Port of Whitman outlines countywide projects: industrial pads, waterfront maintenance and brownfields cleanup

Kara Reibold, executive director of the Port of Whitman County, told the Pullman City Council on June 17 that the port is expanding its countywide economic‑development role with new acquisitions, grant‑funded capital work and programs to identify and remediate brownfields.

Reibold said the port now manages 10 properties across Whitman County, including three waterfront sites and the Port of Wilma, and has a 2025 budget of about $20 million, financed largely through grants and loans. "Most of that is coming from other than tax — it's really grants and loans," Reibold said.

Why this matters: the port's projects aim to attract higher‑wage jobs and private investment across the county. Reibold said the port prioritizes projects that create jobs above the county median wage and bring outside investment into Whitman County.

Reibold listed several active initiatives: development of the TECO Industrial Park (about 15 acres, planned for five pad‑ready sites with three‑phase power and telecommunications), continued work on the Oakville Mill feasibility study, infrastructure work at the Pullman Industrial Park (including a tech‑transfer facility supported by a $2 million grant), and upgrades at on‑water ports including a $6 million dock improvement completed in 2023.

She described a countywide brownfields assessment grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that has led to five nominated sites. Two nominations (in Rosalia and Palouse) have already yielded redevelopment work, and a third nomination in Saint John — nominated by Whitman Hospital and Medical Clinics — has moved to an implementation stage after the port obtained a roughly $500,000 cleanup award to ready the site for future hospital use.

On broadband and other infrastructure, Reibold said the port received funding to extend fiber‑to‑the‑home to parts of Sunshine Road and an area north of Pullman near the industrial park. On the county's childcare shortage, Reibold said a feasibility study is wrapping up with a site identified and estimated capital costs in the $5 million to $7 million range, but the port and partners still need an operator to run a new facility.

Reibold said the port has been pursuing the tech‑transfer facility to help researchers commercialize technologies. "This facility will bring tech transfer out of the university. It will facilitate researchers who have proven out technologies in their labs and need a full scale site to work on commercialization," she said, and noted the port secured a $2 million grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce toward that project.

Reibold also outlined workforce and property developments at the Port of Whitman Business Air Center near Colfax, noting hangar demand and a WSDOT loan to expand hangar capacity and explore fuel options. She said recent staff hires have refreshed the port's outreach and countywide focus.

Council and staff questions touched on timing and regional collaboration. Councilmember Weller commended the port's outreach and the executive director's leadership during recent tours.

Reibold said the port will continue to pursue grants — including another brownfields assessment grant — and plans a September infrastructure summit to coordinate regional priorities for the 2026 legislative session.

No council action was required on the presentation; the briefing was informational.