A Richland winery has opened a tasting room downriver from the Tri-Cities in hopes of expanding its customer base.Barnard Griffin’s new storefront joined a growing number of wineries setting up shop at The Waterfront in Vancouver, just across the Columbia River from Portland.“It’s been a long time in the planning,”...
The Port of Benton is seeking a new operator for Prosser’s Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center after the nonprofit that established the wine industry showplace vacated the property because of the Covid-19 pandemic.The port, which owns the taxpayer-funded wine and event center, pledged to move quickly to find a...
The Port of Kennewick used wineries to woo tourists and hungry crowds to an industrial stretch of Columbia Drive.Now food is following, all part of the port’s plan to use its wine-themed tourism to spark development and reconnect Kennewick to its downtown waterfront.“The tourism focus was the driving factor for...
Hospitality is big business in the Tri-Cities. It just misses landing in the top five sectors, as ranked by employment levels in Benton-Franklin Trends data.The data behind this indicator show that in 2019, hospitality employment levels averaged slightly over 10,000 in the two counties. That placed hospitality sixth. As a...
One good thing happened when Crow Butte Park in southern Benton County closed to campers because of the Covid-19 crisis.No one was camping in early June when a storm blew through. Lightning struck an irrigation pump and 14 large trees blew down in the campground.Normally, all 52 campsites would have...
The local nonprofit that built public trails on Badger and Candy mountains is preparing to open a new trailhead as it presses for a 20-mile through-trail linking Amon Basin and the Yakima River by way of Little Badger, Badger, Candy and Red mountains.Friends of Badger Mountain, which marked its 15th...
Michael Novakovich is by nature and by profession an optimist.As president of Visit Tri-Cities, his job is to champion the people, places and things that draw tourists to the Mid-Columbia, to fill its shops, bars, restaurants and hotel rooms.Visitors spent more than $560 million in Benton and Franklin counties in...
The little runabout was so perfect, Roy Keck couldn’t help himself.When the like-new 1962 Dorsett El Dorado the color of harvest gold came up at auction, the boating enthusiast had to have her.The 15-foot fiberglass beauty had fewer than 90 hours on its Mercury 50 engine. The original owner garaged...
Tri-City hoteliers found creative and unexpected ways to stay relevant after a wave of cancellations washed over the industry on what one owner called Black Friday in March.“People are definitely thinking outside the box,” said Michael Novakovich, president and chief executive officer of Visit Tri-Cities, the region’s tourism marketing agency....
“Open for Business” is the battle cry of the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce and Visit Tri-Cities. The two business entities have launched separate sites with the same branding, “Open for Business,” to give area businesses a place to tell customers how they are adapting to severe measures designed to slow the...
