Seven local organizations take home Agora Awards

Five Spokane companies and two nonprofit organizations were winners Wednesday of the 2014 Agora Awards, chosen by a panel to recognize business excellence.

They were: U-District Physical Therapy (small business); Asuris Northwest Health (medium business); Numerica Credit Union (large business); Blessings Under the Bridge (small nonprofit); Healing Lodge of the Seven Nations (large nonprofit); Quality Inn Downtown (community service award); and Lee & Hayes (entrepreneurial spirit).

The awards were presented Wednesday by Greater Spokane Incorporated.

Board votes to allow volume liquor discount

SEATTLE – The state Liquor Control Board reversed course Wednesday and moved toward allowing volume discount sales by distributors to bars and restaurants.

The three-member panel voted 2-1 to allow the sales known as channeling. A public hearing on the rule change was set for July 9, with a final vote by the board to follow later in the month.

“Distributors said prices would go up if channeling wasn’t allowed,” Liquor Control Board member Chris Marr said. “At the end of the day, we avoided front impact on customers.”

Last year, the regulating panel backed a proposed rule against volume discount sales, saying the breaks did not fit under the state’s recently privatized liquor system.

Restaurants and bars protested the barring of discount sales, while independent contract liquor stores complained because they weren’t getting a discount.

Bruce Beckett, director of government affairs for the Washington Restaurant Association, said the board vote was a partial move. The association is lobbying for the board to allow manufacturers to give discounts based on liquor brands they want to promote.

Sam’s Club cards first in U.S. with microchip

NEW YORK – Sam’s Club on Wednesday said it will become the first mass retailer in the U.S. to offer a credit card using a fraud-deterring microchip.

The warehouse club, owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said the card will be co-branded with MasterCard and will be available this month.

Visa and MasterCard are pushing for the adoption of credit cards that use microchips rather than the black magnetic strips found on most cards. The card processors say microchips have helped reduce fraud elsewhere, including in Canada, Mexico and most of Western Europe.

The chip technology hasn’t been widely adopted in the U.S. because of costs and disputes over how the network would operate. Several recent data breaches at retailers – including a massive one of Target’s computer systems last year – helped garner support among retailers for cards using microchips.

SCC students to display their business plans

Eighteen students in an entrepreneurial program at Spokane Community College will showcase their business plans from 3 to 6 p.m. Friday in the River Park Square atrium at 808 W. Main Ave.

The students are graduating from the school’s IBE (Integrated Business and Entrepreneurship) program. They have formed business plans and will summarize their efforts to research the market and prepare to launch their companies.

This year’s list of businesses ranges from social media marketing for dental offices to opening a Leavenworth restaurant.