Spokane's entrepreneurial ecosystem is showing encouraging signs of progress, with advocates making a deeper commitment to growing young companies in the Inland Northwest. And that could be good news for the economy overall. 

As the network for creating, incubating, and fostering new, innovative companies becomes stronger, the challenge we'd present to those involved is to identify a select few concepts that could become large employers and strong corporate citizens. 

It's no secret the region has lost a number of publicly traded companies and corporate headquarters over the last 20 years to mergers, acquisitions, attrition, and other factors. Which new companies could be to Spokane what Starbucks and Amazon are to Seattle in terms of job creation, wealth building, and cachet? Indeed, such companies could be evolving in our midst already. 

Our hope is that some stay here, grow here, and go public here, rather than accepting an exit strategy in three to five years, as has become more common in recent years. Without that long-term benefit, the startup community becomes an isolated ecosystem, contained unto itself with only novel relevance to the broader business community. 

To be certain, however, recent activity suggests the wheels are in motion to make such growth possible. 

Earlier this month, Ignite Northwest disclosed plans to shift its strategy toward incubating new companies through a new model dubbed Ignite Works. As envisioned, the organization will form, fund, and build new companies in the Spokane, Coeur d’Alene, and Sandpoint regions, helping those enterprises form business plans and secure funding in exchange for an equity interest in each startup. 

Ignite Works is a departure from the organization's objective in recent years to raise the profile of the Inland Northwest startup network through events and workshops. That effort has been effective, and while we applaud the shift in strategy, we hope the events that educate and inspire aspiring entrepreneurs remain to some degree. 

Elsewhere in the startup community, Cowles Ventures is converting an old Muv Fitness gym facility in downtown Spokane into a coworking space that will focus in part on providing space for the companies in which it invests, as well as others. 

To be known as Fuel, the coworking venue is expected to be ready for young companies during the first quarter of next year. The 20,000-square-foot space is expected to be able to accommodate 150 people at first and up to 350 people when fully built out. 

If it reaches its potential, Fuel could fill a gap in the startup community by not just providing space for young companies, but by providing a place where entrepreneurs could meet, collaborate, and learn from one another.

Spokane's entrepreneurial ecosystem has come a long way over the last 10 to 15 years, and some exciting young companies have become significant employers while finding their market niches. More appear to be headed in that direction. But there's more to be done to ensure the region meets its full potential in this space, and it's encouraging to see steps taken to ensure that occurs.