In brief: Greenstone paid $6 million for building

Greenstone Corp. paid $6million for the vacant Agilent Technologies building in Liberty Lake, Spokane County records indicate.

Greenstone President Jim Frank said he plans to turn the 250,000-square-foot building into a technology campus, attracting startups and existing companies looking to grow.

The property around the two-story building includes about 70 acres of land. When he first announced the purchase last month, Frank said he was asked by Agilent not to disclose the sale price.

Agilent has moved its last area workers to a nearby leased space. It is shutting down nearly all its Spokane operations later this year, the company announced earlier.

At one time the Liberty Lake site employed more than 1,400 regular and temporary workers.

Tom Sowa

Quest Integration

buys software business

Quest Integration, of Post Falls, has purchased the SolidWorks software business of a Bozeman company.

Quest also resells SolidWorks, a three-dimensional design software.

Quest President David Minerath said the company will add an office and training center in Bozeman by August.

The company will also add staff, he said.

He said Quest has supported Montana manufacturing customers since 1998.

Salient Technologies, which sold its SolidWorks business to Quest, will continue to provide consulting services in Bozeman.

Bert Caldwell

Economy’s growth gets scaled back

WASHINGTON – The Commerce Department said Friday that the economy grew at an annual rate of 2.7 percent in the first quarter, offering its third and final estimate for the period. It was slower than initially thought because consumers spent less and imports rose faster than previously calculated.

Economists anticipate even slower growth ahead as companies bring their stockpiles more in line with sales. Factory output has climbed this year, but it was driven more by businesses replenishing their warehouses after the recession and less by consumer demand.

Associated Press

Briefcase

•The government said Friday it obtained a court order to halt an alleged $34 million Ponzi scheme targeting federal employees and law enforcement agents nationwide with promises of safe investments in a nonexistent bond fund.

• BP shares fell about 6 percent in New York on Friday to a 14-year low.

From wire reports