The owner of Pacific Office Solutions, Julie Valdez, has a simple business philosophy: Provide quick delivery, fair prices, and outstanding customer service.
That’s what she’s done the past 15 years as a supplier for the Vit Plant.
“Pacific Office Solutions works with us to achieve the greatest cost savings, on-time delivery, and quality material deliveries,” said Frank Salaman, procurements and subcontracts manager for the Vit Plant prime contractor, Bechtel National Inc. “The outstanding customer service Pacific Office Solutions provides makes them a key supplier for the Vit Plant.”
The Vit Plant, formally called the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant project, will use a process called vitrification to safely treat and store a portion of the 56 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste generated at Hanford during the Manhattan Project and Cold War. The waste is mixed with silica and other glass-forming materials, heated to 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit in one of two melters, and poured into stainless steel containers. The treated low-activity waste will be disposed of at Hanford in permitted trenches covered with soil.
Valdez opened Pacific Office Solutions in 1990 in Yakima, Washington, an area classified by the Small Business Administration as a Historically Underutilized Business Zone, or HUBZone. The HUBZone program fuels small business growth in historically under-utilized business zones by providing preferential access to federal procurement opportunities, with a goal of awarding at least three percent of federal contract dollars to HUBZone-certified companies each year.
In addition to certification as a HUBZone small business, Valdez obtained purchasing agreements with the Department of Energy that offer competitive pricing for commonly used goods and services and expanded her business to local and state governments.
She opened her doors in Richland, Washington, in 1995. Almost all of her 11 employees are women or members of an underrepresented group.
As Valdez’s business has grown, so has her commitment to giving back. She mentors women business owners, helping them navigate how to do business with the governments. She also has been a speaker at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business Supplier Diversity Club and Ascend Program.
“There are things they don’t teach in business school,” Valdez said, “and one of the things they don’t teach is how to do business with the government.”
The company’s commitment to outstanding customer service made it easy for Vit Plant staff to order office supplies online via “shopping agreements” that allowed employees to order necessary supplies and receive them quickly. During the early days of the pandemic, when safety items like masks and gloves were scarce, the staff at Pacific Office Solutions helped the Vit Plant protect employees by finding a source for personal protective equipment, even when demand for those items was at its highest.
In a recent 18-month period, Pacific Office Solutions earned 129 competitively priced bids from the Vit Plant worth nearly $500,000.
Part of the company’s success is attributable to Valdez’s willingness to offer her customers a wide array of diverse products. Ten years ago, with office supply sales shrinking 6-7 percent per year, Valdez decided to expand into selling janitorial supplies and small electrical equipment. Today, they also sell industrial items, including tools, safety equipment, and even golf cart batteries. “We have a huge range of items available,” she said.
Her approach must be working, because after renting space for 31 years, Pacific Office Solutions broke ground in August on a new office and warehouse on Robertson Drive in Richland, with plans to move in by the end of the year.
“We are very excited,” Valdez said. “The land was purchased from the city of Richland, and the building will be built as sustainably as possible.”
Valdez believes in supporting local businesses. She purchases products and services for her business to the maximum extent possible from businesses in the local community.
She believes in giving back to her community and does so by supporting organizations involved with alleviating family hunger and teenage homelessness. She and her staff created an initiative five years ago called Serving Up Christmas, where they provide holiday dinners for families.
“Giving back to our community is an essential part of our company mission,” Valdez said, “and we’re right in the HUBZone where there is tremendous need.”
As one of her largest customers, the Vit Plant has had a hand in that success.
“Our business with the Vit Plant has grown,” Valdez said. “We appreciate their business and value them very much. We try to give them outstanding customer service.”