Spokane-based organizations Greater Spokane Incorporated, LaunchPad Inland Northwest Foundation, and Health Sciences & Services Authority of Spokane County are partnering with Seattle-based Life Science Washington to expand access to resources and support for life science entrepreneurs in the greater Spokane region.

Spokane Falls Community College’s Orthotic and Prosthetic Technology program — one of only four certified training courses in the nation — has doubled its cohort size in three years to help address a nationwide technician shortage.

Thirteen years ago, Vestis Manufacturing Inc. was a five-person operation producing and installing fabric awnings for homes and businesses within 100 miles of Spokane. Today, Vestis focuses on manufacturing aluminum canopies, louvered sunshades, and bolt-on balconies for commercial clients, shipping its products throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Draper, Utah-based Swire Coca-Cola USA is continuing to grow steadily almost a year after expanding its Spokane Valley facility. 

Contractor and energy-efficiency systems manufacturer McKinstry Co. has launched a new podcast, “Building What Matters,” featuring conversations with leaders who decide how schools, hospitals, and major infrastructure projects are built in communities across the Pacific Northwest.

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Inc. is investing $150 million in a Post Falls manufacturing facility to meet the company's high demand for power grid protection products.

Primarily driven by outside capital and nationwide corporate interest, a wave of business acquisitions and early-stage investments has swept through the Inland Northwest this summer. From Missouri and South Dakota to Georgia and Utah, out-of-town buyers and national firms are acquiring and investing in established Spokane-area companies across a variety of industries.

Kristopher Pockell is a software engineering manager at Liberty Lake-based OpenEye by day and the co-founder of Spokane Valley-based Elixir Sauce Co. by night.

Kellogg-based Bunker Hill Mining Corp. says it plans to acquire Silver47 Exploration Corp. out of Vancouver, Canada, in an all-stock transaction valued at $163 million. The potential transaction would expand Bunker Hill's mineral projects across four states.