Latest News

Goebel looks to get $9.3 million county job

Contractor is low bidder to build two pump stations in prepration for treatment plant

June 18, 2009

Robert B. Goebel General Contractor Inc., of Spokane, is the apparent low bidder, with a bid of $9.3 million, for a Spokane County project to build the two main pump stations to connect residents to the county's planned wastewater-treatment county

Empire Ford property, others on block

Ridpath properties return, plus six on West Plains; eBay-style sale planned

June 18, 2009

Kim Crompton

The former Empire Ford dealership property downtown is among nine Spokane-area properties slated to be offered for sale next month, all through an eBay-style online timed auction format.Also among the nine are the top two floors of the 13-story

Second-story addition set at Schade

Project to attach 5,000 square feet of office space

June 18, 2009

Mike McLean

Baker Construction & Development Inc., of Spokane, plans to construct a second-floor addition to the historic Schade Towers east of downtown, says Kirk Ledbetter, a project manager for Baker.The project will add 5,000 feet of office space to at

Imprezzio taps globe for 'contacts'

Maker of client-relationship software has opened offices in Romania and Toronto

June 18, 2009

David Cole

Dave Talarico just returned from a hunting trip to Romania—not for a trophy brown bear, but for talent.Talarico, who founded Spokane-based technology company Imprezzio Solutions Inc. with Kelly Birr five years ago, ventured to the Romanian

Capital calls rise, pinch borrowers

Decreasing asset values force more lenders here to issue 'pay up' demands

June 18, 2009

Richard Ripley

Real estate developers and investors, already vexed by troubled markets and falling asset values, are receiving more bad news from their bankers.In some cases, bankers are telling such clients they'll need to come up with more money—and to

Tight passage for Providence

Fledgling chief of largest hospital system here has his hands full

June 18, 2009

Kim Crompton

Dr. Andy Agwunobi says one of the things that convinced him to leave a high-ranking post in Florida and move across the country to the Inland Northwest was his desire to achieve a better work-life balance, one that would afford him more family CEO

Photo courtesy of Vaagen Bros. Lumber Inc.

Lumber makers fight sales decay

Low demand, weak prices compound mills' troubles

June 18, 2009

Mike McLean

The steep national decline in new-home construction is taking its toll on the Inland Northwest lumber industry, and it's not expected to let up any time soon, industry observers say.Duane Vaagen, president of Colville, Wash.-based Vaagen Bros. a

Speculative areas of market draw interest despite risks

Current economy offers plethora of opportunities for more daring investors

June 18, 2009

Personal Investing

At a time when so many "sure" investments have let everyone down, speculative investing sounds like simply throwing money down the drain.Shell-shocked investors, wishing no medals for bravery, have contented themselves with safer, low-yield is a

In the News: June 18, 2009

June 18, 2009

June 16 / Job numbers dip; unemployment rate climbs Nonagricultural wage and salary employment in the Spokane metropolitan area fell to 212,200 in May, down 9,300 jobs from the May 2008 level, according to preliminary Washington state

Calendar: June 18, 2009

June 19-30, 2009

June 18, 2009

Meetings & Events Washington Trust Bank will host a personal document Shred Day on Friday, June 19, from noon to 4 p.m. at its East Sprague branch, at 3510 E. Sprague. Attendees may bring up to two small boxes of personal documents to