08:05 AM PDT on Thursday, May 6, 2004

Associated Press

TOPPENISH, Wash. - The Yakama Nation says it has purchased a former juice plant in Selah to bottle apple juice, with plans to expand to other products in the future.

The Hi-Country Foods juice plant began operating in 1937 but closed last November. Yakama Juice will employ 30 full-time employees immediately and could employ as many as 120 people once running at full capacity, the Yakama Nation said in a news release Wednesday.

"We are fortunate that this opportunity came to us," said Virgil Lewis, vice chairman of the Yakama Tribal Council. "It is an opportunity for us to be involved with a business that has a long tradition in the Yakima Valley and to help keep business here locally." The council unanimously decided to purchase the plant, which tribal officials said will be the first juice plant owned and operated by American Indians in the United States. No purchase price was disclosed and a tribal spokesman did not immediately return a call for additional comment Wednesday.

Yakama Juice will start out bottling apple juice and has the capability to expand to other fruit and berry juices and bottled water as well, the release said. Yakama Juice will sell under a private label to supermarkets, restaurants and other buyers.

The juice plant also becomes the first Yakama Nation-owned and operated enterprise located off of the Yakama reservation.

"We see this as a great opportunity to expand our economic base," said Davis Washines, secretary of the Tribal Council. "We used to rely solely on timber, now we have evolved into successfully running many different enterprises. Previous Tribal Councils had the foresight to look into the future and make other acquisitions; the birth of Yakama Juice follows that pattern." The tribe also has a casino.

The Yakama Nation grows several hundred acres of apples on the reservation, but likely will provide only a small percentage of the pulp needed for juice. Yakama Juice anticipates purchasing apples from a number of growers in the region, the release said.