By Kathy Ursprung
The Chronicle
Oct. 16, 2009
One big question
looming over the economies of Columbia Gorge counties this fall is this: Where
will Insitu site new facilities?
It’s a big question,
with part of the answer riding on whether the independently owned Boeing
subsidiary can attract a big federal defense contract currently out for bid.
That answer won’t be known until later this year.
The firm generates
most of its income by supplying the U.S., Canadian and Australian
militaries with unmanned aircraft for surveillance and reconnaissance missions.
It currently operates from 15 locations around the Columbia Gorge, employs more
than 600 workers and is expected to top $200 million in revenue this year.
The corporation,
currently based in Bingen, is entertaining a range of offers, including ones
from the Port of Cascade Locks, the Port of Hood River.
The Port of The Dalles has also fielded a proposal,
said Andrea Klaas, port executive director, but has not publicly released
details.
“Due to the requested
confidentiality of the Insitu RFI I am unable to speak to specifics of the Port
response,” Klaas wrote Friday in response to an inquiry, “but we did work
closely with local and regional property owners, the city, Columbia Gorge
Community College, Mid-Columbia Economic Development Department and others to
develop a very strong proposal with multiple options for The Dalles area.”
But Klickitat County
has arguably the most extensive proposal before Insitu, based upon available
descriptions. It includes no less than 10 separate site proposals, which were
reviewed collaboratively by community leaders from throughout the county.
Five of the proposals
are for the Bingen-White Salmon area, one is in Goldendale and four are in the
Dallesport area.
“We felt we had to go
to Insitu with every option available,” said Michael Canon, director of
Klickitat County Economic Development. “The cooperation of the communities has
to be close to historical.”
Insitu grew up in Klickitat County and county officials find it
unthinkable that it might move anywhere else, Canon said.
On Oct. 9, Canon
shared how the proposal was developed and some details about sites within the
Dallesport area with The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce economic development
committee. Many officials from both Klickitat and Wasco county believe that
collaboration between the two in the Dallesport area is vital to the area’s
economic growth, and particularly to the economy of its closest neighbor, The Dalles.
Between the Columbia Gorge
Regional Airport,
the Dallesport Industrial Park and other
lands, Dallesport presently has the largest cache of developable land in the
Columbia Gorge.
The airport has put
its business park infrastructure development plans on hold for the time being,
until it learns Insitu’s decision. The business park is mapped for 17 lots on
108 acres, but a larger Insitu development, if successful, could negate the
need for the level of infrastructure required for 17 separate businesses.
A well for the site
has already been drilled, and is awaiting decisions on how big a pump will be
required, Canon said. A $1 million Washington Community Economic Revitalization
Board grant helped complete the well, along with matching funds amounting to
$250,000 from Klickitat County and the same amount shared by the City of The Dalles and Port
of The Dalles.
The airport facility
is jointly owned by Klickitat County and the City of The Dalles.
In addition, a water
system group has been formed in Dallesport and discussions are under way to
develop a looped water system for the Dallesport peninsula.
“It is a key economic
development factor for Dallesport to grow,” Canon said.
Whether Insitu will be part of that growth equation is, at this point, still
anybody's guess.
Editor’s note: Information in this article also came from published
reports in the Hood River News and Seattle
Times.