Around the Corner
Straw-to-pulp operation announces community tour
Columbia Pulp will have a ground breaking and community tour next week for its $184 million plant in southeast Washington, which will use straw to make pulp for paper production.
The plant will purchase about $13 million worth of straw each year from local wheat farmers. Company officials say the operation will be the first in North America to use straw in place of wood chips, making pulp for use in tree-free paper and packaging goods as well as agricultural and industrial products.
The events begin at noon Sept. 27 near Lyons Ferry at 1403 Highway 261, Starbuck. State Rep. Terry Nealy, R-Dayton, will speak at the groundbreaking, along with Port of Columbia Manager Jennie Dickinson and Michele McCarthy, Columbia Pulp’s chief financial officer.
Typically, waste straw is burned or tilled under, contributing to air pollution and soil erosion.
When farmers burn fields after harvest, they have to get permits from the state Department of Ecology. About $500,000 of those fees supported research on the straw-based pulp-making process that began at the University of Washington.
About 90 people will work at the plant, which is expected to open in late 2018.
Valley orthopedic practice
offering two walk-in services
Northwest Orthopaedic Specialists has started two services at its Spokane Valley location designed to meet patients’ immediate care of recent bone, joint and muscle injuries.
A walk-in clinic, OrthoCare Express, is open 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Mondays, 4-8 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Saturdays at the care provider’s office at 12410 E. Sinto Ave. , Suite 201, according to a news release. The practice also is offering a Saturday Morning Sports Injury Clinic, with X-ray services 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Saturdays through the fall sports season.
No appointment is required for those using the services – designed, the release said, to provide care at a lower cost than urgent care clinics or emergency rooms. The services also are designed to provide immediate treatment for the following:
Dislocations and fractures
Injured, painful and swollen joints
Neck and back pain/sciatica
Sports- and work-related injuries
Sprains and strains
For more information on OrthoCare Express or the Saturday Morning Sports Injury Clinic, call (509) 928-4334.
Vintage retailer to celebrate first year, move with event
The 1889 Salvage Co. is marking its one-year anniversary and a move to a new location with an event later this month.
The vintage retailer will have a “Trailer Rally and One-Year Anniversary Shindig” from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 30 in the parking lot of the business at 2824 N. Monroe St. Vintage camping trailers will be on display.
Lecture to explore strategy
of risk in insurance industry
PULLMAN – “Applied Risk: The Science and Strategy of Risk Mitigation in the Insurance Industry” will be presented 5-6 p.m. Monday at Washington State University’s Carson College of Business, in room 2016 of Todd Hall.
The 25th annual Walton Lecture, which is free to the public, will be presented by Greg Ness, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the StanCorp Financial Group and Standard Insurance Co. of Portland.
Ness also holds the Leadership Institute Fellow designation from the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association.
Around the Corner is a periodic roundup of business-related happenings in the Inland Northwest. To submit items for consideration, email Business Editor Paul W. Smith at pauls@spokesman.com.