Member News

SERVPRO is proud to present the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl, scheduled to kick-off on December 30, 2019, at 12:30 ET at the Gerald J. Ford Stadium, located on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU) in University Park, Texas. This is the second annual SERVPRO First Responder Bowl, and it honors the sacrifice and service of those who stand as the first line of defense in local communities – the brave men and women who respond when the unexpected or the unthinkable happens, says David Smith of SERVPRO of Tri Cities West. This year’s game, televised by ESPN, will feature the Western Michigan University Broncos and the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers.

This year, SERVPRO asked their franchisees nationwide to submit the name of a local first responder to be considered for special recognition at this year’s game. SERVPRO has selected one first responder from this group of nominees to be honored with an award during a presentation on the field at the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. In addition to the award presentation, SERVPRO will provide the selected first responder with complimentary airfare, accommodations, and tickets for the game. 

Even if you can’t attend the game, you can still participate. Kennewick area residents who wish to honor the dedication of these hometown heroes across the country may purchase a “Sponsor a Responder” ticket for $15 at https://www.firstresponderbowl.com/first-responders-1 to help send a first responder to the game for free. According to Smith, SERVPRO’s goal is to distribute more than 10,000 complimentary SERVPRO First Responder Bowl tickets to first responders and their families nationwide. Everyone who chooses to “Sponsor a Responder” will be recognized on the stadium’s video board during the game.

First responders - including police officers, firefighters, EMS workers, correctional officers, search and rescue teams, dispatchers, security guards, federal agents, border patrol agents, and military personnel—may register to receive complimentary tickets at https://reservations.aresttravel.com/attraction/single/7045/1425.

“Every day, across the nation, ordinary people make an extraordinary commitment to their friends and neighbors to put themselves in harm’s way when the unexpected happens,” said Rick Isaacson, CEO of Servpro Industries, LLC. “The SERVPRO First Responder Bowl is one way we celebrate these dedicated first responders and their families as the hometown heroes they are.”

SERVPRO specializes in disaster restoration, cleanup, and repair services, helping to remediate damage, making it “Like it never even happened,” for both commercial and residential customers. For more information on SERVPRO of Tri Cities West, please contact David Smith at (509) 943-9290 or servpro9180@servprotcw.net. For more information about SERVPRO, please visit https://www.servpro.com.

Kenyon Zero Storage plans to expand their cold storage capacity in Franklin County with the recent purchase of 21 acres at the Port of Pasco’s Foster Wells Business Park. Kenyon plans to construct a 202,000 sq. ft. cold storage facility in 2020, which will complement their nearby 410,000 sq. ft. facility built in 2015.

“One of the main deciding factors in constructing our cold storage facilities at the Port property was the proximity to the many existing food processors at the Pasco Processing Center, the diverse Agricultural crops grown in the Columbia Basin region, and the ease of access to major transportation routes to the Pacific Northwest,” stated Scott Wingert, Kenyon Zero Storage, Inc. President.

Kenyon Zero’s facilities have the capability to freeze and/or refrigerate products and are equipped with bulk storage and racking to meet all of their clients’ needs.

“We have sold nearly all of the vacant land at the Foster Wells Business Park,” stated Mayra Reyna, the Port’s Director of Properties. We only have two lots available for sale and once those are sold both the Foster Wells Business Park and the Pasco Processing Center will be fully built out. This highlighted the need for additional industrial land, leading to the Port’s recent purchase of 300 acres about a mile north of the Pasco Processing Center, to be known as the Reimann Industrial Center.

“Kenyon Zero’s expansion demonstrates the success of our economic development strategy,” said Randy Hayden, Port of Pasco Executive Director. The Port partnered with the City of Pasco and Franklin PUD to develop the Pasco Processing Center. We were not only successful in recruiting food processing to our region, but also companies serving that industry, like Kenyon Zero. The strategy helped bring new jobs to Pasco.Kenyon is one of the top ten taxpayers in Franklin County which helps support local governments and local schools.”
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The Foster Wells Business Park is a 50-acre development geared for light industrial development. Today, businesses such as Second Harvest, Rock Placing Company, Volm, Teton Gold, Pioneer Packaging and PECCAS, LLC call it home.

​Long-time Junior Achievement volunteer and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory employee, Bridget Bersell was recently named Junior Achievement’s 2019 Volunteer of the Year! Awarded annually to a local volunteer, the Volunteer of the Year award is one of the highest honors given by our Junior Achievement of Washington, Southeastern Region office. 

Bridget has a passion for helping students prepare for the workforce and has been an advocate for JA many years.  An incredible classroom volunteer for 16 years, Bridget has inspired hundreds of students in the classroom.  Bridget also serves as Company Coordinator for JA’s annual Bowling Classic, organizing 11 bowling teams.  Tamra Meyer, Regional Director of Junior Achievement, Southeastern Region, stated “Bridget has made a huge difference in the lives of our students.  She is a wonderful supporter of JA and is always willing to share the mission with great enthusiasm.  She is an inspiration to the students she works with and those around her.”

Bridget, a Team Battelle volunteer, stated “I volunteer for so many reasons.  I truly think giving back to the community is something we should all aspire to do.  There is something remarkable and unique about being a JA volunteer.  Helping students realize the potential their future holds and seeing them respond to that potential is an incredible feeling.”

The Port of Kennewick’s 2018 financial statement audit, and the 2017 & 2018 accountability audits were clean, complete and accurate – with no findings, according to the Washington State Auditor’s Office (SAO).

“The port takes the responsibility of receiving and managing taxpayer dollars to grow and improve the local economy very seriously,” said Tim Arntzen, port chief executive officer. “These audits and the decades of clean audits before that confirm that
we steward public dollars in a transparent and trustworthy manner.”

Independent audits of the port’s financial records and procedures are performed annually to ensure complete and accurate reporting; a proper expenditure of tax dollars; and to validate that the port follows its own policies and procedures as well as local, state and federal laws.

The port’s Chief Financial Officer, Nick Kooiker stated, “These audits mark 24 years where we’ve received no audit findings. That’s significant because people don’t always trust government, and these independent audits and reviews help assure the public that our port has tight internal controls in place which safeguard their funds."

The audited reports are available on the State Auditor’s website at sao.wa.gov.

Santa is coming to Kennewick for the Numerica Hometown Holiday on Saturday, December 7 in Downtown Kennewick from 10 am to 1 pm. An old-fashioned parade welcoming Santa and featuring holiday themed floats, police and fire vehicles, and entertaining characters starts at 10:30 am. Get there early and grab a free cup of hot chocolate for the entire family at the Numerica Credit Union hot chocolate bar in Claus Plaza. After the parade, snap a Selfie with Santa and tell him what you want for Christmas. Last year thousands of people lined Kennewick Ave. between Dayton and Auburn streets to experience holiday nostalgia.

Road closures/detours start at 7 am, and vehicles should be removed from the parade route by that time (parked outside of the green areas indicated on the parade route/road closure map). By noon, Kennewick Ave. will reopen to traffic. Afternoon activities will take place in the “Flag Plaza” (aka “Claus Plaza”) parking lot at Kennewick Ave/Benton St. until 1 pm.

Franklin PUD in partnership with HAPO Community Credit Union are kicking off a community effort to raise funds for Franklin PUD’s Helping Hands program on Monday, December 2nd from 12:00pm to 5:00pm at Franklin PUD’s Main Offices at 1411 W Clark St in Pasco, WA.

Franklin PUD’s Helping Hands program provides qualifying customers with emergency assistance to help pay their electric bill. “We are thankful for HAPO’s compassion for our community and partnering with us to raise funds for Helping Hands. We see an increase in families struggling to pay their electric bill during the winter months when temperatures drop and the use of electric heat increases to stay warm” says Holly Dohrman, Franklin PUD’s Assistant General Manager. “We want to do all we can to make sure we have a variety of programs and services available to our customers when they need it, and our Helping Hands program is a great example of that.”

Franklin PUD’s Helping Hands kick-off begins at 12:00 p.m. with a live radio remote on LaLey Radio 100.1FM, giveaways, and tacos.

HAPO Community Credit Union will present a $4,000.00 donation to Helping Hands at 1:00 p.m.
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Please join Franklin PUD and HAPO Community Credit Union in this important community effort to raise funds for local families – a warm home is something we don’t want families living without this winter.

​The next seminar in Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Community Science and Technology Seminar Series, “How Does Carbon Capture Work,” presented by Dave Heldebrant, Chief Scientist in the Energy and Environment Directorate at PNNL, will take place on Tuesday, December 10, 2019, at 7:00 p.m., at the Mid-Columbia Library (1620 S. Union St., Kennewick). 

The world is undergoing a renewable energy revolution, though renewables cannot provide enough power for a fully carbon-free energy economy. The burning of fossil fuels will continue for the next two decades to meet our (still growing) energy demands, releasing gigatons of CO2 into the environment. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (ICPP) has concluded that the removal of 20 gigatons of CO2 per year from the atmosphere by the year 2050 will limit catastrophic warming by the year 2100. Carbon capture is a process that removes CO2 before or after a fuel is burned to make power. This talk provides an overview of carbon capture, with an emphasis on the technical challenges, the energy burdens, equipment costs, and most importantly the scale of carbon capture infrastructure.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Community Science and Technology Seminar Series was launched to help the general public better understand and explore how science transforms our world. 

HAPO Community Credit Union is excited to announce its partnership with McCurley Integrity Dealerships, Tyson Foods, Sun Pacific Energy to help the Union Gospel Mission help those in need this holiday season. Throughout the month of December, these community partners came together to plan the following events.

December 3rd from 2:00 – 4:00 PM - Join us on at the Tri-City Union Gospel Mission to kick off the holiday season with our version of Chopped “What’s for Christmas Dinner Edition” competition featuring three local chefs. Everyone is welcome to attend to enjoy refreshments and learn more about the Mission. The winner of the Chopped competition will be announced and the winning dish will be served on Christmas Eve.

December 4th and 5th - HAPO will be holding the following financial education classes at the Union Gospel Mission.

• Dec 4th at 1:00 PM – Choosing Your Financial Institution & Budget Basics
• Dec 5th at 10:00 AM – Living on your Own & Good vs Bad Spending
• Dec 5th at 1:00 PM – ID Theft

Earn “HAPO bucks” by attending the free financial classes that those in need can use to buy gifts at the “Christmas at the Mission” event on December 24th. The Christmas store and classes are only for residents at this time.

December 24th from 2:00 – 4:00 PM: “Christmas at the Mission” - This family-friendly event includes free Christmas Eve dinner, shopping for gifts with HAPO Bucks, gift-wrapping, and photos with Santa. For events HAPO is part of, please visit our Community Events Calendar on hapo.org.

HAPO Community Credit Union serves over 170,000 members

Trios Health is joining with LifeNet Health next week to host a Tree of Life celebration event on Tuesday, Dec. 3, from 5-7 p.m. at the Trios Care Center at Southridge, located at 3730 Plaza Way.

LifeNet Health hosts Tree of Life events annually in December with its donation partners as a tribute to tissue donors, knowing that the holidays are often an especially hard time for many donor families. This ceremony also allows for the employees of LifeNet Health and Trios Health to be able to share their gratitude for these special people and their families by letting them place ornaments on the tree in their honor. We honor the donors, donor families, and staff who all help make donation happen.

Attendees are welcome to bring an ornament or create one at the event to place on the tree. Light refreshments will be provided.

The tree will remain up in the Trios Care Center at Southridge lobby through December. The Tree of Life event has been hosted by LifeNet Health for several years, but this is the first event to ever be held in eastern Washington.

Earlier this year, Trios Southridge Hospital was awarded the 2018 Operating Room of the Year Award from LifeNet in recognition of Trios’ work with LifeNet to help with tissue recovery and donations, and for the cooperation, willingness, timeliness, and flexibility to make accommodations for those tissue recoveries to occur.

In 2018, Trios operating rooms were used 19 times by LifeNet Health to recover tissue from donors. One tissue donor has the possibility to enhance or save the lives of more than 150 people. Recoveries through Trios last year have already impacted more than 1,000 people in the Northwest and will continue to be used to enhance and save many more lives.

A new, one-of-a-kind book written to be a resource for Indigenous communities and leaders, natural resource managers and government organizations in protecting freshwater rivers in the tropical Andes and Amazon has been co-authored by Heritage University Associate Professor Alex Alexiades, PhD.  Los ríos de las cuencas Andino-Amazónicas (Rivers of the Andean-Amazonian Basins) was co-authored by Alexiades and collaborators to help communities worldwide protect their water from pollution. It is being published in Spanish by the Universidad San Francisco de Quito Press located in Ecuador.

Dr. Alexiades says a recent World Economic Forum Global Risks Report ranked the water crisis as one of the five most important potential threats to worldwide economic and social stability. "The water supply in many regions is becoming scarce as demand exceeds supply while contamination increases. Since 1971, this combination has resulted in more than 80% of freshwater species to dwindle in numbers, or become extinct," he said. "Because of this alarming threat, it's more important than ever to help communities understand, monitor and protect their freshwater resources. Los ríos de las cuencas Andino-Amazónicas will enable communities to make better resource management and conservation decisions."

The work by Alexiades and his partners has received financial support from the Latin American Water Fund Alliance, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the National Science Foundation. The Nature Conservancy and several other agencies collaborated with the authors on Los ríos de las cuencas Andino-Amazónicas for its work to improve water quality in the Andean-Amazon region for both the people and the environment. 

Los ríos de las cuencas Andino-Amazónicas is the second book on an environmental crisis authored by Dr. Alexiades and his colleagues. Their first book, Nuestro Vivir En La Amazonía Ecuatoriana: Entre La Finca Y El Petróleo (Our Life in the Ecuadorian Amazon: Caught Between Petroleum and Agriculture), came out in 2018 and detailed the struggles of local indigenous and mestizo communities and their environment as they faced increasing threats from mining, petroleum.

For more information contact Alex Alexiades at (509) 865-0732 or alexiades_a@heritage.edu.