When college athletes gained the ability to profit from their name, image, and likeness in 2021, Gonzaga University student Jesse Riodil saw an opportunity that never materialized for him during his four years playing on the men’s soccer team.

When Scale House Market opened in May 2025, the goal was to establish a year-round farmers' market and support 65 farm-based businesses. Eighteen months later, it has surpassed expectations, supporting between 150 and 175 small businesses spanning agricultural operators, food producers, bakers, makers, artisans, dairy farmers, cattle ranchers, among others.

Two years after developing its Small Business Administration lending department, RiverBank Holding Co., the parent company of Spokane-based RiverBank, has become the county’s top SBA lender. The increase in SBA lending comes as the community bank establishes a director of fintech position, reinforcing its founding principles of relationship banking and technology.

At Washington Trust Bank's headquarters, the financial institution has saved more than 5 million gallons of water and roughly $18,000 in annual utility costs thanks to a partnership between K&H Facility Services LLC and the city of Spokane’s Water Wise Commercial Efficiency Auditing Program. 

Once a month, at Hogwash Whiskey Den in downtown Spokane, historian Renée Cebula takes a roomful of students through centuries of American and global history that trace the wars, immigration, tariffs, and changing tastes that have helped determine what ingredients end up in her students’ glasses.

Spokane Valley-based Numerica Credit Union has announced plans to merge with Springfield, Oregon-based SELCO Community Credit Union in a proposed “merger of equals."

Red Lion Hotel Templin’s on the River, a Post Falls waterfront hotel overlooking the Spokane River, will close on Friday Oct. 23 as its ownership group, which includes Hayden-based StanCraft, considers options to "reinvigorate the property."

Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson has selected nine low-income census tracts in Spokane County — seven of which are located within Spokane city limits — for the federal Opportunity Zones 2.0 program.

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.

When Spokane Comedy Club opened in 2016, co-owner Adam Norwest was cautioned that it might not work. Ten years later, it's one of the most requested venues by performers and has helped grow Spokane's comedy scene.