Never mind the soft economy, for Brandon Brown and Skip Mayhew, business is bubbling, and as rising travel costs drive consumers to look to their back yards as recreational destinations, the prospects for jetted revenues grow.Brown and Mayhew a

Itron Inc., of Liberty Lake, has received three recent orders from utilities in New York state, Detroit, and Portland, Ore., the latter of which likely will be worth $20 million to $25 million in business.In the biggest of the orders, Itron it

Specialty foods giant Whole Foods Market Inc., after coming so close to opening a store here that it had signed a letter of intent to buy the Empire Ford dealership building downtown, apparently has decided to shelve for now its plans to enter the

Washington Federal Savings, a regional bank with Pacific Northwest roots that go back 91 years, has bought land in Liberty Lake, where it plans to erect its first Eastern Washington branch, the bank says.The Seattle-based bank has bought a site

Following a long and contentious battle with residents on their plans for a group of retail developments on the South Hill, developers say they expect to move forward soon with those envisioned projects.Home Depot Inc. hopes to start next on of

Wagstaff Inc., the 62-year-old Spokane Valley maker of equipment for the aluminum-casting industry, plans to construct a large office-building addition to accommodate strong recent growth, says Paul May, its CEO.Due partly to surging sales, is

A number of businesses are moving to or are launching ventures in a part of downtown Spokane that they have collectively dubbed SoDo, a moniker that means south of downtown and echoes the name of a funky shopping district in Seattle. They say the a

Banner Bank, looking to become a more recognized name and expand its market share here, could open as many as five to seven more branches in the Spokane-Coeur dAlene market in coming years, says D. Michael Jones, its top executive. Depending on a

Elder-law attorneys here say people make avoidable, but all-too-common mistakes in planning their estates.Asked how frequently such problems and pitfalls crop up, Spokane attorney Karen Sayre gives a succinct answer.Im thinking about in

Hospice of Spokane, which opened a Hospice House facility on Spokanes South Hill recently, says its patient volumes have doubled in the past few years and its considering opening additional facilities on the North Side and in Spokane Valley. in