Port of Ephrata wins grant supporting tire factory

State officials Thursday awarded a $1 million grant to the Port of Ephrata to support a proposed $50 million plant that will make the giant tires used on mining equipment.

The Republic Public Development Authority received $280,000 to install water, sewer and electrical service to the Torboy Industrial Park.

The money, authority President Milt Chambers said, will also pay for erection of a $163,401 metal-frame building the authority purchased from Kinross Gold after the closure of its Lamefoot Mine.

He said an Arizona maker of stone fireplaces and stoves is considering a plant on the site that would employ 12 initially. Another company may bag landscaper materials from the former Vaagen Bros. mill site, and an old marble mine near Wauconda, he said.

Construction will start as soon as the snow melts, Chambers said.

Washington Tire Corp. will operate the tire plant, employing 250.

No other information was available.

The funds were awarded by the Community Economic Revitalization Board, which also gave grants for studies in Clallam and Whatcom counties.