Half Round to launch business radio show

Half Round Productions LLC, a Spokane-based video production company, says it plans to launch a business-friendly talk radio program Jan. 9 on KTRW-AM630.

The program, titled "Business Talks," will be a half-hour program aired live each Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. from Scratch restaurant, at 1007 W. First downtown, say Half Round co-owners and co-hosts Kent Adams and Tom McArthur.

The program, which listeners also will be able to listen to via smartphones and the Web, will be rebroadcast on Saturdays at 10 a.m., and archive episodes will be available online at BusinessTalks.us, they say.

"Most talk shows whip up an audience with fear and anger as main ingredients. Our recipe is much more creative and satisfying in that we let businesses talk directly to consumers and potential employees in a way they never could before," Adams says. The program will be structured more as a conversation than an interview, he says.

McArthur says, "Business is a good word, and local businesses are doing good things. We'll be there to announce the new, recognize the innovative, and celebrate the successful local business—large and small."

Adams is a longtime radio-and-television account executive who has worked for and owned several businesses here. McArthur is a former local news anchor and congressional press secretary who currently also owns and operates McArthur Consulting LLC.

—Kim Crompton

Independent Apple shop opens in Cd'A

Mac Service Northwest, a full-service electronics repair shop that specializes in providing support for Apple Inc. products, is open in Coeur d'Alene, says shop owner Rory McLeod.

The 800-square-foot shop is located in the Coeur d'Alene Professional Building, at 411 E. Coeur d'Alene.

McLeod says he has been repairing, updating, and customizing Apple products since 2007, having recently moved to Coeur d'Alene from Portland, Ore., where a business partner operates Portland Mac Tech, another shop that specializes in servicing Apple products.

"I'm from Coeur d'Alene," McLeod says. "I left here after high school and have wanted to come back for several years."

The shop has no other employees, although McLeod says he may soon need to hire a technician.

Mac Service isn't an official Apple retailer, but sells some used and refurbished Apple products.

"I'm proudly independent from Apple, although I love their products," McLeod says.

He says Mac Service offers screen replacements and fixes logic board failures and damage. The company also unlocks iPhones, iPads, and Apple TV devices to enhance and customize their capabilities, he says.

Mac Service also provides corporate and household information technology consulting and personalized tutoring.

—Mike McLean

Beauty service shop launches in Spokane


A business called Kiss and Make-Up has opened in downtown Spokane to offer eyelash extensions, waxing services, facials, and custom airbrush makeup applications.

Alexa Shortell, who co-owns Kiss and Make-Up with her mother, Melinda Shortell, says the business opened Dec. 13 at 114 W. Pacific. It also offers retail sales of makeup products and other beauty items.

Previously, Alexa Shortell ran Kiss and Make-Up as a mobile business here, setting up appointments in clients' homes. She graduated from Portland Beauty School in 2010.

Shortell says she now will operate mainly out of the recently leased 250-square-foot space, providing beauty services for weddings, proms, special events, and individual appointments.

"We are a beauty boutique, strictly to pamper people," she says. "I've been working with airbrush makeup for over a year now."

The business plans to have a booth at the Tammy Schneider Enterprise Bridal Festival, Jan. 12-13, in downtown Spokane.

—Treva Lind

Project manager buys Design Source

Spokane interior design firm Design Source Inc. will have a new owner, and one of the firm's founders plans to retire at year-end, says Marie Firestone, Design Source's business manager.

Angie Everstine, a longtime employee at Design Source, is buying the business from co-founders Susan Dellwo and Nancy Croyle, Firestone says. The terms of the pending transaction weren't disclosed.

Everstine has been with the company for 16 years, working her way up through the ranks from intern to project manager.

As owner, Everstine also will retain her position as project manager, and Croyle will continue as a principal designer and creative director, Firestone says. Dellwo will retire from the 25-year-old company and pursue other interests, she says.

Design Source focuses on interior designs for new commercial and residential construction projects, as well as remodeling projects. The company has four other employees and occupies 2,000 square feet of floor space in a two-story, 6,000-square foot former fire station at 804 S. Monroe that Croyle and Dellwo bought in 2002.

—Mike McLean

Online venue to offer child behavior system

North Spokane resident Mark Hawley has formed a home-based business, ChildBe LLC, and plans to launch a subscription-based online behavior management system for use with children who are between the ages of 6 and 14.

Hawley says he created the Web-based system, which will cost $10 a month per family, as a way to help parents be consistent with their children regarding rewards, consequences, and privileges. He says the service is scheduled to launch Jan. 30 at www.childbe.com.

Hawley, who previously worked as a telecommunications engineer, is the company's sole employee. He says he designed the program after dealing with his own daughter's behavioral problems. Hawley says she now is doing well after he implemented a similar system he learned through a state program.

The time required to use the system amounts to a few minutes a day and includes such steps as clicking on a chore chart and adding points as chores are completed, he says. Children can earn rewards, such as having a friend overnight or a dinner with a parent.

Certain behaviors are grouped in levels, which include a fourth level described as "role model good," he says, and a first level that is a major offense. When behavior drops a level, the privileges change, such as the child receives an earlier bed time or loses a cell phone for a period of time.

The system provides reports about progress and trends of behavior, and parents can allow a therapist to have access if desired, Hawley says. An introductory video tells customers how to use the system, which users can access on a home computer, laptop, or smartphone, he adds. Customers use a credit or debit card to pay for the monthly payments, and they can quit at any time, he says.

—Treva Lind

Educator to open school downtown

Educator Leni Cramer says she plans to open a new private school, called the Rowan Tree Education Cooperative, in downtown Spokane, hopefully next month.

Rowan Tree will occupy a roughly 1,000-square-foot leased space in a former Catholic diocese building at 1023 W. Riverside, and will be able to accommodate children preschool-aged to sixth grade, Cramer says.

"It's a cooperative because I want to involve members of the community in teaching foreign language, dance, and art," she says. "I want to involve local businesses that are kid-friendly."

Cramer has been a home school educator for 40 years. She says she's working with Mobius Science Center of Spokane to create a program for the co-op. She says she hopes to offer summer programs for children and to enroll additional students next September for the 2013-2014 school year.

Cramer will be the cooperative's only employee initially, but she says she'll hire an additional teacher if enrollment exceeds 10 children. She says tuition will be about $800 a month for full time, but says she'll negotiate with parents if they can't afford the full amount.

—Jessica Valencia