washington business
Of Note
Battelle Gives $ 3.25M to Launch STEM Center
A STEM Community Learning Center is coming to Columbia Basin College in Pasco, thanks to a $ 3.25 million donation from Battelle— the largest Tri- Cities-area donation in the company’ s history. The immersive center will provide hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering and math for students, educators, families and the public.
Battelle’ s donation will support the renovation of an existing building on the CBC campus to house the new center and programs. Battelle marked its 60th anniversary this year of operating the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
“ It really came down to a chance to make a big impact and celebrate the anniversary,” said Battelle president and CEO Lou Von Thaer.“ We don’ t have enough engineers in this country. We are not doing enough to create that spark for our kids.”
Janicki Plans Major Expansion In Skagit County
Janicki Industries is building a new 162,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Hamilton in Skagit County that is expected to create up to 350 new jobs. The building will feature state-of-the-art equipment to support Janicki’ s advanced composites work for the aerospace industry; it is slated to be fully operational by March 2026.
“ This new facility and advanced equipment enable us to tackle more complex projects, expand our production capacity and further develop the skilled workforce essential to our success,” said John Janicki, president of Janicki. Since 2020, Janicki has increased headcount by 105 % and has more than 1 million square feet of production space in Washington.
18 association of washington business