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.

The Bloomsday Road Runners Club functions as a nonprofit running club that organizes races, publishes a monthly newsletter, and supports Spokane’s broader running community.

If you want to enjoy travel throughout retirement — not just at the beginning — you have to give it structure. Not to limit it. But to protect you.

On a bright Friday morning in April, the Spokane Valley Senior Center buzzed with activity. A table tennis meeting appeared in full swing, plastic balls pinging back and forth. Groups of people stared at the cards in their hands, deep in focus during a bridge tournament. On the bottom floor, pinochle players congregated in the art room, and across the hall, a handful of men shot pool.