If economic development were an Olympic sport, 2021 was Pasco’s gold medal year.
That’s the year Amazon Inc., Darigold Inc. and Local Bounti Inc. all confirmed plans to collectively invest nearly $1 billion in new business facilities in Pasco, bringing the promise of jobs and new tax revenue.
Three years later, the promises of 2021 are starting to bear fruit. Amazon ($250 million) and Local Bounti ($40 million) are operating in Pasco and Darigold ($600 million) is close behind, with plans to open in “the first part of 2025.”
Amazon confirmed that one of the two warehouses constructed on its behalf near Sacajawea State Park began operating in late July, about a month after it began hiring 1,000-1,500 associates.
“Yes, the site is partially open and in the early stages of operations. It takes a while for things to be fully operational and ready for visitors,” Leigh Anne Gullett, Amazon spokeswoman, told the Tri-City Herald.
Don’t expect to see the inside just yet: Amazon won’t give tours until at least September.
“I always joke that they go in and break stuff first, but really it just takes time to test all the equipment and processes and get all the people trained so things are flowing smoothly,” she said.
Taxes and jobs
It took plenty of work to secure the newcomers for Pasco and even more to execute their projects.
“There’s so much that goes into landing these high investment projects in our community,” said Randy Hayden, executive director of the Port of Pasco, which recruited Darigold and helped secure money to build roads, utilities and extend rail service to the property.
Economic development is the port’s prime mission. When it succeeds, the community succeeds, he said.
“The result when all the pieces come together are long-term anchors for our community that help provide reliable property taxes for our schools, jobs for our growing population, and new resources for our non-profit agencies.”
It should be no surprise it took three years to see 2021’s headlines turn into businesses with employees.
It takes time to turn an idea into reality, said Jacob Gonzalez, the city of Pasco’s economic development director, who notes all three built facilities on sites that weren’t previously developed.
“You need to extend sewers. You need to extend water capacity. And traffic. That’s always on peoples minds,” he said.
Like Hayden, he’s pleased to see new businesses and said the class of 2021 is a good complement to Pasco’s agricultural roots.
“Being able to diversify our economic base has been our strategy for quite a long time,” he said.
Unexpected detours
Amazon and Local Bounti both took detours on the way to opening local facilities.
Amazon’s new Pasco warehouse, 1351 S. Road 40 E., opened as an “Inbound Cross Dock,” a link in its complicated supply chain. That wasn’t its original purpose.
Ryan Development, an Amazon partner, built it and a second warehouse across the street as fulfillment centers supporting customer deliveries. But both were left idle when Amazon paused its global expansion.
Earlier this year, it had a new mission for Pasco. The building it calls Project Oyster got a $10 million retrofit and opened as a warehouse that serves other warehouses.
It is is operating in tandem with the small delivery station being built for Amazon on North Capitol Avenue, ($25 million) The second Amazon warehouse remains unused.
Local Bounti followed its own twisting path.
The Montana ag-tech startup initially planned to make Pasco one of the first outposts for its commercial greenhouse business.
It chose a spot at East A Street and Oregon Avenue. It even began moving dirt to prepare the site for a 242,000-square-foot greenhouse.
Work stopped though while Local Bounti pursued an acquisition deal with a California rival, Hollandia Produce Group Inc., aka “Pete’s.” Pete’s came with its own facilities and development pipeline that had to be merged into the new company.
Local Bounti revived the Pasco project, which consists of a three-acre greenhouse and packaging facilities at 950 S. Elm Ave. Building permits value the building alone at $24 million.
Darigold’s big bet
Darigold Inc., the Seattle-based dairy cooperative, appears to have had fewer diversions.
It selected a site in the Port of Pasco after a lengthy recruitment that involved multiple agencies.
It broke ground on its a state-of-the-art $600 million plant on at 8201 N. Railroad Ave. nearly two years ago. Work is reportedly on track on what is billed as the largest private investment in Pasco history.
The plant will turn 8 million pounds of milk per day into butter and milk powder for infant formula and other uses.
It will purchase milk from 100 dairies and is expected to directly employ 200.
