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Tom Sowa

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News >  Spokane

Church, property owner make solar energy cost-effective

Two Spokane property owners investing thousands of dollars in solar energy panels say financial incentives from federal and state governments made the decision easy. The Community Building LLC, which operates the Community Building in downtown Spokane, and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane are in the midst of installing large solar projects. The Community Building is replacing 32 solar panels installed in 2000, the first commercial solar panel installation in Spokane County, with more efficient panels.
News >  Business

Pearson Packaging acquires Moen

West Plains manufacturer Pearson Packaging Systems has bought a Southern California company that makes similar packaging equipment, bringing at least 12 new jobs to Spokane. Los Angeles-based Moen Industries also makes equipment bought by firms that sell products packed in boxes or other containers.
News >  Business

BBB evolves over years to meet needs of region

As the national Better Business Bureau celebrates its centennial, the Spokane office of the BBB is reaching more people with more services despite the effects of the recession. Launched in 1929, Spokane’s BBB office offers ratings, reports and consumer information on thousands of businesses across the region. In the 1960s the local office added North Idaho companies; in 1990 it added businesses in Montana.
News >  Business

Magic Fingers still alive, but nearing its finale

Russ and Rusty Gill were once the region’s Magic Fingers kingpins. In the late 1980s the father-son team from Spokane ran an 80-motel network with 2,000 of the machines, which vibrated a mattress for 15 minutes when a motel guest stuck a quarter into a coin box.
News >  Business

Owner closes CI Shenanigans unexpectedly

The owner of downtown Spokane restaurant CI Shenanigans closed the business Saturday evening, surprising the restaurant’s landlord, the Spokane Public Facilities District. About 40 workers were affected by the closure.
News >  Business

Area companies beat S&P, Russell

Inland Northwest companies had a strong quarter from July through September. The Hart Capital Inland Northwest Index grew 14.3 percent in the third quarter. That’s dramatically better than the S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 indexes, which grew 5.8 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.
News >  Business

Dry Fly expecting new spirits to sell out

Spokane’s Dry Fly Distilling is releasing four new spirits around Dec. 1 and expects them to sell out within two weeks. Started in 2007, Dry Fly has gradually added more choices to its initial offerings of vodka and gin.
News >  Spokane

Spokane attorney known for dedication to dignity

William D. Symmes, who died last week at age 74, belonged to a group of Spokane attorneys who in the decades after the Korean War were known for their professional dedication and their commitment to treating others with dignity. According to retired Spokane County Superior Court Judge Paul Bastine, Symmes never abandoned that dual capacity.
News >  Business

Deer Park company falls off app map

John Swiderski’s technology company has been wiped out by the apps tsunami. His Deer Park company, Mean Hamster Software, just closed down, crushed by not being able to compete in the mobile games market. From 2005 to 2010, Mean Hamster grew to 21 workers and made several successful games for sites such as Yahoo and PlayFirst.
News >  Business

Independent developers hope to create next big app

Three years ago, Spokane Community College student Randall Schleufer developed an iPhone game called Flickitty in his spare time. Within a month after uploading Flickitty to the iTunes Store, the game drew thousands of downloads at 99 cents apiece. Schleufer, 42, and a project partner each pocketed $2,800 from the first month’s downloads, while Apple collected the remainder.
News >  Business

Hoteliers see good, bad in Worthys’ plans

Spokane-area hotel managers have mixed feelings about Walt and Karen Worthy’s plans to build a 700-room downtown hotel. Yes, the 15-story full-service hotel will take away some of their business, managers said.
News >  Business

Camp Easton supporters appeal ruling

The North Idaho group that failed to persuade a judge to halt the possible sale of Camp Easton is filing an appeal with Idaho’s Supreme Court. Attorney Scott Reed, of Coeur d’Alene, said the group Camp Easton Forever filed the appeal this week.
News >  Business

Worthys announce plans to build headquarters hotel

In the span of four weeks Walt and Karen Worthy pieced together ambitious plans to build the city’s largest hotel: a 700-room, 15-story showpiece connected to the Spokane Convention Center. The hotel and an adjoining parking garage would fill an entire block. Groundbreaking is expected next spring, with completion in 2014.
News >  Business

Red Lion outlines attempts at sale, merger

Red Lion Hotels Corp. managers said Tuesday that they’ve contacted more than 70 potential buyers but have failed to find offers to buy the hospitality chain. The effort is a response to investors urging the sale of the hotels, and included contacting possible merger partners. The outreach resulted in “a limited number of non-binding indications of interest, but (we) did not ultimately receive any offers,” a statement said.
News >  Business

Army bid frustrates

Spokane’s Garco Construction worked hard for nearly a year to win a $35 million contract to build a large maintenance building for the Army near Tacoma. They lost the bid to another company.
News >  Business

Bank plans foreclosure sale of Post Falls Landing

The bank that holds the note on a planned 33-acre mixed-use development in Post Falls says it’s ready to move forward on a sale within 45 days. Earlier this week an Idaho Bankruptcy Court judge dismissed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed last year by project developer Harry Green. The bankruptcy filing had halted a planned foreclosure sale of Post Falls Landing, on which Green’s company, The Point at Post Falls LLC, owes more than $8.3 million in unpaid principal, interest, fees and attorneys costs.
News >  Business

Home sales rise, but median price slips a bit

Spokane’s August home sales were up and down: up in total number of homes sold compared with July this year and with August 2011, but down in average and median home sale prices. There were 455 sales of single-family homes and condominiums in August, more than the 435 sales in July and the 392 sales in August 2011, according to the Spokane Association of Realtors.