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Tour showcases county's business success stories

Some of the newest employers among those flourishing

By Rolf Boone | The Olympian • Published February 20, 2009

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Great Wolf Lodge has attracted 300,000 visitors to its hotel and indoor water park since it opened about a year ago, a rare economic success as the recession has tightened business for many others.

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EDC Board tours key Thurston County businesses

As part of its growth, the resort plans an outdoor sun deck for its water park this June, and more development is under way north of the 40-acre site — and potentially south of it — resort officials said Thursday.

Group visits area employers

Great Wolf officials shared its plans with staff and board members of the Thurston County Economic Development Council, who toured the county on Thursday and stopped to visit the resort and other key South Sound employers.

About 10 board members toured the area, including Port of Olympia Commissioner Bill McGregor and Lacey City Councilwoman Ann Burgman, starting their day at Cabela's in Hawks Prairie and ending it in Yelm. They also toured Port of Olympia property, visited a new manufacturer in Tumwater and stopped at Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound.

EDC Board President Joseph Beaulieu said the all-day event was scheduled to educate the board about how the economic-development process works and how the council pitches Thurston County to prospective employers. Those taking the tour also got updates on some of the newest employers in the county, such as the outdoors store Cabela's.

Cabela's Training Administrator Ed Smith told the board that the store had a strong first year in business here, attracting 30,000 to 40,000 customers a week, many of them from Wenatchee, Vancouver, B.C., and Salem, Ore.

Smith acknowledged that the company is feeling the effects of the slower economy, but the Lacey store continues to outperform other stores in the Cabela's chain, he said.

Although the store is visible from Interstate 5, some customers still have a hard time finding it once they leave the freeway, Smith said. More directional signs are needed, he told the board.

"People get lost," he said.

From Cabela's, the board toured Port of Olympia property, then met Jeff Gerbing, chief executive of Gerbing's Heated Clothing Inc., a manufacturer that opened in Tumwater last year.