Monday, February 8, 2010

If you missed Magner Sanborn's Super Bowl TV spots for FLO-TV yesterday you can see them anytime at CBSSports.com/superbowlads. All yesterday’s Super Bowl commercials are at that site.

Fiber-Tech Industries was presented the 2010 Clean Air Award last Thursday for their outstanding efforts to reduce air emissions at their facility, which is located in Spokane Valley Industrial Park. The annual award was presented by Bill Dameworth, director of the Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency. Fiber-Tech is the largest supplier of fiberglass reinforced plywood panels to the transportation, construction and agricultural markets in the U.S. and Canada. Through pollution advances, Fiber-Tech has reduced their emissions by 55%.

Here’s a chance to "Share the Love" with animals at a special Valentine’s Day Dinner this Sunday. Ferrante’s Marketplace Café at 4516 South Regal and Prairie Dog Pet Mercantile are having a Valentine’s Day culinary event on behalf of SpokAnimal. $47.50 reserves your seat for this special 4-course meal. Dining will take place on Sunday, February 14th with reserved seatings at 4 pm, 6 pm, and 8 pm. A portion of the proceeds go to help SpokAnimal. Call Ferrante’s Marketplace Café for your reservations: 509-443-6304.

There is a new Thai restaurant in the Spokane Valley, Savanny Food Express, located at 11808 E. Sprague, adjoining Simply Northwest. Owners Savann and Ny Ratahnahk, both natives of Cambodia, combined their first names for the name of the restaurant...Savanny. They moved to Spokane from Bellingham about four years ago where they also owned a Thai restaurant. Savann was previously the chef at Spokane’s Bangkok Thai. Savanny’s dinner menu features more than 75 items, and they also offer another 15 selections for lunch. They feature a variety of meats, seafood and vegetarian dishes and sauces made from scratch.

Golf season will be starting soon and to celebrate, Fore!Women, the unique golf shop at 122 South Monroe is having a Ladies Night event Wednesday, February 10, from 4 to 8 pm. They’ll be serving wine and appetizers, and will be showing their new spring inventory of ladies golf apparel, shoes and equipment. They have added Jamie Saddock to their inventory in limited quantities; they also have new gloves, hats and they are selling golf bags this year. For men who are looking for that Valentine’s Day special gift or surprise for the women in their lives, Fore!Women also offers a personal shopping service and gift cards. Fore!Women is open 10-4 Monday thru Saturday. The phone number is 509-624-6204 and the website is golforewomen.com.

The 7th Annual Inland Northwest Motorcycle Show and Sale is this Friday through Sunday, February 12-14, at the New Spokane Convention Center. It features motorcycles from all over the world, Great Gas Giveaway, Video Motorcycle Racing, Globe of Thunder (Motorcycle Daredevils) and more! The show offers over 100,000 square feet of motorcycles, booths and accessories. Admission is $10; children 6-12 $5; 5 and under Free. Show hours are Friday Feb. 12, 4-9pm, Saturday Feb. 13, 10am-8pm, Sunday Feb. 14, 10am-4pm. For more information, visit www.spokanemotorcycleshow.com.

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You can join Mayor Mary Verner and Greater Spokane Incorporated on Friday, February 12 for the State of the City Address and Good Morning Greater Spokane Breakfast. The event will be held at the Spokane Convention Center and is sponsored by the Community Colleges of Spokane and Global Credit Union. Mayor Verner will present successes from 2009 and plans for projects and strategies that will serve the City in 2010. Reservations can be made online by visiting www.events.greaterspokane.org. Doors open at 7:00am for informal networking, and the program will begin at 7:30am. For more information contact Heidi Whitman at 509-321-3619.

Liz Murray, who was featured in the Lifetime movie "Homeless to Harvard," will be the guest speaker for the Women Helping Women Fund’s annual luncheon, May 10, 2010, at the Spokane Convention Center. Women Helping Women Fund serves Spokane women and children who face similar obstacles in life. It was founded in 1992 by six local women dedicated to making a difference for underserved populations in Spokane. Women Helping Women’s annual fundraising luncheons have drawn nearly 30,000 people to hear speakers such as Madame Jehan Sadat, Cokie Roberts, Ellen Goodman, Gloria Steinem, Lisa Ling, Soledad O’Brien and Jeannette Walls. Since 1992, thanks to gifts of thousands of individual and corporate donors, more than 305 local agency programs have received grants from Women Helping Women totaling more than $3.8 million. Luncheon guests are asked to make a minimum donation of $125. The money raised at the luncheon is donated directly to programs managed by Spokane County non-profit agencies. They are selected during a grant application process. Women Helping Women Fund screens the applications and targets well-run programs designed to meet the most urgent needs of women and children in Spokane. For more information or if you are interested in attending the luncheon, go to www.whwfspokane.org or contact Lisa Diffley, WHWF Executive Coordinator at 509-328-8285.

Six Spokane companies were awarded Association of Washington Business Better Workplace Awards at AWB’s annual Legislative Day in Olympia last Wednesday, February 3: Humanix Staffing and Recruiting – Workplace Safety; Skils’kin - Workplace Safety; St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute – Workplace Safety; Acme Concrete Paving, Inc – Innovative Benefit & Compensation Programs; Haskin Steel Co., Inc – Job Training & Advancement; and Sterling Savings Bank – Job Training & Advancement.

Safeco® Insurance’s call centers, including one in Spokane, have been recognized for providing "An Outstanding Customer Service Experience" by J.D. Power and Associates. The recognition comes following a detailed review process of Safeco’s three call centers, located in Spokane, Washington, Colorado and Indiana. The review, which is part of the J.D. Power and Associates Certified Call Center ProgramSM, also included a random survey of Safeco customers.

Contineo, a company specializing in compliance, auditing, consulting, technology and managed services for a variety of industries, is partnering with ICR Bridge to offer expanded service to increase client network and loss prevention security, and put processes in place to prevent cyber fraud, identity theft and corporate fraud. ICR Bridge is a Spokane-based identity theft protection company. For more information on Contineo, go to their website at contineotech.com or contact Craig Sanders 509-847-0100, csanders@contineotech.com.

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Here’s a tasty date idea: On Wednesday, February 10th, Two Cooks with Love Catering will be teaching a cooking and mixology class. Learn how to make drinks from the good old days, like Mint Juleps and Rum Flips, as well as a few of the newest favorites, such as Mojitos and Love Potions. Owners Scott and Roxane Cook will also teach quick and easy appetizers, along with a few light entrees. Drinks and foods for Valentine’s Day will be showcased. The class will be held at 11712 E. Boone Ave in Spokane Valley. The class will start at 6:00pm and last until 8:30pm. You must be 21 years of age or older. The cost is $25 per person or $40 per couple. Class size is limited. RSVP by calling 509-891-5980.

Junior Achievement of the Inland Northwest has received the non-profit organization’s national Peak Performance Team Award. The annual award is given to Junior Achievement offices for outstanding performance in areas such as student growth, total revenue growth, and an increase in the number of classes reached during the past fiscal year. The award was presented to Junior Achievement offices from nine cities during a special ceremony. "This award confirms that our office is among the top performing JA operations in the nation," said Suzie Seefried, president of JA of the Inland Northwest "Our effort has resulted in the most important bottom-line results of all, making a real difference in the lives of our area students." During the 2008-09 school year 11,787 students participated in Junior Achievement programs. This is a 12% increase in student numbers over the previous year. Cities served are Spokane, Spokane Valley, Cheney, Moses Lake, Colville, Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Sandpoint Schools.

The Johnson – Garras Group has launched a new local online guide that features local businesses that support local community, called Adserveo.com. The guide features only three businesses per business category, in what Johnson and Garras are calling "Limited Local Search". The qualifier for a business being included in the Adserveo.com guide is that the business must somehow be involved in the Spokane community through local community or non-profit organizations. The guide is also available to Spokane non-profit organizations, giving them a local platform where their voices can be heard, telling people how they can get involved. Founded on the principles of "Conscious Capitalism", Adserveo.com will be supplemented with radio and TV advertising, creating a multi-platform advertising co-op designed to create sustainable business and community growth. The Johnson – Garras Group, a sales and marketing company, was formed in early 2009 by local businessmen Jeff Johnson and Chris Garras. Their interests moved to the creation of Adserveo.com last summer, and the guide is currently the primary focus of the company. They plan on launching Adserveo.com in additional markets later in 2010. Got to Adserveo.com and check it out or call 509-624-2727 for more information.

Due to a concern that children in lower income families will not be able to swim this summer because of swim fees at city pools enacted by the Park Board, a community meeting is being held at the Lindaman Center, 315 West Mission at 4:30, Tuesday February 9 to discuss community fund raising options and opportunities. Concerned citizens, health experts and members of service organizations will discuss the various avenues available to raise funds for children county-wide to afford to swim this summer. Last summer numerous groups independently raised money for swim fees. This year the Spokane Parks Foundation has been asked to coordinate a group meeting to enable the groups to discuss working together to raise money in a coordinated effort. The general public and members of service organizations are invited to attend the meeting. For further information contact Toni Nersesian, Executive Director of the Spokane Parks Foundation. Toni can be reached at 509-326-5233 (office) 509-245-3107 (home office/Fridays) or email Toni@spokaneparksfoundation.org.

Spokane's Sizzle'n Cuisine News and Reviews Web site won the Nichee award among niche magazines both domestic and international at the recent Niche Media Conference. Evaluations from experts in the Niche magazine field spent two days advising and exchanging ideas with fellow niche publications, both in print and online. The best and brightest in the field including sponsors from print, creative and software providers met with publishers to further motivate and exchange ideas for success. SizzlenCuisine.com received the Nichee Award for Best Niche Web site at the conference. For more information, visit www.SizzlenCuisine.com.

Cate Moye’, owner and broker of Windermere Valley and Windermere Liberty Lake, has announced she is partnering with Rick Rieger who will serve as a co-owner and sales manager. Rick brings to the real estate industry more than twenty years of extensive experience in marketing, sales management, sales training and leadership. His many years of ownership in commercial and residential properties inspired his desire to move to the real estate industry from medical sales management. Since purchasing Windermere Valley in 1998, Cate Moye’ also opened the Windermere Liberty Lake office in April of 2006. Cate and Rick currently manage a total of 110 residential, commercial and new construction agents. With the addition of Rick’s sales management and sales expertise, Windermere Valley and Liberty Lake will be able to continue growing and servicing the needs of home buyers and sellers throughout Spokane County. In addition to owning and managing Windermere Valley and Liberty Lake, Cate Moye’ serves as Co-Chair of the Washington Real Estate Commission and is a member of the Professional Standards Committee of the Spokane Association of Realtors. Rick Rieger is a graduate of Leadership Spokane as well as being involved in numerous civic organizations. Rick can be reached at Windermere Valley and Liberty Lake and can be contacted at 509-928-1991 or rickrieger@windermere.com.

The business thought of the week is from author Dan Zadra: "Worry is a misuse of imagination."

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