2020 started as a year of transition, followed by a global pandemic and an unprecedented new way of doing business.Your Port of Benton team stepped up, setting the bar high by delivering a new website and accelerating digital communications, key capital projects and organizational improvements.These achievements demonstrate the team’s flexibility...
As we close out a tumultuous year where the pandemic has stolen so much of our attention, it might help to step back from the daily challenges and appreciate a fundamental demographic of life here: the greater Tri-Cities continue to grow.Demographics may not drive destiny, but they certainly influence it.Unlike...
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is beta testing a new satellite-provided broadband internet service through its Starlink brand.At times, reports have come out that SpaceX planned to spin off Starlink. Other reports quoted the SpaceX founder Elon Musk saying he had no plan to spin off Starlink.The bandied spinoff idea...
By Mike McLeanSpokane Journal of BusinessThe Kalispel Tribe plans to expand its Northern Quest Resort & Casino in Airway Heights with a new hotel building, adding 190 more rooms.The tribe expects to break ground on the new project in March and complete it in early 2023. The resort and casino...
Year-end is the perfect time to do tax planning. And what a tax year 2020 has been! Let’s review the urgent items that can still be taken advantage of before the New Year’s ball drops.Covid-19-related distributions, loansThe CARES Act, passed in March 2020, changed the rules for certain distributions and...
Kaitlyn Pype wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life, but she knew she enjoyed working on cars.She thought about a career in automotive repair, but a degree program in mechatronics at Clover Park Technical College caught her eye because it combined a variety of interests.“So, I went...
To the average American, China’s control of the world production, processing technology and stockpile of critical metals is not their concern.However, to our military and high-tech leaders, it is a very big deal.Our government lists 35 metals it considers vital to our national economy and security. While 17 are classified...
Last year was a very good year for retail sales in the greater Tri-Cities. For the first time, taxable retail sales in the two counties breached the $6 billion mark, ending 2019 at nearly $6.4 billion, as the Benton-Franklin Trends graph shows.Taxable sales grew year over year by 9.8%. This...
By East Benton County Historical SocietyWhen the Golden Arches of McDonald’s first emblazoned across the skylines of Othello and Prosser, the glow dazzled the rural communities with pride and a turnout of civic and elected leaders sharing a first McDonald’s breakfast in their towns.What occurred in those communities and what...
Local manufacturing businesses and jobs have experienced a resurgence in recent years that needs to continue for our state’s livelihood and connection to the global economy.Before the pandemic, the manufacturing sector employed 11.6 million workers in the United States. During the past three years, about 500,000 manufacturing jobs were added...
