The wood products sector is expecting continued, steady improvement next year, largely due to anticipated ongoing recovery in the U.S. housing market, industry observers say. Shawn Church, editor of Eugene, Ore.-based Random Lengths, a publication that t

Following an upswing in building activity here in 2013, some construction industry observers are optimistic that forward momentum will carry through the coming year. Jan Quintrall, director of business and development services for the city of Spokane, sa

In one of the brighter real estate sectors, Spokane-area residential sales improved for the second consecutive year in 2013, and Ken Lewis, owner of Spokane Valley-based Prudential Spokane Real Estate, says he expects the spring of 2014 to be the best spr

In some sectors of the Inland Northwest economy, activity levels are returning to prerecession levels, welcome news that comes none too soon for economic observers. In overall employment, Spokane-area economists are expecting job growth next year, though

Northwest MedStar, the Spokane-based air ambulance service operated by nonprofit Inland Northwest Health Services, expects to take delivery early next year of the second of two helicopters it has bought this year. The first twin-engine EC-135 helicopter

A couple who needed jobs in the latter 1990s have built up a home-based, first-aid supply business here into a growing enterprise that now serves more than 3,000 employers across three states and employs five other people. Their company, Action Medical,

The Empire Health Foundation is projecting that its investment in health care initiatives next year will grow even faster than the size of its endowment. Antony Chiang, president of the nonprofit health foundation, says the organization this year has con