UPDATED:  At 1 p.m., we learned that the city and county don't provide money to the Workforce Development Council. Which means this was a politically necessary system that involved some overview by city and county officials, but without any skin in the game.

City Communications Manager Marlene Feist said: “For the first time, SAWDC did get a County grant this year—an outside agency grant for $20,000.

“The SAWDC funding primarily comes from federal and state grants,” Feist noted.

The Spokane Area Workforce Development Council, a joint effort between the City of Spokane and Spokane County, will be relocated as an operation of Community Colleges of Spokane.

The transferl is part of efforts top align workforce services more efficiently and to let Workforce work more closely with the community colleges. 

The SAWDC will continue as a nonprofit agency. Its goals are: closing the skills gap, helping workers gain new skills, helping workers and companies improve productivity and reduce poverty in the region.

A press release said the new plan should make it easier for the agency to find money  from a more sources and streamline management.

An interlocal agreement between the city and county allowed the SAWDC to operate as a city department for nearly four decades.

The release said:  “But as the city and county have looked for ways to improve services for citizens, moving the SAWDC to a non-profit made sense.  Workforce development agencies across the state and nation have thrived using a similar approach.

“This change reflects another model of collaboration between the city and county,” says Mayor David Condon.  “At the city, we are making changes to focus our efforts on what we do best and allow others to operate services that are outside our area of expertise.”

Mayor David Condon on Monday announced he's hired local BBB CEO Jan Quintrall to be in charge of the city's Business and Developer Services office. 

That office used to have the name of Economic Development Division. Theresa Sanders, the current city manager, headed that division in the administration of previous mayor Mary Verner.

Quintrall's job starts Monday; she'll earn $118,494 if approved by the City Council. 

Filling in as interim CEO of the Spokane Regional BBB will be Elea Katzele.

The official release said the new division will include building, planning, engineering services, capital programs and workforce development. Quintrall said her focus will be in eliminating red tape and making business activities and projects less cumbersome.

The key job task is “making sure the people who work (in the department) have the right tools to do their jobs effectively,” she said.

While Verner and other mayors have vowed to simplify the permitting and business application process at the city, Quintrall said the system has a ways to go.

She added, “The bureaucracy breeds on itself. There is still a lack of clarity” in how people go through the business development process, she said.

You like Twitter streams, right?

So we're going to run this stream over the weekend: the David Condon stream.

Anyone tweeting about Mayor-Elect David will land on the stream and you'll get a chance to comment, reply, do nothing if that's your choice.

Have a good weekend, Spokane and Idaho!

Thank you, Greater Hillyard Business Association. The business group planned a “Connect with the Electeds” meeting for this evening (Thursday) starting around 6 p.m. at the Inland NW Wildlife Council, 6116 N. Market. By odd timing, the event will be bigger and more fun than first expected.

When the association put together the idea (to have local pols discuss issues related to the Northeast District), they were planning to have just the “electeds” who survived the election.

Then some races got too tight to call.  So, tonight's lineup includes some folks who were “almost elected,” as well, said Ken Clouse, the group president.

As of noon today, the lineup includes both current Mayor Mary Verner and apparent Mayor-elect David Condon, Dennis Hession and the guy who defeated him in the race for council president, Ben Stuckart.

Also scheduled to take part in the question-answer session following a dinner are Mike Fagan and Donna McKereghan, also locked in a close election for a Northeast Spokane council seat, and Council Member Amber Waldref.

The event comes with a dinner and beverage, and costs $15 for business association members, $20 for others. To register go to this link.