New Lemaster & Daniels Building To Feature Drive-Through Accounting

Everyone has heard of drive-through espresso stands. But a drive-through accounting office?

The new LeMaster & Daniels building, going up at 8817 E. Mission, will include a drive-through window. The window will be fully staffed during the day, and customers will have the option of using a drop slot after business hours.

“I think it will work great,” said Phil Peterson, chief operating officer of the accounting firm’s Valley office. “Even for the staff people. A lot of people will come by just to drop things off.”

The Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce will also occupy the new 18,000-square-foot building. The chamber is leaving its longtime home at 10303 E. Sprague. LeMasters & Daniel is moving from 1121 N. Argonne.

The drive-through window is a handy amenity, but the real reason LeMaster & Daniels is moving is space. The company bought the Schroeder, Simmons & Lochmiller accounting firm last spring. Both staffs combined into one office, and that made for close quarters.

“We grew from 21 to 45 people in the Valley,” said Sue Eddy, the company’s Valley office manager.

The new building is scheduled to be completed by mid-March, said Al Payne of Payne Properties & Development, the company handling its construction.

The building will have two stories and a partial basement, Payne said. The design incorporates many windows. “(Accountants) are in a lot, so they need a lot of glass,” he said.

The Valley chamber will lease 1,000 square feet of space in the building. The chamber’s new offices will be only slightly larger than its present ones, but the new building will offer better conference facilities.

LeMaster & Daniels operates nine offices in Eastern Washington and one in North Idaho. The company was founded in Spokane in 1908.

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