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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Bert Caldwell

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News >  Business

Board picks Krauter as airport director

The Spokane International Airport board of directors Wednesday recommended Larry Krauter be made the facility’s next executive director. The nomination of Krauter, interim executive director of the Lehigh Valley Airport in Pennsylvania, will go to the Spokane County Commissioners, who are scheduled to vote on the matter Tuesday. A Spokane City Council vote is scheduled for Feb. 28.
News >  Business

1,200 turn out for Spokane parks job fair

Applicants for the 200 to 250 seasonal jobs at Riverfront Park and other Spokane parks and pools so jammed the lobby of the IMAX on Sunday that the theater was closed for the day. From noon to almost 4 p.m., would-be cashiers and ride attendants spilled out the doors, at one time almost to the Howard Street Bridge.
News >  Business

Caldwell: State lawmakers take aim at pension shortfalls

Washington state Treasurer James McIntire last week followed through on a pledge made last fall: He and a bipartisan group of sponsors submitted a proposed constitutional amendment to the Legislature that would assure full funding of state pensions. If adopted, Washington’s Constitution will impose a degree of fiscal discipline on lawmakers that they have been unwilling to impose on themselves.
News >  Business

Local financial institutions weighing options

Local bank and credit union officials said last week they have no immediate plans to eliminate free checking, but pending Federal Reserve Bank regulations may force them to reconsider. Inland Northwest Bank President Randy Fewel said interchange fees generated by consumer debit card use are an important source of revenue for small and large banks alike.
News >  Business

Some construction sectors showing turnaround

Construction activity in Kootenai County plunged in 2010 and improved in Spokane County, but industry officials said Wednesday that moving forward in 2011 will be difficult. McGraw-Hill Construction, which monitors the building industry, reported the total value of permits issued by Kootenai County in 2010 was $132.8 million, off 56 percent from 2009. Permits for single- and multifamily residential projects fell 34 percent to $109.4 million, nonresidential 83 percent to $23.3 million.
News >  Business

NIC, Walsh offer online degrees

North Idaho College students will be able to earn an undergraduate or graduate degree in business from Walsh College in Michigan, the two schools announced Tuesday. The Idaho students will be able to transfer up to 82 credits toward a bachelor’s degree offered online by Walsh, which has 4,600 students on two Michigan campuses, three Detroit university centers and on the Web.
News >  Business

Idaho to get Hospice House

Idaho’s first residential Hospice House should be ready for occupancy in July, Hospice of North Idaho Executive Director Paul Weil said Thursday. When ready, the 14,000-square-foot facility at 2212 W. Prairie Ave. in Coeur d’Alene will have 12 patient rooms, including two suites with two bedrooms that will allow family members to stay with patients, he said.
News >  Business

Rusnak named CFO at Sterling Financial Corp.

Patrick Rusnak has been appointed chief financial officer of Sterling Financial Corp. If regulators approve the appointment, he will succeed Dan Byrne, who has held the position since Sterling opened its doors in 1983. In the meantime, Rusnak will be acting CFO.
News >  Business

Court sides with laid-off car dealership employees

A Seattle car dealer with a familiar Spokane name did not give employees enough warning of impending layoffs in 2007, according to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In a Jan. 21 ruling by two of three judges, the court said Gee West Seattle LLC was required to notify its 150 employees at least 60 days ahead of the pending closure of its dealership, which was for sale.
News >  Business

Caldwell: Cultural healing in business takes time

New runways, tarmacs, rental car facilities and other improvements will have cost Spokane International Airport more than $100 million by the time the dust settles in 2013. Now, for a sliver of that amount, the airport is investing in its most important asset, its people. The airport itself is one of the region’s most important economic assets, but employees say confusion about who was in charge, and where the airport was going, rolled morale flatter than the runways.
News >  Business

Employees kept focus during crisis

Sterling Financial Corp. survived because employees did not let its capital woes break their focus on customer relationships, Chief Operating Officer Ezra Eckhardt said Thursday. Meanwhile, he said, officers worked to convince investors that Sterling could prosper if they kicked $720 million into a recapitalization plan that would satisfy regulators anxious about its dwindling reserves.
News >  Business

Hard Case to build in Spokane

Hard Case, a maker and distributor of eyeglass accessories and cleaning products, will move its business into an office-warehouse building that will be under construction soon at 3613 E. Alki Ave., where it intersects with Freya Street. The company has been operating out of leased space in Post Falls, but owner Greg Berdan said building a new facility in Washington made sense from a tax standpoint.