemic hindering almost all business, U.S. Linen and Uniform in Richland is finding ways to…
Opening of new axe throwing, laser tag business delayed
It’s tough having a small business that’s been forced to shut down in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and state orders to stay home. It may be even more difficult when a new business was just about to open for the first time. It’s like being between a rock and a hard place. That’s…
Richland bakery knows all you knead is fresh bread plus solid customer base
Richland’s Denise Thai always wanted to have her own bakery, but life got in the way while raising three children. Now decades later, the children are grown with lives of their own, and the grandchildren are busy teenagers. Thai, 58, decided a few years ago that maybe there are second chances in life. So she…
Family’s foundation strives to put more kindness into world
Their line of wearables tries to raise awareness, promote thoughtfulness toward people with special needs The button idea really was a simple one. Yet it took a Tri-City couple, Michael and Linde Thomas, more than 20 years to turn it into reality. The Thomases recently created a foundation called Kindhearted for Special Needs. They offer…
Chiropractor, massage clinics combine to better serve patients
Owner of Richland practice says move could mean future expansion Owner Matt Lucas was running out of room for his massage therapists at Chiropractic Care of Tri-Cities in Richland. His business’ neighbor, Mark Whitten, also was struggling with a problem. He ran Riverside Therapeutic Massage, but wanted to spend more time helping his wife, Leticia,…
Tri-Citians launch new roof spray treatment business
Roof Maxx’s award-winning technology can extend the life of roofs Jeremy Dimond and Pete Kelley once worked together as wine salesmen. But they always wanted to own their own business. It happened this year when they launched Roof Maxx. Kelley was scrolling through Facebook one day when he learned about the Roof Maxx story. It…
