Regional Overview
Yakima Valley: High Yield Growth
Some things are just timeless, even in an ever evolving marketplace. The reward of a good value is still worth the search. Quick and efficient delivery of goods to market remains paramount. Flexibility and responsiveness are foundational to business success and lasting relationships.
Bottom-line value, lower business costs, greater efficiency, and flexible, customized solutions are among the benefits to companies in the Yakima Valley. This Central Washington community located along Interstate 82 has a diversified economy with well-established presences in logistics and distribution, food processing, industrial machinery and supplies, business and professional services, the health and medical industries, and aerospace.
“Companies find great value and efficiency in the Yakima Valley being a right-sized community,” said Dave McFadden, president of the Yakima County Development Association, and economic development organization working to support the community’s economic growth and needs of its businesses. “We are a small enough community of offer businesses speed and flexibility, and large enough to provide the depth and richness of resources they need to be successful.”
Establishing a facility in the Yakima Valley is easy and cost-effective. Quick zoning and permitting processes reinforce the community’s sound water, sewer, power, and telecommunications infrastructure. Abundant land and favorable commercial property rates keep facilities costs lower.
Goods move efficiently and predictably to and from Northwest population centers and beyond. Rail service, highway access and proximity to major ocean ports put companies within reach of suppliers and customers.
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Bottom-Line Value
Companies in the Yakima Valley attain bottom-line value and competitive advantage from lower business costs and work-ready companies.
Workforce quality is vital to the success of any business. Accordingly, answers to questions about workforce availability, skill level, and training options often make all the difference in the viability of a location. Yakima Valley workers are highly skilled, abundant, and trainable. Unionization rates and employee turnover are lower than average. Many workers are highly skilled – 18,330 students are enrolled in the area’s five regional colleges and universities – and eager to stay in the Yakima Valley. Companies draw from an affordable and bilingual workforce fed by an established employment training program. Employees have a high work ethic and workforce costs are lower than the national average.
Operating costs are affordable, helped along by a nimble business climate rooted in lean principals. An attractive tax structure includes no local business and operation, personal income, or other add-on taxes or impact fees.
Real estate costs are low and land is available. Companies requiring property find it shovel-ready and available in a wide range of sizes. Lease rates are also significantly less than in larger markets. “There’s tremendous untapped potential in Yakima,” said Robert Wallace, CEO of Wallace Properties. “There’s also tremendous room for expansion – you’re not constrained with respect to land.”
The city of Yakima’s selection as a “renewal community,” a federal program which provides tax incentives to stimulate job growth, is part of a rich package of federal, state, and local incentives. Other available tax and community and economic development incentives, which can help companies defray capital facilities and operating costs, serve to keep startup costs to a minimum in the Yakima Valley. Unique to the Yakima Valley, costs of a non-retail development project can be offset or reduced through the county’s Supporting Investments in Economic Development program. A sales tax exemption on buildings, equipment and machinery used in manufacturing, research and development, or computer-related businesses is also available.
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Goods, People Move Quickly, Predictably
A central location and infrastructure delivers greater efficiency to Yakima Valley businesses in reaching customers and accessing suppliers. Major Northwest population centers can be easily serviced within one shift. “If you want to move it, store it, or source it, Yakima’s central location can’t be beaten in the Pacific Northwest,” said Ken Marble, president of Horizon Distribution, a full-line hardware, farm, and industrial supply distributor with a history that dates more than 100 years.
Centrally situated in Washington State, the Yakima Valley accesses all major transportation systems and shipping avenues. It is an easy two hour drive from Seattle and only three hours from Spokane. A range of transportation options, including an uncongested four-lane interstate freeway system, a rail link, and regional airport serve the Yakima Valley, making the Ports of Vancouver and Seattle readily accessible.
From aerospace to viticulture, goods and people move quickly and predictably to other markets. A burgeoning wine industry which now includes dozens of wineries and thousands of vineyard acres harvest grapes and delivers them to a Woodenville, WA winery in time for work the following morning. Aerospace companies that supply major Puget Sound manufacturing locations deliver products as fast or faster than moving them north and south along the busy I-5 freeway corridor. “Companies realize efficiency and predictablity from the Yakima Valley’s stategic location,” McFadden said. “That’s a competitive advantage to businesses operating regionally or globally.”
At 91,325 persons, Yakima is the largest city in a county of 243,200 and 14 incorporated cities. The county is surrounded by the densely timbered Cascade Mountain Range to the west and rolling foothills, broad valleys and aris sagebrush to the east. Distribution centers operated by Ace Hardware and Wal-Mart are among the businesses that have chosen the Yakima Valley because of its access to key markets. “The reason Valley Processing is located in the Yakima Valley is because of the close proximity to fruit, good transportation infrastructure, and a good workforce,” said Terry Bliesner, vice president of Valley Processing.
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Timely, Flexible, Customized Solutions
The Yakima Valley’s best incentive is its welcoming, flexible, and rapid approach to helping businesses succeed with customized solutions. The community is ready to grow and it shows. Decisions are timely. City and county-level streamlined permitting processes are backed by a customer-service guarantee.
A collaborative spirit permeates the Yakima Valley’s public and private partners. Customized programs and offerings are available for relocating companies. “We enjoyed clear and easy access to local resources that helped us save money and get our operation running quickly,” said Jeff Gaskell, manager of Adventurer LP, a Canadian Recreational Vehical manufacturer that relocated its production facility to the Yakima Valley.
Proven, time-tested partnerships have helped companies such as plastics manufacturer TubeArt Sport and Signs, Wal-Mart’s distribution facility, wood products manufacturer Yakama Forest Products and hop producer Yakima Chief flourish and grow. Businesses that invest in the Yakima Valley are recognized and important. “The city got us through permitting in weeks not months,” said Bill Montero, general manager of TubeArt. “Getting our facility established in Yakima was easy and cost effective.”
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