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Secured Investment Corp. to franchise Cogo Capital

Having tested concept here, company to expand

February 27, 2014

Secured Investment Corp., the Coeur d'Alene-based private-money lender, plans to start franchising its young retail subsidiary, Cogo Capital LLC, in an effort to increase its loan volume more quickly. Not quite 1 1/2 years old, Cogo Capital has corp

Banner's net declines for quarter, all of 2013

Bank reports increases in total assets, deposits

February 27, 2014

Lucas Thayer

Banner Corp., the Walla Walla, Wash.-based parent of Banner Bank and Islanders Bank, has reported fourth-quarter net income of $11.6 million, or 60 cents a diluted share, a decrease from $13.3 million, or 69 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter.

Lenders play by new ability-to-repay rules

Criteria meant to verify borrowers won't get in over their heads

February 27, 2014

Treva Lind

Spokane-area banks and credit unions are adjusting to new federal residential mortgage lending standards that require federally insured lenders to take additional steps when collecting a borrower's financial information and calculating ability to repay

SBA lenders predict volume rebound in 2014

Fee waivers aim to boost demand for smaller loans

February 27, 2014

Mike McLean

Some lending institutions that are among the leaders here in originating U.S. Small Business Administration-backed loans are anticipating renewed interest from borrowers this year, following a dip in total loan volume in the SBA's Spokane district in 20

Vivint moves services beyond home security

Cellular technology provides control of residential settings

February 13, 2014

Treva Lind

Wireless-based home security systems are rapidly adding conveniences to control household settings, but they're also providing more protection, says Eric Patrick, who oversees a Liberty Lake call center of Vivint Inc., a security and home-automation sys

URM Stores investigation ending; ripple effects continue

Credit unions increase fraud monitoring in wake of attack

February 13, 2014

Katie Ross

Spokane wholesaler URM Stores Inc. announced recently that it's nearing the end of its investigation into the cyber-attacks last fall that compromised an unknown number of debit and credit cards, but some aftereffects of that breach still are being felt

Geothermal gains share in custom home market

Alternative costs more to install, less to operate

January 30, 2014

Mike McLean

Geothermal heating and cooling systems are gaining acceptance in residential construction here, although most adopters of the heat-transfer technology are in the upscale custom home market. Jeff Fountain, a principal at Copeland Architecture & Constructi

Sustainability professionals say challenges lie ahead

In Ecova survey, managers expect rising energy costs

January 30, 2014

Staff Report

This year will be a challenging one for those responsible for managing energy and other resources for their organizations, says a report that Spokane-based energy and sustainability management company Ecova Inc. released last month. Titled '2014 Energy

State agency OKs utilities' targets for conservation

In all, plans would save enough to power a city size of Yakima

January 30, 2014

Staff Report

Washington state Utilities and Transportation Commission regulators have approved two-year energy conservation targets for the three investor-owned utilities that provide service in Washington state. When realized, the agency says, those conservation ef

Low-impact development said to be in higher demand

Landscape architect reports more inquiries about environmentally friendly architecture

January 30, 2014

Treva Lind

Landscape architect Len Zickler, a principal in the Spokane office of Tacoma-based AHBL Inc., says the company is seeing more requests to design environmentally friendly infrastructure to manage stormwater drainage. He expects this approach, called low-