Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

Paul & Diane Santillie of Kennewick, who made such a wonderful success of their pasta and sauce business, Pasta Mama’s, are back in business after a 16 year absence. Their story is one of triumph and tragedy. They developed the pasta business and became outstanding small business leaders in the state of Washington. Then tragedy struck on what was supposed to be a celebration of Paul’s 50th birthday – a hot air balloon ride that no one living in the Tri Cities could forget. The result was Paul being paralyzed, the business failure due to the accident and finally, bankruptcy and loss of everything.  But like the Phoenix, the Santillie’s are rising again. They most recently signed a lease on a building on North Columbia Center Blvd where they will have a manufacturing area, a retail shop, a restaurant and a garment printing business.  Lots of their former vendors, customers and business associates have been encouraging them and keeping in contact over the years, and were delighted to hear the news that Pasta Mama’s is Back!  We wish them the very best in their endeavor.

Venture capitalism has gone through some rough patches over the last few years, needing to change the types of businesses to invest in, and with that change from software and biotechnology comes the shift into the fields of clean energy technology. That shift feeds right into the hands of many wonderful companies here in the Tri Cities, which is quickly becoming a nexus for this field, and that in itself is potentially attracting new business to the area.  Pacific Northwest National Labs has involved itself in the field of virtualization and visualization as a type of search technology, which can “Capture, analyze and understand data at volumes and rates that push the frontiers of current technologies.”  According to PNNL leaders, the sky’s the limit with this technology which makes it very attractive to investors, and that bodes well for continuing growth of the Tri Cities.

The Tri Cities is full of outstanding volunteers in many different fields of endeavor, and last week 18 of those individuals were honored by the Soroptomist International for their community service and education. The women honored, including a mother and daughter, were recognized at a ceremony where the Live Your Dream campaign was emphazied, which was developed to encourage women and girls to work towards the culmination of their dreams and in turn, “pay it forward” to others.

Many congratulations to all the women honored, and to the thousands of selfless volunteers in the Tri Cities and Mid-Columbia region.

Kennewick was the location for a Culinary and Agritourism Workshop with local farmers, chefs and state workers on Thursday. It is the intent of these individuals to boast tourism in Washington State , and specifically here in the Tri Cities, which will additionally bring recognition to speciality crops grown in our region.  Leaders of the workshop hope that more cooperation can highlight the Tri Cities as an ag/tourism destination.

The Ben Franklin Transit company indicates that the Tri Cities will be getting some new routes in the next few months. During the work week riders will see some routes merged, and that can mean longer wait times and rides.  Public meetings will be held on on Monday March 8th, at 10 am and 5 pm, so that residents can hear the proposed changes. The meetings will be held at the transit office across from the Benton County Justice Center.

The Tri Cities will play host to a pair of co-authors whose book Weird Washington will be presented at local libraries in West Richland, Benton City, Prosser, Othello and Kennewick (tonight at 7pm). The book is a traveler’s guide to unique, quirky, bizarre and strange places here in the state, along with the tall tales, legends, and unbelievable facts about happenings over the course of our state’s history.  Outside of Benton City/Kiona, the authors visited a babies cemetary set up in the hills which they felt was very eerie. Strange things happen…..