Leaders of two organizations that work closely with businesses in Cowlitz and other nearby counties say local companies are finding it difficult to plan in a rapidly changing business environment.
State and federal programs can help local businesses keep their footing as the landscape shifts, they say.
Miriam Halliday, CEO of Workforce Southwest Washington, said she is seeing local employers hold-off on hiring, even when a business has strong numbers.
“I think the inconsistency of the tariff policies over the last couple of weeks has caused a lot of concern of having any sort of contingency planning,” Halliday said.
Workforce Southwest is a local workforce board in the state of Washington designated by the governor to be the public workforce entity for Cowlitz, Clark and Wahkiakum counties.
The agency oversees job centers in the region that include the WorkSource centers in Kelso and Vancouver, and it provides labor market information to employers it partners with in order to help them make decisions. Workforce SW’s board is comprised of 34 people including local executives, entrepreneurs, economic development advisors, education leaders and organized labor.
The main thing Halliday said she has heard from companies in top employment sectors in Cowlitz County — manufacturing and healthcare — is that they are stocking up on the products and materials they depend on now. Some are stocking up to lock in low prices in preparation for new tariffs that will soon add to their costs, while others because of potential supply chain disruptions.
“That’s really the only proactive measure that I think a lot of employers have been able to take,” Halliday said.
In the weeks since President Donald Trump announced “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2, the president has modified, paused and shifted his policies with minimal notice. On April 9, one week after he announced sweeping tariffs for imports from with virtually every nation, the president shifted course and zeroed-in on China.
The China escalation launched a “tit-for-tat” trade war with the country’s largest trading partner, leading to tariffs on some imports reaching 145%.
Inconsistency of tariff policies, according to Halliday, is impacting businesses’ abilities to plan for contingencies.
“And in the manufacturing space, there’s been a lot of conversations around not necessarily a lack of demand of product, but a lack of certainty around meeting that demand,” Halliday said.
Looking longer-term
Lindsey Cope, vice president of the Cowlitz Economic Development Council, acknowledged the confusion and uncertainty she is seeing among businesses she helps in Cowlitz County, but she does not believe it’s a new normal. Cope said she interprets the “super high” tariffs on imports from China as a starting point in the president’s efforts to renegotiate a trade imbalance.
“This is not a forever status quo that we’re going to live in — this is fluid,” Cope said. “This is changing, and there’s always going to be winners and losers — and we don’t love that — and we’re here at the EDC to help these businesses navigate this uncertain landscape.”
Cope sees different sides depending on the sector or size of business. Her work with the EDC is primarily focused on facilitating tourism and attracting businesses to relocate and expand in Cowlitz County, but she also works to help small businesses as president of the Kelso Business and Community Alliance.
Cope said sudden tariffs are not impacting local recruiting efforts because “recruitment is a marathon.” She said every presidency brings different strategies related to international trade, and larger businesses are better able to handle them — even when they are not ideal.
Land, power availability, rail capacity, docks, permits, nearby airports and nearby complementary industries are factors that typically take priority in recruitment efforts.
“There’s so many factors that go into recruitment,” Cope said. “It has not slowed our leads down, not one bit right now.”
In at least one instance, the changing trade agreements are providing an incentive for a local recruitment effort. Cope said the Cowlitz EDC is working with a company out of Denmark that makes a key ingredient used in semaglutide weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy.
Cope said she is working with the company to potentially develop an “industrial symbiosis park“ in Cowlitz County, which she described as a “circular type of economy” in which a complementing company nearby is able to utilize part of another company’s waste stream for its own products.
She described the symbiosis park as one similar to the way wood products companies in Cowlitz County are able to buy, sell and share commodities between one another to develop different products.
“It’s a really fascinating concept that we’re already participating in, and just looking to formalize as we go towards a greener, cleaner economy and sustainability for our workforce for Cowlitz County in Southwest Washington,” Cope said.
Guidance for navigating tariffs
Cope described an assortment of tools she uses to help trade-focused businesses. For instance, the EDC manages one of Washington’s 11 foreign trade zones in Cowlitz County.
The program allows for pausing duties on certain foreign items to be used in manufacturing or packaging until they’re exported or imported as finished goods.
“If you import, say, steel just as a commodity, it can sit there in that FTZ and not acquire duties and tariffs,” Cope said, speaking in broad strokes about the program. “But if you bring it in, then you’re essentially just deferring when you pay.”
Companies such as Weyerhaeuser, Nippon and NORPAC are already using these.
With international trading agreements changing so rapidly, however, Cope acknowledged that suspending tariffs carries risk.
“It could go one way or the other, right? If that 50% tariff becomes 147%, well then you bet in the wrong direction,” Cope said.
Another drawback is that “the FTZ is not a fast process,” Cope said.
Cowlitz EDC also works directly with the Washington State Department of Commerce, which recently launched a host of tariff related resources including webinars, strategies and contacts at choosewashingtonstate.com/tariff-response.
Cope said she is also referring many smaller businesses to look closely at their sourcing. She acknowledged that particularly for businesses such as boutiques that could be a challenge with the vast majority of retail textiles and items being imported.
Bracing for impact
The Cowlitz EDC also regularly refers businesses to Workforce Southwest Washington. Halliday said she is advising businesses feeling uncertain to enroll in the Washington State Employment Security Department’s SharedWork program.
The voluntary program works to avoid layoffs by allowing employers during a temporary downturn to retain their workers at reduced hours while allowing workers to collect some unemployment benefits.
Halliday said that the program is something that employers often submit their application for the program the moment they need it. She recommends companies take a proactive approach.
“They’re seeing potential changes coming down in the next month or so, and they’re going to have to make some decisions around layoffs,” Halliday said. “This is a really great program to have just done, marked-off your list and applied-for before that happens.”
Enrollment lasts for one year, and Halliday encourages businesses to apply for the layoff aversion program annually.
“My team at WSW is happy to walk any company through that process, it’s not that extensive,” Halliday said.
