Hard work, lucky timing flip pancake shop into Tri-Cities

The duo bringing The Original Pancake House to Kennewick may be the Washington’s luckiest restaurateurs, or simply the two with the best timing.

As the U.S. economy was teetering toward collapse in 2008, Ryan Medford and Blake Williams were closing a bank loan to launch their first outlet, a pancake restaurant in Puyallup.

Medford and Williams grew up in Salem, Ore., and decided to make a go of the restaurant business after they graduated from college, Western Oregon University for Medford and the University of Washington for Williams.

By the time the economy faltered in late 2008, Medford and Williams had devoted two years to their plan. Williams lived in Salem, working as a cook at The Original Pancake House. Medford lived in Richland and worked at Lamb Weston’s Pasco plant.

They would meet in Hood River to plan and strategize about their dream.

They had secured private investment and loans from family and friends. Most important of all, they had applied for a small business loan from U.S. Bank to open the Puyallup location. With alarming headlines coming out of Wall Street and Washington, D.C., they were nervous.

“We were really worried the banks were going to seize up,” Medford recalled.

They got their loan in a nick of time.

The bank approved the Small Business Administration-backed loan on Sept. 29, 2008, the same day the U.S. House of Representatives rejected an emergency bill to recapitalize banks. Their loan officer called with the good news and urgent counsel: Come down and close this loan now!

They did and fulfilled their dream a short time later. They opened their first restaurant in 2009

It was a tough business climate, but they eventually opened two more editions on the west side, one in Maple Valley and the other in Tacoma. Now, they’re turning their attention to the Tri-Cities, where they plan to open two more Original Pancake House locations.

The first is being built near Trios Health’s new hospital in Kennewick’s Southridge district. The building permit for the project at 3801 Plaza Way is valued at $1.2 million.

It’s set to open in early 2017 with 4,500 square feet and about 40 employees. It will serve all manner of pancakes, all prepared from scratch, as well as waffles, dutch babies, egg dishes, biscuits and gravy and more.

The second location hasn’t been determined.

Medford and Williams have an unusual relationship with their Portland-based parent corporation. They pay royalties and use its logo and recipe book. But the franchisees call the shots on menu planning, restaurant decor and where they buy their food, all items usually under the control of the parent, not the franchisee.

“We really operate like a small local business,” Medford said.

Medford said the recession forced the company to adopt good business habits that helped it grow as the economy regained its footing.

“The good ones survived,” he said.

This story was originally published August 30, 2016 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Hard work, lucky timing flip pancake shop into Tri-Cities."