Growth, Turnover To Create 6,600 Job Openings In Spokane This Year

More than 6,600 jobs will open up in Spokane this year and every year from now until 2005.

This is the forecast of a new study by the Washington State Department of Employment Security.

The 6,600 work slots are Spokane’s share of about 105,000 positions that the study says will open statewide annually because of either employment growth or job turnover. These and other forecast figures from the study are contained in a new departmental publication entitled the Spokane County Occupational Outlook.

It’s purpose is to point job seekers in the right direction - toward those occupations in most demand.

“Just under half of the 105,000 statewide openings will be created by a 1.8 percent annual growth in employment,” says Dick Armstrong, economic analyst for the department. “The rest will be the result of turnover.”

In Spokane, more than 82 percent of the new jobs will be in the service producing sectors of transportation, communications, utilities, trade, finance, insurance, real estate and government.

By far and away the fastest growing employers in terms of openings will be eating and drinking places. Schools come second. Next, local government. Then, health care.

Fastest growing occupations: systems analyst, computer support specialist, computer engineer, corrections officer, manicurist, machine assembler, home health aide, human services worker, reporter, special education teacher, pharmacy technician, writer/editor, adjustment clerk.

Fastest declining: central office operators, office machine operator, computer operator, typist, file clerk, personnel clerk, customer service rep, bank teller.

Copies of the publication may be ordered by phone (360) 438-4800, e-mail to outlook@wlm.com or fax to (360) 438-4846.

Chamber to revive Cost of Living Index

The Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce promises to bring back the Spokane Cost of Living Index.

The quarterly report of Spokane living costs compared with more than 300 other American cities became lost for a while in a reshuffling of local economic development activities.

Before it was reconfigured, the Spokane Area Economic Development Council gathered data on local costs according to guidelines established by the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association.

The Spokane Area Chamber inherited the Cost of Living Index. “Yes, we’ve got it,” said chamber President Rich Hadley. “But in the turnover, we got out of synch with the research end.

“I’ve talked with ACCRA (the American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association) about what it will take to get it back in business,” Hadley said. “Our goal is to get it back up and running as soon as we can.”

Personal finance expo scheduled Saturday

Farmers, business owners, young marrieds in need of advice, families saving for college, empty nesters with an eye on retirement, all will find a workshop of interest at MoneyTalk ‘97 this Saturday.

A free personal finance exposition, the event is for all ages, interests, and financial aspirations. Workshops by local and regional financial experts will help those who attend plan strategies to fit their means and goals.

The expo and all panel presentations are free and open to the public, but $5 admission will be charged for the keynote talk by best-selling author Andrew Tobias, at 11 a.m.

Show time is 10 a.m., Saturday, March 29, at the Spokane Convention Center. The event is presented by Seafirst and The Spokesman-Review.

Cooper’s departure called ‘big loss’

“It’s a big loss for this community,” Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce President Rich Hadley says of colleague Bob Cooper’s move back to California.

Cooper, who came from Shasta County 10 years ago to head the Spokane Area Economic Development Council, resigned as president last week to accept a position in Ventura. In Shasta County, he was in charge of the state’s oldest economic development organization.

In Ventura, he will be charged with starting a brand new economic development organization.

“Bob is very professional and very successful,” said the chamber’s Hadley. “He’s done an excellent job here.”

Overwhelmingly, the business community seconds those sentiments.

Simpson gets entrepreneurship post

Prof. Leo Simpson has been named to the newly created position of Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship in the College of Business and Administration at Eastern Washington University. He has been of chair of the university’s Department of Management.

In his new post, he will focus on teaching entrepreneurship and working with the business community to further entrepreneurial enterprise in the region. Simpson said he wants to assist economic development efforts, devote time to strategic business planning, and establish high school entrepreneurship clubs.

, DataTimes MEMO: Associate Editor Frank Bartel writes a notes column each Wednesday. If you have business items of regional interest for future columns, call 459-5467 or fax 459-5482.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Frank Bartel The Spokesman-Review