AeroTek opens Moses Lake office
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 months AGO
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | June 4, 2026 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — The ribbon-cutting at the new AeroTek office in Moses Lake on Monday brought Traci Thomas full-circle.
“Having come from Moses Lake … being able to come back to my home and my community with my four kids and have the people I trust most by my side is super important,” Thomas said.
Thomas moved to California to take a promotion with AeroTek a number of years ago, she said, and now will serve as AeroTek’s representative in Moses Lake.
AeroTek, a staffing and recruitment company with locations around the world, had a small satellite office in Moses Lake at one time to serve the staffing needs of a single client, Genie Industries, said Director of Market Operations Chris Lombroia, but that closed years ago. AeroTek has served Moses Lake from offices in Spokane Valley and Kennewick since then, he said, but the Moses Lake office will enable the company to have a more immediate presence for those clients.
“Over the years, we noticed that for us to be successful here, we needed a local presence,” Lombroia said. “And with Traci coming back to the market, it made all the sense in the world to actually open an office here.”
The Moses Lake market is growing in importance, Lombroia said, particularly in the aviation field.
“We have a specialized division that works with aerospace and aviation companies,” Lombroia said. “So, we’ve supported them through boom and bust cycles. We’re seeing a definite uptick in opportunity here.”
“Manufacturing is really busy in this area,” she said. “We have tons of manufacturing companies that we partner with. And then the skilled trades like electricians and plumbers are always needed.”
For now, the Moses Lake office will be a one-woman operation, with representatives from the other eastern Washington locations helping out as needed, Thomas said.
“At the end of the day, my goal is to partner with the best businesses and put the right people to work,” she said. “And I get to do that here in my hometown with my kids.”
AeroTek
1800 S. Clover Drive, Ste. 1
Moses Lake
360-813-9810
Open 8-5 Monday-Friday
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
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