Cascade Title's Manager Message

Joel Lengyel Manager

On Thursday, September 13th, the cities of Kelso and Longview had their quarterly luncheon and presented a program called "State of the Cities". It was well-attended and the main focus was about the economic climate here in our area, which includes the entire county and surrounding communities.  

I was upbeat to hear the news and it does appear that our economy is on the way up. Each city talked about crime being down and living conditions in our communities feeling safer. This is an important fact when attracting new businesses to our area, as they look not only at location with transportation amenities necessary to open their business, but also quality areas to live and raise families. Infrastructure needs create a huge strain, budgets require long-term planning, and from what I saw, they are working hard to improve, grow and maintain this important part of our commerce.  

Another strong point that was stressed to everyone was to focus on the positive things happening in our county. There has been new development completed and new projects are on the way. A very good example is Bennu Glass. I personally was fortunate to attend a tour given on September 11th and I was astonished at the complexity of the process and equipment used to make a single wine bottle. They were not only doing this at a high rate, but with strict quality control all within a environmentally safe and modern plant. Jobs here were not just the only focus, but also the importance of working and being able to support your family and have pride in what you are doing for a living. Like I have said before, we still have a long way to go to full economic prosperity, but to me, at least things are looking up.

Take care,  

Joel Lengyel