Red Lion Hotels, the Spokane hospitality company working its way through some investor discontent, held its recent annual meeting at its downtown headquarters. The May 23 meeting included the re-election of board directors. We went back one year to Red Lion's 2011 annual meeting, at…
So you may have heard the Washington State Supreme Court ruled Thursday (May 31) in a 5 to 4 opinion, that the privatization of liquor sales was legal. Read the key opinion at this link. There is of course a dissenting view, which can be…
So the Initiative 1183 attacks can begin. Starting Friday, people who voted for the privatization of liquor sales in Washington can claim they opposed it along. Sure, now they can say, "I knew it would lead to higher prices." On Friday those prices become available.…
Washington's State Liquor Control Board on Wednesday rejected requests by the city of Seattle’s to change rules to allow nightclubs to serve liquor later than the state’s current 2 a.m. cutoff. Board members Sharon Foster and Ruthann Kurose said they were concerned about public safety…
Seven Spokane area firms or groups were winners in the annual Agora Awards completion, honoring business excellence. In a Wednesday morning event hosted by Greater Spokane Inc., the winners in several categories were: Large nonprofit: Greater Spokane County Meals On Wheels. Small nonprofit: Greater Spokane…
Spokane’s Garco Construction has landed a $35.8 million federal contract after challenging an earlier award for the job to an Oklahoma competitor. Garco bid on the project last year to build a large truck and maintenance shop at Joint Base Lewis McChord near Tacoma. Last…
We posted a short item in Sunday's print editions about the $20.4 million new Fairchild Air Force Base fitness center. It replaces the original center, built in the 1940s. That old center is being demolished by Lydig Construction, of Spokane. Lydig was in charge of…
Hats off to Red Lion Hotel's Patrick Shimon, area GM at Spokane's Red Lion Hotel at the Park. On May 24 he agreed to go down the downtown hotel's redesigned pool slide, for photographers. His stunt was meant to echo the same event when Don…
Spokane’s growing Inland Imaging LLC has spun off an IT subsidiary, Nuvodia, with plans to become a nationwide provider of technology integration and services. During a Thursday breakfast hosted by Spokane group Connect Northwest, Nuvodia’s CEO Jon Copeland said the need for reliable, secure technology…
This story, in today's Spokesman-Review, may seem like a little love note to Google. It's not meant to be that. It's more an example of your good ol' basic seek-and-you-may-find the answer if you keep looking. It ran online on Spokesman.com. Here's the short version.…
A noted franchise expert, Ben Litalien, will be on Gonzaga University's campus next week for two lectures on “Franchising for Community Impact.” The two 90-minute presentations will be Thursday, May 31, starting at 7:30 a.m. and then at 9:15 a.m. Both are in the Wolff…
The Occupy Spokane group has started its own "Occupy Spokane Clubhouse" on East Sprague. It's open for business and is looking for volunteers and donated second-hand items. It's renting a storefront at 1808 E. Sprague. The goal is to raise some money for Occupy events…
State rules say that businesses or local governments cannot generally transfer or dispose of unclaimed property -- including most gift cards and the contents of safe deposit boxes. Washington's Department of Revenue will host two Spokane workshops to summarize the rules and the obligations faced…
According to one business website, Idaho ranks as the No. 1 state for starting and running a small business. The survey came from Thumbtack.com, in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation. The survey determined that small businesses ranked Idaho first in the nation for overall small…
If you're not spending enough time online, the Washington SBDC (Small Business Development Center) website at wsbdc.org is now offering 26 short self-paced webinars to help understand the fundamentals of starting and growing a business. The series is underwritten by U.S. Bank, and all 26…
The Spokane area’s largest data center, TierPoint in Liberty Lake, has been acquired by Cequel Data Centers, LLC, a St. Louis-based company with similar operations across the United States. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But the size of the transaction was “significant,” according…
Who says we don't cover Sandpoint business? North Idaho Dermatology has leased 4,000 square feet of brand new medical office space in the Sandcreek Office Park, a class A three story office building on Highway 95N in Ponderay, Idaho. Chris Schreiber of Kiemle Hagood represented…
Does anyone care if a company has a bad grade with the Better Business Bureau? We're asking because we may want to examine how companies get a bad grade, and then what happens in the minds of consumers. Recently, the BBB notified Spokane-area media that…
It wasn't surprising to find many grocery companies are reluctant to give too much information about their deployment and investments leading up to June 1, the day liquor can be sold privately across Washington state. That's the day Initiative 1183, approved last fall by state…
Comcast officials said on Thursday they're discarding the current 250 gigabyte data use limit on residential customers, replacing it with two new options that will raise the limit to 300 gigs per month. Comcast officials hosted a conference call from Philadelphia saying it's moving forward…
Washington’s entire congressional delegation has signed a letter asking the Air Force to select Spokane’s Fairchild Air Force Base as the home for new air tankers. The Spokane base is already home to aging KC-135 air tankers. The letter was spearheaded by Senators Patty Murray…
Realtor.com has generated a national ranking of home sales at the metro level, and found Spokane in April of this year ranked 143 out of 146 cities, based on the number of visitor searches on the Realtor.com website. price increases and declines in number of…
View Larger Map Maybe a business "amnesty" program is a great thing to celebrate. Spokane City officials, as part of “Spokane: Open for Business” month, have designated the week of May 21 as amnesty week. It means that any unlicensed business owner can apply for…
A number of Washington Congressional representatives spent time Tuesday pushing forward the Senate bill that reauthorized the Export-Import Bank. The final vote of 78-20 was a victory for Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who's been a major proponent of the bill. If not passed, the the…
Barton Auto Group gets back into selling new cars in downtown Spokane this week, launching the area's only Fiat dealership. Fiat, the longtime Italian carmaker, joined forces with Chrysler in 2009 and ended up taking a 58 percent stake in the company. It's been more…