I love it when people outside of Pierce County invest in our community and our residents! I love it even more when people who are already here decide to re-invest!
40 years ago, far-sighted community leaders set aside 500 acres in Frederickson for a planned industrial center.
Fast forward to today and thousands of our residents are benefitting from family-wage jobs as existing industrial and manufacturing companies are expanding and new companies are relocating. And, more are on the way!
The link below will take you to a great overview by the Economic Development Board (EDB) about the amazing transformation at Frederickson that has occurred over four decades. You will note that Pierce County is acknowledged for the investments we’ve made in the area’s road and transportation infrastructure – signals, street lighting and road enhancements.
https://www.edbtacomapierce.org/frederickson-the-manufacturing-boom-town/
My thanks to our Planning and Public Works team for their great work in making this explosive growth possible. A special shout-out also goes to our Economic Development team. They have been diligent and dogged in their work for many years to promote Pierce County as a great place to operate a business.
What makes their work all the more impressive and important is that about three years ago Sierra Pacific, a forest products company, decided to re-invigorate a timber mill in Shelton, which meant they had to cancel their existing plans to build a new mill in Frederickson. That decision left 250 acres of land without a purpose. This recent boom means most of that land has been repurposed and we now have a diversified set of companies investing and hiring! It’s great to see our Economic Development Team’s hard work paying off!
On another topic, when you see a stormy weather prediction, you hopefully check on your supply of flashlights, batteries, food and water, the amount of gas in your car, and make other preparations. It’s not too difficult to get ready.
But, what do you do when you have responsibility for our roads, sewer treatment plants or a ferry system? Fortunately, we have skilled people with lots of experience and the willingness to work around the clock to make sure our residents are safe and able to move about the County.
While last weekend you may have been worried about whether the Hawks were going to win their playoff game, scores of County employees were dealing with moving our two wastewater treatment plants to generator power, removing downed trees and cleaning debris out of the roads, restoring power to pump stations, and resolving a ferry ramp power situation at Anderson Island.
My thanks to the many crews who worked day and night in difficult conditions to ensure our that services and transportation access were restored as quickly as possible. I am very proud of their dedication and professional responses!
Thanks for reading,
Bruce