Year in review: A look back at the top topics of 2023

Each year flies by a little faster than we’d like as we cover the economy of the Columbia Basin. This year, we’ve had a chance to see just how diversified that economy is. From potatoes to green energy to aeronautical development, the Basin has a bit of everything. 

Below, we have summaries of several of the more important stories we’ve covered this year. 

About the taters

As the year began, we started our coverage of the potato industry with a look at conversations at the Washington-Oregon Potato Conference about protecting the root vegetable’s reputation. 

The primary cause of concern, said Howard Goldstein of public relations firm Foodminds, is a move by some to reclassify potatoes as something other than a vegetable. 

“They don’t want potatoes. When we talk about vegetables and eating vegetables, they don’t want potatoes as part of that conversation. And that’s absolutely absurd,” he told the Basin Business Journal at the time.

In a later presentation during the conference itself, Goldstein, also a dietitian with the Alliance for Potato Research and Education said researchers at Harvard Medical School in particular have pushed people to eat more veggies – except potatoes.

The heart of the issue is the glycemic index, he said, which places potatoes and some sweet fruits like watermelon as less healthy than chocolate or candy. For diabetics and others, that’s a problem. However, he said, preparing potatoes properly can keep them healthy. Frying or salting foods, whether potato or other veggie, will cause the original food to be less healthy.

However, potatoes offer a lot of dietary value, he said. Fiber and essential nutrients sit alongside the carbohydrates that cause concerns. 

Economically, the concern is what would happen to support for the potato trade, said Kam Quarles, the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Potato Council. The reclassification of the potato would impact support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the potato trade which the industry qualifies for because the potato is classified as a vegetable from a trade perspective. 

“That’s why we’ve spent so much time and attention trying to get this right. Because if it goes wrong, it handcuffs us for the future, and we do not want that to happen,” Quarles said.

Economic development

Business development initiatives happen all the time, but having them with a cohesive direction and a collaborative mindset doesn’t always work out. 

In our August edition, we introduced readers to the Innovation Cluster Accelerator Program Launch, also known as ICAP Launch. The program brings business owners, government agencies, academic institutions and community organizations together to identify and solve problems faced by particular industries. 

“Ultimately, innovation clusters pursue market development opportunities on behalf of the

entire sector,” Scott said. “So instead of competing with the business down the street, you’re bringing folks together to pursue market development opportunities together, oftentimes globally.”

ICAP Launch specifically takes the cluster model and applies it to the more rural portions of Washington, providing tools to small communities to build their economies.

Throughout the state, there are a lot of those small communities working to improve the level of economic opportunities available to residents. Central Washington University’s College of Business offers services to those communities through its Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. I4IE, as the institute is known, helps local leaders identify opportunities for improvements that can help local businesses thrive, whether that’s a mom-and-pop restaurant or a factory. 

“Most communities in Washington state can use a partner in bringing resources together and partners together and stakeholders together towards economic development,” said I4IE Director Bill Provaznik.

Provaznik and his fellow I4IE professors Janie Zencak and Rob Ogburn said I4IE also wants to help communities choose the right opportunities. As an example, a solar farm might be a great boom to a small community, but in the long run may not provide a lot of long-term jobs after construction begins. On the other hand, a small food processing plant might provide that construction boom and add some living-wage, long-term positions to the local community. It’s about having people with industry and academic knowledge help analyze options. Communities don’t always know what’s outside of their town, but having someone knowledgeable on their side can keep them from being taken advantage of.

“They’ve got one data point (of perspective),” Provaznik said. “That’s their community, and they’re really solid on that.”

At the local level, port districts took the spotlight in our July edition. While most ports in Washington don’t have docks and ships, they’re all hubs for economic development. 

“Ports in Washington State are a different animal than most other states,” said Randy Hayden, Executive Director with the Port of Pasco. “We have the most ports of any state in the country because of the broad definition of what port authorities are in Washington.”

Under the state’s definition, a port is responsible for a variety of things including economic development, cargo and freight mobility, public works, environmental programs, land development, community engagement and general economic development.

Workforce development

Regardless of the size of the community someone lives in, for economic growth to happen, you’ve got to have the skillset in the community to attract employers. With that in mind, we’ve covered workforce development throughout the year.

While the Columbia Basin’s economy is becoming more and more diverse, agriculture is still at the heart of Central Washington, Northern Oregon and the Idaho Panhandle. We easily earn the nickname “breadbasket of the Pacific Northwest.” With that in mind, we looked at the contributions programs like 4-H and Future Farmers of America provide when it comes to developing the skills young people need to thrive in the ag industry. From learning how to grow crops to doctoring and training animals, such organizations build the future workforce of Eastern Washington to keep the world fed – and choose a career that works for them.

“And it’s also a chance for (young people) to explore and see what things might interest them,” Medical Lake FFA Advisor Jennie Wagner said at the time. “They get to kind of find their path.”

In March, we approached those who are often most aware of their communities’ economic strengths and weaknesses – local chambers of commerce. 

Those deciding factors on whether agriculture is right for someone as a career choice can come from early life experiences such as Washington State University’s work with tribal youth to plant seed bombs to support local fauna. Children from the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation were able to help researchers replant after the Chuweah Creek Fire and help replant the area while learning about the plants they were helping grow.

As younger people enter the workforce, there’s a definite shift from the pressure Gen X and older generations faced about going to college to get a good career. During a visit to Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Washington Department of Commerce Director Mike Fong said developing a knowledge base in skilled trades is vital for success. Welding, plumbing, electrician certifications and other trade skills will not only provide good jobs to younger people but will keep them from dealing with the overwhelming college debt older generations face. 

Planting numbers

In our February edition, we spoke with multiple economists to get a breakdown of the importance of various industries in the Columbia Basin. In short, the Basin economy is still highly dependent on farmers and ranchers.

“Yes, agriculture is still number one or number two (in Central Washington) when it comes to the number of the most important sector or industry. But in most communities, it’s not as important as it was 10 years ago because the economies have diversified.”

Despite a decline from 27.7% of the region's employment in 2012 to about 23% in February, agriculture is still vital to the area said Don Meseck, an economist with the Washington State Department of Employment Security in Ellensburg.

“I think about the economies here (in Grant County) and six of the seven counties I serve – they’re heavily agriculture-based,” Mesek said.

Cattle and dairy 

In September and October, we took a look at the cattle and dairy industries, speaking to ranchers and farmers to understand how the markets were doing. The cattle market may have been doing well, but the dairy market was struggling.

“It’s the thing that agriculture in general, whether in production agriculture, whether you’re in crops and farming, or raising cattle is very cyclical,” said Washington Cattleman’s Association Executive Vice President Chelsea Hajny. “It’s an exciting time to be in cattle right now because beef prices are high and it’s always a struggle to be profitable with inputs, and when I say inputs, I mean feed, the cost of fuel, et cetera.”

This was compared to previous years, which Hajny said saw sky-high commodities that made it difficult to break even in cattle ranching. 

The story was not the same for the milk market. Othello dairy farmer Chris Baginski said he was barely breaking even. 

“The dairy industry landscape this last year, I think it’s kind of a mixed bag,” Dairy Farmers of Washington Executive Director Steve Seppi said. “I think the same inflation that’s hitting all consumers across all categories… it’s had a significant impact on the dairy industry.”

Nonetheless, Moses Lake dairy farmer Henry Benthem said prices were slowly trending upwards, and Seppi said he was optimistic that prices and the export market would rebound.

The Washington Cattleman’s Association and Washington Cattlewoman’s Association also held their 2023 Convention and Tradeshow in early November, returning to Wenatchee for the second year in a row. 

“Our convention is really a gathering place for our members to come and get together because we encompass about 1500 members, ranching families, across the state,” said Hajny. “It’s just really a time where we can all get together and socialize and network. Sometimes it’s the only time of year we all get together in one room.”

Fruit focus 

Throughout the year, we’ve covered crop analyses showing primarily strong harvests from fruits such as cherries, apples and pears as well as agricultural field days focusing on new technologies.

This year also saw the removal of 20% tariffs on American agricultural products, which were lifted in early September. Todd Fryhover, president of the Washington Apple Commission, visited Starr Ranch Growers to see the company’s first truck carrying Washington Red Delicious apples begin the trip to India.

“All Washington growers want is the opportunity to compete on equal terms in foreign markets,” Fryhover said. “This shipment is significant because it symbolizes our ability to do that.”

Improved weather conditions during the spring and summer should mean a much bigger Washington apple crop in 2023 when compared with 2022. Cold bad weather in 2022 followed hot bad weather in summer 2021, when high temperatures broke records and caused extensive damage to cherries and pears as well as apples.

The 2023 cherry harvest was on track to be one of the largest in recent years, according to the Washington State Tree Fruit Association.

The pear harvest also looked good this year in Washington, according to Jon DeVaney, president of the WSTFA. 

“(Pears are like) the younger sibling.” DeVaney said. “They get a little overshadowed in the Northwest by apples. But pears have a really important place in Northwest agriculture, in the tree fruit industry. And our pear crop is looking good this year.”

Water was a concern for growers of almost everything in the Yakima Valley, with the region teetering on the edge of a drought, but DeVaney said that didn’t really affect pears as much as was feared. 

Labor shortages, as with many other crops, is making the pear harvest more expensive for farmers, which is where new automated technology presented at Smart Orchard and Smart Vineyard field days comes into play. Markus Keller, a professor of viticulture with WSU Prosser discussed the vineyard project. 

“Right now, we’re making all the decisions, right? It’s all manual,” said Keller. “So we’re lagging behind the times. This is the 21st century. We should be automating our irrigation systems, but we often don’t have the tools to do so and that’s what this project is trying to develop; an automated irrigation system that lets you go on vacation.”

Drones in ag 

We spent time this year attending several events dedicated to demonstrating new technologies in agriculture, with a large focus on drone technology.

We covered the Spring Drone Day, with drones presented by Washington State University Professor Lav Khot.

“A drone is nothing but a tractor,” Khot said. “It’s really a platform that you can attach anything to.”

Khot said a lot of farmers are sitting on the fence about drones, and hopes that events like Drone Day can help growers see both how useful drones are now and their potential for even greater uses in the future, especially as farm labor becomes more difficult to find.

Not too long ago, drones were limited to imaging and mapping, Khot said. Those were important uses, allowing farmers to use cameras and sensors to make precision maps of their land, soil types, nutrient needs, plant health and even how much water is being used, where it might be needed and where it might be wasted.

All of those uses are still important, Khot said, because they give farmers the information they need to act. But as drones have gotten larger, they can take on more tasks, such as precision spraying, releasing beneficial insects or even rotors to dry off trees.

Bill Kuper, owner of Ag Drones Northwest, credited improved battery technology for opening the way for use of drones in agriculture. 

    Tech in the ag industry has come a long way. Tractors and weeders use GPS and lasers to plant crops and zap weeds with lasers while drones are used to apply pesticides and herbicides to crops.
 File photo   

“In the past, the battery technology wasn’t great,” he said. “An outfit like this would have to have like a dozen batteries. Those get heavy, and the capacity wasn’t nearly as big.”

New battery technology was the first key to making agriculturally applied drones feasible, Kuper said. There aren’t a lot of businesses in the region doing what Ag Drones Northwest does right now, but he said he expects to see that change dramatically over the next year.

“There are so many growers who could use this just don’t know about it, and or don’t believe that it could actually help them or think it’s just a gimmick, you know?” Kuper said. “But it really can solve some problems. I strongly believe that these little flying robots are going to be the wave of the future.”

Shop local

March, June and July’s issues focused on tourism and local retail in a post-pandemic world, as well as the role of chambers of commerce in the local economy. 

According to Renee Sunde, president and CEO of the Washington Retail Association, the new challenge for local retail is the threat of inflation and an economic downturn. Nonetheless, retailers in Washington are still holding their own, she said. 

“Retail is still very steady and resilient, not booming like it was initially as we returned from the (pandemic) crisis, but stabilized and doing okay,” she said.

Online retail sales have been a growing part of the market for years, and Sunde said she thinks that will continue. But the stores in town will still have their place as a return to brick-and-mortar retail has made its way across the state. 

Mary Masingale, 2023 president of the Republic Chamber of Commerce, said for her that’s the Chamber’s biggest job, supporting local businesses.

“I want businesses to see us as their representative in keeping business local by encouraging the local population to shop here. I feel that is our most important task,” she wrote in response to an email from the Columbia Basin Herald. “Without local businesses, we would simply be another wide spot in the road, and for those unable or unwilling to shop elsewhere would leave them with very few options.”

Tourism is also still important as the state recovers from COVID-19, particularly in Eastern Washington, according to Michelle Thana, Director of Marketing with State of Washington Tourism. 

“You don’t necessarily have the numbers that are coming in from Seattle, but it’s growing and that’s also where a lot of the potential for growth and tourism is – east of the Cascades,” she said.

Speaking more broadly about Washington state as a whole, Thana said that tourism is very important to the state’s economy, as it makes up the state’s fourth largest industry, but this does not mean that tourism in Washington is well funded.

“A lot of parts of the U.S. have seen full recovery. One thing is that Washington doesn’t have a lot of funding for promoting tourism. We’re one of the lowest, if not the lowest state,” said Thana.

Going green

Environmental concerns are a big topic as wildfires, hotter weather and droughts take their toll on the Pacific Northwest, including the Columbia Basin. However, that’s also allowed opportunity for regional businesses, researchers and governments to look at opportunities for the region’s economy. 

Wind energy is the second largest source of renewable energy in Washington behind hydroelectric power, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 

The Clean Energy Transformation Act was signed into state law in 2019 and encourages the development of wind energy to help the state reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to Glenn Blackmon, manager for energy policy at the Washington Department of Commerce. 

While Blackmon said much of that is directed at coastal opportunities for offshore wind, there is some demand in Eastern Washington, though solar energy is sought after more on east side of the Cascades. 

“Eastern Washington is blessed by incredible things the Creator has given, which is water, beautiful topsoil, great growing conditions; but the Creator also gave them the two biggest resources of energy which is the sun and the wind,” Governor Jay Inslee said in February.

The development of green energy can provide jobs throughout the Columbia Basin. In addition to solar, wind and hydroelectric power, multiple energy sector industries are taking off in the Basin.

Area companies like REC Silicon, Sila Nanotechnologies, Twelve and others have all begun, reopened or ramped up in the Columbia Basin. REC Silicon produces silane, a form of silicon used in lithium-ion batteries. Sila Nanotechnologies is working to improve the batteries used in electric vehicles. Twelve, a newcomer to Eastern Washington, is working to develop cleaner-burning aviation fuel that produces less carbon. We’ve covered other companies working toward similar goals throughout the year. 

Six Washington unions are getting involved in the green sector as well, looking to take advantage of climate-friendly legislation and research to improve job opportunities for their members. 

The International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental & Reinforcing Ironworkers (Northwest District Council), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (District 751), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (Local 66), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, CEWW, (Locals 46, 48, 73, 76, 112 and 191), Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council and Washington State Labor Council (AFL-CIO) have banded together after consulting with Cornell University to form the Climate Jobs Washington Coalition with the intent of ensuring union welders, aircraft technicians, electricians and others can learn the skills needed and help develop the green construction industry, as we discussed in our August issue.

Not a bad idea considering the requirements placed on Washington businesses by state law. The Clean Building Performance Standard was passed by the state legislature in 2019 requiring buildings to meet certain environmental standards by set deadlines. Those deadlines are based on the square footage of buildings with those greater than 220,000 square feet of space having to meet the requirements by June 1, 2026, according to Albireo Energy’s VP and General Manager Ivan Aron. Albiereo Energy is a consulting firm working to help Washington businesses meet CBPS requirements by those deadlines. 

Overall, it’s been a productive year for the Columbia Basin with technology advancing both in the agricultural and tech sectors. New breeds of apples sit in orchards that may have pesticides applied carefully by drones, while in the alfalfa field nearby, a laser weeder zaps out the unwanted plants. With the momentum from this year, 2024 is looking interesting as we move forward.