Special Report

Richards, Merrill & Peterson targets client diversity

Firm oversees $800 million in assets for 3,300 people

August 17, 2017

The operators of the Spokane-based private investment firm Richards, Merrill & Peterson say they take great pride and pleasure not in the amount of assets it oversees, but in the diversity and size of its client base. The firm oversees more than $800 mil

Kavadias Hall PLLC: Accounting for expansion

Small firm adds more staff this year

August 17, 2017

Mike McLean

While the namesakes at the Spokane accounting and business consulting firm Kavadias Hall PLLC prefer the small-firm environment, prolonged strong growth has forced them to double their accounting staff so they can manage the workload. Jeff Kavadias, the

Washington Trust Bank projects highlight concierge concept

Two remodels nearly finished; Manito branch to be replaced

August 17, 2017

Mike McLean

Spokane-based Washington Trust Bank is completing two major remodels and constructing a replacement bank branch here that will highlight the bank's ongoing financial-concierge initiative. Washington Trust is investing nearly $2 million on the projects,

Michael Maehl: Well-performing stock market met with reluctance

Many indicators suggest skittishness unwarranted

August 17, 2017

Michael Maehl

According to the Wall Street Journal, 'America's largest companies are on pace to post two consecutive quarters of double-digit profit growth for the first time since 2011, helped by years of cost-cutting, a weaker dollar, and stronger consumer spendi

Nystrom+Olson acquired by design-build innovator

Calif.-based Katerra says it plans 'strategic expansion'

August 3, 2017

Mike McLean

Menlo Park, Calif.-based development, design, and construction company Katerra Inc. has acquired Spokane design firm Nystrom+Olson Architecture and plans to grow a permanent presence here, the company announced recently. Now renamed Katerra Spokane, Nyst

More seniors to repurpose; caregivers should prepare

Workforce training needs to recognize lifestyle shifts

August 3, 2017

Scott Eckstein

Did you know there's an estimated 75 million baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, that are winding down their careers and approaching retirement in the United States? That means today's 40 million senior citizens will swell to roughly 89 millio

Set goals when mulling spending in retirement

Ask yourself some delving questions to begin process

August 3, 2017

Michael Maehl

Retirement, per se, is still a relatively new phenomenon. Not all that long ago, people pretty much worked until they died. Retirement, as a definite period of your lifetime, is something that only really came into being starting in the 1970s in the U.S.

Newport elder legal practice kindles, taps demand

10-year-old Newport firm opens office in Sandpoint

August 3, 2017

Kim Crompton

A Newport, Wash., elder law practice headed by a woman who grew up in Spokane has grown substantially since its founding 10 years ago, despite serving a sparsely populated part of the state, and recently opened a Sandpoint office to broaden its client bas

Study explores seniors' transportation challenges in Spokane

Nonprofit seeks to identify number of elderly in need

August 3, 2017

The Spokane office of nonprofit Special Mobility Services Inc. is in the early stages of using a $160,000 grant to study what it suspects are widespread, unmet transportation needs of senior residents living in Spokane County. The grant, which will go to

Group home veteran adds North Idaho facility

15-bed Peterson Place open near Hayden Lake

August 3, 2017

Mike McLean

Peterson Place Adult Family Home, which has Spokane roots, has expanded to Hayden with its acquisition of a 15-bed assisted-living facility there. Heidi Peterson, the owner, has operated smaller adult family homes for 16 years and owns two such facilitie