Retirement planning shouldn’t just be about quitting a job and getting away from work. It should be about what’s next. What does a person want to achieve as they author the next chapter of their life?

SimpliAge LLC is a Spokane-based company that advises seniors and their families for free as they navigate senior living options.

Spokane-based humane society SpokAnimal recently announced a new partnership that will help place pets with elderly community members for no or low cost, says Dori Peck, the nonprofit’s executive director.

Four generations of the Lawton family have led Lawton Printing Inc. and FILE-EZ Inc. — an accomplishment most family businesses can’t claim. Instrumental to that level of continuity has been Ray Lawton, 79, who, along with his late brother Gary Lawton, represents the third generation to lead both Spokane companies.

Phyllis Campbell, 2026 Spokane Journal of Business Icon, led an accumulative 50-year career in banking, philanthropy, and board service across the Inland Northwest and western Washington.

Retired certified public accountant and Spokane community leader Bill Simer says his life would have looked much different had he not met a young woman and her brother in Spokane more than 50 years ago.

Elaine Couture, former regional chief executive at Providence Health & Services who retired in 2021, is currently living her "best life," staying active and involved following a move to Arizona three years ago. Despite her relocation, her impact on the Spokane community remains anchored in the medical institutions she helped lead and expand over a distinguished 34-year career.

From a service clerk in Montana to the leader of a regional grocery chain in Spokane, Jeff Philipps says his legacy was built by consistently restocking a few simple ideas: "Businesses succeed when they invest in people, and communities grow stronger when leaders choose to give back." 

Barry Baker, longtime head of prominent Spokane-based general contracting company Baker Construction & Development Inc., says he doesn’t need to go into the office every day, but now he’s having too much fun there to stay away for long.