I hope this message finds you well, and happy summer! Before I get into what we have been up to, on behalf of Greater Grays Harbor, Inc., I would like to congratulate all our recent high school and Grays Harbor College graduates. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors!
We would also like to congratulate the Aberdeen and Montesano High School State Champion Fast Pitch Teams. We are very proud of you, as well as all students who competed in either team or individual sports at the State level. All of you make us proud to be from Grays Harbor.
What We Have Been Up To:
We held our 2025 Leaders’ Banquet at the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino on May 30. Over 270 people attended and witnessed the announcement of the Business Recognition Awards in seven categories, as voted upon by our GGHI Membership after nominations were solicited from the entire Grays Harbor community. We’re excited to announce the winners in each category:
Unplugged at The Music Project– New Business of the Year
Casa Mia Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria – Small Business of the Year
Spivey Realty Group – Large Business of the Year
North Beach PAWS – Non-Profit of the Year
Grays Harbor College – Government/Municipality of the Year
Summit Pacific Medical Center & Foundation – GGHI Member of the Year
Betsy Seidel – Ambassador of the Year (Voted on by the GGHI Ambassador Team)
Additionally, the Leaders’ Banquet served as our annual opportunity to not only raise funds to support our organization, but also support the GGHI Education Foundation that supports local high school programs including Aberdeen Rotary Business Week and Skills USA.
Government Affairs:
On May 27, we held our monthly Business Forum Lunch. This was our 2025 Legislative Wrap up with our Legislators from the 19th and 24th Districts. Attending legislators were:
19th District
Senator Jeff Wilson
Representative Jim Walsh
Representative Joel McEntire
24th District
Senator Mike Chapman
Representative Steve Tharinger
Representative Adam Bernbaum
All the legislators took time to discuss the long 105-day session, and the tough decisions that were made on the 2025-2027 Biennium Budget. Some of the positive discussion points were the retention of the Highway 12 Rail Separation Construction funding, the retention of the prior biennium’s promised funding to the Port of Grays Harbor T4 expansion project, as well as Capital Budget funding for the North Shore Levy. All these projects together totaling over $100 million dollars were in jeopardy of having funding removed for this upcoming budget.
I would like to thank our legislators for retaining the funding for these projects, as well as our public partners from the Port of Grays Harbor, Grays Harbor County, and the cities of Aberdeen and Hoquiam for their tireless work and teamwork in making sure Grays Harbor received these dollars.
New Membership Opportunity:
Are you interested in becoming a member of Greater Grays Harbor Inc., but are not affiliated with a business? Well, we are now providing a new opportunity for Individual Memberships for $150 per year. This membership is for individuals, not businesses, and provides an individual with the opportunity to attend our GGHI events at reduced prices. Contact us today to learn more about this exciting opportunity.
Yesterday, we held one of our signature events at the Aberdeen Rotary Log Pavilion — the annual State of Grays Harbor where we unveiled 2024 economic data for Grays Harbor County. The following speakers gave presentations:
Port of Grays Harbor — Leonard Barnes, Executive Director
Grays Harbor College — Dr. Carli Schiffner, President
Pacific Mountain Workforce Development — William Westmoreland, CEO
Washington Sea Grant — Dr. Kevin Decker, Coastal Economist
More to come on that event. Looking ahead, our next GGHI After Hours event will be held at North Beach PAWS on July 15 and our next Business Forum Lunch is set for July 22 at the Rotary Log Pavilion in Aberdeen, and we’ll be holding a ribbon cutting ceremony at Beyond Travel on July 28.
