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The federal government awarded funding to five projects across Southwest Washington last month after requests were filed by U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, according to a news release from her office.
Two Lewis County projects are set to receive $1 million each.
Gluesenkamp Perez and her team announced last week, Thursday, Dec. 18, that a recent bill passed by the U.S. Congress last month included funding for five capital projects in her district. That funding includes just over $1 million for the Napavine School District and another $1 million for the Lewis County Regional Fire Service Training Center.
Roughly another $1 million each will go to two separate projects in Pacific County. Another $2.4 million will go to a project in Gluesenkamp Perez’s home of Skamania County.
Napavine vocational training
The Napavine School District plans to use its newly approved funding to expand the agricultural training program at Napavine High School.
More specifically, the money will go toward funding a new “multi-function lab facility” to provide more space for the school’s growing career and technical education (CTE) programs and to expand access for resources to the local community.
According to the funding request filed by the congresswoman, the Napavine School District needs the new building to accommodate the growth of its CTE program. The new lab, however, would allow the district the space to meet the growing local demand for the types of vocational training and education it already offers.
“Student interest in long-term careers in the trades is expected to exceed the school district’s infrastructural capacities in the next five to seven years,” reads the funding request from Gluesenkamp Perez. “With federal funding, the project is expected to be completed by the end of year 2026, allowing more students to participate in career and technical education programs.”
A news release from Gluesenkamp Perez’s team included a statement from Napavine School District CTE Director Dave Rutherford, who added that a new facility would allow for students to train in a place that meets the level of their desired industry.
“This will allow our students to train in a dedicated facility that meets industry standards and prepares them for their futures,” Rutherford said. “We have a great community working with us to provide the best career and technical education possible to our students."
Along with her funding request, Gluesenkamp Perez also submitted six letters of community support. Leaders of local businesses and stakeholders testified for the need for expanding CTE education in the area. Representatives for the Economic Alliance of Lewis County, the Napavine School District CTE Advisory Board, Valley Agrinomics LLC and the Southwest Washington Growers Cooperative supported funding for the project.
Lewis County Fire Training
The $1 million in funding for a fire service training center will go to Lewis County Fire District 15 in Winlock. The funding will support the district's plan to purchase land and construct a prefabricated facility to provide training to first responders in the area much closer to home. The facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.
According to a letter of support from the Lewis County Board of Commissioners, many first responders currently travel up to a 100 miles or more to receive state-mandated training. The new facility is expected to save time and money and improve cooperation and collaboration between first responder agencies in the area.
“A regional training facility will also allow different fire districts, as well as regional law enforcement, the Department of Emergency Management, and other public safety entities, to train together locally in real-life situations, saving taxpayer dollars otherwise spent on out-of-area training and strengthening specialized emergency responses across Lewis County,” reads the funding request submitted by Gluesenkamp Perez and her team.
Six local governments or agencies submitted letters of support for the funding request. The Lewis County Commissioners signed off their own approval. Many local fire districts and other local governments did the same. Representatives for the City of Mossyrock, Lewis County Fire District 5 in Napavine, the Chehalis Fire Department and Lewis County Fire District 6 serving rural Chehalis all submitted letters of support.
