Winery closing location in Juliaetta

Oct. 4—JULIAETTA — The restaurant and tasting room of Colter's Creek in Juliaetta is in its last months of operations.

Its final day is expected to be sometime in December and the building at 308 Main St. will be sold, said Melissa Sanborn, an owner and winery manager of Colter's Creek.

"Our vineyard can no longer keep up with our growing wine sales, and as staffing in Juliaetta becomes increasingly difficult, we have decided to close our Juliaetta location," according to a recent newsletter from Colter's Creek.

The change in Juliaetta has no impact on other parts of Colter's Creek, one of the area's first wineries.

Its tasting room at 215 S. Main St. in Moscow will continue to be open seven days a week and its wines can be ordered at colterscreek.com.

Colter's Creek also plans to start offering wine tasting and tours at its production facility south of Juliaetta.

Metal parts manufacturer finds its way to North Lewiston

LEWISTON — Moderate real estate prices in the region helped attract a manufacturer that hopes to open in North Lewiston in 2023.

The plans of Northwest Fourslide in Tualatin, Ore., became public last week at a Port of Lewiston Commission meeting after more than a year of work behind the scenes by Valley Vision.

The commission made a determination that it's advisable to sell 5.8 acres in its Harry Wall Industrial Park to the business for $750,000.

It manufactures metal items such as picture hangers, electrical devices for cancer treatment, connectors for satellites and components for folding tools and the company has hundreds of customers, said Matt Mellinger, tooling manager of the company.

The plans for the Lewiston facility are being developed and likely will include a 35,000-square-foot plant that will be designed to accommodate future expansion, he said.

About one-third to one-half of the company's 40 employees will likely make the move, Mellinger said.

Northwest Fourslide began looking for a new home about two years ago because the lease for its present site is ending, he said.

It found that housing and land for the business are more affordable in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley than in the Portland, Ore., area where they are now, Mellinger said.

Even though the company compensates its employees well, "there was no path to home ownership for a lot of them," he said.

The culture of the area seemed like a good fit for them in other ways. The technical education offered by Lewiston High School and Lewis-Clark State College will form a good foundation for potential hires of Northwest Fourslide, Mellinger said.

And they also were impressed that Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, one of their customers, is headquartered in the region.

"If they saw something in Lewiston, we (thought) we should probably look at it too," he said.

The choice to relocate is one of a number of changes at the company since Mellinger's parents, Jan and Kevin Mellinger, purchased it about five years ago.

His mom first began working there in 1985 and was vice president of the company just before the acquisition.

Matt and his brother, Brad Mellinger, vice president of operations, joined the business and helped execute her plans to strengthen the company, such as improving workflow and using data analysis to make decisions.

"We're really thriving as a company, doing well," he said.

New city attorney will be paid about $120,000

LEWISTON — Lewiston's new city attorney is earning $119,805 annually.

The Tribune obtained information about the compensation of Kayla Hermann through a records request.

"Hermann is not under contract like the previous city attorney, but rather falls under the city's pay plan," according to an email from Kari Ravencroft, the city's clerk.

Hermann has served more than six years as an assistant city attorney for Lewiston. She was promoted Monday after being nominated by Lewiston Mayor Dan Johnson and confirmed by the Lewiston City Council.

Hermann replaces Jana Gomez, who left the city to work for Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories as senior corporate counsel.

Former Weyerhaeuser executive invited to Clearwater Paper board

LEWISTON — A retired Weyerhaeuser executive is joining the board of Clearwater Paper.

Jeanne Hillman, who served as vice president of enterprise technology and governance at Weyerhaeuser, is one of nine members of the board.

During her career at Weyerhaeuser, her responsibilities included strategic planning, capital investment, acquisitions and divestitures.

Directors at Clearwater Paper received annual retainer fees of $70,000 in 2021 plus additional money that varied according to the duties they had on the board, according to documents Clearwater Paper filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Clearwater Paper is one of the largest employers in Lewiston, where it has its biggest manufacturing complex. Its Lewiston operations make tissue for toilet paper, paper napkins, paper towels and facial tissue as well as paper board that's used for packaging and paper dishware.

Clarkston business that helps with hearing under new ownership

CLARKSTON — A Clarkston business that helps its customers hear better is under new ownership.

Brandi Vinton acquired Valley Hearing Services in July from Bruce Daugherty and changed its name to Valley Hearing Center.

The venture offers free hearing screenings. It also sells and repairs hearing aids.

Vinton has six years of experience as a hearing instrument specialist. She began working at the business she owns now almost two years ago and previously was employed at Costco in a similar capacity.

Valley Hearing Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday at 744 Fifth St., Suite H in Clarkston. Its telephone number is (509) 389-5426.

Author will be among speakers at Palouse Basin Water Summit

An author who has been a guest on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and National Public Radio shows will be a speaker at the 19th annual Palouse Basin Water Summit.

Robert Glennon will make a presentation at the free event that will be held from 4:30-8 p.m., Oct. 18, at the Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Event Center in Pullman.

Glennon is the author of "Unquenchable: America's Water Crisis and What to Do About it," and is a professor of law and public policy at the Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona.

The summit also will feature Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee Executive Director Celine Acord, who will provide the annual state of the basin report, and Robin Nimmer, a senior hydrogeologist with Alta Science and Engineering. Nimmer will discuss her work identifying additional water sources within the basin.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.