As financial institutions look ahead to 2026, Inland Northwest banking leaders say the industry enters the new year with cautious optimism, steady deposit growth, and persistent affordability challenges that continue to shape the behavior of members and customers.

Many U.S. businesses are bracing for the sharpest rise in health care costs in more than a decade, with employer coverage costs expected to jump nearly 10%, says Melissa Koontz, senior vice president, employee benefits at the Spokane office of Alliant Insurance Services Inc.

Glyciome LLC, a biotech startup developing microbiome-based genital health products, has moved a major portion of its federally funded clinical trials away from Harvard Medical School and into the Inland Northwest.

To meet increasing demand, Northern Idaho Advanced Care Hospital has converted and relicensed 17 beds from long-term acute care to inpatient medical rehabilitation as part of a joint venture between Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Ernest Health and Coeur d’Alene-based Kootenai Health.

A quiet and persistent crisis has taken hold across the American health care landscape. Hospitals and health systems — already stretched thin on both resources and resilience — are facing a structural fragility that short-term fixes can no longer mask. 

Palisades Christian Academy is planning a new $2.2 million early learning center.

Wilmington, Delaware-based GenJet Inc. plans to start work in spring 2026 on a $1.2 million townhome development in Spokane's East Central neighborhood, located at 1728 E. Hartson, immediately south of the Liberty Park Aquatic Center, company representatives say.

Construction is underway on a new warehouse and office building for Spokane-based trucking company S. R. Sicilia Inc.

Some Spokane real estate agents are leaving behind the copier rooms and cubicles typically found at traditional real estate brokerages for a different kind of firm — one that exists entirely in the cloud.