Monday, June 22, 2009

What do you expect to find in a Museum Store? Rare finds, unexpected treasures, regional delights and kidlike fun? You’ll find this and more at the Museum Store at the MAC. Handmade jewelry to clocks, finger puppets to history books, tea sets to American Indian beadwork. The book selection emphasizes Inland Northwest history and culture including American Indian tribes, immigrant settlement, industries, arts and issues. The store also has a fun collection of kids books on art, history and stories from many cultures to inspire creativity and learning. And for a limited time only, courtesy of the summer exhibit "Out of This World: Extraordinary Costumes from Film and Television", the store has Mars Mud, Wicked Witch of the West talking key chains, Star Wars Monopoly and more. Discover a little gem of a store in your museum, the MAC, 2316 West 1st Avenue, in Browne’s Addition. Open Tuesday-Sunday 11:00-5:00, until July 1 when new hours will be in effect. For more information call 509-363-5356.

Samurai Sam’s Teriyaki Grill restaurant opened last Friday at 909 S Grand Blvd, just south of Sacred Heart Medical Center. Their Grand Opening Celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony is set for 11:30am on June 25th. The restaurant is just South of Sacred Heart Hospital and next to PRESS, a newly opened coffee, cocktail, dessert bar. Samurai Sam’s specializes in grilled meats, vegetables, prawns over rice, teriyaki bowls, tasty noodle dishes, specialty wraps, fresh garden salads, appetizers like grilled egg rolls, and related Asian cuisine, and provides party trays and catering for large groups. The hours are Monday to Sunday 10am to 10pm. The restaurant features indoor seating and has two entrances for easy access. There is also a patio for patrons to use in front of the restaurant. The phone number is 509-624-4555.

The EWU Alumni Association has given its 2009 EWU Distinguished Alumni Awards to Doug Kelley '83, Shelley Kennedy-Sharpe '74 and Jess Walter '87. These are the highest accolades conferred by the EWU Alumni Association. Kelley received the award for service to the community. He has served on EWU volunteer boards, as president of the EWU Alumni Association, judged last year's homecoming tailgate competition and headed a team for Eagle Athletic Association Fund Drive. The regional account executive at Avista has also volunteered his time for Junior League, Spokane Regional Sports Commission, Spokane County Planning Commission, Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce, Girl Scouts of the Inland Northwest and Lilac Bloomsday Association.
Kennedy-Sharpe earned the community building award. She established a nonprofit foundation, I Am the Village, to raise funds to provide food, clothing, shelter and educational support for orphaned and disadvantaged youth in Uganda.
Walter received the award for professional endeavors. He was honored in 2005 with the Edgar Award for best novel, Citizen Vince. He followed that with The Zero, a finalist for the 2006 National Book Award. Watch for his newest book, The Financial Lives of the Poets, in September 2009.

Mary Grangroth has joined Monique's Salon in Spokane Valley as Salon Manager. She will also help guide the company's expansion into a new location on 10 N. Evergreen Road. Monique's Salon’s phone number is 509-926-6429.

Sal Rachele, author of "Earth Changes and 2012", will give a metaphysical talk discussing specific changes (economic, spiritual, etc.) that we can expect in our country and the world in the next 3-4 years. The presentation, sponsored by Alternative Health Therapy, is Tuesday, June 30 from 7-9 pm, at the Women's Club of Spokane, 1428 W 9th Ave, the corner of Walnut and 9th. Cost is $25 per person. Contact Debra for more details: 509-276-4028 or debraaht@gmail.com. www.healingearthvortexes.com, click on Classes.

The Spokane business community is blessed with many bright, young, talented business people. Inland Business Catalyst magazine celebrates 20 of them during their July issue release party this Thursday, 5 to 7pm at the Marquee Lounge, 522 West Riverside. The event features Spokane’s Best of "20 under 40" young business professionals who are featured in the magazine.

STCU has received national recognition. The Data Warehousing Institute, the premier provider of in-depth, high-quality education and training in business intelligence and data warehousing, recently announced the 2009 winners of its annual Best Practices Awards. STCU’s Conversation Engine was among those honored. Developed in-house, STCU’s "Conversation Engine" delivers information from the credit union’s data warehouse to its tellers, giving them greater insight into member service needs and opportunities.

Troy Murphy, (Spokane’s Tallest Marketing Professional at 6’7), formerly with Radio Spokane, has formed Big Guy Branding & Imaging, in partnership with Cider Mountain Recording Studios and Blue Sky Broadcasting, to provide commercial production for local/regional advertisers, custom musical image packages for advertisers, and Radio/TV station imaging packages. He will also serve on the sales staff with Blue Sky Broadcasting that cover the Sandpoint, Priest River, Newport & Bonners Ferry markets with KIBR-FM, KBFI-AM, & KTPO-FM radio stations. For more information contact Troy Murphy at 509-879-6236.

LaunchPadINW.com, the Spokane-based social- and business-networking Web site, is ready to take off. LaunchPadINW.com founders Allen Battle and Bill Kalivas have formed LaunchPad Inland Northwest LLC to own and operate the networking site. The new company plans to move July 1 into office space on the fifth floor of the Holley Mason Building, at 157 S. Howard, in downtown Spokane. Battle and Kalivas, launched the Web site quietly in October of 2008. Its popularity has grown virally, and it already has more than 1,100 active members. Locally focused Launch Pad offers online networking as well as face-to-face networking events. The company’s next quarterly networking event is scheduled for 5:30pm Tuesday, June 30 at the Holley Mason Building. For more information, go to www.launchpadinw.com or call Bill Kalivas at 509-953-3305.

The Health Sciences & Services Authority (HSSA) of Spokane County has announced its first request for proposals for a 2009 grant competition to increase local infrastructure capacity for bioscience research. The amount of funding available to applicants for the two-year grant is up to $675,000, or as determined by the HSSA Board upon receipt of proposals. Applicants for HSSA 2009 funding are invited from Spokane County public and nonprofit organizations, singly or in collaboration with other public and nonprofit organizations or with for-profit companies, and must meet the intent of the funding to increase local infrastructure capacity for bioscience research. A Letter of Intent submitted by the sponsor of a proposal is required and due by 12 noon July 1, 2009, and should be submitted by e-mail to grantadmin@hssaspokane.org. In addition to an electronic copy, a hard copy of the proposal may be mailed to Grant Administrator, Health Services & Sciences Authority, The University District, 665 N. Riverpoint Boulevard, Suite 124, Spokane, WA 99202-1665. The actual proposal in response to the RFP is due by 4pm, July 31, 2009, and should be submitted electronically. The awards will be announced by the HSSA Board in September.

Former outdoor advertising executive Bonnie Tapscott, has joined the staff of CBS Collections, Inc. at 521 W. Maxwell, as an account manager, handling existing medical and retail clients, and developing more non-medical and commercial accounts. CBS Collections is family-owned by the Warrick Family and is headed by Nick Warrick. The phone number is 509-324-1290 and the website is www.CBSinfo.com.

John Pilcher, Investment and Real Estate Consultant, has been elected President of the 2009–2010 Spokane Club Board of Trustees. Other Board officers elected were: President-Elect, Jan Quintrall, President/CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Eastern WA, North Idaho and Montana; Vice President, Harry Sladich, President and CEO of the Spokane Convention and Visitors Bureau; Secretary, Kevin Twohig, Executive Director, Spokane Public Facilities District; and Treasurer, Melissa George, Realtor, Windermere Manito. Four new Board trustees were also elected: Stephanie Bregher, Co-Owner, Alexander Boats; Kent Caputo, Chief Operating Officer, Kalispel Tribal Economic Authority; Jim DeWalt, CEO of Associated Industries, and Taudd Hume, Attorney, Foster Pepper.

Marketing Associates of Spokane will be holding their monthly meeting July 9th at 11:30am to 1:30pm at the Red Lion Inn at the Park. This month’s speaker will be Susanne Croft, Incentives Specialist for the City of Spokane. The focus of her presentation will be Green Incentives and award programs offered by the City of Spokane. RSVP per the MAS website www.maspokane.org by July 6th. Lunch will be provided at a cost of $20 for members and $30 for non-members. For more information, contact Taryn Erickson, at Trindera Engineering, 208-676-8001 or terickson@trindera.com.

The Lincoln Center, Spokane’s newest event venue, held its grand opening recently, unveiling to the community a facility that is classy with a contemporary twist. Built in the 1920’s, the art deco inspired building sits at the corner of North Lincoln and West Sharp and has been renovated into a multi-venue event facility. The Lincoln Center offers 29,000 square feet of event space including: two grand ballrooms, art gallery, boardroom, library, two commercial kitchens and other various sized meeting spaces. Interior finishes include hand-painted Modello stenciling, balcony seating and timeless color schemes. The Monroe Ballroom is finished with a dark hardwood floor and both ballrooms offer a stage. Modern technology is throughout the facility including mounted presentation systems with drop down screens, top-notch audio systems, flat screen monitors and specialty lighting. The Lincoln Center has the ability to host events from a six member private board meeting to a corporate gala taking over the entire facility and accommodating 800 attendees. For more information or a personal tour of the facility, contact Tammy Tracy, Marketing Director, at 509-991-7586 or email tammy@thelincolncenterspokane.com.

The business thought of the week is from Bill Gates: "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."

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