March 12, 2024
By: Katherine Trowbridge
As Connell continues to grow, small businesses are seeking opportunities here.
A new option is coming to downtown Connell. The Old Highway Tavern building in downtown Connell was recently rented and will be opening soon as a restaurant with breakfast options. They are also looking to have a lounge (bar) as well. More on this story to come.
On the topic of growth, we keep hearing of small businesses looking for retail space. The problem is that our community doesn’t have a lot of options. While there are a lot of vacant buildings - the owners of said buildings are not seeking to open these options for use.
Lone Crow told us recently, "That is why we bought a bank!"
Some businesses, like Coyote Concealment, have gone to Othello where options were available and others are looking that direction.
So how do we solve this problem? There are several options from transforming existing buildings into spaces that can be renovated and rented to creating opportunities for builders who could create new buildings with spaces for local retail use.
The museum is currently doing just that with their C-Street Vault project as they transform the historic downtown building into several uses.
Creatively thinking in regards to planning is also key when opportunity is knocking on our door step.
After all, Franklin County is the fastest growing county in the state. While our small communities seem to be seeing slow growth compared to Pasco don't be fooled, growth is coming to all of Franklin County and we should be ready when it knocks.
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