The City of Richland, with its estimated population exceeding 57,000, continues to see new development and growth with new housing, additional infrastructure and improved transportation networks throughout our entire community.
West Richland has opened another chapter in its history with the City Council’s adoption of the comprehensive plan periodic update. This document is the guide staff and council use to grow our city for years to come.
Progress is often thought of in these terms: What is being built? What is the next big thing? What street, park or facility is the city building next? While all of that is interesting, from the perspective of a resident or business, sometimes what’s happening now that impacts quality of life is equally important.
In 2019, county residents will see significant enhancements to county facilities and services after many years of planning and preparation. These improvements wouldn’t be possible without the tireless effort of our county elected officials, managers and employees.
Franklin County, named after Benjamin Franklin and with a current population nearing 100,000 people, is one of the fastest-growing areas in the Pacific Northwest. Driven primarily by agricultural production and food processing, the economic base of the county is rapidly diversifying as it grows.
2018 was another remarkable year for the REACH as we focused on education, exhibitions, and engagement by presenting awesome education programs for our community and nurturing relationships with public partners.
2018 was an indescribable year for Boys & Girls Club. Since our inception in 1996, we have been a growing organization with the ongoing goal to serve more youth in our community.”
It has been a wonderful first year for me at Columbia Basin College (CBC) and in the Tri-Cities, both personally and professionally. I am humbled to see the strong and ongoing support CBC receives from our community.
The past year at Washington State University Tri-Cities has been a great one, not only because it has been my first year as chancellor, but because it has been wonderful getting to know so many incredible WSU students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members, in addition to our incredible community members.
After more than 20 years of military life — frequent moves between posts where we never had the time to fully become part of a community — I was searching for somewhere my family could settle and build those connections.
Kennewick School District continues its trend of steady growth, with nearly 19,000 students enrolled in its schools and more than 2,600 staff members working hard to serve them.
As I move through my third year as superintendent, I continue to be in awe of the miracles that occur in our classrooms, at our school sites and across our community every day. I am inspired by the dedication of our more than 2,000 employees who inspire our students to lay the foundation for their dreams.
At Mid-Columbia Libraries (MCL), we invite you to access the thousands of downloadable and streaming eBooks, eMagazines, eAudiobooks and movies, and see how your library can easily integrate into your busy schedule.
2019 is a milestone year at Kadlec. It marks 75 years since Kadlec opened its doors to serve the Tri-City area. We have come a long way since the opening of Richland Hospital in July 1944, later renamed after Lt. Col. Harry Kadlec, one of the influential leaders of Hanford in its earliest days.
2018 was a year of significant change for Lourdes Health. In September, our transition to Regional Care Capella Health (RCCH) was complete. In November, RCCH and LifePoint Health of Brentwood, Tenn., merged.
Mid-Columbia Ballet is an organization near and dear to my heart, where, as a youth, I learned discipline, commitment, perseverance, respect, teamwork and a love of the arts as well as ballet.
“Transforming lives through the power of choral music” is the mission statement of the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers (MCM), and in everything that we do, we reflect on how we can achieve this mission.
The upcoming year promises to be a highlight in the history of the Mid-Columbia Symphony. The 2019-20 season will mark the orchestra’s 75th season of bringing professional, live, symphonic music to the Tri-Cities.
Anniversaries are typically times to look back and to extol previous successes, but as Camerata Musica celebrates its 50th anniversary this season, our focus has been on looking ahead, working to ensure that the future will be as rewarding as the past.
2018 was a busy year with the construction of two buildings costing approximately $5 million. We are looking forward to 2019 to plan for the next period of development.
Port of Kennewick has developed strong partnerships to transform neighborhoods and bring economic vibrancy to challenged areas throughout our district.
The Port of Pasco has a long history of acting as a catalyst to promote significant changes and action in our port district and region. This past year was certainly no exception.
The Kennewick Irrigation District (KID) has continued to make significant progress on initiatives and projects that will benefit our customers and the community for years to come.
Farmers throughout Eastern Washington have been meeting since last November to form a new farm advocacy nonprofit to speak out publicly on important farm issues.
Looking to the year ahead, the Washington apple industry knows challenges and opportunities are approaching. The current year delivered a smaller than expected crop and trade conflicts. But looking forward, promising prospects appear to be in the future.
In a year of many challenges, passage of the 2018 Farm Bill stands out as a major accomplishment for the Washington State Department of Agriculture and Washington’s agriculture industry last year.
When you hear the words “Washington wine,” what image comes to mind? If you were to describe Washington wine in one word, what would that be? How does Washington as a wine region fit on the global scale?
Our employees are focused on completing the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant, also known as the Vit Plant. Their hard work to finish construction and turn support facilities over to startup and commissioning is propelling the plant toward processing low-activity waste (LAW) by 2023.
I am very proud to serve as the director of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Volpentest HAMMER Federal Training Center and am actively building on our legacy of providing critical training for both Hanford Site and national programs. HAMMER serves as the site’s hands-on safety and health-training facility.
I’m honored to provide a Hanford Site update this year from my expanded role as the Department of Energy (DOE) manager of both the Richland Operations Office and the Office of River Protection.
I could not be more proud of the CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) workforce that achieved so many key risk-reduction activities last year on the Hanford Site on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Ten years ago, the Department of Energy (DOE) implemented a first-of-its-kind mission support contract at the Hanford Site, with one contractor responsible for integration, sitewide service delivery, alignment and prioritization of resources across the site.
At the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, our 4,400 exceptional staff members are committed to transforming the world through science and technology.
At midway through fiscal year 2019, PNNL (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) and PNSO (Pacific Northwest Site Office) have completed significant improvements to the north Richland campus and, as part of the Campus Master Plan, more projects and improvements are on the horizon.
Nearly 30 years ago, state and federal agencies forged a landmark agreement to apply environmental regulations to the Hanford site. The state of Washington joined with the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to negotiate and sign the Tri-Party Agreement, or TPA.
As president of Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS), I take great pride in leading a dedicated 2,800-member team that is tackling the most challenging environmental cleanup project in the nation.
Jersey Nuclear was formed, initiating the process to build what serves as Framatome’s nuclear fuel fabrication facility, on Aug. 1, 1969 – 12 days after astronaut Neil Armstrong spoke the famous words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
As the Hanford Advisory Board (HAB) begins its 25th year the challenges for the Board don’t get any easier. Cleaning up the legacy nuclear and chemical waste left behind by plutonium production at Hanford during the World War II Manhattan Project and through the cold war era continues to be a monumental job.
For today’s Mid-Columbia students, future opportunities for fulfilling, family-wage careers are growing, and probably none more than those in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Franklin PUD has always strongly supported robust salmon recovery efforts, including improvements to hydro, habitat, harvest and hatchery programs, all of which also benefit Southern Resident killer whales.
This winter was one to remember. What often gets overlooked are the significant efforts made by Benton PUD employees to ensure the power stays on in our community, even under the most extreme conditions.
Long viewed as a crisis by the scientific community, accelerated climate change will have impending serious consequences for our society. We can mitigate the most dire impacts if we act now, with a sense of urgency, to achieve meaningful reductions in carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.
NV5 is a multi-faceted science and engineering firm delivering infrastructure and energy solutions to customers around the world. Like most companies, NV5 is more than the sum of its parts. While the parts are important, our success and the success of our clients grow directly from the connections we foster.
The Tri-City Development Council’s (TRIDEC) mission is to facilitate job creation and capital investment in Benton and Franklin counties. TRIDEC is the only local organization that focuses solely on the economic health and well-being of the region.
The future looks bright for Visit Tri-Cities in 2019 as this year marks our 50th Anniversary. Tourism is economic development and over the past 50 years, Visit Tri-Cities has been successful in promoting the Tri-Cities and increasing visitation to our region, which impacts our entire community.
Based on the belief that our collective future is enhanced through collaboration, myTRI 2030 is a regional visioning initiative with the fundamental goal to create a shared vision for the region and drive collaborative action.
Over the past years, the Progress Edition report from the Pasco Chamber of Commerce has always featured an element of the importance of the Lower Snake River dams to our region and the Northwest. This is to rebut the constant drumbeat of those extreme groups calling for their removal.
It is going to be another exciting year full of new partnerships. Our year started with FUSE, SPC (business and community accelerator in Richland), and our work to create a community equity fund to support small businesses.
The Benton Franklin Council of Governments is designated as the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), the Regional Transportation Planning Organization (RTPO) and Economic Development District (EDD) for Benton and Franklin counties.
Spring thaw had a very relevant meaning this year in Tri-Cities as our region was completely covered with snow and ice for a month. What did that mean to our construction economy? A complete shutdown for breaking ground on new homes.
Benton-Franklin communities remained one of the state’s most vigilant and forward-pulsating economic regions in 2018. Economic activity continued to outpace the other areas, with employment rising 3.5 percent in December 2018, on a year-to-year basis, compared to 3.0 percent statewide.
This story was originally published April 19, 2019 at 9:05 PM.
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