Washington Business Winter 2019 | Washington Business | Page 40

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Students from seven local high schools apply for a chance to enter the Tri-Tech
program. A half dozen of its 922 students, wearing coveralls, took a break from their
welding program to come out and sign the AWB tour bus.
innovation and leadership
New ideas continue to fuel new opportunities. On a bluff near the Snake River, steel
and concrete posts are quickly rising as Columbia Pulp creates a factory that will use
its proprietary “Phoenix Process” to turn waste wheat straw into wet lap, which can be
used to make paper and a variety of other products. The company, near the tiny town of
Starbuck, will employ 80 to 100 people when it’s fully operational in early 2019.
“Rural manufacturing is important because it provides income for these areas and
creates jobs for hardworking people in these communities,” said Tony Waldo, plant
manager for Columbia Pulp. “This tour is important because it highlights the businesses
we have in the areas and the jobs they provide.”
In Shelton, Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) developed proprietary
technology to quickly scan logs to determine the optimal cuts and
dimensions of lumber to maximize every board-foot. SPI invested $100
million to build a new mill on the site of a century-old mill. The company
now employs 270 people. Many of the jobs are not the manual labor work
of old — instead, workers maintain the high-tech machines that do the
— AWB President Kris Johnson
heavy work of handling the milling of logs.
“We belong in the category of advanced manufacturing,” said Lisa Perry,
Washington community relations director for SPI. “These are good high-
tech jobs, family-wage jobs.”
members of congress on the tour
From big companies to small, from Puget Sound to the Snake River, every
stop on AWB’s Manufacturing Week tour emphasized that manufacturing
Four of Washington’s 10 U.S. House members
is crucial to the success of families, communities and Washington.
joined the Manufacturing Week bus tour during
And as Washington lawmakers debate how best to support the state’s
stops in Lacey, Vancouver, Bremerton and Spokane:
manufacturing sector, it’s worth remembering that every big company
• U.S. Rep. Denny Heck, D-10th District
began as a small one, and that our state’s biggest manufacturers support a
vibrant network of smaller suppliers.
• U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-3rd District
It’s a message that can be summarized in a poster that hangs on a wall
• U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-6th District
of the shop behind the Brester’s rural King County home: “Legacies can
• U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-5th District
be built in your garage.”
“Manufacturing supports strong commu-
nities in every corner of our state. ... Every
business starts as a small business.”
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