Cheney Development Chief Leaving For Position In Fife

For the second time this summer, a Cheney city official has announced his resignation.

Steve Worthington, the city’s director of community development, will leave at the end of the month for a similar position in Fife, a suburb of Tacoma.

Jim Reinbold left his job as city administrator in June, saying he was looking for a change.

For Worthington, who has worked for the city for 12 years, the election this year of Cheney Mayor Amy Jo Sooy and the departure of Reinbold signaled a good time to try something new.

“As long as there was significant change going on (in Cheney), I got to thinking maybe it was time for a new challenge for me, too,” he said. “This is as far as I would go in this city’s structure, it seems.”

In Fife, Worthington will head up community development in addition to overseeing the city’s fire marshal and building departments. He will oversee a staff of seven in comparison with three or four in Cheney, he said.

Worthington began working for Cheney under contract with the Spokane Economic Development Council. He became the city’s economic development specialist two years later and was named director of community development when the position was created in 1992.

During his tenure, Worthington focused on the city’s Growth Management Act comprehensive plan.

He also helped bring about 900 new manufacturing jobs to the city and watched the population grow by 1,300. New business additions include the Wilcox Family Farms dairy and the Johnson Matthey Electronics plant at the southwest end of town, which brought in 400 jobs.

“These are high-quality employers,” he said. “But we don’t want to lose sight of the home-grown companies.”

He points to North Star Equipment, a pottery-equipment company that moved to Cheney from the Okanagon area.

“It was literally a mom-and-pop company,” he said. “Now they’re shipping all over the world.

“It’s not huge, but it’s been good, steady growth. It’s been quite fascinating to watch them grow and thrive in our relatively little community.”

Although Fife is even smaller than Cheney - by 3,000 people - Worthington said he looks forward to working in a city with a larger business community and one that is looking to expand its residential community to match.

“I’d like to have the opportunity to have a role in that,” he said.

Sooy said Worthington has played a significant role in Cheney as well.

“He’s represented us very well within the growth-management area,” she said. “Also, in his work with economic development.”

She said the city will reorganize the development department to deal with Worthington’s departure.

“We will not be (filling) his position,” she said.