The Inland Northwest technology sector has enjoyed a comparatively strong year in 2014, and appears likely to grow even stronger in 2015, buoyed both by gains at larger companies and by a groundswell of startup activity, company executives and industry observers here say.

“It’s been very positive for about the last 24 months,” and that upward momentum should carry through and possible accelerate next year, says Gary Mallon, technology industry manager for Greater Spokane Incorporated, Spokane’s combined chamber of commerce and economic development agency.

“I think overall they’ve had a pretty darn good year,” Mallon says, adding, “I don’t think it’s residual from (the activity going on in) Seattle; I think it’s concurrent.”

One of the things he says he’s been most struck by over the last 12 to 18 months is the number of one-, two-, and three-person startup tech companies that have been forming here.

“I think it’s very vibrant right now—a lot going on,” he says.

Katie MacKay, vice president of Spokane Valley-based MacKay Manufacturing Inc., which fabricates components used in the medical, aerospace, and semiconductor industries says, “This year is our all-time highest in sales. Next year, we believe, will be better than this one.”

She says the company’s sales have risen 18 percent this year, due heavily to growth in medical instrument production, which represents about 70 percent its revenues.

MacKay Manufacturing has added probably 20 employees this year, she says, raising its total workforce to about 130 people, and she says the company may add another 10 or so next year.

Fred Brown, CEO of Next IT Corp., the Spokane maker of website customer-service software known for its answer-giving avatars, says, “We’ve had a very good strategic year, so we did a lot of things to grow into next year.”

In particular, the company has been making strong inroads into the burgeoning field of virtual intelligent assistant software for the health care field, he says, adding that it’s “going after helping patients manage their chronic disease” by connecting doctors with patients in a more holistic way.

“We’re really excited about that,” he says.

“We see our market actually finally emerging from the ‘trough of disillusionment,’” he says, using a tech-industry term meant to describe the cyclical letdown that often occurs when much-hyped new technology fails to measure up to inflated expectations.

Internationally, Brown says Next IT is developing a strong presence in the South American country of Brazil, where it has secured three contracts and expects to substantially increase that number next year.

“It’s a big economy. We’ve had a lot of success there, and it looks like it will be fantastic there next year. It’s a big growth area for us,” he says.

Overall, the tech sector here appears to be recovering nicely, Brown says, adding that sometimes its self-image doesn’t sync with reality. “We’re better than we think we are,” he says.

Gravity Jack Inc., the Liberty Lake custom mobile application and augmented reality software developer that current employs about 25 people, says it has doubled its revenues thus far in 2014, and is expecting to do it again in 2015.

“One of the major reasons that we are seeing this explosion of growth happening now, after five years, is that the technology we saw as futuristic and cutting-edge—and began developing—in 2009, is finally coming into the mainstream awareness and markets,” says Ryan Darbonne, the company’s marketing director.

Itron Inc., the Liberty Lake-based maker of automated meter reading technology and one of Spokane’s largest tech-sector employers, recently has been experiencing double-digit gains in its gas and water lines of business and says it’s poised to take advantage of new global markets.

Itron recently reported third-quarter net income of $7.3 million, up sharply from a $7.3 million loss in the 2013 third quarter. For the first nine months of this year, the company has reported net income of $26.3 million, up from $7.6 million in the year-earlier period.

The company has 75 offices in 35 countries worldwide, with about 8,000 employees. About 500 of those employees work in its 200,000-square-foot building at 2111 N. Molter.

—Kim Crompton