October 16, 2009

Where will Insitu land?

By Kathy Ursprung
The Chronicle

     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.