The Port of Whitman County’s public-private partnership effort to develop a new brewery in Pullman has been scrapped due to rising costs.
In the fall of last year, the port announced that the Washington State Community Economic Revitalization Board had provided a two million dollar low interest loan for the project. The plan called for Hunga Dunga in Moscow to expand its brewery operations to the port’s industrial park in Pullman. The idea was to build a 12,000 square foot facility with space for brewing, a taproom and commercial kitchen. Hunga Dunga was going to spend a half a million dollars on the facility. The brewery would continue operating in Moscow.
The project also initially included Paddock Spirits. Port officials announced last year that the Pullman company would use the space to produce their canned cocktails. Since then, a Paddock drink has won best canned cocktail in the world.
Port Spokeswoman Rebekah Huber says the State of Washington’s new requirements regarding financing, prevailing wages and apprenticeships have made the project infeasible for Hunga Dunga. Those new restrictions became effective in Washington last July. The end of the project was made public in documents from port staff updating the agency’s commissioners for their meeting this week.