News
Finding Your Path at the Olympia Career Hub
by Kathryn Millhorn Take a walk around downtown Olympia and you can’t miss the number of new buildings rising from vacant lots. The often missing and essential ingredient of these gorgeous new buildings? Builders state that the number one business challenge is finding skilled workers. Meanwhile, Olympia faces a housing shortage. These new buildings will…
SPSCC’s Dr. Angela J. Bowen Center for Health Education Awarded 2022 NWCCC Distinguished Project Award
On Nov. 15, 2022, the South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) Dr. Angela J. Bowen Center for Health Education was announced as the winner of the Northwest Construction Consumer Council (NWCCC)’s 2022 Distinguished Project Award for Public Projects Under $10MM. The NWCCC Distinguished Project Award program recognizes excellence in the engineering, design, and construction of…
JPII Wins 3rd Consecutive State Championship
The JPII girls cross country team pulled off a rarity in state cross country history by winning a third consecutive State cross country championship in Pasco, Washington. The girls have now won the State Championships in 2019, 2021, and 2022. There were no State Championships held in 2020 due to COVID. Seniors Bella Kondrat, Moriah Steinbrecher,…
Public Works Board Approves Over $118 million in Pre-construction and Construction Loans
The Washington State Public Works Board (PWB) approved over $118 million in funding for local community infrastructure projects at its Friday, Nov. 4 meeting. Loans from the PWB’s traditional pre-construction and construction programs will fund vital public infrastructure across six different systems: streets and roads, bridges, domestic water, stormwater, sanitary sewers, and solid waste and recycling. Pre-Construction…
Navigating Volatile Times with Olympia Computer
by Kathryn Millhorn • Photos courtesy of Olympia Computer and Dreamstime.com Keeping up with the flow of business—especially over the last few years—is tricky enough. Now imagine juggling a small business as well as cutting-edge advances in computers, technology, data security, information backup and recovery, and website management. For Erik Johnson and the staff at…
Celebrating 50 Years with TAGS Awards & Specialties
by Kathryn Millhorn • Photos by Shanna Paxton Photography Life’s crazy journey is full of ups, downs, and unpredictable moments. Any business that survives for 50 years deserves to be celebrated, praised, and studied by entrepreneurs everywhere. Olympia’s TAGS Awards & Specialties is one such icon making a positive mark in the community since 1972.…
KGY Celebrates 100 Years!
Photo by Skybear Media | Michael Delorme for the Thurston County Chamber. KGY was founded at Saint Martins in 1922 when radio stations were coming into existence. Father Sebastian Ruth, OSB, was the gentleman who officially licensed the station. KGY started with evening programming for listeners – a small operation in Saint Martins and they…
Expanding, Growing, and Reclining
by Kathryn Millhorn • Photos by Heather Harris, Elements Photography The Olympia Furniture Company has been an anchor of the West Side for nearly a decade. During that time, they’ve adapted to changing tastes, décor styles, up-and-down markets, and pandemic-induced shipping nightmares. But through it all, they kept a welcoming attitude, can-do spirit, and delightfully goofy online…
Local Aviation Company Finds Apprenticeship Program Eases Workforce Pressures
by Natasha Ashenhurst • Photos by Heather Harris, Elements Photography A&R Aviation is no stranger to innovation and pivoting to meet a need. A Federal Aviation Administration-certified shop, A&R works on Boeing and Airbus parts. Owner Ronnie Hix started A&R by repairing classic airframes in his garage. Today, A&R works on the newer generation of…