Tri-Cities Research District: Working together to achieve our shared future potential

2017 will mark the 10th anniversary of the Tri-Cities Research District (TCRD). In December 2007, TCRD’s new board first approved its Vision and Mission Statements, target industry goals and an annual Action Plan. An updated version of that plan is reviewed and approved annually by the TCRD Board of Directors.

The concept behind the creation of the Tri-Cities Research District was not new. The idea originated in the late ‘80s by the then Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) lab director Bill Wiley, Adrian Roberts of PNNL, Jim Cochran of Washington State University Tri-Cities (WSU TC) and private developers George Garlick and Dick Hoch, along with the City of Richland and Port of Benton. The goal was to have other companies in and around the lab to provide economic diversification for the region and less reliance on Hanford.

In 1989 an effort was made to bring these entities together under one umbrella organization with the creation of the Tri-Cities Science and Technology Park. That organizational model was revised after a 2006 strategic economic development study recommended the creation of a new research district focused on marketing and economic development regionally. Looking back, it is difficult to imagine the progress that has been made over the past 10 years.

The 2017 Action Plan actually lists four pages of single-spaced activities, including the dramatic expansion of the PNNL campus, the equally dramatic physical and academic growth of WSU TC, the development of the Port of Benton and the City of Richland’s Horn Rapids Business and Industrial Parks, new commercial and residential development, the designation of the district as a Washington State Innovation Partnership Zone (IPZ), the launching of the Mid-Columbia Energy Initiative and the recent transfer of 1,341 acres from the Department of Energy to the City of Richland and Port of Benton and its incorporation into the TCRD boundaries.

The four goals of TCRD’s annual Action Plan involve (1) activities that promote its vision and mission, (2) marketing activities, (3) IPZ activities and (4) training and human resource development activities.

Important goals for 2017 include: supporting the completion of WSU TC’s new student housing and student union building, completing the transition of a Port of Benton facility to WSU TC for use as a makerspace, supporting additional private development within the TCRD, the growth of the Manhattan National Park and continuing our collaborations with FUSE co-working space, Columbia Basin College, Eastern Washington University and WSU TC. We hope to partner to the highest degree possible with PNNL’s new Startup Challenge and Collaboration Center, attracting needed neighborhood development such as a 24-hour gym, preschool and a new hotel. Our greatest challenge is establishing a stable funding source for the TCRD. This would allow us to further market, drive activity, investment and support entrepreneurship.

It is great to review the positive impacts of the last 10 years, but it is even more exciting to look forward to 2017 as we strengthen our partnerships and create a sense of place within the TCRD. Each of these initiatives has involved multiple partnerships and has justified the original purpose of the TCRD and its role in helping everyone associated with it to work together to share their future potential and achieve our mission.

This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Tri-Cities Research District: Working together to achieve our shared future potential."