Tri-City Area and Real Estate Blog

Local CEO’s and Community Business Leaders will come together with members of the Young Professionals of Tri-Cities in a charity softball game Thursday May 27th at GESA Stadium in Pasco, with the game being promoted as “The Battle of the Ages”.   Employees from Infinia Corporation and the Tri-City Regional Chamber of Commerce comprise both teams, with a few extra local business leaders making up the “Suits Team”.  The game starts at 6:00 p.m. and tickets are $10 & $15.  The ticket proceeds will benefit the Greater Tri-Cities YMCA and are available at the locations below:

• TRIDEC Office – 7130 W. Grandridge Blvd in Kennewick 
• YMCA – 1234 Columbia Park Trail in Richland, and
• GESA Stadium in Pasco

The TRAC facility in Pasco is the place to be this April 28th and 29th if you are a small business owner. The Annual Bridging Partnership Small Business Symposium will take place over these   2 days and will teach business owners the “ins and outs” of partnering with Hanford contractors to pick up government business. The event is sponsored by PNNL, TRIDEC, DOE and the primary contractors of the Hanford area. There will be a 4-hour tour of the Hanford site on Wednesday and an expo with 100 vendors is included. The cost for the event is $75 is pre-registered prior to April 15.  More information is available by calling 509-735-1000.

• The Chamber of Commerce of West Richland is accepting nominations for its Outstanding Citizen of the Year award, which will be held January 22nd. Nominees should be be a Chamber member or work or live in the West Richland area. Call 967-0521 for more information.

• January 27 is the date for the 11th annual TRIDEC Regional Economic Outlook conference at TRAC in Pasco. The conference consists of business leaders and government officials. Call 735-1000 for details.

• $37 million was awarded to Tri City small businesses over 2009 through Washington River Protection Solutions, the Hanford Tank Operations contractor. Businesses in Benton, Franklin and Yakima counties benefited.

• A $500,000 donation to the Tri Cities WSU branch and Columbia Basin College to support local higher education, was recently made by Washington River Protection Solutions, the Hanford Tank Operations contractor, with the majority of the funding to go into science, technology and engineering programs at both facilities.

3,000 nonfarm jobs gained this year! Wow the Tri-Cities is on the move with more than a 3 percent increase, which is noteworthy because of losses of jobs throughout the country.

The majority of growth in jobs was in the business and professional sectors, health and educational services and local government. Nationwide, our Tri-Cities of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland is one of the 10 communities to see job growth within the last 6 months.

According to TRIDEC officials our economy has been kept afloat due to stable energy production, food processing and Hanford employment. In addition to that, local housing and retail industries are strong in this community.