Region’s economic development is truly a growth industry

If you squeeze a tube of toothpaste at both ends — please, don’t try this at home — the tube bulges in the middle. Squeeze growth between Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, and something similar happens: Rathdrum, Post Falls, Liberty Lake and Spokane Valley bulge.

And bulge. And bulge.

Although the urban centers of Spokane County and Kootenai County have not completely filled out, clearly the once mostly open spaces on both sides of Interstate 90 are absorbing by far the bulk of the homes and stores, offices and factories swelling the Inland Northwest economy and population. Sure, Sandpoint, Bonners Ferry, Deer Park and Airway Heights have captured spillover, but the overwhelming share of the action is in the new subdivisions, malls, and even nascent urban centers that are recasting the region into a mini-megalopolis, with the opportunities and challenges that go with that kind of transformation.

The challenges? Providing adequate schools, roads, and water and sewage facilities. Keeping housing affordable. Even creating a sense of community. After all, Liberty Lake and Spokane Valley did not exist in 2000. Once-rural Rathdrum now counts a population of 10,000. More than 23,000 now call Post Falls home.

The opportunities? More diversity. New merchants to add to the regional mix. And better-paying jobs. Spokane and Kootenai counties together grew employment by 10,000 jobs last year.

But maintaining the quality of life has to stay in the balance. Thousands continue to live in the Inland Northwest despite better offers beckoning from Seattle, Silicon Valley, even the East Coast.

There are, to say the least, a lot of moving parts here, mostly incoming. Spokane County added 5,000 people last year. Kootenai County added 5,000 — on top of a much smaller base; 122,000 vs. 435,000. Hence the bulge in our “tube.”

Post Falls Administrator Jim Hammond says officials on that side of the border have managed by carving out “areas of city impact.” Post Falls, Rathdrum and Hayden, in conjunction with county officials, have identified their probable future boundaries, and are working to assure services are available to handle continued infill.

“It assures we’re doing our proper planning now,” he says.

In the Spokane Valley, claims on some unincorporated land between Liberty Lake and the City of Spokane Valley remain somewhat contentious. Positioned halfway between Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, those communities — along with Post Falls — are particularly attractive not just to the many couples who have jobs on both sides of the border, but to the retailers who want to serve them and to employers who, as skilled workers become scarcer, want to hire them.

Situations like this call out for innovation. Case in point: the competition for Cabela’s.

The noted mega-seller of all things outdoorsy is rumored to be considering sites in either Post Falls or Liberty Lake. Cabela’s stores employ hundreds, may sprawl over 25 acres, and draw tens of thousands of tourists and shoppers. It’s the retail equivalent of landing a Toyota assembly plant.

In Spokane County, the response has been implementation of tax increment financing to help with infrastructure costs. In Post Falls, Hammond notes the reputation Idaho has, at every level of government, for responding to business needs.

“It tells (businesses) they’re not going to run into a lot of different bureaucracies,” he says.

Whatever decision Cabela’s or any of the other many businesses looking at the Inland Northwest make, indications are that growth may ease after a torrid 2005, but not by much. Population, jobs, housing starts and housing prices, according to Avista Utilities economist Randy Barcus, will continue.

In 2005, the business stars were Buck Knives in Post Falls, Huntwood Industries in Liberty Lake, and Itron in Spokane Valley. As for Spokane and Coeur d’Alene, they could look to their medical service providers and financial institutions. Inland Northwest Health Services in Spokane, for example, and U.S. Bank in the Lake City.

Perhaps a Cabela’s will be the 2006 standout. Maybe incremental hiring by a variety of companies, from an F.O. Berg in outdoor and environmental goods to a HollisterStier Laboratories in pharmaceuticals, will highlight the year.

No matter where you hold that toothpaste, odds are there will be smiles all around in 2006.