By Matthew Nash
Olympic Peninsula News Group
SEQUIM — After more than 32 years in Port Angeles, the state’s Labor &Industries field office for Clallam and Jefferson counties will move to Sequim this summer.
Sequim City Manager Charlie Bush recently said the government agency, which handles a diverse range of issues from workers’ compensation claims to safety and risk consultations to manufactured homes permits, recently filed a tenant improvement at 542 W. Washington St., next to Westside Pizza, worth about $103,000.
Janet Morris, regional administrator for the Port Angeles office, said the move is tentatively planned for August.
She said the office has leased its current location for 22 of the past 32 years at 1605 E. Front St., Suite C.
Why they are moving stems from several reasons, she said.
Rena Shawver, a spokesman for the agency, said Sequim is growing and is increasingly making up a larger part of Labor &Industries’ business in Clallam County.
“We really look at where the customer base is,” Morris said. “[For example], we do the electrical inspections for the city of Sequim, but we don’t do them for the city of Port Angeles.”
Morris said another push from the agency requires that staff decrease their footprint, which the office will do by going from 4,800 square feet in Port Angeles to about 3,000 square feet in Sequim.
Shawver said the office workers anticipate more front counter traffic because of the new site’s accessibility, too.
Antoinette Griffin, customer service manager for the office, said it averages about eight to 10 staff members and will add one more customer service staffer upon moving.
Once moved to Sequim, Morris said, the office will hold open houses and speak with local groups at community meetings about the agency.
Through August, business will remain ongoing at the Port Angeles office.
For more information, call 360-417-2700 or visit www.lni.wa.gov.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
