Latest News

High-tech firms predict sales uptick

December 23, 2009

High-tech manufacturers say that with orders and backlogs beginning to build, they're looking for better times in 2010.Key Tronic Corp., a Spokane Valley-based contract manufacturer, recently removed a salary freeze it had instituted about a and

Public works to prop up construction

December 23, 2009

Public-works projects and tax credits are expected to prop up the construction industry here in 2010, but the flow of projects in the pipeline has slowed to a trickle, says Kate McCaslin, president and CEO of the Inland Pacific Chapter of Builders

Slow recovery forecast in most real estate sectors

December 23, 2009

The residential real estate market is expected to improve slowly here in 2010 following a four-year sales decline, while the commercial real estate sector might remain in the doldrums for a while yet, industry sources here say.The number of home

Job growth slight in '10, but better

December 23, 2009

Slight improvement is expected in job growth in the Spokane metropolitan area next year, although it doesn't appear that average annual employment will rise above its peak level in 2008, Doug Tweedy, regional labor economist here for the Washington

Expect a slow but steady upturn

Industry-sector observers here are forecasting only modest improvements in 2010

December 23, 2009

Paul Read

So now the slow road to recovery begins. In most industry sectors, 2009 has been a year people would like to put behind them, and, after a couple of years of mostly negative indicators, observers now are offering hope that 2010 will provide at a

Small Business Watch: December 23, 2009

December 23, 2009

TV anchor launches Latin-themed show on cooking, culture Mike Gonzalez, an on-air personality at KXLY-TV, has launched a multimedia company here called the Hispanic Food Network (HFN).The company, which is owned by Gonzalez, Dwight

Real Estate Roundup

December 23, 2009

Mike McLean

C Commence Inc., a Spokane tobacco-products retailer doing business as Discount Smoke, has leased 1,300 square feet of retail space at 7011 N. Division. Joe Ward and Raleigh Johnston, both of Pinnacle Realty Inc., handled the transaction. Discount

Condron sets starter-home development

Farr Meadows subdivision in Pasadena Park area to target first-time buyers

December 23, 2009

Mike McLean

Spokane home builder Condron Construction Inc. says it's planning a 17-lot residential subdivision valued at more than $2.8 million in the Pasadena Park neighborhood north of the Spokane River near Spokane Valley.The development, to be called be

Leone & Keeble low bidder on school work

Audubon, Cooper, Holmes HVAC, roof replacements to be done next summer

December 23, 2009

Mike McLean

Leone & Keeble Inc., of Spokane, has submitted an apparent low bid of $6.6 million for a project to replace roofs and heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems at three Spokane Public Schools elementary schools.Greg Brown, the of

Rendering courtesy of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and BRR Architects Inc.

Post Falls Wal-Mart is under way - Art Only

December 23, 2009

The planned Post Falls Wal-Mart Stores Inc. outlet, illustrated here, is one of two supercenters the big Bentonville, Ark.-based chain has started work on in Kootenai County. The discount retailer expects to open both stores in 2010.