Journal of Business back issues from January 2006:
Sam's Club is coming here
Jan 12, 2006; ... Sam's Club, the members-only warehouse-store chain operated by retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc., is coming to Spokane. Eric Berger, a Seattle-based Wal-Mart spokesman, says that plans submitted to the city of Spokane for an $11.7 million, 153,000-squarefoot "large retail development" on ...
SIRTI in throes of change
Jan 12, 2006; ... If SIRTI were the petri-dish subject of a microscopic examination, it would be quite a sight-molecules darting about, gathering in new clusters, and transforming before your eyes. Perhaps the only constant these days at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute is ...
Garco Building on a roll
Jan 12, 2006; ... Garco Building Systems, Washington's largest metal-building manufacturer, is expecting to grow even more rapidly after racking up record revenue of nearly $35 million in 2005, says Bill Savitz, its president and CEO. The West Plains company is looking at expanding its facility here in ...
109 restaurants: a lot of bread
Jan 12, 2006; ... Making the vocational leap from being an electrical engineer on nuclear power plants to pushing sub sandwiches was a dramatic change, but Spokane's Gary Turnidge says it's one he doesn't regret. Recognizing in 1987 that the construction of nuclear power facilities faced major ...
Health plan rate hikes soften some during 2006
Jan 12, 2006; ... Health-plan costs for Spokane-area businesses are rising this year mostly in the single-digit to low double-digit percentage range, which is slightly lower than the rate hikes businesses experienced in 2005. Representatives of several of the Inland -Northwest's largest health plans say ...
Garco tabbed to update Shadle Park High School
Jan 12, 2006; ... Spokane Public Schools has selected Garco Construction Inc. as general contractor and construction manager for the planned $59 million modernization of Shadle Park High School, on Spokane's North Side. Mark Anderson, the district's -associate superintendent of school support services, ...
RiverBank backers file for charter
Jan 12, 2006; ... Backers of a proposed new bank here, called RiverBank, have applied to the Washington state Department of Financial Institutions for a commercial bank charter. Longtime Spokane banking executive Duane Brandenburg, who is heading the effort to form the bank, says organizers also have set ...
240-home subdivision proposed in the Valley
Jan 12, 2006; ... ElkRidge Development Group, of Spokane, has agreed to buy 98 acres in the Spokane Valley from Spokane entrepreneur Bernard Daines and wants to develop an upscale, 240-home subdivision there. Jim Maki, a Spokane-based partner in the development group, says the property is located on a ...
STCU plans to open first branch in Idaho
Jan 12, 2006; ... Spokane Teachers Credit Union plans to enter North Idaho with its first branch there, to be located in Post Falls. Steve Dahlstrom, STCU's president and CEO, says the organization has bought 1.25 acres of land in Post Falls, near the southwest corner of state Highway 41 and Mullan ...
Bankruptcy filings hit record level
Jan 12, 2006; ... The number of bankruptcy filings in Eastern Washington bit record levels in 2005 after an unprecedented surge last fall, when debtors rushed to submit their petitions before new bankruptcy laws went into effect on Oct. 17. Businesses and consumers filed 11,500 petitions seeking ...
EDC, others to develop West Plains master plan
Jan 12, 2006; ... The Spokane Area Economic Development Council is working with a number of other organizations, local-government jurisdictions, and companies to develop a strategic master plan for the West Plains area. The EDC said in a recent letter to "stakeholders" that the goal is to improve the ...
Logan-area residents sue city, homeowner
Jan 12, 2006; ... Fifty-eight residents of the Logan neighborhood, which surrounds Gonzaga University, have filed a lawsuit against the city of Spokane and a property owner in the neighborhood to stop the construction of additions to historic homes located in historic districts. The lawsuit alleges that ...
SIA general aviation operations take off
Jan 12, 2006; ... General aviation activity at Spokane International Airport has been growing, mostly because increasing numbers of students are enrolling in flight schools and more people are choosing to travel by chartered aircraft, operators say. In the latest available figures, operations there ...
Wisconsin telephone vendor buys building, relocates here
Jan 12, 2006; ... Tel-Phone Resources Co., which sells telephone equipment to hotels and resorts internationally, has moved its headquarters from Madison, Wis., to a building here that it bought recently. The company relocated this month to a one-story, 3,000-square-foot structure at 3305 W. Bismark, says ...
Furniture Supercenter to open soon
Jan 12, 2006; ... Furniture Superstore Inc., of Kent, Wash., which operates its only store in the Spokane Valley, plans to open its second store next week, this one on the North Side. The new outlet, to be called the Furniture Supercenter Gallery, will be located in the 22,000-square-foot space at 8016 N ....
Engineering firm plans move to old Ram space
Jan 12, 2006; ... Portland-based David Evans & Associates Inc. plans to move its Spokane office to the former Ram Brewery & Restaurant building north of downtown, which is being remodeled by its new owners. The engineering firm expects to relocate from the one-level, 5,000-square-foot building it ...
Corky's to be site of eatery
Jan 12, 2006; ... Spokane couple John and Janet Mosby have bought the former Corky's Family Drive-In property in the Garland business district, and have leased it to a couple who plan to open a fast-food eatery there. The Mosbys bought the one-level, 1,400-square-foot building, at the southeast corner of ...
Wheel Sport South bike shop moves to new, larger location
Jan 12, 2006; ... Wheel Sport Inc., of Spokane, has leased larger quarters on Spokane's South Hill for its Wheel Sport South bicycle shop, two months after a fire damaged its longtime location there. Vince Poff, manager of Wheel Sport South, says the company moved earlier this month into a ...
Digitizing Mammography
Jan 12, 2006; ... Health-care providers in the Spokane area have started offering digital mammography services, and say the technology detects breast cancer better than film-based mammography in some instances. Clinical studies, including one published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine, have ...
A less-invasive facelift
Jan 12, 2006; ... Surgeons here have begun using a new, less invasive form of cosmetic plastic surgery, called a Contour ThreadLift, on eligible patients, mostly women, who are seeking a more youthful appearance. The procedure was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration less than eight months ...
Heart-disease predictors are deficient
Jan 12, 2006; ... Traditional risk-factor scoring fails to identify approximately one-third of women likely to develop coronary heart disease (CHD), the leading cause of death of women in the U.S., according to a pair of reports from cardiologists at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in Baltimore, ...
Alternative fibroid-tumor treatments emerge
Jan 12, 2006; ... While an abdominal hysterectomy still is a standard fibroid-tumor treatment, some alternative treatment methods are becoming more commonplace here. Generally speaking, the alternatives are less invasive, allowing women to recover following them and to return to day-to-day activities more ...
Building-permit totals shoot up in Spokane area
Jan 12, 2006; ... Spokane-area building-permit values surpassed $900 million in 2005, easily shattering records set the previous year. Paced by an increase in home construction and a few big-ticket projects, the city of Spokane, Spokane County, and the city of Spokane Valley issued building permits valued ...
Investors plan industrial park on West Plains
Jan 12, 2006; ... Prium Development LLC, a Tacoma-based real estate development concern whose sister company bought the big Rock Pointe Corporate Center here late last year, plans to develop a 54-acre industrial park near Spokane International Airport. The development site is located along the south side ...
Specialty Construction Systems, Worthy renew long connection
Jan 12, 2006; ... Specialty Construction Systems Ltd., of Post Falls, has benefited for many years from its close working relationship with Spokane developer Walt Worthy-and its owners say they expect to do the stud and drywall work on Worthy's proposed 19-story Tower of the Davenport Hotel, in downtown ...
Rentals to be converted into condominium units
Jan 12, 2006; ... Rockwood Conversion Inc., a company formed here by Inland Construction Co. executive Darin Davidson, has agreed to buy The Rockwood apartment building and plans to convert the 34 living units there into condominiums. Located at the northwest corner of Cowley Street and Rockwood ...
Builder sells shares in concern
Jan 12, 2006; ... Walker Construction Inc. President and founder Steve Walker has sold his interest in the 23-year-old construction company to two partners. The two partners, Tom Hansen and Ed Walker, Steve's brother, each now own a 50 percent share in the company. Each had bought a minority interest in ...
Examiner OKs plan for big housing project
Jan 12, 2006; ... Spokane County Hearing Examiner Michael Dempsey has approved a preliminary-plat application to develop a 194-lot residential subdivision called Windsor Estates. Todd Whipple, with Whipple Consuiting Engineers Inc., of Spokane Valley, submitted an application to the county last spring for ...
Central Pre-Mix plans to expand Valley office
Jan 12, 2006; ... CPM Development Corp., the Spokane Valley-based parent of Central Pre-Mix Concrete Co. and Inland Asphalt Co., plans to double the size of the Central PreMix headquarters building, located at 5411 E. Broadway. Wayne Kalbfleisch, a vice president at Central Pre-Mix who is overseeing the ...
Cd'A real estate agency to enter Spokane market
Jan 12, 2006; ... Coeur d'Alene-based Century 21 Beutler & Associates, one of the top-grossing Century 21 real estate offices nationwide in recent years, is entering the Spokane market. John Beutler, who owns the agency with his wife, Ann, says the couple has bought just under an acre of land in the ...
Baker Construction builds office structure
Jan 12, 2006; ... Baker Construction & Development Inc., of Spokane, is building a 3,600-square-foot office structure in Liberty Lake to house the new real estate concern Windermere Real Estate/Liberty Lake Inc. and a second tenant. The new real estate office will occupy about 2,400 square feet of ...
Church plans $1 million Valley center
Jan 12, 2006; ... Word of Life Community Church, located at Newman Lake, says it plans to develop a $1 million conference center on its 30-acre property there. The project involves building a one-level, 10,800-square-foot structure at the southeast corner of the church's property, which is at 6701 N ....
Airway Heights plans $28 million project
Jan 12, 2006; ... The city of Airway Heights is advertising for legal and technical assistance to design, build, and possibly operate a projected $28 million waste-water treatment plant to be completed in two phases by 2015. Airway Heights, a 50-year-old city that's never had such a facility, currently ...
Five Mile Plaza owner adds new building there
Jan 12, 2006; ... Dixon Investment Co., of Spokane, says it's developing a new retail building at its Five Mile Plaza shopping center here, and that Starbucks Coffee Co. plans to lease space there for a drive-through store. Site work is under way for the one-level, 4,000-square-foot structure, which will ...
Kop to build apartments in Chelan
Jan 12, 2006; ... Kop Construction Inc., of Spokane, has been selected to build a $2.9 million apartment complex in Chelan, Wash. Tim Burns, a project manager for Kop Construction, says that the complex, which is to be called Chelan Bluff, will include six two-story buildings and a total of 22 living ...
State helps fund five housing projects here
Jan 12, 2006; ... Five projects in the Spokane area will benefit from a Washington state agency's awards last month of more than $24 million for low-income housing projects throughout the state. The funds were awarded through the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development's Housing Trust ...
NEwport works to build industrial park
Jan 12, 2006; ... In an effort to attract new business and to add jobs to combat high unemployment, the city of Newport, about 45 miles north of Spokane, and several partners are developing a 3.7-acre business park within the city limits. The city already has provided water, sewer, and fiber-optic ...
Aztech to install five new cameras on I-90
Jan 12, 2006; ... Aztech Electric Inc., of Spokane, has been awarded a $1.2 million contract to supply and install five live video cameras to monitor traffic along Interstate 90 from a point midway up the Sunset Hill, west of Spokane, to the Medical Lake interchange six miles to the west. Once another ...
MatriCal sees sales surge
Jan 26, 2006; ... MatriCal Inc., a company in Spokane's U District that makes sophisticated research equipment for large pharmaceutical companies, is expecting a strong surge in sales this year and is ramping up its work force. The 6-year-old company's revenues are projected to jump by 54 percent this ...
Defaults dropped in 2005
Jan 26, 2006; ... The number of foreclosures filed in Spokane County last year dropped precipitously, failing below the 500 mark for the first time since 1997. Randy Barcus, chief economist at Avista Corp., says that with property values rising, Most people who have to sell their homes can do so before ...
Integrus designs embassies
Jan 26, 2006; ... Spokane-based Integrus Architecture PS has designed four highsecurity U.S. Embassies currently under construction at a combined cost of $213 million in the African nations of Guinea, Mali, Sierre Leone, and Algeria. The structures will replace older embassies in those ...
Safety Girl to the rescue
Jan 26, 2006; ... Spokane's Sarah Gilcher says she's got the ideal survival product for women on the go. It's called the Safety Girl Roadside Emergency Kit, and it combines practicality with pleasure, including, among other items, instructions to change a flat tire, aromatherapy oil to relieve headaches, and a ...
Big Harrison project gets approval to start
Jan 26, 2006; ... The town of Harrison, Idaho, nestled on the eastern shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene about 45 minutes from Coeur d'Alene, has given a green light to the $30 million first phase of an upscale, three-phase residential development that could more than double the town's population. The ...
Tech company forms, opens office at SIRTI
Jan 26, 2006; ... A startup here that develops technology to speed up greatly the communication between data servers and remote computers used to access them has set up shop in the incubator space at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute. The company, called Interactive Dynamic ...
Analyst ups estimates of Potlatch net
Jan 26, 2006; ... D.A. Davidson & Co. has increased its estimate of Potlatch Corp.'s fourth-quarter earnings, to 28 cents a share from 21 cents, and also has boosted its estimate of the Spokane wood-products company's annual earnings for 2006. In addition, D.A. Davidson, a Great Falls, Mont.-based ...
Liberty Lake takes run at major annexation
Jan 26, 2006; ... The city of Liberty Lake is making its fourth attempt at annexing 644 acres of land west of its current city limits. Doug Smith, the city's director of planning and community development, says a public hearing on the annexation request is scheduled for Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. at Liberty Lake ...
Local real estate executive to develop office building
Jan 26, 2006; ... Spokane real estate executive John Becker says he and his wife, Marianne, plan to develop an office building near the southwest corner of the intersection of Cataldo Avenue and Division Street. The estimated $1 million project will involve constructing a one-level, 7,000- to ...
Red Lion renovates hotels here
Jan 26, 2006; ... Spokane-based Red Lion Hotels Corp. is remodeling three of its hotels in Spokane and Post Falls at a combined cost of roughly $4.8 million. Remodeling work at the Red Lion Hotel at the Park at 303 W. North River Drive, the Red Lion River Inn at 700 N. Division, and the Red Lion Templin's ...
Nine Mile project taps relatively new zoning
Jan 26, 2006; ... A new, upscale housing development near Sundance Golf Course along Nine Mile Road takes advantage of a so-far seldom used zoning designation that allows one-acre lots outside of the urban growth boundary here. Normally, buildable parcels located outside that boundary must be at least ...
Science center backers get deadline reprieve
Jan 26, 2006; ... Mobius Science Center backers have been granted more, time to address lingering Spokane Park Board concerns about their businessplan projections for the proposed $30 million facility, which would be located on city-owned land just north of Riverfront Park. The Park Board earlier had set ...
Public relations firm names two new partners
Jan 26, 2006; ... Desautel Hege Communications, a Spokane-based public relations and marketing firm, has named two new partners and plans to move to larger headquarters. The firm has named two long-time employees, Andrei Mylroie and Sara Johnston as its new partners, and it plans to move this spring from ...
Three Hayden projects would total 100 homes
Jan 26, 2006; ... The city of Hayden, Idaho, has approved two new housing developments and has received an application for a third. Altogether, the three projects could result in the construction of nearly 100 singlefamily homes. The developments would range from 53 units to 14 units in size. The ...
Mountain-style furniture store to open doors in Coeur d'Alene
Jan 26, 2006; ... A retail store that sells mid-range to high-end mountain-style furniture is scheduled to open this week in leased space in the old Rosauers' supermarket building near Appleway Avenue and U.S. 95 in Coeur d'Alene. Mountain Comfort Furnishing & Design will become the eighth ...
Cheney looks to expand its waste-water facility
Jan 26, 2006; ... The city of Cheney is advertising for an engineering firm to design an estimated $8 million expansion to its wastewater treatment plant to meet increasing demand placed on the facility built in 1994. The treatment facility has exceeded 85 percent of its designed capacity for two ...
More Exit Real Estate offices planned here
Jan 26, 2006; ... The mother-daughter team that owns Exit Real Estate/Gregg Jones & Associates, located on Spokane's lower South Hill, has bought the Exit franchise rights for the North Side and Spokane Valley. Sabrina Jones-Schroeder, managing broker of the residential real estate agency and co-owner ...
Carrying out a parent's last will and testament
Jan 26, 2006; ... Serving as the personal representative of the estate of your parent or another loved one can be a big responsibility, but legal experts here say that following certain guidelines can help the process run more smoothly. Those things include making sure your parent has drawn up a simple ...
Programs assist seniors in the hunt for jobs
Jan 26, 2006; ... Life starts at 60, goes the optimistic expression. Some people, though, find themselves starting over in their late 50s or 60s, looking for a job but having no definite career path. A few organizations here offer jobplacement assistance for those seniors, many of whom have ...
East Central district to get senior housing
Jan 26, 2006; ... The East Central Community Organization, of Spokane, has been awarded more than $2.5 million by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to build an independent-living facility for low-income elderly residents here. The project will involve building a two-story, 25-unit ...
Long-term care providers decry Medicaid rates
Jan 26, 2006; ... Ask long-term health-care advocates and providers what they want from the 2006 session of the Washington Legislature, and the response is consistent and brief. "We want more funding," says Deb Murphy, CEO of the Washington Association of Housing & Services for the Aging, an advocacy ...
Meridian oversees big senior housing project
Jan 26, 2006; ... Meridian Construction Management Inc., of Spokane, says it's overseeing a more than $36 million retirement housing project in Auburn, Wash. The project, called Wesley Homes Lea Hill, will include construction of 22 duplexes, two apartment buildings, and a three-story, 218,000square-foot ...
Small bank, Big Plans
Jan 26, 2006; ... COLFAX, Wash.-Sixty miles south of Spokane, a small bank is hatching some big ideas. Bank of Whitman, based in this small farm town but with 18 branches in its system, is preparing to raise its profile in the Spokane market by opening a downtown branch there and moving some operations ...
Paper checks face electronic dethroning
Jan 26, 2006; ... Don't look now, but paper checks-those symbolic instruments of financial empowerment-are slipping away toward that same graveyard of technological obsolescence as the slide rule, the typewriter, and the record player. Financial institutions here say the rectangular slips of ...
Loan brokers might face stiff state regulations
Jan 26, 2006; ... The Edmonds, Wash.-based Washington Association of Mortgage Brokers has announced its support of pending legislation that would require mortgage loan officers to be licensed and would expand the state Department of Financial Institutions' oversight authority over mortgage brokerages. The ...
Northwest Investment Advisors grows sharply
Jan 26, 2006; ... Northwest Investment Advisors Inc., of Spokane, says its staff focuses more on the psychological part of investing than on the statistics, and it has been growing fast after enduring some challenges to its own business psyche. The company, which started here in March 2000 "just as the ...
Spokane Teachers sets record for net income
Jan 26, 2006; ... Spokane Teachers Credit Union posted record net income in 2005, along with strong double-digit gains in loans, deposits, and total assets. The credit union had net income of $11.1 million, up 5 percent from $10.6 million in 2004. Meanwhile, its loans jumped 19 percent to $653 million at ...