Centralia Coal Transition Board Awards Grant to support the Agriculture Innovation Park in Tenino, Washington
Centralia, Wash. (September 30, 2025) The Centralia Coal Transition Grants Economic & Community Development Board is pleased to announce it has approved a grant award to the Thurston Economic Development Council Center for Business Innovation in the amount of $600,000.00 to support the Agriculture Innovation Park in Tenino, Washington. The grant funds will support site construction and infrastructure installation at the Agriculture Innovation Park in Tenino, Washington for a regional meat processing facility.
The objective/outcome of this project is to fill a gap in the regional-scale meat processing infrastructure, creating a local meat supply chain that will provide reliable processing infrastructure for local producers, increasing revenue for up to 100 ranchers across 14 counties, and increasing local food production for regional consumers.
The regional-scale meat processing facility is anticipated to directly create over 40 new full-time positions. The NW Meat Processors Association headquartered in Chehalis, Washington has plans to utilize the site for a meat cutters apprenticeship workforce training program to help create a pipeline of new workers within the meat cutter’s trade.
This project is supported by various partners and additional sources of funding. The planning and site preparation is estimated to take approximately one year with the project completion date in August 2026.
The Thurston Economic Development Council (EDC) has served Thurston County’s economic development agency since 1982. In 2009, the EDC and partners launched the South Thurston Economic Development Initiative (STEDI), a long-range economic and community development effort based on rural areas. STEDI engaged the communities of Yelm, Rainier, Tenino, Bucoda, and Rochester/Grand Mound as well as other strategic partners which resulted in the formation of the Agricultural Innovation Park, in partnership with the City of Tenino and the private sector. The Park is an integrated multi-tenant business park focused on value-added, agricultural/food-related enterprises, including a state-of-the-art hospitality event center and business resource and innovation hub located within the City of Tenino on a 13-acre site.
The Economic & Community Development Board was formed as a result of the 2011 Agreement between TransAlta and the state of Washington to transition the Centralia Plant away from coal-fired operations with one unit retiring at the end of 2020 and the second unit at the end of 2025. The company is investing $55 million in Lewis and South Thurston Counties and the state of Washington through the Coal Transition Boards.
Overview of the Centralia Coal Transition Funding Boards:
Weatherization Board ($10M): established to fund energy efficiency and weatherization for the residents, employees, business, non-profit organizations and local governments within Lewis County and South Thurston County; up to $1 million shall be allocated to fund residential energy efficiency and weatherization measures for low-income and moderate-income residents of Lewis County and South Thurston County;
Economic & Community Development Board ($20M): established to fund education, retraining, economic development, and community enhancement; at least $5M shall be allocated to fund education, retraining and economic development specifically targeting the needs of workers displaced from the Centralia facility;
Energy Technology Board ($25M): established to fund energy technologies with the potential to create environmental benefits to the state of Washington.