Magner Sanborn wins Amtrak PR contract
Magner Sanborn, a Spokane-based advertising, brand design, and marketing communications firm, says it has won a contract to provide creative services and media planning for the Amtrak Cascades train route between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Eugene, Ore.

Dennis Magner, president of the firm, declines to disclose the amount of the contract. He says Magner Sanborn will provide broadcast, print, outdoor, and online advertising for Amtrak through the multiyear, renewable contract. He says ads in the initial campaign will begin to reach the public this month.

Magner says the firm competed against dozens of larger Seattle firms in the final cut before winning the contract. He says many of Magner Sanborn's clients are in the Seattle area, and the Amtrak contract gives the firm an expanded presence on the west side of the state. The firm has a satellite office there.

Cuban restaurant opens in former Plantation building
Rolando Diaz has opened the Blue Island Restaurant, at 8122 E. Sprague, in a 10,000 square-foot building formerly occupied by the Plantation Restaurant and most recently by Club Edge.

Diaz says he came to Spokane from Cuba five years ago. He formerly worked as a chef at Opa Pizza, at 10411 N. Newport Highway. He says he operated a restaurant in Cuba before he was forced to leave for political reasons.

Blue Island Restaurant, located in an old stone-faade building, seats 100 and offers banquet rooms and catering. Diaz says it employs seven people part time.

The restaurant features Cuban cuisine, which Diaz says is a mixture of French, Italian, Spanish, Arab, Mexican, and African cooking. It doesn't offer beer, wine, or liquor, but does have Cuban coffee and mango and guava milkshakes.

Trio turns converted house at Nora, Ruby into small retail store


Magnificent Possessions, a retail store that features new and used items, has opened in a house here at 101 E. Nora, at the northeast corner of Nora Avenue and Ruby Street. The site was formerly occupied by The Vintage Truffle, a catering business.

The owners of Magnificent Possessions are Larry McCollim, a longtime insurance agent here, his daughter, Kelli Lemley, and son-in-law, Chad Lemley.

Kelli Lemley made major improvements to the 800-square-foot leased house before Magnificent Possessions opened this month, her father says. Examples of the types of items offered by the store include Christmas dcor, camping gear, and skis.

McCollim says the three in the past had enjoyed going to various auctions, and decided to turn their hobby into a business.

They spent the past six months going to estate sales and auctions, picking out a wide variety of household items for the store.

"We love to bargain. There's a sign posted in the store that says that," McCollim says.

He says they're avoiding antiques because they lack expertise in them, and they're also bypassing furniture because they lack the space to display it.

Specialty sewing shop moves, boosts space fivefold on North Side
Carrie Jarvis has moved her specialty sewing shop, The Top Stitch, to a 3,000-square-foot space at 3808 N. Monroe from a 600-square-foot space on west Garland. She says the move has tripled her business thus far.

The Top Stitch sells designer fabrics and Janome sewing machines. It offers sewing classes and hosts sewing parties and has a part-time on-site repairman, as well as four other part-time employees.

Jarvis says she hasn't had to do much advertising, because the new location gets more traffic than the old one. She says she also gets a lot of business through word-of-mouth and her Web site.

Because her sewing classes were filling up and her inventory was growing, the business outgrew the space where she opened it in December 2007, Jarvis says. She says interest in sewing has resurged among 20- to 30-year-olds who want to make children's clothes and do crafts.

Valley chamber exec starts business aimed at ethics education
John Pederson, director of membership for the Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce, has started a home-based business named Ethics Talks LLC. He offers 20-minute presentations, half-day seminars, and all-day workshops to professionals and organizations on the topic of making ethical decisions.

Pederson says he worked for 10 years as a Better Business Bureau executive in Texas and New England.

"That's where I got my passion for wanting to educate people on principled thinking and action," he says.

Pederson says he's in the process of getting certification for his presentations, so he can offer continuing education credits through various professional organizations. He also says he's in the process of developing a Web site. He says he'll continue working for the Valley chamber while pursuing Ethics Talks as a side venture.

Elk Point divisions move, plan Cd'A events center project
Virginia Tate and Brent Lyles have moved Elk Point Consulting, a division of Coeur d'Alene-based Elk Point Enterprises Inc., from temporary quarters to a 2,500-square-foot leased space at 370 E. Kathleen, in Coeur d'Alene.

The business consulting firm opened a year ago, and now has 400 clients, Lyles says. It offers accounting, litigation, and business infrastructure support services.

Elk Point Enterprises says it has two other divisions, Elk Point Events and Elk Point Environmental Services.

Elk Point Events was granted a conditional use permit by Kootenai County on Oct. 1 to construct a 2,000-square-foot events center at 4176 E. Potlatch Hill Road southeast of Coeur d'Alene. The property has been in Tate's family since 1911, Lyles says.

Elk Point Environmental Services is involved in logging on Potlatch Hill and is engaged in agriculture, Lyle says. Both Elk Point Events and Elk Point Environmental Services currently are located in a house at the Potlatch Hill site.