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Business briefs January 2025

Called the One Hanford Leadership Academy, the program will provide six sessions throughout 2025 hosted by Cougar Tracks, WSU Tri-Cities' continuing education program. It will prepare individuals in mid-level management roles for challenges faced by C-suite executives at the Hanford site.  

The Washington State Labor Council is supporting a bill that would establish a child care standards board to ensure the 6,000 licensed child care providers in the state are meeting the needs of young children and their families and that staff for those providers have access to training and equitable wages and benefits. 

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleges Capital One promised consumers that its flagship savings account provided one of the nation’s “best” and “highest” interest rates, but the bank froze the interest rate at a low level and then created another savings account product with higher interest without telling its costumers. 

Joann, the sewing and crafts retailer, blamed “unexpected” and “acute” inventory issues, which took a big bite out of sales and put its $615 million debt in an “untenable position,” according to court documents. The retailer recently moved into a large new space at the Columbia Center mall in Kennewick. 

More than 830,000 gallons of waste are now staged and ready to be sent to Hanford’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant for treatment later this year. 

Six well-known clothing brands have combined to form Catalyst Brands, a joint venture formed in an all-equity transaction between JCPenney and SPARC Group, with shareholders Simon Property Group, Brookfield Corp., Authentic Brands Group and Shein. 

All Bank of Idaho branches in Eastern Washington will come under the Wheatland Bank name once the acquisition is approved by regulators.