Port of Whitman Industrial Development

ON-WATER INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

The on-water port industrial sites of the Port of Whitman County are located between river miles 83 and 138 on the Snake River with the Central Ferry site being about 408 miles from the Pacific Ocean.  The original Port of Whitman County Comprehensive Plan called for land acquisition at seven sites along the Snake River.  Since then, three of these have been developed and four have been abandoned due to various reasons, mainly siltation problems and poor road access.

The Wilma site is located near the terminus of the Columbia-Snake River inland waterway.  Only the Ports of Clarkston (Washington) and Lewiston (Idaho) are further upriver.  The Wilma site also has the distinction of being the most diverse in function of the three active Whitman County port sites.

About thirty miles down river is the Port’s Almota site.  It serves as a main Whitman County trans-shipment point for local white wheat.

Approximately twenty miles down river from Almota is the Central Ferry site.  It is a major trans-shipment point for local white wheat and is developing into a major site for the manufacturing and wholesaling of fertilizer.

OFF-WATER INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

The 1980 off-water industrial development goal was to support the economic stability of District communities through providing industrial park facilities.  In 1982 the Port Commission adopted Resolution #190 stating that the Port will insist upon communities taking an active and vigorous approach to industrial development and procurement of possible tenants before the Port will consider development in the community.

Throughout the early and mid-1980s various off-water development proposals were investigated at Oakesdale, Rosalia, Colfax and Pullman.  Several of these sites were revisited in the 1990s as well as a site in Garfield.  As of the summer of 2000, the Port due to the lack of an interested tenant has developed none of these sites.  

In response to the heavy involvement of the City of Pullman, WSU, the Pullman Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Pullman Economic Development Corporation, as well as a positive feasibility study, the 1986-87 development of the Port Industrial Park in Pullman became a reality.  In 1988 the Port acquired its first “tenant” at the park, selling Lot 2 to Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories.  The Port, in response to expansion by SEL and other Port tenants, went on to develop PIP Phase II, which was completed in 1996.  In 1998, SEL expanded once again, purchasing all but two of the build able lots left in Phase I and II.  This land sale provided both the impetus and funds for the development of PIP Phase III, which will be completed in early summer of 2000.

In 1986-87 the Colfax Chamber of Commerce approached the Port concerning the possible construction of an industrial park at the Colfax Airport.  The Port commissioned a feasibility study on the proposed project.  The study concluded that investment in a full-fledged industrial park, complete with roads, utilities, and buildings, was not recommended. The study did recommend alternate steps for the City of Colfax to take concerning the development of the airport and economic development in general.  The Port reflected on the need for industrial development in rural Whitman County and decided to proceed with the project.  Colfax Industrial Park Phase I was completed in 1998.

In 1988-89 the Port assisted the Palouse Chamber of Commerce in a business recruitment effort involving a property subject to a Department of Ecology clean up order.

In 1990-95 the Port purchased the land and started planning for the Colfax Industrial Park.  The Port also completed a series of business incubator and purpose-built port owned buildings at Pullman Industrial Park to be leased by start-up companies.

1n 1995-2000 the Port completed Colfax Industrial Park Phase I, the final plat being approved in 1998.  The Port, spurred by the SEL land sale of 1998, purchased an additional 30.46 acres east of Pullman Industrial Park and developed PIP Phase III which was completed in the summer of 2000. The Port also purchased the Community Education and Training Center in downtown Colfax in the summer of 2000 in order to help insure a continued community college presence in Colfax and to help create down town micro-enterprise opportunities.