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Of Note
PNNL Recognized for Excellence in Support of Hanford
Vit Plant
Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI) has recognized the Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory (PNNL) as a key part of the Hanford Vit Plant
program to convert nuclear and chemical waste into glass that can
be safely stored.
In July, Bechtel awarded PNNL its Nuclear, Security &
Environmental Large Business Subcontractor 2016 Supply Chain
Recognition Program Award, honoring PNNL’s “commitment to
excellence and quality.”
“The support of our subcontractors, suppliers, and vendors is
critical to the work we do,” said Barbara Rusinko, president of
Bechtel’s government services company, which is designing and
constructing the Vit Plant for the Department of Energy to turn
millions of gallons of radioactive waste at Hanford into sturdy glass
for safe, long-term storage using a process called vitrification.
PNNL has supported Bechtel on the Vit Plant project since 2001,
helping resolve technical challenges and safety concerns involved in
this unique and complex project. Among its contributions is studying
the makeup of the complex chemical soup of radioactive liquids and
solids that have been stored for decades in aging underground tanks
at Hanford.
A key to the successful 16-year collaboration has been having PNNL
staff located at BNI’s offices, working side-by-side with their staff,
said Reid Peterson, manager of PNNL’s Vit Plant support program.
To learn more about PNNL’s work at the Hanford Vit Plant, visit
energyenvironment.pnnl.gov.
Telect to Remain in Liberty Lake
After Purchase by Connecticut-based
Amphenol
Liberty Lake-based Telect, Inc., announced
it has been purchased by Connecticut-based
Amphenol Corp. The company will now be
known as Amphenol Telect. It will remain
in Liberty Lake and will retain its 230
employees.
“There are no plans to move the business
outside of Liberty Lake,” said Wayne
Williams, general manager of the newly-
minted Amphenol Telect. “We have nothing
planned on that. The intention is that they
want to keep it managed, keep the culture
of the business and the employees of the
business here.”
The company was founded in Spokane
Valley in 1982 with just three employees
— Judy and Bill Williams and their son,
Wayne. The company now has annual sales
of about $45 million. Terms of the sale were
not disclosed, but Amphenol reports sales of
more than $1.6 billion in the most recent fiscal
quarter.
Wayne Williams will stay on as general
manager of Amphenol Telect.
Walmart Announces Plan to Renew American Manufacturing, Create 1.5 Million Jobs
Walmart unveiled its Policy Roadmap to Renew U.S. Manufacturing at a bipartisan event in July featuring a broad range of
business, nonprofit, governmental and other sectors.
In 2013, Walmart committed to sourcing an additional $250 billion over 10 years in goods that support American jobs.
The retailer said that it has learned a lot about the challenges and opportunities to U.S. manufacturing since it announced
the major made-in-America investment four years ago.
“The good news is we’ve also learned how to overcome the challenges and, because of our experience, Walmart is uniquely
positioned to help facilitate broad engagement in accelerating the expansion of U.S. manufacturing,” said Cindi Marsiglio,
Walmart vice president for U.S. Sourcing and Manufacturing.
Among the top barriers to a resurgent U.S. manufacturing sector: (1) workforce; (2) coordination and financing; (3)
regulation; and, (4) tax and trade policies. The company proposes specific policies that have the potential to effectively
accelerate and grow U.S. manufacturing.
According to an analysis by the Boston Consulting Group, Walmart’s initiative to manufacture goods in the U.S. could
replace approximately $300 billion of the $650 billion of consumer goods that are currently imported, including furniture,
cookware, and sporting goods. And, the report estimates that for every $100 billion of retailer expenditures on American-
made goods, there is the potential to create over 500,000 direct manufacturing jobs, which could result in an additional 1.5
million indirect jobs.
To learn more on this initiative, visit bit.ly/RenewManufacturing.
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