Tri-Cities, Moses Lake among nation’s growth hot spots

The Tri-Cities in southeastern Washington was the nation’s fastest-growing metro area between 2010 and 2011, the U.S. Census Bureau said today. Kennewick-Pasco-Richland grew an estimated 4.3 percent from April 1, 2010, to July 1, 2011, the bureau reported. The area was one of the nation’s fastest-growing employment centers in recent years, with job growth in the nuclear industry as well as in construction, specialty metals fabrication, health care and food processing. Another Eastern Washington city made a Census Bureau top 10 growth list in today’s report. Moses Lake added 2,145 residents between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011, placing it 10th among micro areas with the largest numeric increase. Recent population growth in Moses Lake is related to expansion in the manufacturing and technology sectors, aided by the availability of cheap hydropower and inexpensive land. Several tech companies have built large data storage facilities in the area; a major manufacturer of polysilicon, used in solar panels, as well as alternative fuel companies have moved there; and last year German carmaker BMW AG and a European carbon manufacturing company opened a $100 million plant to produce carbon fibers for the automotive industry. The Census Bureau defines a metro area as having 50,000 or more residents, and a micro area as 10,000 to 50,000 residents. The micro area that grew faster than all others was Williston, N.D., at 8.8 percent. Williston is one of several small cities in North Dakota and Montana experiencing rapid growth due to an oil-drilling boom in the Bakken geologic formation. Franklin County, Wash., which includes Pasco, was the nation’s fifth-fastest-growing county from 2010 to 2011. It grew an estimated 6.8 percent, the Census Bureau said.