Fishbowl - Former nuclear site is a labor of love Grays Harbor Public Development Authority CEO Tami Garrow is in charge of turning a former nuclear reactor facility that never came to fruition into a thriving business park and economic engine. As owners of Satsop Development Park, Garrow and the PDA work to salvage value from the remnants of a parcel once slated to produce nuclear power for Washington Public Power Supply System. After the project was abandoned because WPPSS determined it wouldn't pencil out, Garrow and a seven-member board began transforming the site into a 1,700 acre mixed-use business and technology park. "To say that I have a unique job would be an understatement," says Garrow. "Ours is the ultimate recycling project, and we have only scratched the surface of the Park’s potential." Garrow grew up near the site in Hoquiam and later graduated from University of Puget Sound with a degree in English Literature, as well as a second major in Business because her parents, she says, were sure she would never get a "real" job without it. Dreams of being a writer faded as Garrow took a job as entry-level planner for Grays Harbor Regional Planning Commission, which she concedes was largely because no other jobs were available. That job led to a career in economic development, because Garrow found that "doing was a lot more fun than planning." "I have the best job in Grays Harbor, and maybe the best economic development job in the state," she says. "I have the best employees in the world and work for a great board of directors. Our project has broad community support and we are earning the respect of our peers around the region as well. It just doesn't get much better than that -- and I even get paid to do it!" Reprinted with permission by the Business Examiner businessexaminer.com
	Tami Garrow stands alongside a fix-foot-tall Homer Simpson, who also runs a nuclear power facility.