The notion that two of the Inland Northwest's publicly-traded companies, one that manufactures wood products and the other that makes paper products, would see a surge in demand during a pandemic may once have seemed hard to fathom.

Veteran Boise-based car wash owner and operator Bill Martin doesn't think he's ever been this busy. 'There's a rate of growth in the industry that's never been seen before,” Martin says.

A look of disbelief ran across David Hanson's face as he pondered the backlog of work orders that started early this year and now extends deep into next year for his architecture and construction company. As the last remaining principal of Hanson Carle

Blue-Chip Alliance LLC, which operates The Man Shop barbershops in the Spokane area, plans to construct its own corporate headquarters building, with capacity for additional retail tenants.

It wasn't what was in Airway Heights that drew Spokane-area investor Dick Edwards to buy large chunks of land on the West Plains through the years. It's what surrounded the area that caught his eye. 'It was the interstate, a pair of interchanges