MOSES LAKE —  AstaReal Technologies officially unveiled their new Moses Lake manufacturing facility this afternoon.

Governor Jay Inslee, Commerce Director Brian Bonlender, Moses Lake Mayor Dick Deane and area legislators were on hand to celebrate the opening of the new plant.

AstaReal and parent company Fuji Chemical Industry announced their move to Grant County last summer. The plant is anticipated to be fully operational by July.

The 59,000 square-foot facility will produce natural astaxanthin that will be marketed in the United States and worldwide. About $34 million was invested during the construction of the plant.

The plant currently employs about 45 people.

For more on this story, pick up Thursday's Columbia Basin Herald.

— Staff report