BusinessMarch 25, 2012

Work pumped cash into Pomeroy businesses, as Whitman County looks forward to similar bump

The sun has set on the first phase of construction for Puget Sound Energy’s wind project near Pomeroy, but local business are still feeling the boost from the traffic.
The sun has set on the first phase of construction for Puget Sound Energy’s wind project near Pomeroy, but local business are still feeling the boost from the traffic.Tribune/Kyle Mills
With all the construction crews working in and around Pomeroy last summer, Leslie Schmidt, owner of PF Express, was kept busy making pizzas to keep the temporay residents in Pomeroy happy last summer.
With all the construction crews working in and around Pomeroy last summer, Leslie Schmidt, owner of PF Express, was kept busy making pizzas to keep the temporay residents in Pomeroy happy last summer.Tribune/Kyle Mills
Jeffrey Smith, owner of Town & Country Resturant in Pomeroy, had a steady flow of construction workers and employees from Puget Sound Energy frequenting his establishment.
Jeffrey Smith, owner of Town & Country Resturant in Pomeroy, had a steady flow of construction workers and employees from Puget Sound Energy frequenting his establishment.Tribune/Kyle Mills

Leslie Schmidt was cycling last summer when she got a call on her cellphone from a foreman at the Puget Sound Energy wind turbine project.

He was keeping his guys late and was willing to purchase as many pizzas as she and her employees at PF Express could put together in an hour. Minutes later, she had rounded up as many of her crew as she could find, and, still in her bike shorts and shoes, went to work.

Such flexibility was essential to cashing in on the wave of commerce that hit Pomeroy as a crew of more than 200 installed 149 turbines for what is now Washington's largest wind farm, said Schmidt, an owner of the convenience store. "A lot of the big bosses had my cell number. It was just a matter of being ready."

Whitman County might see a similar influx of business in the coming months. First Wind has about 40 people building roads and leveling ground between Oakesdale and U.S. Highway 95 for a 58-turbine project. That number is expected to grow to about 150 sometime between now and August as other phases of the project, such as building pads, get under way.

It remains to be seen if Oakesdale will respond like Pomeroy.

PF Express was four to five times busier than normal between 5 and 7 a.m. when construction was at its height, Schmidt said.

Some of the goods and services workers purchased were readily available, such as packaged snacks, drinks and scratch tickets, Schmidt said. "Most of them didn't leave the job site for lunch so they needed something to do. Washington Lotto was quite impressed."

Other parts of the business adjusted to meet the needs of the workers. Two of Schmidt's employees started washing clothes for the workers at her Laundromat. "It gave them another reason to stop. They had to put quarters in the machines just like anybody else."

They also cooked breakfast burritos as well as meatloaf, barbecue pork and Philly steak sandwiches that were ready when the store opened at 5 a.m.

"If we knew who was knocking on the windows at 3 a.m., we'd open up," Schmidt said.

Not far away from the convenience store, Town & Country restaurant was serving as many as 170 meals a day, about 30 percent of which fed workers, said Jeffery Smith, owner of the eatery.

Smith left a job cooking at the Clearwater River Casino two years ago to take over Town & Country, realizing the influx of workers was on its way.

He catered for Puget Sound Energy meetings and sold dinners of pork chops, hamburgers, steaks and omelettes to crane operators, linemen, flaggers and truck drivers, Smith said. Many would stick around to watch a basketball game on television over drinks, Smith said.

Like Schmidt, he met special requests. Among them was keeping at the ready a jug of molasses a guy from Kentucky brought in so he could pour it over pork chops and eggs, Smith said.

Another time he made gumbo with sausage provided by a crew member, Smith said.

The men seemed to appreciate the effort. Some of them even purchased Pirate gear and went to cheer high school teams at athletic events.

"It was a nice addition to the community when they were here," Schmidt said.

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In contrast, Oakesdale, with 422 residents, has less than one-third the population of Pomeroy, where 1,425 people live.

Oakesdale has no overnight accommodations, said Mary DeGon, the town's city clerk.

A not-for-profit group hoping one day to open an assisted-living center toyed with creating a recreational vehicle park for the workers. Then they decided against it because of the costs of getting water and sewer to the proposed site, DeGon said.

Hotels in places such as Colfax, Cheney and Spokane are housing the workers, she said.

Oakesdale does have a grocery store, a gas station and an antique store with a coffee shop. The closest town with restaurants is Rosalia, eight miles away.

"There's empty buildings for sale, but there's nothing that fits," DeGon said.

Much of the money that has come to Garfield County didn't get funneled through businesses. The turbines sit on land that belongs to more than a dozen property owners, said Roger Thompson, a spokesman for Puget Sound Energy.

The going rate in Washington is between $10,000 and $20,000 per year per turbine based on generation, which is in addition to leases for the land where the turbines sit, Thompson said, noting he's not allowed to disclose the contract terms.

Government has benefited too.

The sales tax collected in Garfield County in the fiscal year that ended in October shot up to $7.2 million compared with $2.1 million in the previous year, according to the Washington Department of Revenue. Of the 7.5 percent sales tax, 6.5 percent goes to the state and 1 percent goes to local government.

Property tax revenue in Garfield County is expected to climb by more than $800,000 in 2012 compared with 2011, according to the Garfield County Treasurer's Office.

A little of that money went to a 2 percent pay increase for 90 Garfield County employees, who had not had raises in a number of years, said county Commissioner Dean Burton.

Much of the rest of it will help make up for lost ground. Garfield County used to receive about $1 million a year in revenue from the state and now that's dropped to $300,000, Burton said.

Even more cuts to county revenue could occur before the Washington Legislature finishes, Burton said. "We don't know if it's going to level off."

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.

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