Earlier this week we mentioned the cameo that Rick Woodbury's Tango electric car landed in a feature film, "Robot and Frank." We learned there is one other film probably to be released in 2012 that will feature four Tangos. It's "Looper," and like "Robot and…
One of the Spokane-made Tango electric cars developed by Rick Woodbury shows up in the trailer of the new summer film "Robot and Frank." The flick features Susan Sarandon and Frank Langella. Woodbury is the founder of CommuterCars.com, one of Spokane's better-known but underfunded startups.…
Here's the top of my main story in tomorrow's papers and on Spokesman.com: Vince Bozzi was not looking to become an event center manager. But it happened, bit by bit. Along with his wife, Emily, Bozzi run several Spokane and Coeur d’Alene-based magazines under the…
Spokane-based DeVries Business Services has bought the assets of Green Shred LLC, a mobile document destruction company based in Pasco. Company President Pat DeVries didn't disclose terms of the deal. He said the deal included the purchase of one shred truck, which will now operate…
Today's local business section had a quick story on Jane E. Brown, newly named managing partner at Spokane law firm Paine Hamblen. The story noted it's the second oldest law firm in Spokane, having been started in 1893. It's also supposedly one of the first…
Today's SR story on three growing Spokane area startups is part of this newspaper's yearlong look at jobs and employment challenges. The three we focused on are were digital marketing agency Seven2, green online retailer GreenCupboards and Liberty Lake software and app developer Gravity Jack.…
Spokane County's unemployment rate for May grew to 9.1 percent, up from 8.7 percent in April, the state reported on Tuesday. The sad news: the May jobless rate this year is exactly the same as one year earlier, 9.1 percent. Statewide, Washington's jobless rate ticked…
The Washington Department of Transportation's new port of entry on Interstate 90 near the Idaho border is open for business. WashDOT describes the $14 million facility as equipped with state-of-the-art technology to enhance the efficiency, safety and security of truck freight movement at that location.…
Looking for the all-new realMyst for iPad and new iPad? Cyan Worlds, in north Spokane, announced the game is now available at the iTunes apps store, priced at $6.99. It's the rich and detailed Myst Island scenario, recreated with lots more dimensionality and textures. Office…
View Larger Map Spokane's Viking Tavern closed its doors Tuesday, and owner Barbie Randazzo hasn't said what her long-term plans are. The popular hangout has been a North Spokane establishment since 1994. But as some readers of our daily news story noted, the Viking also…
Haven't seen enough information about the Jensen Byrd building and its prospects for survival? Look for our indepth story in Tuesday's Spokesman Review business section, covering efforts to keep it from the wrecking ball This past year the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation added the…
Website 99designs recently polled 1,500 small business owners, start-ups, entrepreneurs and design decision-makers on graphic design and its importance to their business. The results make for a decent read. We feel a post is warranted since we also saw recent stories in the WSJ that…
The guys behind hip Spokane media agency Seven2 are branching out. They're diving into what they call an entrerpreneurial experiment, selling photos of dogs and cats. Photos of dogs or cats that attach to car or truck windows. Nick Murto and Tyler Lafferty, the principals…
PepsiCo will consolidate its Spokane area locations and move into an 80,000-square-feet distribution center at the Central Business Park in Spokane Valley. The move consolidates PepsiCo’s Eastern Washington and North Idaho operations, providing a new hub for about 130 area workers. The Central Business Park…
Kind of big news on the local food business front: Spokane chef David Blaine announced he'll open Central Food, a new restaurant in the first commercial building in the Kendall Yards mixed use development. This is the big project being done by Greenstone Commercial along…
Red Lion Hotels, the Spokane hospitality company working its way through some investor discontent, held its recent annual meeting at its downtown headquarters. The May 23 meeting included the re-election of board directors. We went back one year to Red Lion's 2011 annual meeting, at…
So the Initiative 1183 attacks can begin. Starting Friday, people who voted for the privatization of liquor sales in Washington can claim they opposed it along. Sure, now they can say, "I knew it would lead to higher prices." On Friday those prices become available.…
Spokane’s Garco Construction has landed a $35.8 million federal contract after challenging an earlier award for the job to an Oklahoma competitor. Garco bid on the project last year to build a large truck and maintenance shop at Joint Base Lewis McChord near Tacoma. Last…
We posted a short item in Sunday's print editions about the $20.4 million new Fairchild Air Force Base fitness center. It replaces the original center, built in the 1940s. That old center is being demolished by Lydig Construction, of Spokane. Lydig was in charge of…
The Occupy Spokane group has started its own "Occupy Spokane Clubhouse" on East Sprague. It's open for business and is looking for volunteers and donated second-hand items. It's renting a storefront at 1808 E. Sprague. The goal is to raise some money for Occupy events…
If you're not spending enough time online, the Washington SBDC (Small Business Development Center) website at wsbdc.org is now offering 26 short self-paced webinars to help understand the fundamentals of starting and growing a business. The series is underwritten by U.S. Bank, and all 26…
The Spokane area’s largest data center, TierPoint in Liberty Lake, has been acquired by Cequel Data Centers, LLC, a St. Louis-based company with similar operations across the United States. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. But the size of the transaction was “significant,” according…
Does anyone care if a company has a bad grade with the Better Business Bureau? We're asking because we may want to examine how companies get a bad grade, and then what happens in the minds of consumers. Recently, the BBB notified Spokane-area media that…
Comcast officials said on Thursday they're discarding the current 250 gigabyte data use limit on residential customers, replacing it with two new options that will raise the limit to 300 gigs per month. Comcast officials hosted a conference call from Philadelphia saying it's moving forward…
A number of Washington Congressional representatives spent time Tuesday pushing forward the Senate bill that reauthorized the Export-Import Bank. The final vote of 78-20 was a victory for Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., who's been a major proponent of the bill. If not passed, the the…
