Posts tagged: Greater Spokane Inc.
Avista CEO Scott Morris comes downtown this week, taking part in the Thursday morning GSI-sponsored BizStreet morning session.
The PR material says: “Learn what Avista is doing to serve its customers, maintain an engaged workforce, be strong community partners and attract investors.”
The schedule: coffee and chat: 7:45 a.m.-8 a.m.; program from 8 to 9 a.m.
Location: 801 W Riverside, Suite 100; $25 for GSI members, $50 for others.
Yesterday's Officehours post about Wednesday's GSI Meet Your Legislators has to be updated.
GSI this morning confirmed that Gov-Elect Jay Inslee will join the event, which starts at 3 p.m. at the Davenport Hotel. Yesterday's entry described who else will be there.
Key details: It's in the Davenport Pennington Room; the forum runs 3 to 5 p.m..
Inslee has stated he intends to hang around at the reception starting around 5:15 p.m. in the same place.
Cost: $50 for members of GSI, $80 for others.
Marketing works. But how best to market in a digital world?
GSI is looking for ways to help area business owners answer the question.
Later this week — Thursday — it's hosting a session termed “Online Marketing, Taking the Next Step.”
The three hour BizStreet Intensive features Chris Reilly of Unleashed Online Marketing and Ed Reese of Sixth Man Marketing. Spokesman.com did a feature on Ed a few years ago.
The two will describe options for businesses to maximize online presence and marketing. It starts with a coffee warmup at 7:30 a.m. and runs from 8 to 11 a.m. at the GSI first floor meeting room, 801 W. Riverside Ave.
You should register ahead of time, by going here: REGISTER.
It costs $30 for GSI Members / $50 for non-members.
PepsiCo will consolidate its Spokane area locations and move into an 80,000-square-feet distribution center at the Central Business Park in Spokane Valley.
The move consolidates PepsiCo’s Eastern Washington and North Idaho operations, providing a new hub for about 130 area workers.
The Central Business Park location will be one of four PepsiCo-owned distribution centers in the state of Washington. The other three are in Everett, Seattle, and Tacoma.
Greater Spokane Inc. helped the deal by obtaining $50,000 in incentive funds from Washington's Strategic Reserve Fund.
The Central Business Park’s warehouse complex is at 11016 E Montgomery Rd. The center has 57 dock-high doors with load-levelers, along with 26 adjacent acres for build-to-suit opportunities.
Seven Spokane area firms or groups were winners in the annual Agora Awards completion, honoring business excellence.
This was the 27th year awards were presented.
The lineup of coming business-related events:
Thursday, May 10: Greater Spokane Inc. sponsors a conversation with Jeff Philipps, CEO of Rosauers and chair-elect of GSI's board of trustees.
It runs 8 - 9:30 a.m. at the GSI offices, 801 W Riverside, Suite 100. Register here.
It starts at 11:30 a.m., at Nectar Tasting Room in downtown Spokane. For more information or for seats, go here.
May 24: Executive Connect Northwest Breakfast hosts Steve Duvoisin and Jon Copeland at the Georgian Ballroom, Spokane Club. It runs from 7:30 to 9 a.m.
The annual Greater Spokane Inc.-sponsored Agora Awards will be announced May 30. Here are the nominees in the five categories: For additional information on the awards, the GSI link has it.
Small nonprofit
An OfficeHours roundup of coming events:
The event is at Market Street Station, 5101 N. Market. To register, go here.
Dr. Levente Kapas, associate professor for the WWAMI Spokane Medical Education Program, will present remarks on the effects of sleep on metabolism. Registration deadline is Friday, April 13. You can call 509-358-7504 or email requests to spokane.chancellor@wsu.edu.
Owners of commercial or industrial land can submit information to the city to review if their properties meet environmental, zoning and utility criteria.
Once certified, the shovel-ready property will be listed on the city's certified website.
Spokane Mayor David Condon backed the idea in his election campaign, saying simplifying site information can help the area’s economic development.
Greater Spokane Inc. President Rich Hadley said the certified site program is the first in
The website for the program is: http://developingspokane.org/siteselector/default.aspx.
Greater Spokane Incorporated is hosting an event it calls Connect with the Elect. It's a morning questio-answer session with new folks on the Spokane City Council, including Mike Allen, Steve Salvatori and Council President Ben Stuckart.
It's Feb. 29 from 8 to 9:15 a.m. at the GSI building, 810 W. Riverside Ave.
To reserve a spot click RSVP.
Talk about higher education this week, and about the construction business next week, during two sponsored breakfasts for business people.
This Friday, Greater Spokane Inc. is hosting an overview of higher ed featuring five area university officials: Rodolfo Arevalo (EWU), Christine Johnson (CCS), Thayne McCullough (Gonzaga), Brian Pitcher (WSU Spokane) and Beck Taylor (Whitworth) will all discuss why a good K-12 system is critical for area growth and development.
Area school levies will also be reviewed. The event is at GU's Cataldo Hall, 502 E. Boone, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. It's $25 for GSI members or $55 for others. Registration: here.
Next Thursday, Jan. 19, Larry Swartz, president of Lydig Construction, will discuss the construction industry and company's 56-year history in Spokane. The event is the next Executive Connect Breakfast, hosted by the nonprofit Connect Northwest.
The event runs from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Georgian Ballroom, Spokane Club.
Registration is $30 and can be arranged by visiting the Connect Northwest reservation form.
Today's major announcement has been the one by Boeing to base future production of the 737 MAX in Washington state. It will be in Renton, where Boeing already makes the 737. The new MAX is more fuel efficient.
Area officials believe Spokane can get a piece of the action. See our daily report here.
For a Twitter stream of web stories on the MAX decision, we decided to add it here.
Greater Spokane Incorporated (GSI) will host its annual Economic Forecast on Tuesday from 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. at the Spokane Convention Center's Integra Telecom Ballroom.
The poet-prognosticator John W. Mitchell will be hand, as well as Dr. Grant Forsyth, professor of economics at Eastern Washington University. Both will lay out the roadmap for the next economic year.
Registration for the public is $50 at Events.greaterspokane.org.
We should have noted, when posting earlier (Washington and Idaho both fall short...) that area economic development folks know full well that Washington has to compete hard for new businesses.
As the earlier post notes, Texas is the state to beat, and its busy recruiters have managed to convince many companies that they offer a plethora of advantages compared to other states, including tax breaks, land incentives, plus other benefits.
In Tuesday's paper, John Craig's story about the effort to land new business in Spokane County quoted Robin Toth, of Greater Spokane Inc., as saying the challenge of getting Boeing to base airliner production in Spokane will have to go through Texas:
“Spokane’s competition would include Washington cities that already have Boeing plants or possibly Grant County, which has a large runway and cheap electricity. So far, though, Project Pegasus members are focused on beating back other states, such as South Carolina or Texas.Unencumbered by Washington’s constitutional prohibition on using public money for private gain, 'Texas will write a $50 million check to Boeing,' Toth said.”
Two Spokane-based manufacturing companies were among seven honored Wednesday night by the Association of Washington Business (AWB).
Hotstart Inc., a 60-year-old company that makes engine block heaters for diesel locomotives, was honored for innovation.
Sonderen Packaging Inc., which makes paperboard and cardboard cartons, was named “green manufacturer” of the year because of practices such as buying materials certified by sustainable forestry organizations and using soy-based printing inks.
The nominees for the coming Catalyst Awards, a yearly tech-company designation managed by Greater Spokane Inc., have been announced. The Catalyst Awards will be presented Oct. 5 at the Riverpont Campus South Facility.
A long-rumored plan that a major company would build a large distribution center on the West Plains came to fruition Thursday.
Caterpillar Inc., a major provider of construction equipment, announced it's building a 500,000 square foot center on the West Plains, not far from the Spokane Airport.
The location will be used by Caterpillar's Logistics Services, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc. The logistics group provides a wide range of parts and support for service companies in construction, automotive and other industries.
Construction is due to start this summer, according to a press release by the company.
Rich Hadley, president and CEO of Greater Spokane Incorporated, said, in a press release: “Caterpillar's announcement is significant news for the entire region. The company came to our Economic Development team earlier this year for assistance with site section and an incentive portfolio.
“Having competed with several other communities for the distribution center, Greater Spokane Incorporated is proud of the intensive, collaborative efforts of the Governor and Washington State Department of Commerce, Spokane County, the City of Spokane, the various utilities, the private property owners, and the Spokane International Airport to convey the advantages Spokane offers. The region's great transportation infrastructure, competitively priced available sites, along with incentives from the state and county, were factors in Caterpillar's decision.”
Hal Calbom, host of the well-regarded film “Evergreen: The Washington Clean Tech Story,” will moderate.
The session will include questions and answers from the audience. Admission is $10, increasing to $15 starting June 9. To register at http://events.greaterspokane.org.
Greater Spokane Inc. on Wednesday announced winners of the annual Agora Awards, which recognize excellence in area businesses.
Winners are:
Nominees by category are:
Small business
Medium business
Large business
Nonprofit, small
Nonprofit, large
The Spokesman-Review business team follows economic development in Spokane and the Inland Northwest.
Tom Sowa Tom Sowa covers technology, retail and economic development and writes the Office Hours blog.
Recent work by Tom
John Stucke John Stucke's primary coverage areas include health care, agriculture and the labor market.
Recent work by John
Becky Kramer Becky Kramer covers the environment, natural resources and utilities.
Recent work by Becky
Alison Boggs Online Producer Alison Boggs posts and manages content on spokesman.com and its social networking accounts.
Recent work by Alison
Scott Maben Scott Maben is a Deputy City Editor who covers North Idaho news and higher education.
Addy Hatch is the city editor, and formerly was business editor.
999 W. Riverside, Spokane, WA 99201
P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210
Main switchboard: (509) 459-5000 • (800) 338-8801
Newsroom: (509) 459-5400 • (800) 789-0029
Customer service: (800) 338-8801
© Copyright 2013, The Spokesman-Review
Terms of use • Privacy policy • Copyright policy
Spokane7
64°
Get blog updates by email
Sign up for our business email newsletter