March 2018
Volume 17 • Issue 3
Vandervert owes 56 Tri-City companies more than $865,000 BY TRI-CITIES AREA JOURNAL OF BUSINESS STAFF
Hospitality
WSU launches Institute for Senior Living program Page 11
Real Estate & Construction
Trucks & Auto Auctions building coming to Pasco Page 21
Insurance
Insurance coverage for women’s health issues tackled in Olympia page 39
he Said It
“We’re not a country club anymore. The biggest change is the attitude. We’ll be a welcoming place.” - Clint Ables, general manager, Zintel Creek Golf Club Page 6
A Spokane-based construction company in financial distress owes 56 Tri-City businesses and agencies more than $865,000. Two Tri-City companies are each owed more than $105,000, 13 companies are each owed more than $10,000, and 30 others are each owed less than $5,000. Vandervert Construction Inc. was placed in receivership last month, a move aimed at preserving its assets pending u Read distribution of receipts to more about creditors. Vandervert The 56 Tri-City busion page 35 nesses are among a total u List of local of 350 creditors owed creditors at $18.1 million, according tcjournal.biz to Spokane County Superior Court records. Most of the companies owed money are construction contractors, and their claims are unsecured. Court documents also list 14 Tri-City projects with active Vandervert Construction contracts or leases: • Kennewick’s Edge Hospitality Corp.’s Red Lion project. • First Richland L.P. of Walnut Creek, California, for Vintner Square Shopping Center in Richland. • Fred Meyer for $12 million Richland store remodel. • Blue Bridge Properties’ retail shell plaza in Kennewick. • Kennewick’s Central Washington Wireless. • Columbia Community Church’s $3.2 million renovation in Richland. • Gensco’s $4.95 million warehouse in Kennewick. • Richland’s Hampton Inn room remodel project. • Heyden Empire for the Roasters coffee shop in West Richland. • Landstar NW Investments’ Hallett Office tenant improvements in Pasco. • MOD Superfast Pizza in Richland. • Norcal Properties in Kennewick. • Panera Bread in Richland. • Riverwalk Village LLC for PBS Engineering tenant improvements in Richland.
Calin Tebay, a work force resource specialist, stands at the new Hanford Workforce Engagement Center, scheduled to open April 2 in Richland. The center’s goal is to help current and former Hanford employees, or their family members, who may need assistance filing claims or seeking benefits for different programs. (Courtesy MSA)
New Richland center to offer support to injured Hanford workers BY ROBIN WOJTANIK
for Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business
Hanford workers can soon visit a “onestop-shop” in Richland to receive guidance and assistance with claims and benefits, free of charge. The project has been talked about for years, but finally “grew legs” and is scheduled to open April 2 on Bradley Boulevard. “If somebody doesn’t know who to call and has a Hanford question, this is where they can go,” said Heather Goldie, manager of human resources, technical projects for Mission Support Alliance. Called the Hanford Workforce Engagement Center, it’s a collaboration
between the Department of Energy, Hanford site contractors, Hanford Atomic Metal Trades Council and the Central Washington Building and Trades Council. The purpose is to help current and former Hanford employees, or their family members, who may need assistance filing claims or seeking benefits for different programs. Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union 598 political and government affairs director Nick Bumpaous has witnessed the struggles from union members. “We’ve seen an issue with people trying to navigate the workers’ comp system. ‘Is my claim state or federal?’ And, ‘Who do I talk to?” uHANFORD, Page 4
Industry experts give robust economic forecast for Tri-Cities BY KRISTINA LORD editor@tcjournal.biz
A robust retail, housing and jobs market has industry experts singing the region’s economic praises. Several community leaders provided industry highlights during Tri-City Development Council’s annual economic outlook conference Feb. 15 at the Pasco Red Lion. Barbara Johnson, manager of Columbia Center mall in Kennewick, called the TriCity’s retail sector well positioned, serving as a regional shopping hub for the area. “Despite what you hear in other areas about retail, the Tri-City area is still doing very well in terms of its retail industry,” she said. Johnson pointed to last year’s Tri-City sales tax distributions totaling more than $42 million, a three percent increase over 2016. Statewide, sales tax distributions increased
7.4 percent. In Benton County, they rose 10.8 percent and in Franklin County they went up 4.8 percent. “It continues to be a state that obviously is doing well in the retail sector and people are continuing to buy in our areas,” she said. She said recent — and past — headlines about online shopping putting malls out of business aren’t true. She pointed to a Time magazine story about the demise of malls in 1998 under the headline, “Kiss your mall goodbye” “We’re still here. Like every industry, we go through restructuring,” she said. Johnson said Columbia Center is 97.4 percent leased. “There’s not a lot of vacancy,” she said. Nationwide, brick-and-mortar stores represent 90 percent of the total retail sales pie of $4.5 trillion, she said. uTRIDEC, Page 31
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