Manufacturing
Tri-Tech to offer high school training for in-demand drone careers
Tri-Tech Skills Center officials hope a new program that includes drone-making will show students the sky’s the limit when it comes to job opportunities and careers in the unmanned flight and manufacturing industry. The new program launches this fall in a building recently constructed on the school’s Tri-Tech East campus in Kennewick. The building also…
Benton, Franklin counties’ manufacturing job growth slows
Jobs in manufacturing have slowed down progressively during the last year across Benton and Franklin counties. The region appears to finally be catching up with the state growth rate for manufacturing jobs, which has been minimal. The most recent figures from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics for April 2018 show manufacturing jobs have decreased…
Adams County to build waste treatment plant to lure food processors
Tri-Cities’ northern neighbor, Adams County, is moving forward with plans for infrastructure to support the growth of its food processing and distribution sectors, based on positive projections for the area’s potential as a low-cost hub for these industries. Results from two recent site selection studies conducted by The Boyd Company, a New Jersey-based consulting service,…
CEO Q&A with Jeanne Dillner
Brief background of business: SIGN Fracture Care International is a humanitarian organization based in Richland. Our mission is to give the injured poor in developing countries access to affordable orthopaedic surgery. We accomplish this by providing surgeons in these countries with orthopaedic education along with implants and instruments designed for use in austere operating rooms.…
Tri-City manufacturing tilts toward agriculture, toward growth
By D. Patrick Jones The Tri-Cities prides itself on being a bit different from the rest of Eastern Washington. So is its manufacturing sector. Unlike most metro areas this side of the state, manufacturing here doesn’t loom among the top five sectors by employment. As Benton Franklin Trends indicator 3.3.4 shows, the largest employing sectors…
Pasco manufacturing company Meheen moves to Colorado
For more than 26 years, employees of Meheen Manufacturing Inc. have churned out bottle upon bottle of beer, soda and juice in the Tri-Cities. But that ended last month, as Meheen moved its equipment and operations from 325 N. Oregon Ave. in Pasco to Colorado. As part of a combined business with Wild Goose Canning…
Manufacturing great wine takes good grapes, technology
By David Forsyth Making a wine is an active process. A winery is a functional factory, like any other production facility. The factors are the raw materials, in this case grapes, and the available technology to blend them. The process begins with growing the grapes, then harvesting the grapes and crushing or pressing the fruit,…
Kennewick company finds success in crafting specialty wheels, rims
Juan Murillo said business was slow at American Wheel Specialist on a recent Wednesday. But within the span of five minutes, two men in an old Army truck pulled up to the front door of the plant at 1010 East Bruneau Ave. in Kennewick looking for help on a wheel for the truck. [blockquote quote=”Juan…
Food processing jobs lead local manufacturing boon
By Robin Wojtanik The Tri-Cities has seen the creation of thousands of new jobs in manufacturing, despite a loss of manufacturing jobs across the state. Jobs in food processing led the way for the region, with gains in non-durable manufacturing up 2.9 percent between March 2016 and March 2017, which translates to about 2,400 new…
Ice makers expect to manufacture nine million bags of ice this year
Kennewick’s Columbia Basin Ice anticipates $7M in sales for 2017 Tri-Citians reaching into big store coolers to grab a bag of ice on their way to a picnic, party or boat this summer most likely will be chilling their food and drinks with ice manufactured by a growing Kennewick company. Columbia Basin Ice’s 15,000-square-foot manufacturing…
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Around Town Photo Gallery
Area agriculture producers, processors and industry officials set a new event record by raising more than $91,000 to benefit the Ronald McDonald House Charities Inland Northwest on June 13 at the fifth annual Ag World Golf Classic at Canyon Lakes Golf Course in Kennewick. Ag World Support Systems was joined by co-hosts Simplot, Lamb Weston, McCain Foods and Potato Growers of Washington to make the 18-hole scramble a success. (Courtesy Ag World Golf Classic)
A Pasco Fire Department uniform serves as a photo backdrop for youngsters at the June 30 Pasco Farmers Market. Department officials were on hand to discuss home fire escape plans, smoke alarms and hands-only CPR, a form of CPR that doesn’t require rescue breathing on adults. (Courtesy Pasco Fire Department)
Jason Lee of Richland, a Navy veteran and union recruiting specialist with UA Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 598, was busy chasing ducks and geese on a dream hunt in Saskatchewan while filming an upcoming episode of Brotherhood Outdoors TV. He was selected to appear on the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance’s television series to highlight his work ethic and commitment to the service of his country and community. The episode aired on the Sportsman Channel. (Courtesy Union Sportsmen’s Alliance)
Campers watch their rockets soar June 29 at Washington State University Tri-Cities’ middle school science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, camp in Richland. WSU offered seven camps, with many selling out, including Fantastic Flight, a camp to explore flying machines that included creating catapults, slingshots and rockets. (Courtesy WSU Tri-Cities)
