Can you hear me now?

Powerboating is a true joy unless you’re trying to talk to the person next to you. Boat engines are noisy, whether they are inboards or outboards. The constant roar of the engine has ruined more than one party, and perhaps even a relationship or two. Enter Pure...

A pivot, personified!

You’d think that a company celebrating its 100th year in business would be pretty stodgy and unbending. But not UMC, Inc. Founded in 1920, the Mukilteo company has been through the Great Depression, a world war, the infamous “will the last one leaving Seattle turn out...

Catching our breath.

If there was ever a right time and a right place, Washington’s Ventec Life Systems would be in it. As the nation is held in the grip of a global pandemic, the shortage of ventilators has become sadly apparent. Currently, there are only 160,000 ventilators in the...

State launches new portal for manufacturers.

Navigating the regulatory environment can be a complex undertaking for manufacturers. Washington’s new online Regulatory Roadmap will ease some of that pain, allowing businesses to explore their options through a new online portal. The portal is the first of its kind...

Vigor gives Vancouver a boatload of work.

When it comes to building a new generation of landing craft for the U.S. Army, Vancouver is the big winner. Over the next 10 years, Vigor will be the prime contractor on the nearly $1 billion contract for the Maneuver Support Vessel (Light), or MSV/L. Vigor will...

A big gamble with a big payoff.

Local economic developers must have had one heck of a crystal ball back in 1968 when the Port of Tacoma purchased 500 acres in Frederickson for $1.6 million. They hoped to one day turn the acreage into an industrial center, a major hub for manufacturing and...

Take that, Rumpelstiltskin.

Rumpelstiltskin may have known how to spin straw into gold, but a new plant being built in Washington State knows something about spinning straw into gold too. Technically, it’s pulp, but the new $184 million pulp mill near Dayton promises to be a gold mine...

New CLT plant in Spokane Valley to break ground.

Katerra is breaking ground on a new plant in Spokane Valley that will soon be turning out cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glulam, materials that can be used to replace concrete and steel in high-rise buildings. The 250,000 square foot factory will eventually employ...

A new generation of highly skilled talent.

As in many counties in Washington State, Clark County is already planning for a future where Baby Boomers punch the clock for the last time. Economic development professionals there estimate that more than 30,000 workers will need to be replaced in the next 10 years...