Roads are being carved into a hillside along Evans Road just west of Clarkston where Turning Pointe Business Park is starting to take shape.
The start of construction represents the culmination of seven years of work for the Port of Clarkston. The time was spent gathering resources and approvals for the $3.5 million project that will be a home for employers with living-wage jobs, said port Manager Wanda Keefer.
Keefer spoke Thursday during a ground-breaking ceremony before more than 50 people, including government officials, chamber of commerce members and contractors.
The port predicts that businesses with 100 new jobs will move to the park over the next five years. How those new positions will materialize is still not clear.
"We think very soon we should have something we can report to the public," Keefer said. "We don't have anybody signed yet."
The construction project itself will employ more than 50 people at a "very good wage," said Case Stedham, president of Western Construction in Lewiston, the company that landed the bid to build the park.
One of the challenges for expanding Clarkston's economy has been a shortage of immediately available flat land that's served by utilities, said Douglas Mattoon, executive director of Valley Vision.
Renaissance Marine Group, for instance, has little room to grow at one of its sites on 16th Avenue in Clarkston since it's on a septic system, and other Asotin County businesses are similarly limited, Keefer said.
The 130-acre park has about 100 acres that will be leveled for buildings, not counting what's needed for roads, Keefer said.
Of those 100 acres, 45 will be ready by the end of June with roads, sewer, water, natural gas and three-phase electricity, the type needed for welding and other light manufacturing equipment such as CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines. Fiber-optic cable for telecommunications won't be far behind and will be installed no later than August.
The park almost doubles the size of the port, which until now has operated on 120 acres just south of the Snake River.
Asked about why the port was developing a resource away from the river, Keefer said in Washington ports are intended as vehicles for economic development and often are created in places with no access to water.
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Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.