Joe Gilenes ties to Cincinnati were strong: He was born and raised there, married another Ohio native, and spent 17 years working at Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center, eventually becoming a member of the hospitals senior-management

The rumbling effects of the Federal Reserves interest-rate reductions are changing the landscape for Spokane-area lenders.As the Feds rate cuts in 2000 and 2001 have pushed housing starts to record levels, theyve fueled demand for and you

Seeking ways to expand their banking offerings, three of Spokanes biggest credit unions are stepping up their commercial lending efforts.Spokane Teachers Credit Union expects this spring to launch a business services department and roll out a

The city of Cheney, which began installing a citywide high-speed fiber-optic network last year, has selected a contractor to implement the second phase of that project, which includes linking businesses and residences to the system.It has a to

A partnership headed by Spokane contractor Mike Silvey plans to develop a Spokane Valley office park that will include three buildings and cost $2 million.The park, to be called River Rock Professional Center, is planned for the northeast of a

A company that hopes to build a strawboard plant on the Palouse has leased nearly 350 acres in LaCrosse, Wash., and is pursuing building permits for the project.The company, Columbia Ag Fiber Inc., chose LaCrosse for its plant site because of a

Sterling Savings Bank, of Spokane, has opened a corporate-banking office in downtown Seattle, employs three staff members there now, and expects to employ eight by the end of the year as it strives to plumb the market in the center of Washingtons

Spokane-based Washington Trust Bank has posted record net income for 2002, and crested $2 billion in assets by year-end. In its annual report, the bank reports 2002 net income of $24 million, up 11.7 percent from $21.5 million the previous That

Taxable retail-trade sales rose 5.3 percent in Spokane County and 5.1 percent in the city of Spokane during the third quarter of 2002.The county logged retail-trade sales of $823 million, up from $782 million in the third quarter of 2001, and 5

A Massachusetts company has bought certain assets of Spoval Fiber Optics Inc., a Spokane maker of fiber-optic distribution panels, resulting in the elimination of 20 jobs here and the closure of Spovals plant, which is being shuttered now. Spoval