Gov. Gregoire touts increasing diversity of Southwest Washington economy

For Immediate Release: February 13, 2008

KELSO � Gov. Chris Gregoire today toured Columbia Analytical Services, a Kelso-based company that is one of the largest independent employee-owned commercial testing laboratory networks in the United States. The governor toured the facility with Jeff Christian, the company�s lab director, and other local business leaders.

�The success and expansion of CAS is a testament to the hard work of its team and to the benefits of the public and private sectors working together,� Gregoire said. �The company�s achievements are a telling reminder of Washington�s creative business spirit where we are seeing new growth in innovative industries � from medical technology in Spokane to research and development right here in Cowlitz County.�

CAS recently completed a $4 million expansion of its Kelso laboratory, adding dozens of new jobs to the plant and bringing total employment to nearly 200 people. The expansion was made possible in part by assistance from the Cowlitz County Economic Development Council to obtain research and development tax credits. Training grants from the Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council were also used.

In 2007, the governor�s budget added Small Business Development Centers in three locations across the state, including one in Kelso. The small business centers were created to help individuals and small businesses like CAS succeed by providing training classes and one-on-one counseling.

�We are pleased that Governor Gregoire chose to highlight our company as a Washington small business success story,� Christian said. �The small business R&D grants helped us expand our laboratory and add family wage jobs to our community.�

Gregoire noted that in the past three years, the state has created 221,000 new jobs, and the state unemployment rate is near an all-time low, continuing to track below the national average.

�The success of CAS is evidence that Fortune magazine got it right when they named Washington among the top five best states for small businesses,� Gregoire said.

�In Cowlitz County, we continue to diversify the types of employers we attract to this area. Companies such as Columbia Analytical and Silicon & Solar prove that Cowlitz County jobs vary beyond those that are natural resource based,� said Ted Sprague, Cowlitz County Economic Development Council president. �We have diversified our local economy in the past five years, bringing our unemployment rate down from 14 percent to 6 percent.�

CAS� largest laboratory facility and corporate offices are located in Kelso. It also has laboratories in Rochester, N.Y., Jacksonville, Fla., Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., Simi Valley, Calif. and Houston, Texas.

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