Articles by Robin Wojtanik

Robin Wojtanik spent most of her career in broadcast journalism, working at television stations around the country. She spent nearly a decade managing newsrooms in the Tri-Cities and Yakima. She enjoys volunteering for Junior Achievement and Christ the King School and serves on the board for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Northwest chapter. She lives in Richland with her husband and children.
The $2.5 million project to double capacity at Premier Seed is underway on Ione Road, north of Pasco. 

Franklin County farm adding $2.5 million warehouse

Onions piled as long as a football field fill a Franklin County agriculture warehouse, and now two more warehouses are under construction to store the same amount of crops. Premier…

Gale-Rew Construction's 7,600-square-foot building at 1616 Terminal Drive in Richland should be complete by July.

Gale-Rew Construction building big red barn for new headquarters

Richland remodeling company’s new offices will be complete by July A big, red barn will be the new headquarters of Gale-Rew Construction in Richland, providing a permanent home base for…

Construction on a new Chuck E. Cheese restaurant is underway at 6340 W. Rio Grande Ave., near North Kellogg Street, in Kennewick. The Richland Chuck E. Cheese on North Columbia Center Boulevard will close in 2018 when the new one is completed.

A new house for the mouse: Chuck E. Cheese to open in Kennewick

A new design for Chuck E. Cheese’s will roll out in the Tri-Cities next fall when the Richland restaurant reopens in a new location and a new city. Construction is…

An overhaul, expansion and new joint venture to operate the former CRF Frozen Foods plant at 1825 N. Commercial Ave. is in place between J.R. Simplot and CRF’s parent company, R.D. Offutt. A 25,000-square-foot expansion is planned and valued at $2.48 million.

Food plant linked to listeria to reopen under new name

A former Pasco vegetable processing plant will reopen in spring under new ownership and a new name following a shutdown after a listeria outbreak last year. The food processing facility…

The 290,000-square-foot Lamb Weston plant expansion in Richland means the company can make about 600 million pounds of frozen potato products annually. Washington potatoes provide almost $7.5 billion in economic activity in the state, according to the Washington Potato Commission. (Courtesy Lamb Weston)

Lamb Weston doubles fry production with Richland plant expansion

Lamb Weston’s expansion of its Richland potato processing plant adds two million more pounds of frozen french fries daily to the worldwide market. The new $200 million addition has nearly…

Construction Industry Training Council of Washington electrical apprentices Aaron Sundby, left, and Jared Hunt review material to prepare for an exam.

Vocational trade school to open in Pasco

A new trade school in west Pasco will provide classroom and laboratory space for apprentices pursuing careers in skilled trades, including future electricians, plumbers and sheet metal workers, all jobs…

The owners of the Boise Paper mill at 31831 W. Highway 12 in Wallula, about 16 miles southeast of Pasco, plan a $150 million investment in the plant that will double the mill’s production. (Courtesy Scott Butner Photography)

Wallula’s Boise Paper mill plans $150 million in improvements

New machine can produce 400,000 tons a year of corrugated paper products A $150 million investment at the Boise Paper plant in Wallula will replace one machine for another, nearly…

Brothers Reed, left, and Porter Kinney of Porter’s Real Barbecue restaurant stand outside the Temple of ’Cue that’s under construction in Richland. The new kitchen will be able to smoke 3,000 pounds of meat daily to supply their Richland restaurant and the one they plan to open next spring in Kennewick.

Porter’s Real Barbecue plans to open Columbia Center Boulevard restaurant

Owner-brothers building Temple of ’Cue with capacity to smoke 3,000 pounds of meat at a time A second Porter’s Real Barbecue restaurant set to open this spring in Kennewick is…

Steven Carbajo, lead line cook, left, and Paul Westover, sous chef, prep for the dinner rush at Taverna Tagaris in Richland. Westover said only 15 percent of those who applied for their recent job posting for a line cook were qualified. Columbia Basin College will launch a hospitality program this winter to provide job training for the growing restaurant and hotel industry.

CBC to launch new hospitality program to train workers

Columbia Basin College will launch a hospitality training program in January to better prepare workers to join the ranks of more than 6,000 people who work in the growing industry…

Customers Lisa Maloof, left, and Anna Riel assemble meals during a recent Dream Dinners session at the Kennewick store.

Kennewick meal prep service provides homemade option for busy families

“I am meal planning inept,” joked Lisa Maloof as she put together loaded barbecue pulled pork bites at a Kennewick meal-prep store. “It’s not my thing and it never has…

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