When it rains it pours, the old saying goes. And as cooler, wet weather delivers full-on fall to Eastern Washington this weekend, federal aid programs are sprinkling seed money on a couple of projects that promise long-term benefits for our region.
On Tuesday, Yakima County commissioners — who in August approved a $2.8 million request from Sheriff Bob Udell to set up a regional crime lab — formally agreed to a contract with the Yakima Valley Council of Governments to operate it. The sheriff will chair the operations board of the lab, which will employ sophisticated technologies to investigate and prevent crime, and to speed up the processing of evidence.
The startup money comes from the $48.8 million the county received through the American Rescue Plan — part of the relief act that Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed in March 2021.
“Today is not only a big day for the safety of all Yakima County residents, it is a huge day for true regional collaboration of the many law enforcement agencies that are responsible for public safety all across our Valley,” Udell said in a news release .
But that wasn’t the only good news last week.
Wednesday, the US Department of Energy announced it would chip in $100 million apiece to two tech companies that are developing next-generation batteries for electric vehicles. The money will help the companies — Group14 Technologies and Sila Nanotechnologies — build manufacturing plants in Moses Lake that will employ hundreds of workers in coming years.
Both companies are working on batteries that would use silicon anodes, which could make EV batteries cheaper and more efficient than today’s batteries, which typically employ graphite anodes.
“These two cutting-edge companies will not only use domestically sourced materials to make electric vehicles more affordable,” Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said in a news release, “they will be creating hundreds of high-paying jobs that will help transform Moses Lake into an epicenter of clean energy manufacturing.”
Together, these projects will make a direct difference to two of Eastern Washington’s greatest concerns: crime, pollution and the economy.
The crime lab will give police agencies up and down the Yakima Valley new tools that should make solving — and preventing crimes — easier and faster.
The battery plants, in the meantime, could put our state in the driver’s seat for making EVs a realistic alternative to gas-powered vehicles. They’ll be helping us curb climate-changing greenhouse gases and simultaneously providing new manufacturing jobs.
The common thread here? A federal administration with a demonstrated willingness to put its money where its mouth is when it comes to delivering tangible benefits for the public.
As much as we all criticize the feds around here, it’s only fair to note the positives they provide to our region.
And just considering the $48.8 million in ARP funds Yakima County is enjoying and the $200 million for those battery plants, they’re making it rain at the moment.
