Previous Page View
Printer FriendlyRelease date: May 23, 2000
Contact: Media & External Communications (509) 375-3776
Economic development grant to support local efforts
RICHLAND, Wash. - CH2M HILL Hanford Group will provide a grant to the Tri-Cities Enterprise Association to support programs that promote non-Hanford job growth. The enterprise association will use the funds to support two economic development programs established at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
"We are very pleased that CH2M HILL has chosen to support the coordinated efforts of TEA and Pacific Northwest," said Bill Henderson, TEA president. "This grant is a glowing example of CH2M HILL Hanford Group's dedication to local economic development and good corporate citizenship."
Pacific Northwest will direct half of the $50,000 grant toward assistance for local companies in the area of information technology through its Technical Assistance Program, which has assisted about 350 Northwest companies since 1995. Through TAP, Pacific Northwest staff provide technical assistance, such as database and network development, up to 40 hours a year to each company in the program.
"Information technology is central to many businesses, whether it's general computer support or the entire focus of a company," said Gary Spanner, manager of Pacific Northwest's Economic Development Office. "This grant will allow us to focus our efforts in the growing information technology arena and expand our entrepreneurial support to businesses in many sectors."
The remaining money will sustain Pacific Northwest's Entrepreneurial Program, which helps laboratory employees or area residents start new companies based on technologies developed at Pacific Northwest or elsewhere. The program has created more than 30 new companies since it began in 1995. CH2M HILL's grant will allow Pacific Northwest and TEA to finance new inventions or startups through product development, acquisition of excess DOE equipment or market study development.
"We're fully committed to creating job growth in the Tri-Cities," said Fran DeLozier, president and general manager of CH2M HILL Hanford Group. "The TEA and Pacific Northwest programs have proven track records, and they are consistent with our efforts to promote entrepreneurs and information technology."
CH2M HILL Hanford Group Inc. is DOE's Office of River Protection prime contractor with responsibility for storing, characterizing and retrieving for treatment 53 million gallons of highly radioactive and hazardous waste stored in underground tanks. An employee-owned company, CH2M HILL was founded in Corvallis, Ore., in 1946, and today serves clients on six continents with engineering, construction and operations services for environmental, energy, water, transportation and industrial infrastructure.
The Tri-Cities Enterprise Association is a nonprofit private corporation established in 1987 to act as a catalyst for new business creation and growth. TEA operates and manages the Technology & Enterprise Center and the Kennewick Business Center, both full service incubators. TEA interacts with other regional organizations in supporting and facilitating small business development.
Pacific Northwest is one of DOE's nine multiprogram national laboratories and conducts research in the fields of environment, energy, health sciences and national security. Battelle, based in Columbus, Ohio, has operated Pacific Northwest for DOE since 1965.
 |
 |
 |
