After Lamb Weston’s abrupt departure from Connell left hundreds unemployed and the city’s budget devastated, the community now may have a clearer path to bringing a new company to town.
Tammy Wade, the company’s senior communications manager, confirmed to the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business that the property was listed for sale in February and Lamb Weston has engaged a broker to look at sale options.
City officials and those with the Port of Pasco said the property was listed for a reported $30 million. The potato processor had initially announced it would demolish the plant after it closed in October and applied for the required permits.
Port Commissioner Vicki Gordon and Connell Mayor Lee Barrow said they only recently learned of the property listing and do not know why Lamb Weston changed its mind about the demolition. But they are happy that it now provides the opportunity to more quickly bring a new company to town.
“It’s given me a big smile on my face,” Barrow told the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business.
Lamb Weston is one of the Tri-Cities’ largest employers, with 2,660 employees in Benton and Franklin counties, according to the Journal’s Largest Employers list. The company attributed the plant closure and other cost-cutting measures it has recently made to rising costs and declining revenue.
Roughly 150 of the plant’s 375 workers reportedly live in Connell. About $580,000 of the city’s water utility’s annual revenues, representing more than half of the utility’s budget, came from the plant, and it also generated another $200,000 or so in other revenue for the city’s general fund.
The plant property is listed with commercial real estate firm Colliers. It indicates that four properties are for sale – the plant, two storage shed sites and 1,553 acres of farmland. Lance Bacon with Kiemle Hagood is the local broker for the property.
The change in fortunes for the plant will not affect a recently awarded $100,000 state grant for the port to help the town identify other industrial sites and market them to potential employers, officials said.
Barrow said that he has already fielded inquiries from three companies who are interested in the facility, and he hopes that Lamb Weston will make a sale quickly so that someone can help the town get back to work.
“Only thing I know is they’re not interested in selling to a competitor,” Barrow said.