Patience paying off for C-W port

Source: The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.mini storageAug. 25--Laying the groundwork for eventual private-sector growth and public-sector amenities often comes in small steps, not big strides. In local government and economic development, public input and patience matter. David Ripp, executive director of the Port of Camas-Washougal, will tell you about it.Since taking the port's helm in 2008, the 46-year-old Ripp -- whose professional experience includes serving as executive director of the Port of Woodland for 13 years and as a branch manager for Norwest Financial -- has methodically shepherded several high-profile projects to completion.In April, for example, the port announced that longtime port tenant Foods In Season, a gourmet fresh food supplier, had signed on to relocate to the 120-acre Steigerwald Commerce Center's first building, a new distribution center. The company expects to add 10 new jobs as a result of its expansion.That announcement came eight months after the port had broken ground in August 2012 on installing infrastructure to open a portion of the Steigerwald site -- Clark County's largest new, market-ready industrial development. The recent activity at Steigerwald marked the culmination of years of planning and design work. Eventually, the property could support between 300 and 400 jobs.Meanwhile, the port is collecting public input on revitalizing a waterfront property, including new recreational facilities, environmental cleanup, and trail design and concepts. The ongoing public-input process comes after the port's purchase in November 2012 of about 13 acres of the 26-acre former Hambleton Lumber Co. site from Killian Pacific, a Vself storagencouver-based commercial real estate development and investment company.That $6 million acquisition adds to the 14 acres the port already owns immediately east of the former lumber mill site. Killian Pacific retains the other 13-acre half of the former mill parcel. The company and the port plan to redevelop the entire 40-acre waterfront site into a place to work, play and do business. The redevelopment project could include new restaurants, boutique shops and offices surrounding an anchor tenant. Plans also call for public access to the waterfront, including an extensive trail.In taking its next steps, the port is asking the public to fill out a survey about the future of the waterfront parcel. What's more, the port will convene a second open house -- beginning at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, at its office in Washougal, 24 S. A St. -- to gather more public feedback and to provide an update about plans for the waterfront site.It's an incremental process that reminds Ripp, who supervises 13 full-time staffers and one part-time employee, of port Commissioner Mark Lampton's comparison of the port's work to growing an asparagus crop."When you plant that asparagus, you're not eating it the next year," said Ripp, recalling what Lampton said. "It's two years down the road, and so everything we did two years ago is now coming to fruition, and everything we're doing right now will be coming to fruition in two years."Aaron Corvin: twitter.com/col_econ; 360-735-4518; aaron.corvin@columbian.com.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.) Visit The Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.) at .columbian.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉