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1902 Coffee Co. in Airway Heights continues Stimson family legacy

When Gracelynn Stimson decided she wanted to open 1902 Coffee Co., a coffee stand in Airway Heights, she followed the procedure typical to starting a business. She applied for applicable permits, came up with a business plan, and presented it to her money lender. Where her story veers from the typical is all in the timing: Stimson was a student at Medical Lake High School when she applied for her permit.

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Tech Hub building’s past tied to airplane interiors in Spokane

Wed., Jan. 15, 2025

The building at the center of the local winning bid to establish a Tech Hub, started as an eastward expansion of Boeing that took advantage of another influential perk: the Lilac City being home to a rather influential politician at the time.

News > Local business

People of color pay higher interest on business loans, UW report finds

UPDATED: Tue., Jan. 14, 2025

Asian, Black and Hispanic small-business owners pay higher interest rates on loans than their white counterparts, a new University of Washington report found.

News > Local business

Wheatland Bank holding company acquires Bank of Idaho

UPDATED: Mon., Jan. 13, 2025

The holding company for Wheatland Bank, which has two branches in Spokane and several in Eastern Washington, has signed an agreement to acquire the Idaho Falls-based Bank of Idaho.

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‘She was cherished by everybody’: Former CEO of Pearson Packaging Pam Senske dies

UPDATED: Mon., Jan. 13, 2025

Pam Senske came back to the Spokane-based company, that her father founded, as a non-paid advisor in the early 1980s. It led to a decades-long run that ended when she finally stepped down last February from serving on its board of directors.

News > Local business

The Dirt: June & Co. returns to downtown Spokane, plus, repairs at the fire-ravaged Ridpath

Sun., Jan. 12, 2025

Heralding itself as a “fancy dive bar,” June & Co operated in a quaint building near the intersection of Browne Street and Main Avenue until it closed in September of last year, according to its website.

News > Local business

Struggling REI cuts hundreds of employees, axes tour and events business

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 8, 2025

REI is eliminating its outdoor classes, events and tours this month as it looks to prune unprofitable parts of its business while struggling to break even.

News > Local business

Gordy’s Sichuan Cafe closes for good

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 3, 2025

Rising costs and dwindling patronage mean a longtime South Hill favorite is shuttering.

News > Local business

A year after Boeing’s blowout, quality remains work in progress

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 3, 2025

One year after a near-catastrophic accident tipped Boeing Co. into a state of continuous crisis, the top US air-safety regulator cautioned that the planemaker’s efforts to improve its manufacturing quality are still in the early stages.

News > Local business

How four missing bolts ruined Boeing’s 2024 flight plan

UPDATED: Fri., Jan. 3, 2025

Boeing was supposed to soar again in 2024. Airplane deliveries were up, sales revenue was rising, and the storied aerospace company’s top executive declared it was “making progress in our recovery” after severe economic headwinds and investigations of two 737 Max air disasters five years earlier.

News > Local business

Aetna drops Providence in Oregon from its health insurance network, leaving patients in limbo

UPDATED: Wed., Jan. 1, 2025

Providence Health & Services in Oregon has been dropped from Aetna’s health insurance network after the two sides failed to reach a new agreement by the end of 2024. Providence’s contract with Aetna expired Dec. 31, both the not-for-profit Catholic health system and insurance giant said.

News > Local business

Seattle minimum wage hits $20.76 an hour — and it’s not the area’s highest

UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 31, 2024

Seattle's lowest-paid workers will be ringing in the new year with a raise. Minimum wage in the city will rise to $20.76 per hour beginning midnight on New Year's Day, one of the highest rates in the country.

News > Local business

Amazon’s new in-office rule arrives Thursday. Amazonians are nervous

UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 31, 2024

As Amazon prepared for its workers to be back in the office five days a week, Christian Carron decided to quit. Carron, 33, thought virtual work was here to stay. In 2022, when Amazon was still allowing employees to work entirely from home, he moved into a van, hoping to live out his dream of a nomadic lifestyle.

News > Local business

The Dirt: Apartments planned for historic building in downtown Spokane

Sun., Dec. 29, 2024

News > Local business

Pet food sold in 12 states pulled from stores after Oregon cat dies from bird flu-tainted chow

UPDATED: Thu., Dec. 26, 2024

A brand of natural cat food sold in California is being pulled from store shelves after reports that a cat in Oregon who ate the pet food contracted bird flu and died.

News > Local business

AI, the electricians and the boom towns of Central Washington

UPDATED: Thu., Dec. 26, 2024

The tangy smell of Buffalo wings filled Side Chicks Sport Bar, as a dozen electricians crammed their big frames into booths. It was Tuesday night in East Wenatchee, Washington, and "brotherhood night" for the electrical union. Out-of-towners and locals swapped notes on who was coming and going, when new jobs were starting and what drama had gone down with a foreman.

News > Local business

Nordstrom family to take chain private in $6.25 billion deal

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 23, 2024

The Nordstrom family is joining forces with a Mexican retailer to take its namesake department store private in an all-cash transaction valued at about $6.25 billion, including debt.

News > Local business

Spokane entrepreneur who boldly and bluntly created popular coffee brand focused on sustainability dies at 70

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 16, 2024

Spokane coffee roaster Deborah Di Bernardo dreamed of a sustainable industry supported by organic beans, living wages and practices that enhanced the natural world rather than profits built off plundering it.

News > Local business

Alaska Air jumps most in four years on global expansion plan

UPDATED: Tue., Dec. 10, 2024

For the better part of the past century, Alaska Airlines has focused on ferrying travelers across a relatively narrow slice of the US. It’s now thinking much bigger.

News > Local business

BECU gives $15,000 to Feast World Kitchen

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 9, 2024

Tukwila-based BECU announced Monday that it has awarded $15,000 to Spokane's Feast World Kitchen as part of annual effort to boost nonprofits in the state.

News > Local business

Boeing lays off another 400 Washington workers in second round of cuts

UPDATED: Mon., Dec. 9, 2024

Boeing has laid off another 400 Washington workers in a second round of job cuts, according to a notice filed Monday with the state’s employment security department.

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