Business in brief: Annual AGORA winners named
Seven area businesses won AGORA Awards Wednesday in the 23rd year of a Spokane tradition recognizing corporate leaders and agencies building a better community.
The winners were announced during a ceremony hosted by the award presenter, Greater Spokane Incorporated, at the Spokane Convention Center.
The 2008 winners are:
“Nonprofit organization: Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“Charitable nonprofit: Cancer Patient Care, a Spokane organization that provides support and financial aid to Eastern Washington cancer patients and families.
“Small business: Inspired Solutions, Inc., Spokane Valley, a provider of medical equipment and supplies to customers in the Spokane and Tri-Cities areas.
“Medium business: L&M Precision Fabrication, Inc., an Airway Heights manufacturer of precision sheet metal fabrication, forming and machining of metals, plastics and composites.
“Large business: NAC/Architecture of Spokane, which has acquired a national reputation for design, planning, electrical and communications design, interior design and capital facilities consulting.
“Entrepreneurial spirit award: Magnuson Hotels, a Spokane-based independent group representing 620 hotels with three brands and 43,400 rooms across 49 U.S. states and Canada.
“C. Michael Archer Community Service Award: Washington State University Spokane.
Tom Sowa
Course will cover system backups
Liberty Lake business IT-Lifeline and Spokane-based Associated Industries will offer a five-session course to help businesses to prepare to have backup and recovery systems for critical company information.
Registration is required, and the cost is $2,500 for five sessions. The sessions, running every other week, start June 17 and will be presented at the IT-Lifeline offices, at the Tierpoint data center, 23403 E. Mission. Each session runs from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
To register, call (509) 984-1600. Presenting during the sessions will be John Ames, IT-Lifeline vice president of business continuity practices.
Tom Sowa
US Airways to cut free snacks
Fliers, let go of the pretzels and peanuts.
In what could be the ultimate cost-cutting move by airlines buffeted by sky-high fuel prices, US Airways Group said it will eliminate free snacks in coach class on all its domestic flights starting June 1.
US Airways also said it has matched last week’s fare hikes by United Airlines, AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. The increases are from $10 to $60 per round trip and vary based on the length of the flight.
US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant said the move to cut free snacks was needed to save money in a time of extremely high fuel costs. The price of jet fuel has soared this year with crude oil prices in the $130-per-barrel range.
The airline is still providing complimentary soft drinks.
Associated Press