Spokane Journal of Business

Special Report

ACA is reshaping small-group health insurance markets

ACA is reshaping small-group health insurance markets

2013 is a critical year for the implementation of federal health care reform taking place in 2014, also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Employers likely recall a first wave of implementation of the law in 2010, but the biggest changes to...

Viren & Associates focuses on diverse financial advice

Viren & Associates focuses on diverse financial advice

Viren & Associates Inc., a Spokane-based financial planning and employee benefits advisory company, has remained viable for almost 20 years by diversifying the services it offers clients, says Paul Viren, managing principal there. Viren, who in...

Customer satisfaction with mortgage lenders increases

Overall customer satisfaction with mortgage lenders has reached its highest level in the past six years, says the J.D. Power & Associates 2012 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study released late last year.Overall customer is 761 a...

Question banking relationship to determine best fit

The start of a new year is a good time to take stock of your business relationships and make sure your professional service providers and partners are still a good fit for your company and its changing needs. When it comes to assessing your banking...

Accounting standards can sway lawsuits

Disgruntled shareholders are more likely to sue firms that use principles-based accounting standards instead of rules-based standards, according to a recent study by a University of Iowa accounting researcher.The study, by Richard Mergenthaler,...

Gen X, gen Y retirement accounts swell, firm says

Third-quarter 2012 data for defined-contribution plans administered by Springfield, Mass.-based MassMutual Financial Group show that, combined, generation X and generation Y participants now account for 55 percent of the company's participant with...

FDIC-insured institutions' profits rise

Commercial banks and savings institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported aggregate net income of $37.6 billion in the third quarter of 2012, a $2.3 billion—or 6.6 percent—improvement from the $35.2 billion in the...

C&I lending in Spokane begins to rebound

C&I lending in Spokane begins to rebound

As the economy tentatively improves and businesses begin to increase sales and rebuild inventory, commercial-and-industrial lending also is on the rise, some lenders here say.Spokane-based Sterling Bank and the Spokane operations of U.S. Bank, a...

SNAP Financial Access makes big gains with micro loans to refugees

SNAP Financial Access makes big gains with micro loans to refugees

Greg Franson, of SNAP Financial Access, and World Relief Spokane's Ivan Yerebakan have worked in tandem for years on a program meant to kick-start small businesses operated by refugees that find themselves relocated to Spokane.The development or...

Musselman sees growth in heavy equipment rentals

Musselman sees growth in heavy equipment rentals

Since its $5 million Liberty Lake building opened in 2011, Musselman Rentals & Sales has attracted some clients who have spontaneously stopped in their travels after seeing the facility and lineup of heavy equipment visible from Interstate 90.The...

Sign up for our E-mail updates

including the
Morning Edition

Join our list