Bert Caldwell

Spokane home sales slow

The Washington Department of Labor & Industries has delayed release of 2011 workers’ compensation premium adjustments until November, after an election that includes a proposal that would drastically change the program. Director Judy Schurke told legislators Thursday the department has not run the numbers, normally released in September, because they would have to be thrown out if Initiative 1082 passes. Releasing any numbers, she said, might “confuse” business owners.

Airport runway extension completed

The co-author of a study on state economic competitiveness warned Tuesday that Washington’s economy could tank if voters support a proposed income tax. Jonathan Williams said states that have adopted the tax over the last few decades have suffered for it. A few, Missouri and Kansas among them, may eliminate the tax, he said.

Drive-by paver leaves unhappy consumers

Doubt and confusion are hurting the national economy and could undo efforts to get Washington voters to pass business-friendly initiatives on the November ballot, the state director for the National Federation of Independent Business said Monday in Spokane. Patrick Connor said business groups will be running advertisements and creating online videos to support eliminating the government monopoly in workers’ compensation insurance, repeal sales taxes on candy and bottled water, and restore a requirement that two-thirds of legislators must approve a tax increase.

A Bellingham network that supports business, community and environmental sustainability has grown to 650 members and a budget of $1 million in seven years, co-founder Michelle Long said Monday in Spokane. The unemployment rate, traditionally higher in Whatcom County than in Washington as a whole, is now lower, she said. The survival rate for small farms is double the state rate, and business startups are also more likely to succeed.

Spokane is not at the forefront of higher education. Lack of a major research institution has consistently been called a weakness as community officials assemble a 21st-century information-based economic curriculum. But the results of two studies released last week suggest the city may be close to earning a midterm “B.” In fact, it may be uniquely blessed.

Clearwater Paper Corp. will buy Georgia-based competitor Cellu Tissue Holdings Inc. for $502 million, the two companies announced Thursday. Spokane-based Clearwater will pay Cellu Tissue stockholders $12 per share, and assume $255 million in debt, in a deal a Clearwater statement said should increase earnings immediately.

The number and prices of homes sold in Spokane County last month nearly matched those for July, but foreclosure actions are multiplying. The Spokane Association of Realtors says 344 homes sold in August, just three fewer than in July. The median sale price – $170,000 – was identical, and the average of $191,174 was a gain of $100 from July.

Nursery, Food Bank get $1,000 from STCU

The number and prices of homes sold in Spokane County last month nearly matched those for July, but foreclosure actions are multiplying.

Clearwater Paper buying Georgia competitor

New employment numbers show encouraging signs in Spokane County. Total employment in the county jumped by 3,300 people from July to August. In addition, there were 450 more people employed than in August last year – the first year-over-year increase since November 2008. All told, employment in the county was 215,690 last month, resulting in a drop in the unemployment rate to 8.6 percent from 8.8 percent.

The key to survival is adaptability, not strength or intelligence, outgoing Greater Spokane Inc. Chairman Tom Quigley told attendees at the organization’s annual meeting Wednesday. He said keeping up with a changing economy, identifying the skills that will be needed, and building partnerships will assure Spokane is ready for what’s next.

Spokane employment jumps by 3,300

Employment in Spokane County jumped by more than 3,300 in August, dropping the unemployment rate to 8.6 percent from 8.8 pecent in July, and August 2009.

A newly organized nonprofit group is trying to reopen a Fairfield nursing home closed in June by the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society. Fairfield Care President Carl Felgenhauer said Good Samaritan, after failing to sell the facility, agreed to give his group a quitclaim deed to the property he said is important to the town’s economy.

Nobody out here in Eastern Washington likes to admit it, but King County is the great trough from which most of the rest of us feed. Initiative 1098 is a great opportunity to increase our caloric intake.

The first-year medical program entering its third year in Spokane is already changing minds in Seattle about physician training, but expanding residency opportunities is the key to anchoring more newly trained doctors in Eastern Washington, officials said Friday. Dr. Ken Roberts, head of the WWAMI Spokane Education Program, said starting from zero in 2008 required the bootstrapping of faculty, administration, and doctors and other resources from within the community. Despite the improvisation, he said, many students from the first class are returning to Spokane for their third year of training.

Risk-averse investors pouring money into bonds could become stock market bulls in a hurry with only modest shifts in economic and political sentiment, local managers said at a forum Thursday. Although stocks have performed well in recent days, said Ken Roberts, trading volume has been low because small investors remain distrustful, and unclear about where the market will go next.

New Light Industries wins lab access

A Spokane County company has been awarded a $90,000 grant to continue developing a process that converts bluegrass straw into biofuels. Farm Power, based in Rockford, will use the U.S. Department of Agriculture money for automating controls and feedstock systems, project director Jack Zimmer said Wednesday.