Latest news with #Chehalis
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Biotech company prepares to begin operating from new Chehalis location
Jul. 18—Northwest Control Systems, LLC, is nearly set to open up shop from its new location in Chehalis at 582 S. Market Blvd. The company, which currently operates in Rochester, purchased the building in May and is about a month away from completing renovations. Northwest Control Systems, led by CEO Roger McIntosh and Business Director and General Manager Gulnur Tuyenbayeva, started over two years ago from its parent company MAS and aims to serve the laboratory community with high quality and innovative fluid handling and automation solutions. It specializes in automation for laboratories, factories and industrial processes, offering products such as controller boards, reader assemblies, pressure sensors, as well as materials used for research purposes. "It's a broad variety of components used primarily for automating different industrial processes," McIntosh said. "And, up until now, it's focused very much on biotech applications, like instruments that are used for analysis of biological samples." McIntosh and Tuyenbayeva have mostly been operating as a two-person unit and have been searching for a new facility for over a year, and they made offers on 16 different properties in the Lewis County area before landing on the South Market Boulevard property. They hope the 2,400-square foot building will expand not only their operations but their staffing, as McIntosh stated that the company is looking to hire one to two employees with experience and knowledge in science, technology and/or engineering. "One of the things that we need very soon is we would like to hire up to two employees. Operating from someplace 20 to 30 miles out in the country is not ideal for attracting the type of employees that we want," McIntosh said of the decision to relocate to Chehalis. "One of the key components is that we have a good layout within the building so we can have a nice conference room to work with clients and we have enough room to do the limited type of manufacturing and testing that we do on our components." McIntosh said the building, which was built in 1935 and previously housed a company that published a logging newspaper, was in good condition upon purchase but needed a few renovations, including a new roof, exterior and interior painting, new flooring, paving for the parking area, and more. Northwest Control Systems is beginning a new project in the near future in which it will convert waste biomass to purified chemicals and energy, McIntosh said. This succeeds another recent innovation by the company that isolates single cells from tissue samples, enabling DNA sequencing at the cell level to help identify specific mutations in cancer cells. "It's a very interesting process that the customer has developed to automate the process of taking waste organic material and loading it into an oven," McIntosh said. "Then it's a surprisingly complex process where you have to very precisely adjust the mixture of various gasses within this oven and monitor the output of the materials. Ultimately, you're taking waste biomass and producing high volume chemicals and energy. We'll definitely need additional employee help for that." McIntosh said the company is expanding to also serve the factory automation market. In addition to biotech, he has been involved in this market over the years as well. "Some of the components and some of the operations are not so different between automating factory and automating laboratory operations. We're intending to locate companies within the general area, and it could be as far away as Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, Spokane," McIntosh said. "We've got a company in Spokane we're working with now to help automate industrial processes as well as laboratory processes." Additionally, Northwest Control Systems has dabbled in artificial intelligence. McIntosh said one AI-based product the company has been working on is close to coming to market. "It's an AI-based software product to essentially create automation scripts for laboratories and could be for factories, as well," he said. "It actually saves a tremendous amount of time. It cuts the overall development time for a system like that probably in half. It's definitely a big advancement and something that we've been involved in for a while." To learn more about Northwest Control Systems and its products, visit Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chehalis teen officially announces candidacy for governor
Jul. 18—In American politics, being older and more experienced is often an advantage, with older politicians often edging out the younger competition. One young man from Chehalis sees things differently. Ethan Brunton, 15, officially announced his candidacy to be the next governor of Washington on Wednesday, July 16. For the event, Brunton gave a short speech in the conference room of the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library where he pitched himself as young, bold and "grounded in truth." During the speech, he first addressed his age. While the young political hopeful is not yet eligible to take up residence in the Governor's Mansion, he will turn 18 just in time for the 2028 election. He said he sees his youth as an asset, noting his energy and disconnection from mainstream political establishments. "I'm done waiting for change, so I'm stepping up," Brunton said. "Age doesn't define leadership; conviction does." Brunton outlined his political platform, focusing his talking points on public safety, education and financial accountability and promising to fully fund the police, roll back government regulation and fight and advocate for the everyday worker and family. Brunton delivered his speech with vigor and passion and made sure to give the event an air of patriotism, flying an American flag and asking attendees — which included just two Chronicle journalists — to stand for the national anthem to start off the event. Brunton faces a few major obstacles as a gubernatorial candidate, with possibly the most significant being his age. While what he says about energy and new ideas stemming from his youth may be true, his young age also means he cannot yet accept campaign donations or participate in local elections as an active voter. Brunton has also yet to develop a local following. Brunton's campaign announcement comes early enough in the political cycle to give him plenty of time to keep working at it. The political hopeful has three years still to hone his skills, build his following and decide exactly what he plans to offer Washington state as a candidate for governor.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Chehalis boy, 15, charts course for Governor's Mansion -- in four years
May 23—In four years, Chehalis resident Ethan Brunton hopes to become the youngest governor in U.S. history. At the age of 15, he is not currently eligible to run for governor, but he will turn 18 just in time to register for the 2028 primary election. Brunton said he will announce his candidacy to the community for the first time publicly on July 16 during a campaign speech at the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library. The speech will be the first of a series of appearances he hopes to make in the area at public locations such as the library. That's partly because, as a minor, Brunton cannot legally accept campaign donations. However, Brunton sees his youth as a strength, not a weakness. Echoing a call from many politicians before him, he notes that he is not a career politician but rather a community member looking to serve. To those who wonder about his age or question the experience of someone so young, Brunton said results should matter more than age and that the current powers-that-be are not delivering those results. "Experience means nothing without results. We've seen the same political system fail over and over again," Brunton said. "I'm willing to work harder and smarter than anyone. Young people often feel ignored in politics ... I want to give them a real voice in that aspect and have someone relatable in office. As a teenage politician, representation for younger generations is baked into his campaign, a stark contrast from much of American politics. The average age of this year's U.S. congressional members is 58, and the last two U.S. presidents to take up residence in the White House were 78 on the day of their inaugurations, with president Trump being 70 on the day of his first inauguration and 78 on the day of his second. President Trump is the oldest president elected in U.S. history, with former President Biden holding the record previously. Along with leveraging his youth to his advantage, Brunton plans to run as a Republican and on a platform largely in line with the party's priorities. His goals, he said, are to address the housing and fentanyl crises along with lowering the tax burden on average Washingtonians. Brunton pitches himself as a youth with a deep passion for public service and leadership. The student has worked as a volunteer for Timberland Regional Library and currently does work with a local nonprofit that he preferred not to name. If Brunton were to be elected, he would not only be the youngest governor in state and U.S. history, he would follow the legacy of young people being elected in the state of Washington, with many of them coming from the state's southwest region. Most recently, 18-year-old Lilian Hale, R-Cathlamet, became the youngest person to serve as a Washington state legislator last year when she was sworn in as a proxy for her stepfather, Rep. Joel McEntire, R-Cathlamet, during the 2024 legislative session. Just a few years earlier, a legislator from Ferndale, Simon Sifzek, became the youngest ever Washington State senator in 2022 when he was appointed to the position by the Whatcom County Council after the death of Sen. Doug Erickson. Sifzek was 22 years old when he was sworn in and served as the senator for Washington's 42nd Legislative District for the 2022 legislative session. Even earlier, Chehalis attorney and prominent member of the community J. Vander Stoep was elected to the Washington state House of Representatives in 1980 at the age of 23, becoming, at the time, the youngest ever member of the state's lower house.
