
Articles by Wendy Culverwell

More big development
coming to Pasco’s east side
Pasco’s not-so-sleepy east side is getting yet another massive new development. Tarragon LLC, a Seattle development firm that builds industrial, residential, retail and mixed-use projects, submitted plans for an industrial complex with eight buildings totaling 2.1 million square feet on South Road 40 East, near Sacajawea State Park, to the city of Pasco. The combined…

STCU hits $5 billion, eyes more branches in the Tri-Cities
Five years after it expanded into the Tri-Cities, STCU reports it has hit important milestones on its way to becoming a $5 billion institution, making it Washington’s third largest credit union after Boeing Employees and Gesa. STCU, for Spokane Teachers Credit Union, has more than 250,000 members and 875 employees following its latest expansion, a…

Cities embrace space when the solar system comes to town
Mid-Columbia is being transformed into an 80-mile scaled replica of the solar system, one planetary orbit at a time. The ambitious project promotes science education and tourism by placing orbital markers representing each of the nine major planets (Pluto is included) in orbit around a 40-foot sculpture of the sun at the Reach Museum in…

Exploration center caters to science-savvy community
The LIGO Hanford Observatory opens its much-anticipated visitor center to school children in September and to the public in October after a delay attributed to the pandemic. The LIGO Exploration Center, or LExC, is a short walk from the LIGO Hanford Observatory, the gravitational wave observatory whose Nobel Prize-winning work it shares with visitors old…

Homebuilding slows in the Tri-Cities but demand goes on
Four interest rate hikes and a supply chain that adds months to the delivery for everything involved with homebuilding is curtailing new home construction in the Tri-Cities. Local homebuilders secured permits for 768 homes in the first seven months of 2022, according to HBA research. That is down from the 1,055 issued in the same…

Pasco is poised to build long-awaited animal shelter
The city is Pasco is preparing to replace the aging building that houses Tri-Cities Animal Shelter and Control Service on the city’s Columbia River waterfront. The city has submitted plans for a 10,000-square-foot facility for review under the State Environmental Protection Act or SEPA – years after it first collaborated with the cities of Kennewick…

Mail by the Mall moves out of the path of Center Parkway extension
Mail by the Mall, the feisty, independent mailbox business in the path of the future Center Parkway extension, has moved. The business started by Laurie McCoy and her late mother Dee is staying true to its name after moving into leased quarters “by the mall” at 1360 N. Louisiana St., Suite A. The new spot…

Kennewick company answers the call when remote workers hit the road
Muncie, Indiana, is offering $5,000 cash for remote workers who move to the town an hour northwest of Indianapolis. Muncie, home to Ball State University, is one of dozens of towns in dozens of states competing for well-paid workers on MakeMyMove.com, a website helping towns woo remote workers who can live anywhere. John Heaton, president…

New commercialization director brings can-do spirit to PNNL tech transfer
With apologies to the Farmers Insurance ad, Christina Lomasney knows a thing or two because she’s seen a thing or two. She studied physics to become a professor, then launched two businesses that overcame improbable odds to success. As director of commercialization for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, she draws on all her experience to…

$40M senior complex takes shape near Canyon Lakes
An Oregon company that builds and operates residential facilities for seniors broke ground in May on Riverwalk Estates, a 149-unit, $40 million facility that will provide assisted and independent units near Canyon Lakes. Salem-based Hawthorn Construction Group is building the four-story facility off Highway 395 at 4704 W. Hildebrand Blvd., behind Dugout Sports Bar and…