Week in Review
Workers at Columbia Lighting are worried the Spokane Valley factory could close, potentially putting up to 500 people out of work.
The company, with a 107-year history in Spokane, is one of the largest manufacturers in the region. Workers make lighting fixtures at the factory inside the Spokane Business & Industrial Park, on North Sullivan Road.
Three years ago Columbia Lighting was acquired by Hubbell Inc., a $2.1 billion Connecticut conglomerate that has made no secret of its plan to relocate its lighting division headquarters to South Carolina and move more manufacturing work to Mexico.
Tuesday
Itronix Corp. broke ground on its new Spokane Valley headquarters. The facility is located in the Pinecroft Business Park on Mirabeau Parkway, north of Interstate 90 and east of Pines Road. Itronix plans to consolidate its two current locations there by Christmas Day.
Wednesday
The momentum building around the Spokane River Gorge has attracted two companies that plan to run commercial whitewater rafting trips on the river, starting next month. They’ll join the one company that already offers such trips. A master plan has just been developed to promote recreational opportunities in the 400-acre river gorge that runs through downtown Spokane.
Thursday
The 213-year-old New York Stock Exchange vaulted into the top ranks of electronic stock trading, announcing a merger with all-electronic rival Archipelago Holdings Inc. in a stunning move that will also transform the NYSE into a for-profit, publicly traded enterprise.
The deal answers one of the pressing needs facing the NYSE, which has battled increasing competition from faster all-electronic exchanges like the Nasdaq Stock Market as well as Archipelago.
• A group of investors is remaking Mirabeau Park Hotel into a trendy Spokane Valley centerpiece.
Last week the hotel unveiled Max at Mirabeau, a restaurant with stunning good looks and a big-city feel.
“We’re really happy with the way it turned out,” said hotel manager Lee Cameron.
• A Sandpoint company hopes to turn a tiny, money-losing ski resort in British Columbia’s Okanogan region into a successful, four-season “boutique” resort. The Mount Baldy Ski Area attracted a mere 20,000 skier visits this season – about one-tenth of the volume of a ski area like Schweitzer Mountain Resort.
Friday
Stocks staged a stunning rebound as investors snapped up shares on unexpectedly strong earnings from companies including Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc. The Dow Jones industrial average soared more than 200 points, its best day in two years.
• Adelphia Communications cable-TV subscribers in Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene and Moscow, Idaho, will see the company name on their bills change to Time Warner Cable within a year. A New York bankruptcy court judge Thursday approved the sale of Adelphia’s cable systems to competitors Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc.