Manufacturing

Zak Designs anticipates another record sales year

Release of new Star Wars helps to catapult revenues

December 17, 2015

Zak Designs Inc., the Airway Heights-based dinnerware designer and manufacturer, says it's set to complete another record-breaking sales year. Last year, the company recorded the highest sales in its 40-year history, due in part to sales of items feat

Servatron inks its first contract in aerospace

Manufacturer says it has more projects in the works

December 17, 2015

Spokane Valley-based Servatron Inc. has entered the aerospace industry by signing a three-year contract with AvtechTyee, an Everett, Wash.-based manufacturer of electronic systems for the aerospace industry, to test and assemble that company's electroni

Inventors draw feedback from first Toolbox pitch event

Event sought to spotlight early-stage product ideas

November 19, 2015

LeAnn Bjerken

Five entrepreneurs pitched their ideas for various creative products at an event last week titled the Toolbox Pitch Panel that was held at and hosted by the Toolbox business incubator here. The envisioned products include an electric bicycle, an automoti

K&N Electric Motors keeps family business focus

CEO says bulk of its work is on dam, crane projects

October 8, 2015

LeAnn Bjerken

Committed to its role as a family-owned and -operated business, K&N Electric Motors Inc. is what company CEO Janet Schmidlkofer calls a happy setup. 'We're approached all the time about selling the company. So far we have no intentions of doing so,â€

Extreme Industrial Coatings pursues belt-grip patent

Upgrade touted to reduce wear, boost fuel efficiency

September 10, 2015

A West Plains business owner says he believes he's found the answer to the common industrial problem of rubberized belts slipping on pulley systems in heavy-duty machinery. Jon Osborne is the owner and president of Extreme Industrial Coatings Inc. (EIC

Parker Aerospace will close Liberty Lake plant

Shutdown date yet to be set, spokeswoman says

September 10, 2015

Cleveland-based Parker Aerospace, which bought the assets of SprayCool Data Systems Inc. in 2010, says it's shutting down its Liberty Lake facility, located at 2218 N. Molter. Company spokeswoman Alison Dittmeier says 30 employees currently work at th

Energizing innovation

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August 27, 2015

Linn Parish

Edmund O. Schweitzer III founded Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in 1984, and essentially from the beginning, the company has been growing rapidly. The 31-year-old, Pullman-based enterprise designs, manufactures, and supports products and services f

Manufacturer educates teachers on drone technology

Minds-i sales being driven largely by school districts

August 13, 2015

Minds-i Inc., a five-year-old Liberty Lake company that started out researching and developing static, motorized, robotic, and remote-control toys, has ridden the recent wave of interest in robots and aerial drones to shift heavily into education.

Calling all machinists

Improving economy cited as factor in shortage; wages said rising

August 13, 2015

LeAnn Bjerken

The demand for machinists in the Spokane area remains high, with a number of companies here advertising openings online.

Quest Aircraft grows its market reach, expands its Idaho plant

Sandpoint airplane maker boasts new enhancements

July 30, 2015

Mike McLean

Quest Aircraft Co., the Sandpoint-based maker of the rugged Kodiak airplane, announced earlier this month at an aircraft show in Wisconsin that it has expanded its dealership network, and it also now offers a fully certified executive version of the plane