Darigold Inc. will build its largest ever milk drying plant in Pasco, cementing the region’s status as one of the Northwest’s leading centers for food processing.The Seattle-based dairy cooperative intends to build a $500 million, 400,000-square-foot protein and butter plant packed with carbon-reducing features on 150 acres at the Port...
A Montana startup that raises lettuce and herbs in high-tech greenhouses is coming to the Tri-Cities on the heels of a merger that will take the company public with a valuation of $1.1 billion.Local Bounti, launched in Hamilton, Montana, in 2018 by a pair of former energy industry executives, will...
A Portland food manufacturer known for its potato salad is expanding in the Mid-Columbia with a new processing plant in Franklin County, just north of the Pasco city border.Reser’s Fine Foods broke ground on a 250,000-square-foot plant on North Capital Avenue, east of Highway 395, shortly after it closed a...
In pandemic year 2020, the population in the greater Tri-Cities grew among the fastest of all metro areas in Washington state. For Benton County, state Office of Financial Management (OFM) pegged the count at 209,300 residents; for Franklin County, at 99,500. That’s a gain of over 6,300 in 12 months.These...
You may have noticed that our July issue’s front page, the spot where we put our most compelling news, is dominated by not one but three food processing stories out of Pasco.We normally strive to offer a more diverse mix and try to feature stories from at least two or...
What a difference a year makes. As Washington emerges from the pandemic, one of the biggest challenges facing many employers is finding enough qualified workers.It’s a dramatic shift from a year ago, when businesses were forced to close their doors to slow the spread of the virus, leading to an...
As climate change concerns grow, researchers are turning to small tree farmers for help. Actually, tree farms have been helping for nearly a century, but their efforts have largely gone unrecognized.For decades, the American Tree Farm program has emphasized sustainability and managing lands for water quality, wildlife, wood and recreation....
Community First Bank couldn’t pass up the opportunity to buy a vacant bank property at the intersection of Swift Boulevard and Jadwin Avenue in Richland.It wasn’t looking to move but when its lease came due for renewal at 1060 Jadwin Ave., where it’s been located for 15 years, it made...
Walmart debuts cash payment platformWalmart is teaming with the PayNearMe mobile payments app to let customers pay utility, rent, car payments and other bills in cash at the same place they shop for groceries and household items.The program, which rolls out in August, will let cash customers show a scannable...
“Exciting” isn’t the word most people use when describing market and investment conditions, but it fits the description for the first half of 2021.GameStop dominated the news cycle for weeks, and its controversy culminated in congressional hearings.Distant relatives morphed into CNBC commentators as they waited for the price of Dogecoin...
