2025-02-03 Economic Alliance UpdateEconomic Alliance Update
February 3, 2025
11:00 a.m.
Present: Commissioner Brummer, Commissioner Pollock, Commissioner Swope, County Manager Ryan
Barrett, Richard DeBolt, Eric Sonnenberg, Todd Chaput
Guest(s):
Recorder: Tammy Martin
Public comment: None
Richard DeBolt said the Economic Alliance Banquet is Friday Feb. 7. Keynote speakers will include Ryan
Barrett. Richard said the Economic Alliance was invited to a BDO conference in Washington D.C.
Richard told the Board the Economic Alliance has been working on wastewater issues. There will be a
group discussion at the Historic Courthouse for further discussion.
Richard said the Economic Alliance Board meeting will be March 7. Discussion for .09 applicants will
happen then.
There was discussion about .09 loan repayments amongst the group. Concerns were addressed about
setting a precedent if loan payments are canceled. Commissioner Brummer asked if there could be the
possibility of applying for a .09 grant to pay off the .09 loan.
Todd Chaput onboarded with Crowdriff for tourism software. Todd said the bowling tournament is
March 7 at 12. Todd said filming for the latest Call of Duty game wrapped up. Todd said website hits
have been trending up.
Eric Sonnenberg said there have been few recruitment leads the Economic Alliance is looking through.
There have been new projects that are underway for the Port of Chehalis that are currently in property
negotiations. Eric said Clean Fiber is looking at investing in a new location within Lewis County. Eric said
the Economic Alliance has undertaken looking for retail management options for the City of Centralia.
This includes partnering with the Centralia Outlets as well as downtown shopping areas.
Eric said the Housing Alliance had a recent meeting on how to proceed with anything housing related for
Lewis County.
Richard said there have been recent UGA issues between Lewis County, Centralia, and Chehalis. The
issues have created delays for permitting. Commissioner Brummer said there has been a lot of time and
attention towards fixing these issues with more still to come.
Meeting adjourned at 11:24 a.m.