Monday, July 6, 2009

The Davenport Hotel and Tower ranks among the top ten hotels in the world by Expedia Insiders' Select for 2009! The new listing places The Davenport Hotel and Tower at #7 in the United States and #10 in the world out of over 30,000 hotels reviewed by Expedia.

Walt Worthy needs a new name; announces "Name the Pub" contest. The new pub at Hotel Lusso needs a name and owner Walt Worthy is asking you to offer a suggestion. If you’re the winner, you’ll receive a $100 cash reward and an invitation to the opening night reception for you and three friends. Pub is short for "public house," and for this one, the public is being invited to name it. Worthy is looking for a single word in the English language to be that name. The Hotel Lusso public house will feature a casual atmosphere, cold beers and great food on the corner of Sprague Avenue and Post Street. E-mail your suggested name and contact information to: info@hotellusso.com. Deadline for submissions is July 17th at 5pm. Time stamps on identical messages will break a tie.

Harry Sladich, president & CEO of the Spokane Regional CVB, called upon various regional organizations challenging them to ask their employees to sign up to be members of the MAC. Sladich first asked the staff at the Spokane Regional CVB to get to know MAC. To date, some 55 percent of the Spokane Regional CVB staff members have become members of the MAC. Memberships start at just $25 a year for a senior/student membership, $35 for an individual membership and $75 for a household. "It is critical to our entire region that this asset stays strong and viable," Sladich says. "I have encouraged my employees to sign up for an annual individual or family membership and it's been incredibly rewarding to see so many of them step forward and show their commitment to the museum. Membership is a great way to be a tourist in your own backyard and the latest exhibit (Out of this World) is really fun. We all need to step up as a community and support the MAC." For membership information, go to www.northwestmuesum.org and click on Membership.

When it was announced that the city of Spokane needed to charge for kids to swim this summer, many parents started calculating. So did the AutoRow car dealerships on East Sprague from I-90 to Argonne. The dealers decided to contribute $15 per vehicle sold this summer to help kids swim all summer long. With every new or used vehicle purchased in July and August, Spokane AutoRow dealers will purchase one full-summer pass to be given to an underprivileged child. Spokane AutoRow consists of: The Appleway Group, Dishman Dodge, Gus Johnson Ford, Hallmark Hyundai / Isuzu and Jaremko Nissan / Saab. It’s estimated the effort will result in approximately 600 passes! Thank you!

Alan Bisson’s photos are on display this month at the Brickwall Gallery in the Bennett Block, Main at Howard. Bisson is a talented and prolific photographer whose beautiful scenes of Spokane have been used for many years to promote the beauty of our region. The Brickwall Gallery is on the skywalk level. The phone number is 509-928-7721.

Poe Asphalt Paving Inc. of Post Falls, ID, and Clarkston, WA, has been awarded the asphalt paving portion of the runway extension at the Spokane International Airport. The company is overlaying two-thirds of the existing Runway 3/21 with 60,000 tons of asphalt. The extension of the runway will be constructed by ACME Concrete, the project general contractor. The engineering firm for the project is URS. The asphalt paving portion of the runway extension will begin in July, with a small portion remaining for completion in 2010. Poe Asphalt Inc. has been in business since 1953 and employs workers throughout the Inland Empire. Poe operates in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, Spokane, Moscow, Pullman, Lewiston, Clarkston and Grangeville. For more information about the Spokane International Airport project, contact Josh Smith of Poe Asphalt Paving Inc. at 509-758-5561 or visit www.poeashalt.com.

Good news for Apple people. Strong Technologies is an authorized reseller of Apple products that recently opened at 1718 E Sprague (across from The Tin Roof Furniture Gallery). They offer a full line of Apple hardware like laptops, desktops and ipods, but since they buy directly from Apple, they also do custom orders. You can find Apple products in stock here that you can't find anywhere else in town, like the Mac mini and MAC Pro. Strong Technologies also sells all the necessities for Mac users like cables, adaptors, etc. as well as iPhone accessories, hard shell cases for MACs and laptop bags that can protect your MAC if dropped from a height of up to 2 feet. They also specialize in service and repair and warranty repair as an Apple authorized service provider. Strong Technologies also offers basic classes on how to use your Mac that are free and other classes that are more in depth for a fee. Store manager, Sean McKenzie, reports that business is doing well since their grand opening last month. For more information, visit their website at http://spokanemac.com or call 509-368-7340. Hours are 10-6 Tuesday through Friday, 10-4 Saturday.

The Comfort Inn-University District/Downtown at 923 E. 3rd Ave, formerly the Shilo Inn Hotel, is having an open house to show off their recent remodel. The new owners have put over $700,000 into the hotel, with a future investment of $1.5 million in upgrades to be completed July 2010. They have painted the building, re-surfaced and striped the parking lot, completely updated the pool area, installed new carpet through-out hotel, purchased new lobby furniture. The 105 guestrooms have new carpet, drapes, beds, bedding, sheets and pillows and 27" TVs, soon to be upgraded to 32" flat screens, and new lamps. The open house is this Thursday, July 9th from 5:30 to 7pm. For more information call 509-535-9000.

The Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce will feature Washington Insurance Commissioner, Mike Kreidler as the guest speaker at the Issues Forum luncheon that will be held on Monday, July 13th at the Mirabeau Park Hotel located at 1100 N. Sullivan Road in Spokane Valley. The event opens at the Mirabeau Park Hotel’s Convention Center beginning at 11:30am with the program starting at Noon. Commissioner Kreidler will take this opportunity to discuss his proposal for Guaranteed Health Benefits. There will be an opportunity for questions at the end of his talk. Health insurance is a major cost consideration for most businesses and is a topic of national as well as state attention. The invitation was initiated by the discussions of the Chamber’s new Health Care Roundtable. The Issues Forum is a new quarterly luncheon program devoted to a topic of business interest. This program is offered for the benefit of Chamber members but the general public is invited to attend. A large attendance is anticipated so attendees are asked to register in advance by calling the Chamber office at 509-924-4994. Cost of the luncheon is $25. Reservations may also be made online at www.spokanevalleychamber.org.

Watch for The Farm Chicks on CBS’ "The Early Show", July 14 on KREM 2. Serena Thompson and Teri Edwards started their business doing barn sales in Fairfield. It blossomed into a wide ranging enterprise that features, antiques, crafts, baking and cookbooks.

Signature Genomic Laboratories, which performs microarray-based diagnostic genetic testing of chromosome abnormalities in individuals with unexplained mental retardation and/or birth defects, today announced that President and CEO Dr. Lisa G. Shaffer, Ph.D. received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2009 Award in the Life Sciences category in the Pacific Northwest. According to Ernst & Young LLP, the award recognizes outstanding entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic, growing businesses.

Action! North by Northwest is scheduled to begin shooting a $7 million movie, "The Ward", in late July or August, directed by John Carpenter, best known for "Halloween" and "Escape from New York."

This summer, the Next Generation Zone’s (NGZ) Summer Youth Employment Program will employ over 400 Spokane County youth, ages 16-24. NGZ will cover the wages, taxes, and L&I for these youth to work entry-level jobs in governmental, non-profit, and local business organizations. They need your help developing these worksites. As a worksite for Next Generation Zone, you will: Fill out a simple job description form (Businesses must be in Spokane County); interview and hire an applicant who has an interest in working in your organization (you will decide at the time of the interview if it is a good fit); and have the support of experienced NGZ case managers to ensure the success of all. To be a successful worksite for Next Generation Zone participants, supervisors must enjoy working with young people and be able to provide training, mentoring, and evaluation for the new trainee. There is no obligation to retain the employee at the end of the summer program. For additional information, or to become a worksite for the NGZ program, please contact: NGZ WorkSource Specialists Kim Burnett 509-532-3139 or Lynda Evans 509-532-3079.

The business thought of the week is from Thomas Edison: "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

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