Real estate investor and developer Rob Brewster Jr. says he has bought the long-vacant Holley Mason Building in downtown Spokane and plans to rehabilitate the historic six-story structure.Brewster, who grew up in Spokane but now lives mostly in

A Spokane company called Sierra Development LLC, which is headed by prominent local developer Dick Vandervert, has just begun work on one retail development in Millwood and plans to start work on two othersone each in Cheney and Liberty spring. a

Internet service providersthe companies that connect Internet users to the information superhighwaysay theyre now maneuvering through heavier competitive traffic here and anticipate some aggressive lane changes in the road ahead.Not only A

Bullhide Liner Corp., a Spokane maker of a spray-on, pickup truck bed liner, is planning an aggressive expansion, fueled in part by money its attempting to raise in an initial public offering launched in December.Ron Grossman, Bullhides says

Northwest Strawboard Inc., a Pasco, Wash.-based company thats been formed to develop three plants in Eastern Washington to make particle board out of straw, hopes to raise $5 million in a stock offering to help pay for the first of the plants, in

Dakotah Direct Inc., the big Spokane telemarketing company, plans to hire 300 additional insurance agentsmost of them in Spokaneover the next eight months to handle increased telemarketing business from insurance companies.Connie Browning, a

Home Depot Inc., of Atlanta, has leased land at the northeast corner of U.S. 95 and Sunset Avenue in Coeur dAlene and plans to build a store there, says Amy Friend, a Fullerton, Calif.-based company spokeswoman.Earlier, Home Depot had said it

As Spokane Countys unemployment rate has slipped lower and lower, the available work force here, which has been touted for years as plentiful, isnt so abundant any more.Both companies with large hiring needs and temporary-help agencies are a

A 108-mile freight line that connects Cheney to Coulee City, Wash., was deteriorating and headed for abandonment until Eastern Washington grain shippers, legislators, and the state Department of Transportation stepped in to help save it.Now, the

Copyright 1998 by Journal of BusinessEmpire Securities Inc. of Washington, a Spokane brokerage firm, is under fire.A retired Spokane optometrist and his wife have filed suit in U.S. District Court here claiming that Empire Securities and them