DAYTON – Columbia Pulp is now well on the way to having the employment impact in the area that community leaders have been hoping for for nearly five years.

In an interview with The Times last week, Columbia Pulp CEO John Begley said that his firm received about 100 resumes during a job fair in Dayton earlier this month. Hiring fairs have also been held in Walla Walla and Pomeroy.

“We will begin making offers in about three weeks,” Begley said. He said that most jobs at the company’s main facility near Starbuck will start in mid-to-late fall.

Begley said that construction of the new...