EPHRATA, WA – A local business group composed of several national and international companies doing business in Grant County have contributed $10,000 to the Columbia Basin Foundation (CBF) for their COVID-19 Crisis Fund. The fund will provide financial assistance and resource support to local nonprofits that help residents and businesses during the virus pandemic. On March 27th, CBF received its first major gift for this fund from the Grant County Industrial Alliance (GCIA), which contributed $10,000.
The Columbia Basin Foundation formed the COVID-19 Crisis Fund to assist communities while recovering from the pandemic. As a community foundation, their mission is to improve and shape the future of communities through philanthropy. The COVID-19 fund is just one way the Foundation can be a conduit of charitable giving.
“We are overwhelmed by the generous gift from the GCIA. When we established this fund, we hoped the community would come together to support our work, and we truly appreciate receiving our first substantial contribution to get the recovery process started. Thanks to GCIA, we are in a position to offer financial assistance to nonprofits in our communities that help small businesses, families and first responders to name a few,” said Corinne Isaak, Executive Director, Columbia Basin Foundation. “The GCIA is a true community partner. We are so grateful to them for their support. Their partnership will go far in assisting our communities through this tough time.”
GCIA was formed late last year to support economic growth and job creation throughout the County. Last week their members voted unanimously on this contribution and the check was delivered two days later.
“Grant County Industrial Alliance (GCIA) companies are committed community partners whose employees and family members live and work in all facets of Grant County. We are happy to support the Columbia Basin Foundation COVID-19 Crisis Fund to help our neighbors during this pandemic. Our member companies are also stepping up to help individually to amplify this contribution,” said Chuck Sutton, President of GCIA. “We care deeply about our community and are prepared to help where we are able.”
GCIA is a county-wide group based in Ephrata that is composed of companies from a wide variety of industries located in Grant County. The members of the group have all been engaged on their own in a variety of community activities over the past several years and have decided to join forces to improve their local engagement, communications and advocacy efforts. Collectively, they employ nearly 2,500 people throughout the County (2,477 as of 2018, according to the Grant County Economic Development Council, or GCEDC).
The members of GCIA include: Chemi-Con Materials Corporation, Columbia Basin Railroad, H5 Data Centers, Joyson Safety Systems, Microsoft, Moses Lake Industries Inc., Norco, Nouryon, NTT Data Services, REC Silicon Inc., RS Titan, Sabey, Vantage and Verizon Media.