Genie Industries Inc., the Redmond, Wash.-based company that has chosen to open a plant in Moses Lake that is scheduled to employ 1,300 people eventually, considered opening its plant in Spokane, but decided against it.


Genie chose Moses Lake instead of Spokane because the Moses Lake area had larger parcels of land available, a closer proximity to Genies Redmond campus, and former U.S. Air Force hangars located at the Port of Moses Lake that it could occupy immediately, says company President Robert Wilkerson.


While Spokane doesnt have much control over the latter two items, the lack of suitable property here shouldnt be ignored, says Frank Tombari, chairman of the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce and former chairman of the Spokane Area Economic Development Council.


Genie Industries had been looking for at least 200 acres of land here that was served by sewer, roads, and other infrastructure and that had access to Interstate 90 and a rail line, but Tombari says 200 contiguous acres of land couldnt be found within the area expected to be designated under the states Growth Management Act for urban growth in metropolitan Spokane.


Mark Turner, president of the Spokane EDC, says that while regulations and laws encourage development within what will become that urban growth area, a provision states that if enough land cant be found within the growth boundary to develop a facility, local government can allow development outside of the boundaryprovided an exception is granted by Spokane County. In the Genie Industries case, 200 acres of land had been found outside of the growth boundary, Turner says. He believes an exception would have been granted if Genie Industries had decided to pursue plans for a plant here.


Mike Taylor, a principal of Taylor Engineering Inc., of Spokane, who had helped look for a suitable site here for Genie Industries plant, says getting such an exception takes timetime that Genie didnt have.


Taylor says that when an industrial user begins searching for a site, the company usually is working within a 90-day time frame. They want to be able to know if they can get the necessary permits and have a factory up and running within that 90 days, and none of the pieces of land that we were looking at couldve come together in that time frame, he says.


There were two separate pieces of landoutside of the interim urban growth areathat would have met a bulk of Genies requirements, but both lacked various elements of infrastructure that Genie would have needed. In one case, the necessary infrastructure was planned, but hadnt been extended to the site, yet, Taylor says.


Genies planned Moses Lake plant is expected to create 1,300 good-paying jobs in that Central Washington community during the next three years. The company is expected to build a plant on about 480 acres of land south of Moses Lake and maintain a facilityat least temporarilyat the Port of Moses Lake.


Tombari says its unfortunate that Genie didnt choose Spokane for its plant, but the experience is a good learning opportunity.


Through the experience we learned that we need to make sure that we have this capacity within the urban growth boundaries. We also need to protect the industrial land that we have for an opportunity like this, he says.


Spokane also should recognize that it can market itself to companies in Western Washington, Tombari says. He says that Genie wasnt able to find 200 contiguous acres in King or Pierce counties either, which is why it came looking in Eastern Washington.


To entice other companies that are looking to expand in Western Washington but cant find room there, Spokane has to stretch its urban growth boundaries to include large amounts of space that could be developed by an industrial user, Tombari says.


An opportunity like this one comes up once every 10 years, but if we dont plan for it now, we cant be in the hunt later, Tombari says. Luring a company like this is a nice plum for any community.


Genie Industries, which was founded in 1966, makes material and scissor lifts, aerial work platforms, and several types of booms. The company employs about 1,900 workers and operates seven manufacturing plants. In addition to its headquarters in Redmond, the company operates offices in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Western Europe.