Molina Healthcare of Washington Inc., a Bothell, Wash.-based health-maintenance organization, says it has leased 27,300 square feet of office space in the Rock Pointe III building, at 1330 N. Washington, and plans to move its Eastern Washington by

Gonzaga University announced today that it formally has approved plans to build a $60 million, 168,000-square-foot University Center on the site of its current student union building, known as The COG, on the west side of campus. Demolition of the

Sterling Financial Corp., the Spokane-based parent of Sterling Bank, announced this morning it has agreed to acquire Newport Beach, Calif.-based Commerce National Bank in a transaction valued at $42.9 million.The transaction is expected to be the

Avista Corp., of Spokane, reported this morning first-quarter net income of $42.3 million, or 71 cents a diluted share, up from $38.4 million, or 65 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.Scott Morris, Avista's chairman, president, and CEO, in

Northwest Bancorporation Inc., the Spokane-based parent company of Inland Northwest Bank, reported first-quarter net income attributable to common shareholders of $436,000, or 14 cents a diluted share, up from $156,000, or 6 cents a share, in the a

Itron Inc. announced this morning first-quarter net income of $2.6 million, or 6 cents a share, down sharply from $25.4 million, or 63 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.The Liberty Lake-based maker of automated meter-reading technology in

A company formed by an affiliate of Spokane-based Goodale & Barbieri Co. and Salt Lake City-based Woodbury Strategic Partners has bought for $11.6 million the Kalispell Center Mall and Red Lion Hotel, in Kalispell, Mont., from Spokane-based Red of

April 23 / Employment here risesAbout 207,800 people held nonagricultural wage and salary jobs in the Spokane area in March, up by 3,200 from the March 2012 level, but down by 1,100 from February this year, preliminary state figures said. from /

Meetings & EventsGonzaga University will hold its 23rd Economics Symposium on Tuesday, April 30, from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Gonzaga's McCarthey Athletic Center, 502 E. Boone. David Wessel, economics editor for The Wall Street Journal, will a