Two first-time winners, along with a previous winner, have been selected to receive Alfred P. Sloan Excellence in Workplace Flexibility awards for companies in the Spokane area.Associated Industries; CH2M Hill; and Humanix Staffing and Recruiting were the winners, a release from Greater Spokane Incorporated said.…
Those guys and gals in Mead, Cyan Worlds, are moving full-bore into iPhone and iPad apps. They're soon to see their original iOS game, Stoneship, become available in the iTunes store.Meanwhile they've posted a YouTube video of the trailer to their iOS version of the…
Office Hours readers may have noticed the pull-down Apture Bar that floats just below your browser header. if you don't see it, scroll your mouse toward the edge of the page and it should show up at the top of the page.This gives a number…
Come Sunday, Spokesman.com and our print version Spokesman-Review business section will have a story on TierPoint, in Liberty Lake, using aquifer water to cool its servers.The new project is called TierPoint 3, and is estimated to cost more than $8 million to put together. It…
Idaho's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose to 8.9 percent in August, the one-tenth of a percent increase from July the first since a two-tenths rise in February, the state Department of Labor said today.Total employment fell to 688,700 from 690,100 in July. Unemployment rose to…
We wonder when workers downtown at the new Apple store will install the stainless steel plate and laminated Apple logo to the front of the two-story building.Until you see it, here are a few drawings from the city's building permits that show the basic plan…
Itron Inc. will license an Internet protocol developed by Cisco to create what the companies said today will be a more reliable and secure smart grid.Itron, the Liberty Lake-based company that has developed and sold automated metering systems for more than 30 years, will incorporate…
A while back Bert Caldwell discussed in a column the concerns among regional power producers if California adopts or doesn't adopt significant energy-generation measures.We think this item, about a San Diego Albertson's, is interesting and worth reading, for a few reasons. One, we do have…
A new restaurant-pub will be going into the space in Manito Shopping Center last used by Pear Tree Inn. The owner of the new pub wants to lie low just a week or so longer; we'll talk with the owner and provide some of the…
Spokane's economy is recovering, Coeur d'Alene's remains in recession, according to a new analysis of June data released Monday by Moody's Economy.com.But the Kootenai County city's ranking for cost of doing business and cost of living are slightly better than those for Spokane, as is…
Whether or not Cyan Worlds ever gets around to doing another large Myst-style game/online world, the Mead-based software company is turning out a number of quicker, easier-to-build games for the iOS platform.Here's how Cyan's CEO Rand Miller described the focus of Stoneship, the new App…
New Sterling Financial Corp. Chairman Les Biller was paid $1.5 million to accept the position, and will receive a total $4.5 million by Dec. 31, 2012, unless he resigns.Biller's compensation was listed in a Monday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing…
Without being there, it became difficult for Office Hours to track the sales of the numerous parcels auctioned off Thursday at the Deer Park auction. We confirmed that the City of Deer Park paid $850,000 for the 18-hole course. Mayor Robert Whisman said he was…
Numerica Credit Union assets have reached $1 billion, Chief Executive Officer Dennis Cutter said Friday.He said the Spokane-based credit union reached the benchmark because of internal growth, and the merger with the School Employees Federal Credit Union of Richland in May.The merger also helped lift…
We've gotten a few calls from folks who attended the recent Get Motivated event, held on Aug. 17 at the Spokane Arena. The event featured some heavy hitters, like Colin Powell, talking about what helps define success, and how to gain success.The event also included…
The City of Deer Park is the proud new owner of the Deer Park Golf Club.The SR will have a detailed story in Friday's editions. But today's auction, still in progress as of 3:24 p.m. Thursday, did resolve the question: How much is the Deer…
Sterling Financial Corp. has completed the $730 million recapitalization plan announced last week.The money from a mixture of institutional and individual investors will bring the parent of Sterling Savings Bank back into compliance with regulatory capital requirements, Chief Executive Officer Greg Seibly said.Sterling reserves had…
Residents of Kendall Yards may have direct access to Monroe Street by the end of the year, weather-permitting, Wayne Frost said today.The vice president of Greenstone Corp.’s commercial division said Ide Ave., which connects with Monroe just north of the Spokane River bridge, will be…
This marks a first: a program on the Spokane local government TV channel earns a post on the Office Hours business blog. This Thursday's “Council Connection,” the Channel 5 program featuring Spokane City Council members as hosts, will include a session entitled “Enhance Your Assets—A…
View Larger MapLiberty Lake-based data center TierPoint has two announcements this week. First, it's upgraded its network to 50 gigabits per second capacity. Second, it's announced an $8.2 million project to build a third center, TierPoint 3, just down the street from its first and…
You may think we're on vacation here at OfficeHours central, but no. We do work a full shift, even in August.We continue pondering the puzzle that is Trader Joe's, which like Apple, ranks among the most secretive operations on the planet. Many folks in Spokane…
Comcast is rolling out, without fanfare, a much faster broadband service for businesses.Spokane and just about all other Washington Comcast metros can now sign up for 100 Mbps Business Class Internet Service. This is an upgrade that roughly doubles what business customers of Comcast have…
Three Washington businesses -- Amazon, Coinstar and F5 Networks -- have been added to Fortune mag's list of 100 fastest growing companies.All three have headquarters in the Seattle area. F5, which makes network management services and tools, has an engineering office in Liberty Lake.Amazon moved…
Derek Oberholtzer will never again operate a mortgage-modification business, or any other credit-counseling service, in Idaho.Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden Monday announced that the owner of Coeur d'Alene-base Apply 2 Save, which closed last year, has consented to a settlement that will deny him a…