Port of Whitman gets state grant
The Port of Whitman County announced Thursday that it had been awarded a $1.6 million low-interest loan from the state that will be used to extend utilities for a private fertilizer manufacturing and distribution facility.
The grant, from the state’s Community Economic Revitalization Board will be used to build rail and water infrastructure at the port’s Central Ferry site. The project is expected to be completed by next summer.
Pullman-based Agrow Solutions plans to invest about $2.5 million for the new facility on the 11-acre lot, according to a news release.
Agrow Solutions provides crop consulting and custom fertilizer blends to farmers in the Palouse region. The company has reached capacity at its current location and had been looking for additional space.
“Adding rail and water to the Central Ferry site is an important step in bringing custom fertilizer blends to local farmers at a larger scale,” Agrow Solutions Owner Ben Moehrle said in the release.
Medical supply shortages continue
Three years after the worst of COVID-era supply-chain disruptions, about one in six Americans adults are experiencing shortages of medications or other critical medical equipment, based on a Census Bureau survey.
That’s equivalent to more than 45 million people who couldn’t get hold of prescribed drugs, over-the-counter medication, home medical equipment or other critical goods in the previous 30 days.
About half of them faced mental distress or had negative health impacts as a result, according the survey, conducted Aug. 23 to Sept. 4.
The survey upends the notion that the U.S. has an abundance of goods.
As logistics have improved in recent months, higher interest rates may be squelching the benefits of increasing supply.
The supply shortage for critical products is causing angst among consumers.
More than 20 million American said that their health was negatively impacted or they faced mental distress due to the lack of availability of a needed product during the past month.
Another 4.9 million postponed care or treatment.
The Census Bureau survey showed that 28.7 million experienced a shortage for their doctor prescribed medicines.
The survey only includes products. It did not ask about the availability of services such as the ease in obtaining a timely visit with a medical professional.
The Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey was designed and launched to quickly collect data on how people’s lives have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Companies disclose nature impacts
Executives from companies, banks and asset managers published guidelines aimed at helping businesses disclose the risks they face from dwindling ecosystem resources, part of a broader global effort to get more funds devoted to halting and reversing nature loss.
The science-based recommendations, known as the Task Force for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), have been refined over the past two years with input from executives at companies including BlackRock, UBS and HSBC.
TNFD seeks to be the primary way for companies to measure and act on their nature-related dependencies and opportunities.
“Nature risk is sitting in company cash flows and capital portfolios today,” said David Craig, co-chair of the TNFD and former CEO of Refinitiv, in a statement. “The costs of inaction are mounting quickly.”
The risks encompass issues ranging from deforestation and water stress to pollution and species loss.
About 85% of the world’s largest companies are directly dependent on nature across their operations, according to data from S&P Global, which has provided input into the TNFD process.
The effort faces challenges because, unlike climate change where progress can be measured by metrics such as greenhouse gas emissions, nature risk extends to terrestrial and marine habitats and is location- and activity-specific, making consistent and reliable data hard to come by.
From staff and wire reports