AWB President Kris Johnson, left, and other AWB staff sign a banner created by Skamania County economic booster groups after a tour of Backwoods Brewery. The family-owned Backwoods Brewing Company was founded by the Waters family in 2012 in Carson amidst the scenic Columbia River Gorge.
Mount Adams Fruit, founded in 1916, is a family-owned company and is the largest pear grower/packer in the United States. They ship Washington-grown fruit around the world.
AWB President Kris Johnson, left, and other AWB staff sign a banner created by Skamania County economic booster groups after a tour of Backwoods Brewery. The family-owned Backwoods Brewing Company was founded by the Waters family in 2012 in Carson amidst the scenic Columbia River Gorge.
BINGEN — The 2022 AWB Manufacturing Week bus tour resumed Oct. 10 with visits to manufacturing employers in Southwest Washington. The tour stops included everything from a high-tech chip maker to a small distillery and craft brewer, highlighting the diversity of Washington’s manufacturing sector.
The first stops were made in Clark County: Advanced Nutrients/Applied Plant Science in Woodland and Clark College.
In Skamania County, the tour continued at Analog Devices in Camas, then to the Port of Skamania County in Stevenson, where AWB toured next-door neighbors Skunk Brothers Spirits and Backwoods Brewing Company.
Skunk Brothers Spirits is a veteran-owned and operated craft distillery that makes bourbons, whiskey, cordial and gins. It sources ingredients locally, including fruit grown in the Columbia River Gorge and peated malt grown in Kitsap County. It has grown from three products to 14 and is employs 10 people, up from four when it started.
The company credits multiple agencies for helping it grow from its founding in 2014, including the Skamania County Chamber of Commerce, Skamania County Economic Development Council, Stevenson Downtown Association and Port of Skamania County.
Backwoods Brewery, a family-owned business founded in 2012 in nearby Carson, now employs 100 people and has opened a second location in Portland to share its craft beers. The company founders grew up brewing beer with their dad as a hobby. After college, they opened a grocery store and pub and then decided to start a brewery.
In Skamania County, 22 manufacturers employ more than 300 people with an average annual wage of more than $35,000.
Skunk Brothers Spirits is a veteran-owned and operated craft distillery that makes bourbons, whiskey, cordial and gins.
Brian Mittge/AWB photo
The final stop of the day was at Klickitat County’s Mount Adams Fruit in Bingen. The family-owned company was founded in 1916. It employs 450 people year-round and peaks at 750 during harvest season. It is the largest pear grower and packer in the United States, and packs pears and cherries from more than 55 growers who farm 90 orchard properties between Mount Adams and Mount Hood in the Columbia River Gorge.
In Klickitat County, nearly 50 manufacturers employ more than 1,200 people at an average annual wage of $68,000.
Mount Adams Fruit, founded in 1916, is a family-owned company and is the largest pear grower/packer in the United States. They ship Washington-grown fruit around the world.
Brian Mittge/AWB photo
AWB, which serves as Washington’s state manufacturing association, tours the state each year in early October to highlight Washington’s innovative and diverse manufacturing firms, and to introduce young people to the careers that are available in modern manufacturing. The tour also advocates for policies to grow the number manufacturing jobs, and call attention to the state’s goal of doubling the number of manufacturing jobs over 10 years.
“Throughout our state’s history, and especially over the last few years, Washington manufacturers have proven to be resilient,” said AWB President Kris Johnson. “We want to do everything we can to help the state achieve the goal of doubling manufacturing in the next decade because we understand that when manufacturing thrives, Washington thrives. To get there, we know we’re going to need to make smart policy choices around issues such as workforce, energy and tax and regulatory policy.”
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