Tri-Cities Buzz

2012 BRIDGING PARTNERSHIPS REGISTRATION OPEN!

The 2012 Bridging Partnerships Small Business Symposium, DOE Regional Summit will be held April 18-19th @ the TRAC in Pasco, WA. 

Join more than 400 participants at the 9th Annual Bridging Partnerships Small Business Symposium! This event is a Business Expo with a focus on Government Contracting and Doing Business at Hanford, with exciting Networking Opportunities and Educational Breakout Sessions for Your Growing Business! For More Information & To Register Online, CLICK HERE!

Richland Makes “Best Places to Live” List

Richland and four other Washington cities (Tacoma, Bellevue, Vancouver and Spokane) are among a list of the 100 Best Places to Live in America, according to a new report.  RelocateAmerica, based in Brighton, Mich., said the 100 cities are "well-positioned for economic recovery, already experiencing strong economic recovery or have proven overall economic stability.  Factors such as employment, education, community leadership and overall quality of life are strongly considered and the data is examined to determine the Top 100."

Attend the PREMIER Manufacturing Expo in the Pacific Northwest - Smartmap Expo 2011

Grow Your Business with Advanced Manufacturing

Find out which Advanced Manufacturing concepts work for you , and which don't . . . by registering today to exhibit at the Premier Manufacturing Networking Event in the Pacific Northwest!

Cost to exhibit is ONLY $500 and registration includes:

• Two Badges.  Each badge provides attendance for one at the TiLite Smartmap Tour, Exhibitor Reception - Gesa Sports Bar, and the TRIDEC Power Lunch.
• A 10'X10' booth at the Manufacturer's Exposition.  Booth includes an 8' high back drape, 3' high side drapes, one 8' table with linen/skirting, two chairs, carpeting, electricity and wireless internet connection.
• Additional badges may be purchased for $100 each.

Click here to register as an exhibitor.

Click here to download the Smartmap 2011 Official Agenda and Success Seminar Information.

If you choose not to exhibit at Smartmap 2011, but would still like to attend, click here to register as an attendee.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AWARDS $994,600 TO CBC & WSU TRI-CITIES

Tri-Cities, WA - The two higher education institutions in the Tri-Cities collaborated with the Tri-City Development Council to receive a $994,600 award from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management to build the next generation of project management, nuclear engineering, and radiation safety professionals.

"This DOE Financial Assistance Award comes at a significant time in our community's economy, especially given the ongoing state budget cuts to higher education," TRIDEC President Carl Adrian said.  "Our proposal was successful because of the support from our Congressional Delegation, the Hanford Prime Contractors, HAMMER, the Hanford Site Future Workforce Subcommittee, and IBEW-77."

The award is for $994,600 to Columbia Basin College, including a sub-award of $383,460 to Washington State University Tri-Cities. It is effective immediately and extends through June 2012.

"I am pleased that the Tri-Cities received this grant from the Department of Energy," Congressman Doc Hastings said. "I applaud TRIDEC and their partners for their contributions to Central Washington and am confident that this investment will continue the success of CBC and WSU Tri-Cities."
 
Columbia Basin College will use $611,140 to establish a One-Year Certificate in Project Management, an AA Degree in Project Management, curriculum for a PMP Certificate, a Project Management Training Center, and a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Project Management, plus will issue $200,000 in scholarships.  The funding allows CBC to hire three full-time and two part-time employees to implement the programs. 

"This grant funding will allow CBC to train students on Primavera, a commonly-used project portfolio management software used in business and industry today," CBC President Rich Cummins said.  "Developing project management curriculum through the DOE funding ultimately will provide certificates, associate, and baccalaureate degree options in project management."

WSU Tri-Cities will receive $383,460 to enhance a Nuclear Engineering Graduate Certificate, to develop a Health and Safety Graduate Certificate, to create a Career Readiness web portal, and to support student success through mentoring, tutoring, technical internships, and select scholarships.

"These graduate certificate programs will enable us to address two areas of significant demand from employers for professionals who have expertise in radiation protection and for engineers who understand advanced principles of nuclear engineering," said James R. "Dick" Pratt, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at WSU Tri-Cities.

"This is just one of the many ways that TRIDEC and our community partners contribute to the future success of the Tri-Cities," Adrian said.  "TRIDEC is committed to working towards many more wins for our local economy."

New Chapter of Young Professionals In Energy Starts Here!

Kennewick, WA- The first Pacific Northwest Chapter of Young Professionals In Energy (YPE) has been chartered in Kennewick, WA.

Young Professionals in Energy (“YPE”) is a non-profit energy industry networking organization with over 20,000 members worldwide.  YPE is dedicated to providing a forum for networking and career development for professionals in the global energy industry. YPE runs a year-round calendar of events in 20 chapters around the world. Please click here to see our calendar of upcoming events.

Mission Statement
YPE aims to facilitate the advancement of young professionals in the energy industry around the world through social, educational and civic service oriented events.  The desired outcome of YPE is to foster an environment where members can learn from each other’s experiences, share industry knowledge and discuss career matters. 

Vision Statement
YPE is a positive catalytic force in uniting the young energy leaders of today. YPE prepares its members to be the best leaders for their communities and for the global energy industry.

Members
YPE seeks involvement from a broad base of professionals working in the energy industry. Engineers, geoscientists, landmen, financial analysts, lobbyists, governments employees, accountants, attorneys, commercial and investment bankers, principal investors, consultants, and anyone else with a direct professional focus on the global energy sector are encouraged to join YPE.

For More Information on Becoming a Member of Tri-Cities Young Professionals in Energy Contact:

Jessica Ballard                                      or                        Traci Jao

jballard@InfiniaCorp.com                                            tjao@tridec.org

END OF CLEANUP WITHIN REACH

HANFORD CLEANUP –

Proposed reductions in the House to DOE Environmental Management and to Hanford Cleanup funding in the last-half of this fiscal year does not make sense.  

There has been significant progress in cleaning up the River Corridor and removing the plutonium from the Central Plateau as a result of the ARRA funding.  With the ARRA funding going away by September, more than 2,000 staff reductions have already been announced by Hanford contractors.   But to compound those known reductions, a possible $300M Hanford budget reduction in the last half of the fiscal year would drastically impact DOE’s ability to meet TPA compliant milestones in FY2012 and FY2013, and would increase the numbers of staff that would have to be laid off.

TRIDEC President, Carl Adrian and I travelled to D.C. last week to bring the message of these potential budget impacts to our Congressional Delegation; speaking directly with Congressman Doc Hastings and Senator Maria Cantwell, and also talking with staff from Senator Murray, Congressmen Norm Dicks, Adam Smith and Rick Larson’s offices.  It is clear that our delegation is very supportive of stable funding for PNNL and Hanford. 

The outcome of the budget reduction battle between the House and Senate, is not all that clear.

For the first time, the end of major cleanup efforts along the Columbia River, and in the central plateau are becoming reality.   Our community can actually see that the end of cleanup of 90% of the Hanford site is within reach!   This will be a historic accomplishment, and DOE and the Hanford contractors and sub-contractors are to be commended.  They have been doing this work safely, economically, and in many cases ahead of TPA milestones.

This community is looking forward to the early startup of the Waste Treatment Plant, and to cleaning out the single-shell tanks.  American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding helped bring this end in sight and accelerated overall Hanford cleanup by nearly several years.   Our community was certainly the beneficiary of these funds, and now we also could see the collateral damage if cleanup funding isn’t maintained to completion.

Cleanup of Hanford is not discretionary!  It is a Federal obligation, it is essential to the health and economic vitality of our communities and the nation, and it positions the Hanford site for future energy missions.

~Gary Petersen, V.P. Hanford Programs

Tri-City Development Council

(509) 735-1000

1-800-TRI-CITY (874-2489)

OUTSMARTING THE WIND

December 20, 2010
Frances White, PNNL, (509) 375-6904

Study gathers comprehensive wind info to improve renewable energy
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists are researching how radar weather instruments can help improve predictions on when and how strongly winds will blow. They're testing the instruments from a working wind farm in southeastern Washington State.

RICHLAND, Wash. – Meteorological equipment typically used to monitor storms could help power grid operators know when to expect winds that will send turbine blades spinning, as well as help them avoid the sudden stress that spinning turbines could put on the electrical grid.

"We know that the wind will blow, but the real challenge is to know when and how much," said atmospheric scientist Larry Berg. "This project takes an interesting approach — adapting an established technology for a new use — to find a reliable way to measure winds and improve wind power forecasts."

Berg and Rob Newsom, both researchers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, are using a variety of meteorological equipment to measure winds high up into the air - about 350 feet, the average height of turbine hubs - and get a better reading on how winds behave up there.

Wind measurements are typically made much lower — at about 30 feet high — for weather monitoring purposes. Wind power companies do measure winds higher up, but that information is usually kept proprietary. PNNL's findings will be available to all online.

The study's findings could also provide more accurate wind predictions because of its field location — a working wind farm. The equipment is being erected on and near a radio tower near the 300-megawatt Stateline Wind Energy Center, a wind power project that runs along the eastern Washington-Oregon border. Any wind power company could use the study's findings to improve how sites are chosen for wind farms and how those farms are operated.
 

The equipment started collecting measurements in November. Berg and Newsom will continue gathering measurements for about nine months, or through this summer. The period will allow the researchers to draw a more complete and accurate picture of how wind behaves at turbine height. The period represents the windiest months for the area.
 "The goal here is to help everyone — not just one group — better understand wind's behavior and ultimately improve our use of it as a renewable power source," Newsom said.

Cool tools
But first researchers need to document wind behavior. To do that, they're employing a handful of sophisticated meteorological tools.

One key instrument is the National Weather Service's NEXRAD Doppler radar weather station in Pendleton, Ore., about 19 miles south of Stateline. The station emits short pulses of radio waves that bounce back when they strike water droplets and other particles in the air. A national network of these stations is routinely used by television meteorologists to show clouds and precipitation in familiar, colorful digital maps.  For this study, computers will analyze the returned signals to determine how the wind varies in the area around the radar, including the wind farm.

The team is also installing equipment specifically designed to measure wind speed and direction: a radar wind profiler. Like NEXRAD, the profiler sends out radio waves that are bounced back when it hits variations in moisture or temperature. But while NEXRAD scans the entire sky with its one rotating radar beam, the profiler sends three radar beams up into the sky. The profiler being used is part of the DOE's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility.

Another tool they're using is Doppler sodar, which uses sound instead of radio waves. A regular sequence of high-pitched beeps is sent into the sky and, like radar, will be reflected from variations in moisture and temperature. That information will help researchers measure winds that are at lower heights in the sky than the profiler can measure.
 

Finally, the researchers will install ultrasonic anemometers on the radio tower. The anemometer holds six tiny microphones, and measures the time it takes for sound pulses to travel from one microphone to another. Beyond measuring speed, the anemometer also helps determine wind direction. Combined, all this equipment will help researchers gain a more comprehensive understanding of how wind behaves at the turbine level of a working wind farm.
 

Improving renewable energy
Data collected during this study will be used to evaluate the performance of computer models of the atmosphere near the operating wind farm. These computer models are routinely used to provide weather forecasts of wind conditions hours and even days into the future. This information can help wind farms operate more efficiently and lets them better integrate the power they produce into the electric grid. These models are known to have relatively large errors in forecasting the severity and times of strong winds, including gusts during thunderstorms as fronts pass through an area. Even relatively small errors in wind speed predictions can lead to large errors in the predicted power outputs of wind farms.
 

When that happens, grid operators have to accommodate the influx of power, often by diverting or turning off other power sources. In the Pacific Northwest, that can mean spilling river water over hydroelectric dams instead of sending the water through the dams' power-producing turbines. Sometimes those diversions are needed on a moment's notice, when the grid becomes overwhelmed by unexpected windy weather. If such gusts could be reliably predicted ahead of time, power operators could make adequate plans beforehand. And when the wind stops blowing unexpectedly, the grid can experience a quick need for power.
 

Wind power companies could also use improved predictions to more wisely choose their wind farm sites. These companies invest heavily in understanding the wind characteristics of their sites before breaking ground, but forecasting turbine-level winds is still an evolving field.
 

As a result, two industrial partners are collaborating with Newsom and Berg on their research. 3TIER of Seattle, Wash., and WindLogics of St. Paul, Minn., both help wind power developers identify and evaluate potential locations for wind farms. They're serving as consultants and have provided input on what kind of data would be most helpful when examining wind sites.

If the NEXRAD wind data is verified by the data collected through the other meteorological equipment, the next step in this research would be to plug the NEXRAD data into a working weather model. The model could then be used to better predict future wind behavior. Using the data in a weather model is outside the scope of Berg and Newsom's current research, but they hope to be able to do so in the future.
 

Field work for the study began this month and will continue for about nine months. This study is funded by the DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Wind and Water Power Program and the Office of Science Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Facility.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a Department of Energy Office of Science national laboratory where interdisciplinary teams advance science and technology and deliver solutions to America's most intractable problems in energy, the environment and national security. PNNL employs 4,900 staff, has an annual budget of nearly $1.1 billion, and has been managed by Ohio-based Battelle since the lab's inception in 1965. Follow PNNL on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

TRI-CITIES CONTINUES TO OFFER LOWEST COST OF LIVING IN WA STATE

TRI-CITIES LEADS IN LOWEST COST OF LIVING
The Second Quarter cost of living report is out from the American Chamber of Commerce Research Association (ACCRA) and it shows, once again, that the Tri-Cities is the least expensive place to live in Washington State. The survey is compiled by The Council for Community and Economic Research for ACCRA and measures the cost of grocery, housing, utilities, transportation, health care and miscellaneous goods and services which, when taken together, produce a composite index of a community’s cost of living. The Tri-Cities composite score for the second quarter of 2010 was 92.7. This compares to 94.6 for Yakima, 93.3 for Spokane, 113.0 for Portland/Vancouver, and 120.2 for Seattle. For more information, contact Traci Jao at TRIDEC, (509) 735-1000.

TRI-CITIES RANKS FIRST IN LOWEST COST OF LIVING

Of the state's top five metropolitan statistical areas, Seattle/Bellevue/Everett, Spokane, Tacoma, Yakima, & Kennewick / Pasco/ Richland, the Tri-Cities remains for another year the least expensive place to live. The index is calculated by The Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), based in Arlington, VA. The index measures the relative price levels of groceries, housing, health care, utilities and transportation in more than 300 metro areas nationwide. (ACCRA COLI August 2010 Report.)

KADLEC “BEST IN CLASS”

Kadlec Recognized Nationally as a “Best in Class” Employer
 

Kadlec Health System has learned it is being nationally recognized for the high level of job satisfaction among its workforce. HR Solutions, a company the conducts employee surveys and is endorsed by the American Hospital Association, has awarded Kadlec a “Best in Class” seal for its high ratings in worker satisfaction.

Kadlec scored in the top 10% of attracting, engaging and empowering employees. That translates into motivated employees providing optimum care for patients.

INNOVATION CENTER DESIGN COMPLETED

The schematic design for the $25-million first phase of the mixed-use Innovation Center at the Tri-Cities Research District was completed on July 9.

The partners are evaluating the inclusion of a Tier III Data Center in the project based on local user needs.

For more information, contact Rick Parsons at Parsons Management Group, (509) 554-9857, or go to the Innovation Center Website .
 
 

IMPACT WASHINGTON TO CREATE “MANUFACTURING IN WASHINGTON STATE REPORT”

Impact Washington has announced that it will conduct a survey of the state's 7,500 manufacturers in order to create the first comprehensive "Manufacturing in Washington State Report" to collect measurable data about the on the opportunities, challenges, health, and job creation abilities of Washington State manufacturers this fall.
 
This data will be presented in a series of forums with our EDC partners to decision-makers at all levels, including other business leaders, elected officials and opinion leaders.

2010 WASHINGTON FAMILY BUSINESS AWARDS

Deadline Extended!

Washington Family Business Awards

The deadline for the first Washington Family Business Awards has been extended to Thursday, July 22! The purpose of the awards is to recognize and celebrate excellence in Washington state among family businesses and to encourage best practices a business sector that accounts for 60 percent of U.S. employment. You can nominate your own company or someone else's, and it's free.

DOC HASTINGS’ BILL WOULD PRESERVE HEALTH CARE CHOICES

HASTINGS’ BILL WOULD PRESERVE HEALTH CARE CHOICES, PROTECT DOCTOR-OWNED HOSPITALS
Congressman Doc Hastings (WA-04) has introduced legislation that would repeal part of the new health care law that arbitrarily bans new doctor-owned hospitals and restricts existing doctor-owned hospitals
from growing to meet the needs of their communities.  

Tri-Cities, WA is Online

The Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC) is excited to announce the launch of Tri-Cities Buzz, a BlogSpot for the Tri-Cities!

It’s an exciting time to be in the Tri-Cities as the weather warms up and outdoor recreational activities abound.

TRIDEC is thrilled to announce that over the past few months TRIDEC member ImageWorks has been developing a new website for TRIDEC and it is now online!

Add comments to this blog about what you think and how all of us at TRIDEC can improve your use of our site. We are here to work for you and the success of the Tri-Cities business climate.

A warm welcome to three new members who recently joined TRIDEC: Aramark Uniform Services, Focal Point Marketing, & Waddell & Reed Financial Advisors.

Our member investors are our greatest partners in continuing our vision for the economic prosperity of the Tri-Cities and we encourage you to do business with our member companies.

Thanks for buzzing by and be sure to subscribe to Tri-Cities Buzz for the latest news and happenings in Tri-Cities, WA.