The mining industry in the Inland Northwest and throughout the U.S. shares some guarded optimism looking forward to 2021 and the incoming presidential administration, says Mark Compton, executive director of the Spokane-based American Exploration & Mining

The tourism industry here expects to see some signs of recovery in 2021 from the stifling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but likely not until midyear. Meg Winchester, president and CEO of Visit Spokane, says that by all accounts, 2020 was shaping up

Experts here say that while financial institutions have seen increases in loans and deposits in 2020, they could feel the squeeze of low interest rates in 2021. In March, the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered the federal fund rate-the benchmark interest

If a few positive steps are taken in 2021, the Inland Northwest could regain all of the jobs it lost this year, Spokane-area economists say. Such a recovery might not be V-shaped, but it would be a dramatic comeback, as Avista chief economist Grant

Real estate in Spokane stayed surprisingly strong in most sectors through the pandemic, say industry observers here, with home sales and commercial real estate investment, particularly in industrial space, seeing strong growth. Rob Higgins, executive

A year marked by high demand, supply constraints, and mercurial commodities pricing likely will lead to continued volatility for at least the first half of 2021, some wood products industry observers say. Joel White, executive officer of the Spokane Home

While Washington state officials say the first COVID-19 vaccinations will be available to select groups of residents this month, local health care officials say there will continue to be areas of uncertainty heading into next year.

The 2020 construction season got off to a slow start because of pandemic-induced restrictions. Overall, though, industry observers here say the season finished better than expected, and 2021 is expected to even better. About $30 million in public work

Vange Ocasio Hochheimer teaches economics at Whitworth University, but the roots she's put down in Spokane over the past decade extend beyond the university's campus. Ocasio Hochheimer spent much of her childhood in Puerto Rico. As an adult, she