November 2021 Economic Report

Speaker Offers Message of Hope

Bruce Vincent Shares Struggles of Logging Industry and How Leaders Learned to Listen

Bruce Vincent leads a talk of hope before Lewis County leaders and sponsored by the Economic Alliance of Lewis County.

by Lewis Economic Development Council

Bruce Vincent, a Montana logger who battled through the decline of the timber industry during the Timber Wars to become a national spokesman for working with oppositional environmental groups, was the guest speaker earlier this month at a forum sponsored by the Economic Alliance of Lewis County.

Vincent’s talk “With Vision There Is Hope,” was well received by the audience at the Centralia Train Depot. Lewis County Treasurer Arnie Davis called the talk “one of the best I have ever heard.”

Vincent started his talk describing his third-generation family logging operations in Libby, Montana. He asked where are we now in reference to logging, how did we get there, and what did we learn. His talk was aspirational as he offered reasons for hope.

Vincent is a sought-after speaker and regularly testifies on resource issues before Congress. He has appeared on various news shows such as “60 Minutes.” He has been named Timberman of the Year in Montana and as the National Forest Activist of the Year, and received the inaugural President Preserve America Award from President Bush.

His recently completed book, “Against The Odds,” highlights his life journey and identifies a path forward for rural America.

In his talk in Centralia, he explained the timber industry in the 70s and 80s was a “collision of visions.” He said the public just wanted to “save the forests” and stop clearcutting. He said the regulations on timberland went down the path of preserving stands of trees. The forest looked good, but without man-made or natural thinning of the forest (via forest fires) the timber stands were in fact not healthy.

The environmentalists won the day back in the 1960s through the 1990s, stopping logging efforts and making a case that capitalism just might be the “enemy of earth.” He said the country was “crossing the thin line between environmental sensitivity and environmental insanity.” 

How did we get there? he asked. He said it started in the 1960s when the Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire due to polluted waters. Environmental concerns grew during a massive fish die-off on the Great Lakes also in the 1960s. Massive smog in Los Angeles also in the 1960s added to the concerns.

“The environmental social movement was hijacked and turned into an industry dependent upon crisis and conflict,” Vincent said, adding money attracted to “save the planet” morphed into an “eco industry” and logging companies even participated in their business strategy.

He called them excellent marketers of fear with a three -word vision of “Stop doing that!” They offered 20-second sound bites that showed full green forests contrasted with clear cuts, followed by the question, “Which would you rather have?”

“We got angry that those were the only choices offered,” Vincent said. “But the public does not know this, and we laughed at what the public did not know. But we realized it was no longer funny. It was a fertile marketplace for the fear mongering of the conflict industry. We confused fighting with leading, and lost. We finally learned the real enemy was ignorance — and not just the public, but more importantly, our’s.”

We slowly learned to lead, Vincent said.

“We stopped blaming the public for buying into the hype and found common ground,” Vincent said. “The public loves animals, clean water and air, and so do we. They want safe, healthy forests and communities for their families, and so do we.”

The public, Vincent said, wants truth, transparency and trust. The town of Libby, facing closed sawmills, mines closed, massive drops in incomes, failure of school levies, rising drug abuse and too many kids signed up for free and reduced lunch. USA Today led with the headline, “The Town Left to Die” in reference to Libby.

“What did we learn that might help Lewis County today?” Vincent asked. 

Three things: Democracy works, but it is not a spectator sport; when people lead, leaders follow; and the world is run by those who show up.”

Vincent said timber industry leaders learned to empathize with the public. He said the industry learned to listen to the public’s concerns and what solutions would be acceptable to the public. For loggers, that meant putting an emphasis on engaging, owning and showcasing environmental forestry initiatives.

“We would outgreen the posers,” Vincent said. “Our leadership message to the public was ‘We are listening, we understand, we respect or share your concerns and we are working hard to answer those concerns. Join us.’”

It has worked in Libby, Vincent said. Today his logging company had its first timber sale in 15 years, and the school passed a levy. Chamber membership is up. The economic development council is vibrant. The town has brought in new events such as chainsaw art, a jazz festival, new progressive city, county and school governance, and new arrivals are buying property and homes sight unseen (similar to what we are seeing in Lewis County, think Packwood). People from all sides are now working together on common beliefs. And Libby went from the town left to die to “The Most Charming City in Montana.”

This blueprint from Montana offers hope for Lewis County as it goes through strong economic gains.

He said the door is open and society is ready for a new vision of environmentalism based on hope, science and education instead of litigation resolution. 

“Today,” he said, “we have more forest land than at the turn of the century. We are regrowing our forests.”

Vincent ended his talk with, “Be a ripple, and together we will make a wave that will save the last best places, like Lewis County, and the last best people.”

The major lessons learned that Lewis County leaders can apply:

• Stand together

• Don’t play the blame game, no whining

• Provide a vision for Lewis County

• Don’t vilify yesterday in building tomorrow

• Language matters

• Set high goals and offer realistic hope

• Celebrate success, large and small

• Embrace newcomers

• Strive for excellence

• Expect mistakes — learn and laugh

• Make community engagement a business line item

Senter Named New Port of Chehalis CEO

 The Port of Chehalis is proud to announce that Lindsey Senter, the internal candidate recently selected by Port of Chehalis Commissioners as the incoming CEO of the Port of Chehalis, has formally accepted her contract during a regular Port of Chehalis business meeting.

Senter replaces outgoing Port of Chehalis CEO Randy Mueller, who has accepted a position to lead the Port of Ridgefield as their incoming CEO.

“We were very pleased with the top three candidates that we interviewed. All of them had significant strengths — different, but significant,” said Port of Chehalis Commissioner Mark Giffey, speaking on his own reasons for choosing Senter.

He continued: “My reason I went with Lindsey as our choice was basically that she had some very good answers to two particular questions. One was how she expressed that, while she works for the port commission, her real job is to invest the taxpayers’ money to create economic opportunities for them. … That realization of who you’re working for … was impressive.”

The second question, Giffey added, was one of transparency.

“How she spoke about our processes and investing funds in an open public way — her openness to a public forum — that’s what we’re all about,” Giffey said. “The citizens voted in 1986 to tax themselves, based on the hope for better job opportunities. Understanding who you work for and why is important.”

When asked about his own decision to choose Senter to lead the Port of Chehalis, Port Commissioner Mark Anders highlighted his first-hand observations of Senter’s past performance with the Port of Chehalis.

“She’s a known commodity,” Anders said. “She came in as a bookkeeper and rose well beyond that, taking over operating functions at the port and various projects. … Every time a new challenge came up, Lindsey stepped up to the plate.”

While Anders acknowledged what he called Senter’s “steep learning curve,” he underscored his own belief in Senter’s abilities.

“One of my biggest impressions of Lindsey is that she understands the things she doesn’t understand and she’ll ask for help from the right people, to make the right decision, and take the port in the right direction with the highest legal compliance in mind. She has proven herself. It’s gonna be an upward learnport in the right direction with ing curve, but all commissioners agreed that was acceptable. We’ll be here to provide policy guidance and encouragement,” Anders said.

Anders closed by stating, “She’s the kind of face you want on your organization to encourage people to come to Lewis County.”

“Through the whole process, to me, she (Senter) was the clear choice,” said Port of Chehalis Commissioner Paul Ericson, echoing the other two port commissioners. “I’ve not worked with her that long, but it’s clear that she has the energy, the enthusiasm, and the drive to do this job well. Her relationships with key organizations that the port already works with are invaluable. I have no doubt in my mind that she is the right choice to work with.”

He continued, adding, “With her natural drive, I just had a feeling she was gonna work harder than the other candidates. And, she will have plenty of help and support from us as commissioners.”

Senter has previously held positions with the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Alliance of Lewis County, in addition to managing and operating her own business ventures.

Senter officially takes over as CEO beginning Dec. 1.

Lowe’s Distribution Center Opens in the Winlock Industrial Park

Massive Warehouse Employs 116 People and Serves 30 Stores

By The Lewis Economic Development Council

Leaders gather at the Lowe’s Distribution Center in Winlock for the official ribbon-cutting and grand opening of the business.

 “We’re really proud to have the Lowe’s-Penske partnership here in Western Washington, in beautiful Winlock, Washington, which for many of us, we did not know what Winlock was six or eight months ago. We do now and we’re very very appreciative of the great support we’ve gotten locally,” said Peter Bayer Jr., senior vice president of distribution for Penske Logistics, at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the facility.

The project was developed by Bellevue-based Benaroya. Located just adjacent to I-5, The Benaroya Company’s Winlock project is the largest industrial building — 1.2 million square feet — in Washington state for 2021. Bellevue-based Benaroya. 

Cost of construction on the 74-acre project was more than $100 million bringing hundreds of construction workers to lodge and eat at local establishments for more than a year. Another 250 acres are available for development at the Winlock site in the coming years, with various parcels available to accommodate buildings from 1.4 million square feet to 75,000 thousand square feet (for sale or lease).

Once a proposed electric substation is completed, the site will attract hundreds, if not thousands of jobs to the county. Construction jobs alone on the Lowe’s project numbered about 400.

The project has been under development by Benaroya for more than 10 years as industrial growth has extended south from the Seattle metro area. The Winlock property — the largest fully entitled industrial site in Western Washington — can accommodate the largest of distribution centers between Seattle and Portland with excellent access to I-5.

“Lewis County is especially attractive to potential clients due to its centralized transportation hub location, pro-business environment, diverse, skilled, and trained labor base, and low cost of living,” said Benaroya Manager Larry Benaroya said. “We envision this development will be the home to multiple large users totaling 3-plus million square feet of new Class A, job and tax producing industrial facilities, and extremely positive economic impact for Lewis County.” 

Ben Kostick, chair of the Economic Alliance of Lewis County, said working with Benaroya was an honor.

“This project will spearhead economic development for Lewis County for years, not only with the Lowe’s project, but also the other potential sites on the 320 acres under development by Benaroya,” Kostick said.

Established in 1956, The Benaroya Company since 1995 has acquired and/or developed more than 16 million square feet of real estate projects with a wide range of global and regional companies including industry leaders such as Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, General Services Administration, Toysmith, Lockheed Martin, Marvell Technology Group, Nintendo, Nordstrom, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Solar World, Lowe’s, Verizon, Comcast, Walton Street Investments and IPT.

• Lease Rate: $6,347 per month (rate includes lease fees, NNN fees, and leasehold excise tax) 

• Only two direct access minutes to Interstate 5; 90 minutes to Portland or Seattle; less than 60 minutes to Port of Tacoma

• Over 12, 200 square feet of clear span industrial space (80’ x 160’) 

• Light Industrial zoned in an established industrial park

• Includes 720 square feet of office, restrooms and conference room space

Features:

• Clear height: 16’

• Lot size: 1.28 acres

• Power: 3 phase, 480 volts, 1000 amps

• One loading dock with high with dock leveler

• Two bay doors at 12’ x 14’ and 16’ x 14’

• Ample parking for personal vehicles, box trucks and semi vans

• Entire industrial space heated by energy saving overhead radiant gas heat

• Lighting recently upgraded to efficient modern T-5 fixtures

• Clean inside and out

• Natural gas from Puget Sound Energy

• Electric utility from Lewis County Public Utility District #1

• Water and sewer from city of Chehalis

• Fiber optics available

For information on this property and others available throughout Lewis County (or to list your industrial/commercial property for sale or lease), contact Economic Alliance of Lewis County External Relations Manager Eric Sonnenberg at 208.206.5407 or [email protected], or go to lewisedc.com.