Our Home

Benton and Franklin Counties lie in south central Washington. Currently, nearly 290,000 people call the two counties home. The third largest metro area in the state, it has also recently been the fastest-growing one. Major economic activities are agriculture, agricultural manufacturing, research at a national energy laboratory, remediation of nuclear waste, and tourism. The population of the two counties has become increasingly diverse over time. The counties boast Columbia Basin College and Washington State University Tri-Cities. It is also the home of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL performs over $1B per year in research volume. Staff files one invention disclosure per day, and one patent is granted to PNNL per week.

Separated by the Columbia River, the two counties sport different collective personalities but are united around the common goal of making the quality of life here even better.