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Panel names best businesses

Great Wolf best new enterprise, Economic Development Council says

By Rolf Boone | The Olympian • Published April 01, 2009

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GRAND MOUND – The south Thurston County resort known as Great Wolf Lodge was selected as the best new business of 2009, one of four organizations that received an award from the county's Economic Development Council on Tuesday.

Also winning awards were Express Employment Professionals of Olympia, Olympia Orthopaedic Associates and the Hands on Children's Museum.

In addition to winning an award, Great Wolf Lodge hosted the EDC's annual meeting and business-recognition awards ceremony. About 250 people attended Tuesday's event, and the keynote speaker was Roy Heynderickx, the new president of Saint Martin's University.

The focus, though, was on the award winners, starting with the lodge, which opened a year ago. The resort, a joint venture between the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis and Great Wolf Resorts Inc. of Madison, Wis., is off Interstate 5 in Grand Mound, its 60,000-square-foot indoor water park visible from the freeway.

At one time, all that was discussed for the area was a convention center and a hotel, but after meeting representatives of Great Wolf Resorts, they expanded the idea, Tribe Chairman David Burnett said after receiving the award.

"This is a huge honor," lodge General Manager Derrek Kinzel added. "We greatly appreciate this."

Twelve businesses were nominated for awards, and the winners were selected by a six-person committee, including Michael Motte, chief executive of Capital Medical Center and John Setterstrom, general manager of Lucky Eagle Casino in Rochester.

Motte praised Olympia Orthopaedic Associates, saying he was impressed with its technology and FDA-related research, and called Dr. Clyde Carpenter one of the best spinal surgeons in the state.

Also, because the economy is in transition, a staffing and recruiting business such as Express Employment Professionals is sorely needed to help people find work, Motte said.

All the winners received high marks for the way they conduct business, but they also stood out for helping to promote the county's quality of life, Setterstrom said.

"They are great supporters of the environment we all live in," he said.

Rolf Boone covers business for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5403 or rboone@theolympian.com.