An overview of Moses Lake's economic base:

While Agriculture remains the base of our economic well being, contributing to the economic stability of the area are over 90 major industries and businesses not counting the retail outlets. Adding also to the economics is the Job Corps Center with 250 corpsmen, Moses Lake School District, the Grant County Public Utility District, our medical facilities and the Port of Moses Lake. Moses Lake has had a slow and steady economic growth over the past twenty years.

Moses Lake is expecting large economic growth in the future:

This is where you want to be.

Genie Industries moved to Moses Lake in the fall of 1998 and quickly grew and expanded their facility to a 457,000 square foot building which they leased from the Port of Moses Lake. In 1 year Genie had 70 employees and the numbers just keep growing. Within Moses Lake, Genie Industries has grown to be the largest private employer in the county with over 800 employees at the end of 2007. The company has plans to bring in a larger line out of the Redmond plant and we are excited and eager to welcome the growth.

Takata Industries has expanded operations on land that will help economic growth.

The Port of Moses Lake is working with Dept of Trans. to connect Railroads to the Airport area.

Microsoft and Yahoo! have brought their data centers to Grant County and reaping the benefits of our areas low cost energy.

Katana Industries; makers of the windtowers have also moved their operations into Grant County with roughly 100 employees making and manufacturing these 60 foot long towers. The windtowers are being shipped out to a wind project in Southern Washington.

Governor Chris Gregoire visited Grant County and listened to Washingtons Biodiesel company. The company is bringing a facitlity to Grant County and will employ approxamately 44 full time workers.

The Grant County Economic Development Council, the Port of Moses Lake, City of Moses Lake, and Grant County joined forces to secure nearly $1 million for improvements to Road N-NE. The improvements prove critical for the $600 million expansion to REC/Silicon and to the new location of Guardian Industries. The significant expansion to REC will largly impact the economy in the Grant County and Moses Lake area. The company is planning for over 600 new employees; management and labor, just for spring of 2008 alone. REC will create $33 million in earnings and wages Countywide. The new facility will be 20 floors tall and house several fluid bed reactors that will produce 6,500 metric tons of polysilicon.

Guardian Industries Project has broke ground on a 500,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Moses Lake. The company is a division of Guardian Building Products, which will manufacture the complete line Guardian's fiberglass insulation products. Then facility will create 130 new jobs for the area.

Specialty Chemical has purchased 4 building and 6 acres of land east of Moses Lake at the old sugar beet factory. The company will be used for producing recipitated silica and fluoride salt. Specialty Chemicals has removed all the remaining old infrastructure and will invest $30 million in new equipment and upgrades to convert the site. The new facility will employ 50 people with 35 hourly workers and 15 salary paid administrative employees. 

Check out what the Grant County Economic Development Council is doing with commited projects, jobs, wages, and investments. Check out www.grantedc.com The Grant Co EDC also has a link on their website for jobs and job postings www.centralwashingtonjobs.com

A $3 million, 22,000 square foot, Army National Guard armory, located near the intersection of Highway 17 and Randolph Road at the Port of Moses Lake, was dedicated in August, 1994. 1994 also saw the dedication of a 2.3 million dollar Family Aquatic Center, featuring a zero depth beach area and bay; two 200 foot water slides, a Treasure Island Water structure and Baby Octopus Slide; a 1 and 3 meter diving board, an Olympic sized competitive pool and a tube slide. The premier outdoor Aquatic Center also includes; two sand volley courts, a large deck, patio area and picnic shelter, children’s playground, wet sand pay area and full service concession stand. The facility is handicapped accessible. The center is the first of its kind in the state. In February, 1994, the Aquatic Center was awarded the prestigious Georgie Award, a statewide honor given by a coalition of the Washington State Department of Trade and Economic Development and various state tourism organizations. Moses Lake won in the category for "Infrastructure Development." In November, 1995, Moses Lake accepted an award in Toledo, Ohio for the Moses Lake Family Aquatic Center. The facility received the National Merit Award presented by the National Parks and Grounds Management Association. The award was received because of the Aquatic Center’s unique design and because it is a valued asset to the community, as a family facility, providing quality of life for all ages. Moses Lake residents continue to be support of youth with the completion of a huge baseball park at Larson Playfield and an additional complex of ball fields, near Central Drive and Grape Drive called the Lauzier Athletic Complex, which were completed for use the summer of 1998. A skateboard park was dedicated by young people for their use and the Moses Lake Library received a much needed landscaping and parking lot facelift. The Moses Lake Centennial Amphitheater continues to provide scheduled professional performances throughout the summer.

Big Bend Community College completed a 1.1 million dollar expansion and remodeling program of the math/science facility. The project doubled the size of the existing building. It was the first state funding the college had received for new construction on the 153 acre campus. In the past, financing has been done with proceeds from the college’s military educational contracts in Europe. The college also completed a $500,000 addition to the student center/administration building.

The 1-90/Highway 17 intersection continued rapid growth in 1994 In January of 2000 Samaritan Healthcare’s Board of Directors approved a two year $18.4 million expansion and remodeling project. The expansion project will add 60,000 square feet to the existing 83,800 square foot building. An additional 60, 000 square feet will be remodeled to expand and improve existing patient care areas. The project’s new construction includes kitchen and dining rooms, a special care/intensive care unit, laboratory, pharmacy, materials management, county morgue and space for additional patient rooms. Remodeled and expanded areas will include post-partum, labor and delivery, medical/surgical rooms, radiology, emergency and main lobby/admitting. Ground breaking took place in April 2000. Also in January The Grant County Economic Development Council, announced they would be relocating to the Big Bend Community College.. In February Major Mortgage opened an office at 101 West Broadway. Also several announcements were made to the public for businesses coming to the Moses Lake area. Ziggy’s Home Improvements made plans to open in the future and hire 35 - 40 workers. Staples announced they were coming to Moses Lake. Micron moved into the Titan Building. Micron is the World’s 4^th largest Web Hosting provider and data storage & communication center. In April 2000 the Port of Moses Lake announced the United States Forest Service signed a long term lease with the Port and will construct a $3 million facility that will contain the latest pumping equipment and high speed loading machinery used to fight fires from the sky. Also in April the Moses Lake Safeway store celebrated it’s grand re-opening. The renovation changed the store into a premier store, added 12,000 square feet, bringing the total shopping space to 56,000 square feet and includes a branch of the Columbia Basin Federal Credit Union and a pharmacy. Spokane based Pacific Rim Ethanol plans to begin construction on a new $122 million ethanol plant when financing and final production agreements can be worked out. The plant will distill wheat and barley to produce 40 million gallons of ethanol a year along with some alcohol, gluten and carbon dioxide. The plant will buy about $50 million worth of wheat and barley a year from local growers. Other new businesses include: ERA Sunset Real Estate, Real Estate Services of Moses Lake (now known as John L. Scott Real Estate),Cobie's Dry Cleaning, Forget Me Not Gift Baskets, C&M Transmission and Auto Repair, Floral Occasions, Irrigators Inc., Costless Carpet, Park Plaza Strip Mall, Grant County Title Company and the Patton Boulevard Center announced it would be opening with 26,000 square foot strip mall. In May The Wheatland Bank opened a new branch & Moses Pointe made public their next stage of planning to develop a 392 acre Resort. In June the South Campus Athletic Club held a ground breaking ceremony to build a full service swim center with a retractable roof. In August Wal Mart announced that it is scheduling for a complete remodel which will include a full service grocery, a bakery, deli, and produce department. The remodel and addition is scheduled to begin the end of November. Simplot announced Nestle sold three potato processing facilities to the JR Simplot Company. The acquisition supports the growth of our domestic and export potato business. Big 5 Sporting Goods and Gottschalks both celebrated August Grand Openings and are located in the Penn Plaza Area. Economists have painted a hopeful picture for Grant County and Moses Lake. They found the area to be very stable and "far and away a premier performer" in terms of adding jobs to the economy.

Progress in 2001 - Samaritan Healthcare; the 18.5 Million expansion project began in April of 2000 and is expected to be complete by spring of 2002. The expansion will add about 60,000 square feet of space to the existing hospital, bringing the total to nearly 145,000 feet. Fiber Optics in the Basin; The science of fiber optics involves data, voice and image transmission by light passage through thin, transparent fibers one tenth the size of a human hair. High speed telecommunications service, as fast as the speed of light, is provided to customers over cables of glass lines. Over 7,000 miles of fiber have already been strung with an additional 40,000 miles planned within the next five years.

Moses Pointe Development; Moses Pointe will eventually boast 800 residential units. Anchored by a golf course that is rated the third -toughest course in the state, the area is expected to become a resort destination. Future plans include a waterfront hotel and a marina, adding to the resort theme. National Frozen Foods; Installation of new processing lines, freeze tunnels and an automated packaging system will be complete in time for the beginning of this year’s harvest season. Addition of the equipment will expand harvesting, processing and freezing capacities for the 2001 season from about 75 - million pounds of peas, corn, carrots, and lima beans to about 150,000 million pounds. The construction of a new 4,000 horsepower refrigeration engine room will power the new Aero freeze tunnels and hydro-chillers. Expansion of Highway 17; The state funded project anticipated through 2005, could begin in two years. The five-mile section, extending from Interstate 90 to the Port of Moses Lake, will be widened to four lanes. Wal Mart; Expansion and construction on schedule in Othello, Ephrata & Moses Lake. Chemi-Con Materials; Officials announced an approximate $30 million expansion and modification project that when completed will increase productivity and add jobs. The plan is to expand the building space and add six new formation machines to increase the production of aluminum foil used in the manufacture of high-voltage electrolytic capacitors. Dune Lakes Development; Moses Lake’s premier waterfront development will have 141 lots on a four-and-a-half-acre community park complete with boat launch, dock, sandy beach, and picnic areas. The private community waterfront park and boat launch, with 442 feet bordering lake, is the gateway to lake fishing and a variety of recreational opportunities. The new Moses Lake branch of Wheatland Bank has opened for business on Pioneer Way. Some of the New Businesses in Moses Lake: Dunk A Donut, House of Music, Hot Springs, United Rentals, Overall Laundry, Sweet Puffs, Frontier Title & Escrow Co., Big Sky Aviation, & Northwest Telephone, Summer Wood Alzheimers Special Care Center.