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

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. 

A handful of companies across Eastern Washington and North Idaho have raised millions of dollars in recent months, with the majority of funding falling outside the traditional angel- or venture-backed technology, health care, and consumer industries.