Sandpoint clothing retailer Coldwater Creek announced Monday Jill Brown Dean will take over as the company's chief merchandising officer. She'll take over the job held by Georgia Shonk Simmons, who had announced plans to retire. Dean will start on Feb. 14 -- Valentine's Day. Simmons…
The Seahawks season is over but Spokane and North Idaho TV viewers are still chasing down indoor or outdoor antennas. Area retailers say the surge in antenna-shopping is tied to the three-week TV blackout affecting DIRECTV subscribers. The blackout, which began Jan. 1, has left…
Idaho's unemployment rate of 9.5 in December exceeded the national rate for the first time in nine years, the state Department of Labor said today. The state rate had matched the 9.4 percent for the U.S. in November and December, but employers laid off about…
Six subsidiaries of Chubb & Son have agreed to pay a $534,000 fine ordered by Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler. An identical amount was suspended as long as the companies do not violate, for at least three years, a negotiated compliance plan that requires self-audits,…
Now in the 21st day of a broadcast blackout, the opposing sides of KAYU-TV (Northwest Broadcasting, Inc.) and DIRECTV haven't said a word about how soon they expect a solution. The battle is largely over the retransmission fee Northwest Broadcasting is seeking from DIRECTV. That…
Sixteen Eastern Washington Jiffy Lube locations will continue to operate while their franchise owner moves through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization. Nine of those stores are in Spokane or Liberty Lake. Others are in Clarkston, the Tri-Cities and Walla Walla. The voluntary Chapter 11…
A revised website and simpler product choices led to a 20 percent gain in online candy sales during the holidays, said Carol Measel, owner of Spokane-based Bruttles Gourmet Candy Company. Using BrandIT Advertising, from Spokane Valley, for site redesign and online marketing, Measel said Bruttles.com…
Spokane business-networking company, LaunchPad Inland Northwest, has announced new services and business training as part of its offerings. When the company launched in early 2010, its focus was on offering shared office spaces, promoting networking events and workshops. In a release coinciding with the firm's…
Washington added an estimated 2,100 jobs in December, with the manufacturing and retail sectors leading hiring. Still, the estimated unemployment rate increased slightly from 9.2 percent to 9.3 percent, the state reported this morning. Job numbers and the unemployment rate are derived from separate surveys.…
We saw a press release from the Washington Attorney General's office today. It said Rob McKenna and several other state AGs have formally agreed to the U.S. Department of Justice settlement that allows Comcast to merge with NBC Universal. What we're not sure about is…
Area subscribers to DIRECTV continue hoping the payment dispute with Northwest Broadcasting, Inc., which operates KAYU TV, will be settled soon. The latest is a press release from Northwest saying it's asking for an independent verification of statements made by DIRECTV about what it has…
Today's Here's the Dirt features a fun story on Buzz Price, a former Spokane Valley kid who grew up, went to the Bay Area, did pretty good, then moved back a few years ago. Today's story looks at his interesting plan to develop a low-cost,…
To add just a bit more focus to the post below about Ezra Eckhardt speaking at the next Greater Spokane Inc. event, here's some more bio on the featured guest. His resume notes that before joining Sterling Savings Bank, Eckhardt was also involved in managing…
Tourists spent $15.2 billion in Washington last year, a 7.4 percent over 2009, according to preliminary figures released today by the state Department of Commerce. The rise in visitor spending generated a five percent increase in local and state tax revenues, although just a one…
Ezra A. Eckhardt, president and chief operating officer of Sterling Savings Bank, will visit Greater Spokane Incorporated this week to talk about how he helped lead the bank’s recapitalization project. The BIZStreet “A Conversation With….” event will be Thursday from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Attend…
There is a way to work-around the KAYU transmission blackout continuing in much of the area, affecting households subscribing to DIRECTV. But it's not simple and not a sure thing for many affected viewers. It comes down to getting DIRECTV to assign your home an…
Home sales in Spokane County fell almost nine percent in 2010 compared with 2009, according to figures released today by the Spokane Association of Realtors. Sales of 4,250 homes were reported, compared with 4,666 in 2009. The average price slipped 2.2 percent to $183,483, and…
Joel Ferris III, owner of Upscale Home Furnishings at 2510 N. Monroe, has closed the Spokane business and said customers who provided consignment furniture will have the items returned in several weeks. Ferris started the all-consignment furniture store in 2006. His family owned and operated…
With another sour weekend for DIRECTV customers straight ahead, we asked for some comments by the satellite service provider on what's keeping a settlement from resolving the blackout affecting KAYU's programs. Since Jan. 1, KAYU, a part of Northwest Broadcasting, has not been carried to…
GoNano Technologies, a nanotechnology company based in Moscow, Idaho, says it's received a $149,000 NSF SBIR phase one grant to develop a nano-particle catalytic converter for diesel engines. Like other nano-based tech firms, GoNano is committed to a business plan in which smaller is better.…
View Larger Map The usual choice when hunting for computer repair is Google "PC repair" and see what pops up. You might expect to see a high listing for Best Buy's well-marketed Geek Squad. In fact, it doesn't even show up on the first page…
SiteCrafting, a web design and web application development firm with offices in Tacoma and Spokane, was given a 2010 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Business Excellence in Workplace Flexibility. The award recognizes employers and worksites that encourage and foster flexibility as a strategy to increase…
View Larger Map Spokane-based networking group LaunchPad Inland Northwest holds an open house to mark its relocation to the 1889 Building in downtown, 120 N. Stevens. The event will run from 4 to 7 p.m. at the new Training Center and Co-working Space, occupying the…
No slight intended yesterday to Idaho when we posted about a Sunday Business Section story, about the right way to get a job in the new year. We listed the six hottest job sectors in Spokane County (led by health care). We didn't until today…
Gov. Chris Gregoire has ambitious reforms planned for Washington's unemployment insurance and workers' compensation programs. Bert Caldwell parses some of the devilish details in his Sunday column.
The Spokesman-Review business team follows economic development in Spokane and the Inland Northwest.
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