Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
LaCROSSE-A happenstance meeting last Christmas is bringing some cheer this year.
"I'm just excited about this whole project and this it will be good for everybody involved," David Soderstrom, CEO of Bainbridge Manufacturing, said.
Bainbridge Manufacturing is in a five-year lease for a Main Street building and has already hired one local man to being assembly work. It is a gift for the small town, the stars aligning to get the business to come to expand into LaCrosse, Jeff Pietila, president of the LaCrosse Community Pride (LCP), said. Pietila credited Tedd Nealey as the key component in the venture.
Nealey is the chair of the economic development committee for LCP. Last year at Christmas time, he and his wife went to visit a friend in Spokane at his business. While there, they started talking with another customer. The customer was Soderstorm, who told Nealey he was trying to expand his manufacturing business. Nealey knew of a place he could expand to. The two traded business cards and the next morning received a call from Soderstorm who wanted to know more about the potential space.
The first building Soderstorm looked at was the empty Ritzville Warehouse Company space. He submitted a proposal in February, but nothing came of it. Soderstorm looked in other places, then reached out to Nealey again during harvest to say he wanted to get into LaCrosse.
LCP scrambled and purchased the old LaCrosse Transfer Building on Main Street for Soderstorm to lease. Josh Chastain, who was raised in LaCrosse and now lives here with his family, went to Waterville to train and has started work. A room in the Gathering Place has been set up for the assembly work on a specific component for in-closets lights for a California-based company.
Bainbridge Manufacturing is the first new business to come to town since LCP started its economic development efforts, Pietila said.
"We've had some real good community support," said Nealey, who credited that as a reason Soderstorm chose to bring his operation to LaCrosse.
"Instead of going to China, he's coming to LaCrosse," Nealey said.
"We're the perfect business for a small community," Soderstorm said. Although his father started the business on Bainbridge Island in the 1960s, they moved to Waterville 20 years ago for lower electric bills and to support a rural community. Soderstorm noted the moved dropped their power bill by 25%. Bainbridge Manufacturing is the largest manufacturer of plastic hardware for cabinets, furniture, and closets in the United States.
Soderstorm plans for LaCrosse to do more assembling and shipping instead of the manufacturing. He hopes to do as much as soon as possible, but did not have any time frames. Instead, he intends for the satellite location to grow organically and keep growing until they can't hire anyone else.
That need for workers is the main reason for he had to expand from Waterville.
"We just need more labor and we can't get it here," he said.
Soderstorm said the expansion into LaCrosse is a good partnership. While looking into the first building, he got to know the people and felt this would be a good place to expand.
"The future looks pretty good," said Pietila.
LCP was formed by LaCrosse residents promote the town and get economic growth. At the time, there was no grocery store or bank; both have since returned. The 501(c)3 is now landlord of three buildings and apartments. From LCP's efforts, the town now has 10 jobs, Nealey said.
Jana Mathia is a reporter at the Whitman County Gazette.
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