Business in brief: Tribe buys stake in HearthBread
The Coeur d’Alene Tribe has purchased a majority ownership in HearthBread BakeHouse, a Spokane bakery that employs about 40 people.
The bakery was started in 1999 by two brothers, Larry and Bob Condon. It produces more than 300 bakery products for a variety of clients, including retail outlets, hospitals and restaurants.
HearthBread BakeHouse uses Shepherd’s Grain, a trademarked, high-gluten grain produced by a group of family farmers in the Columbia Plateau.
“My brother Bob, and myself, feel that this partnership is a natural fit, and will provide great opportunities for the bakehouse to grow and prosper in the future,” said Larry Condon.
The venture is another step in the tribe’s efforts to diversify its business portfolio, said Chief Allan, chairman of the tribal council.
Last week, the tribe announced that it has purchased a majority interest in Berg Integrated Systems, a Coeur d’Alene manufacturing firm.
Spokane
GU names Tilford as Hogan director
Gonzaga University’s Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program has hired local businessman Tom Tilford as program director.
Tilford, who begins the job July 24, has headed several companies including Job Line Construction Inc. and Ultrashred LLC. He serves on various boards including Washington Trust Bank, Northwest Venture Associates and WIN Partners and is on Gonzaga’s board of trustees, a position he will relinquish when his term is up at the end of the year.
The program’s founding director, Paul Buller, will stay on as academic director. The Hogan program is a four-year undergraduate concentration in entrepreneurship that’s open to students in any academic major.
Spokane
Okanogan co-op receives grant
A new Okanogan County agricultural cooperative received a $72,000 federal grant designed to help it bring food from the farms into Puget Sound-area stores.
The cooperative, called the Okanogan Producers Marketing Association, includes nine farms. The money will be administered by Farming & the Environment, a nonprofit group co-founded by current congressional candidate Peter Goldmark.
The money will pay for staffing, equipment, transportation and marketing. The Okanogan-grown foods will be delivered to the Des Moines Waterfront Farmers Market and four Thriftway stores in King and Snohomish counties.
Moscow
Inflatable craft blasts into space
An experimental inflatable spacecraft bankrolled by real estate magnate Robert Bigelow rocketed into orbit Wednesday to test technology that could be used to fulfill his dream of building a commercial space station.
The Genesis I satellite flew aboard a converted Cold War ballistic missile from Russia’s southern Ural Mountains at 6:53 p.m. Moscow time.