NOVEMBER 2008

2008 may be remembered for scal upsand downs—particularly for banks—more than politics. Yet the biggest localeconomic disruption so far this yearappears to stem from shifting contractsat Hanford more than the collapse of WaMu or other nancial services com

panies. So with the term “banking crisis”being tossed around the national media,how are local nancial institutions do

ing? Not necessarily bad...Only two banks call the Tri-Citieshome—Community First and BankReale. Banner Bank and Baker BoyerBank operate out of WallaWalla. AmericanWest and SterlingSavings are fromSpokane. TheBank of Whit

man is out of Colfax and Spo

kane and ColumbiaRiver Bank answers toan ofce in The Dalles.Determining value canbe dicey... Are the mar

kets right? Does “value”really rise and fall asmuch as stock pricesdo? If so, some localbanks are “worth”from 50% down to 5% of their “value”twelve to fteen months ago. Othershave remained stable through the sameperiod. Yet others are not publiclytraded and no information is publiclyavailable on them.There are bank rating services available.One is Bauer Financial.

(www.bauerfinancial.com)

Here it’s possible to look upalmost any bank’s rating on a one-to-vestar scale. Local banks rank from vestars down to two stars.

www.google.com

lists many otherratings servicesas well.One of the Tri-Citiesve-star banks (according toBauer) is chamber mem

ber CommunityFirst Bank.Eric Pearson,President of Com

munity First, saysthat headlines seenin newspapers andon television nation

ally don’t necessarilyreect the local situ

ation. “We don’trely on nationalmarkets for our

“The Banking Crisis”

the effect on our community

This month’s luncheon meetingis well-timed, just a couple of weeks ahead of Thansgiving. RodWebring, Vice-Chair of the UnitedWay Board of Directors and leaderof the group’s Community SolutionsTeam, will address chamber mem-bers, quite likely pointing out away or two that thanks for one’sblessings can be expressed byhelping others perhaps a littleless blessed.

re specically, Rod plans toaddress the rst initiative from theCommunity Solutions Team: aprogram called

“Our Babies Can’tWait.”

To nd our more call theUnited Way (783-4102) or—evenbetter—put this upcoming luncheonmeeting on your calendar at11:30

, Monday, November 10th.

And don’t forget to let us knowthat you’re coming! RSVPs help agreat deal!

November Luncheon:

Our Babies Can’t Wait

Continued, Page 3

Welcome to November!A few weeks from now we will celebrate Thanksgiving andthere is a lot to be thankful for. The Chamber is growing. Ourcommunity is growing. And despite the economic uncertaintyof recent months, Eastern Washington—and specically theTri-Cities—seems to be relatively unaffected compared toother parts of the country.The Pasco Chamber is and should remain a force to createand support business opportunities in the near term andcommunity leaders for years to come. We help to shape ourown future as we create leadership opportunities throughchamber programs and initiatives. And we all have a part toplay in that, not just those who sit on committees…“Helping out” can be as simple as attending a luncheon meet-

ing or a Building Bridges networking meeting. It’s nice to havea growing membership roster. It’s great to see the numbers rising.But for you to really benet from your chamber membership—

and for the chamber to benet from your membership—involvement, even as simple as showing up, is crucial.I am excited about the growth of our Chamber and evenmore excited to see how we can be both a voice for businessand a positive force in the community. We are helping buildbridges between businesses, professionals and communitymembers, improving local quality of life and adding to theopportunities that exist…At our October luncheon Columbia Basin College PresidentRich Cummins reminded us that we have an incredibleresource right here in Pasco. Rich described his vision for theschool, with such highlights as a performing arts center thatcould attract national performers, a state-of-the-art planetariumand the possible addition of an Imax-like theater.Personally, I have a lot for which to be thankful. I don’tstop often enough to acknowledge people for whom I amgrateful or opportunities that I have been given. We who arebusiness owners or professionals nd it easy to get caughtup in hurrying from one task or place to the next, but weneed to stop and take a moment to be grateful… to be trulythankful… for all that we have.

A lot to be Thankful for...

an Brault, PresidentPasco Chamber of Commerce

Ryan

Members wishing to contribute to this column can email news to info@pascochamber.org

WORTH MENTIONING

Mike Schwenk

Pacic NorthwestNational Laboratory

has been appointedby the Governor to the Board of Directorsfor the

Washington Technology Center.

The

Columbia Basin College Foundation

received a$5,000 donation from

Davidson Companies

—a regionalinvestment company—to promote the “Don’t Quit” Work

shops. The workshops are for those going through roughtimes. The cover issues of self-esteem, time management,budgeting, career choices, and study skills.

Debbierey Bongar, MD,

has joined

Kadlec Clinic Pasco Primary Care.

Sheis a doctor of Internal Medicine.

Clark Jennings and Associates,

knownregionally for Agricultural and FarmingReal Estate, has expanded its ResidentialReal Estate business. Watch for bluesignposts to sprout up all over the region.Long-time Chamber member and pastPresident

John R. (Jack) Williams

passedaway in September. He served aspresident in 1969-70.

Rudy Pena

received rst place in the

FieryFood Festival

Salsa recipe contest.

Washington State University, Tri-Cities

has hired

Thomas Henich-Kling

as Direc

tor of the Viticulture and Enology program.

Girl Scout

Torrie Hildreth

made 51 quiltsthis summer and has donated them tothe community. Five are going to

LourdesHealth Network.

S p e c i a l T h a n k s

W e n d i a n d F r i e n d s

f o r t h e e x t r a h e l p a n d d e c o r a t i o n s a t t h e S u n s h i n e B a l l !

2008 - 2009

PASCO CHAMBER

Board of Directors

PRESIDENTRYAN BRAULT

Edward Jones

1st VICE-PRESIDENTBENJAMIN BEHEN

Lucky Flowers

2nd VICE-PRESIDENTHEIDI ELLERD

Kuffel, Hultgrenn, Klashke & Shea

PAST PRESIDENTDARRICK DIETRICH

Basin Disposal

PRESIDENTIAL APPOINTEEDEBBIE BONE-HARRIS

Franklin PUD

DIRECTORSCARRIE CHAMBERS

River Realty

GLEN CLIFFORD

Clifford Farms

GARY CRUTCHFIELD

City of Pasco

LEONARD HARMS

Harms Engineering

ANNE KOVIS

Allstate

WALT NEFF

Neff Ranches

MELLISA NEFF-HILL

Bank of Whitman

CHENYN PRESTON-JOHNSON

Preston Premium Wines

COURTNEY STENSON

Pasco School District

CRAIG SUTTON

BrightWeb Marketing

MONICA VAN HOLLEBEKE

Simplot Grower Solutions

LIAISON MEMBERSDENIS AUSTIN

Pasco Police

ED BROST

Franklin PUD

RICK MILLER

Franklin County

SAUNDRA HILL

Pasco School District

JIM TOOMEY

Port of Pasco

JANET WRIGHT

Lourdes Health Network

TREASURERRONALD J. PERKINS, CPAEXECUTIVE DIRECTORNIKKI GERDS

AROUND TOWN

“Gallery Aglow”

Art Exhibit and Sale

November 5th - 30th,

at Allied ArtsGallery, 89 Lee Blvd., Richland.

Tri-Cities Visitor and Convention Bureau’sAnnual Meeting and Tourism Showcase

will be November 6th from 4:00 - 7:00

at Three Rivers Convention Center.A charity dinner

to benet

2nd Harvest

is set for November 6th at the CountryGentleman in Kennewick. Tickets areavailable at the Chamber ofce.A charity dinner & auction

to benet

St. Patrick’s Catholic School

will be heldNovember 8th. For more information orfor tickets, call the school at 547-7261.

The Relay For Life of Franklin County

kickoff is November 20th,

6:00

7:30

PM,

at the Bank of Whitman in Pasco.

Camerata Musica

will

perform November22nd from 8:00

10:00

at Central UnitedProtestant Church in Richland.

Festival of Trees Family Day

comes up onNovember 29th from 10:00

to 4:00

at Three Rivers Convention Center. Strollthrough the professionally decoratedChristmas trees and have your child’s pic

ture taken with Santa. The event benetsRichland-Kennewick Young Life.

Members wishing to contribute to this column can e-mail news to info@pascochamber.org

Events | A ctivities | Fun things to do

funding so we’re not directlyaffected.” He added that theremay be some trickle-downeffect from the national econ-

omy, but the Tri-Cities willfeel it less than many places.Dorian Corliss is the CEO of Pasco-based Bank Reale. Hesays community banks aren’thurt as much as larger banksby the mortgage mess.“Locally there’s a slight slow-down but homes are stillbeing built, employment ratesare good and people are stillmoving here.” He pointedout that without as big a run-up in local home prices inrecent years there hasn’tbeen as big a price correction.Baker Boyer Bank is familyowned and operated. It’s oneof the oldest banks in thestate, with 138 years of history.It’s also one of Bauer’s ve-starrated banks. Megan Clubb—great-great granddaughter of cofounder D.S. Baker—is itsPresident. She says that East

ern Washington is an excellentplace to be just now...a strongregional economy, lack of areal estate bubble tofear and a desirablequality of life havestaved off the painthat some parts of thecountry are feeling.Clubb points out thatthere is a differencebetween a volatilemarket and an eco-

nomic collapse.Despite occasional doomsday-sounding news headlines,much of the economy isactually doing quite well.Despite talk of a credit crunchthere is still money to lend.For many banks—especiallythose that serve local com

munities—loan portfolios aresolid and earnings are strong.This article will likely be readin early November of 2008,four weeks afterit is written. Thisis the view fromhere. That viewmay change as timepasses. In fact, onecertain thing abouteconomics is that itWILL change. Thereare cycles withincycles in the worldsof business andeconomics. But from here,the local economy looksreasonably good—especiallywhen compared to some of the rest of the country.