EDC adds two new companies

The Spokane Area Economic Development Council announced on Thursday two company recruitments that will add about 25 jobs to the region.

EDC officials announced the news during the organization’s annual meeting at the Davenport Hotel, attended by about 500 people.

Volt Technical Services, an employee recruitment company based in Southern California, will move 14 to 20 jobs from its Seattle-area offices to Spokane, the EDC announced.

The new jobs — recruiters and support staff — will bring Volt Technical Services’ headcount in Spokane to about 25, said a company spokesman. The company’s office is in Spokane Valley at 1420 N. Mullan Road.

The other company recruited to the region by the EDC, Wrapsacks, has already moved its offices from White Salmon, in central Washington, to Spokane. Wrapsacks has a staff of five customer service and shipping workers at its office at 1405 N. Ash.

The company’s “Wrapsacks” are a reusable alternative to disposable paper gift wrap or gift bags.

To promote reuse of its colorful bags, the company includes a tracking number that can show — via an online system — previous users and locations where that bag has been.

Wrapsacks can be purchased in various stores or online at Wrapsacks.com.

The annual meeting included a summary of the EDC’s business and recruitment efforts last year. The high point, noted outgoing EDC Board Chairman Gary Livingston, was securing a 250-job expansion at Premera Blue Cross’s Spokane Valley office.

Livingston, chancellor of Community Colleges of Spokane, has been succeeded as EDC chairman by Tom Fritz, CEO of Inland Northwest Health Services.