In winter 1987, the economic picture for the Inland Northwest looked gloomy. The resource-based industries that built the region – mining, timber, farming and aluminum – were all experiencing end-of-life challenges.

In January 1987, a group of 100 Spokane businesspeople began brainstorming a vision for a new economy to replace the dying one. The group called itself Momentum ‘87. In March of the same year, businesspeople came together for a similar purpose in North Idaho. This group launched Jobs Plus.

In the almost 20 years since both efforts began, community and business leaders have worked toward the best and most modern economic model for this area. Light, clean industry was a big hope. And high-tech industry, lured from crowded California, was sometimes seen as the perfect salvation.

In 2006, the economic picture combines both old and new. Mining, timber, farming and aluminum remain part of the economic picture, though to a much lesser degree. Some light industry came to town, and if you drive through Liberty Lake today – high-tech headquarters – you’ll see a boom town no one quite envisioned in the dark days of 1987.

But one big economic surprise was the way Spokane emerged as the perfect venue for massive sporting events. Bloomsday and Hoopfest grew and grew, illustrating Spokane’s ability to coordinate complicated events that attracted thousands of participants.

These successes led to landing the women’s and men’s NCAA basketball tournaments in 2001 and 2003 and Skate America in 2002. The men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will return in 2007 and 2008. And the 2007 U.S. National Skating Championships will be held in Spokane in January.

In Coeur d’Alene, the annual Ironman Triathlon has exploded in popularity since coming to town in 2003. But Idaho’s economic surprise showed up at its destination resorts. Homes and condos at Coeur d’Alene and Pend Oreille lakes, and at Schweitzer and Silver Mountain ski resorts, are selling for prices unimaginable in 1987.

Two caveats as this new economy grows:

•Inland Northwest residents cannot lose their welcoming attitudes toward outsiders. A snobby us-versus-them mentality is sometimes evident in established tourist towns. The red-carpet parade Monday that greeted the scouting committee for the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships was a bit corny. Yet people there didn’t feel it beneath them to hoot and holler in greeting. That’s the attitude that can’t be lost.

•Inland Northwest leaders must make sure that those people toiling at the lowest-paying service jobs – the jobs that support the tourism and recreation boom – don’t get priced out of the housing market. The Inland Northwest prides itself as a place where the haves look out for the have-nots. This was true way before 1987 and must remain true as the region’s economic future, an increasingly bright one, continues to unfold.