Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce business award winners announced.

 The Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce announced the winners of the 2023 Business Awards yesterday at the CenterPlace Regional Event Center. " The awards celebrate the exceptional achievements of local businesses that have made a significant impact on the Spokane Valley community."

The winners we're selected by an independent judging committee, with one small business and one large business selected for each category. And the winners we're:

Business Innovation- Spokane Valley Performing Arts Center

                                 Western States Equipment Company

Creating Inspiring Workplaces- Roller Valley

                                                   Spokane Indians Baseball Club

Community Stewardship- Valleyfest 

                                          BECU

"We are honored to recognize and celebrate these local businesses that have positively impacted our community"  Lance Beck, President, and CEO of the Chamber said. " They continue to inspire the members of the community and reflect the values of the Valley"

The Greater Spokane Valley Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization. For more information on all they do for the Spokane Valley business community, please visit http://spokanevalleychamber.org

Kootenai County Farmers Market Wednesday evening market to relocate to Riverstone

 The Kootenai County Farmers Market Wednesday evening market will now be held on Main Street in Riverstone, starting with the 2023 season. Located at 2151 N. Main St. this is the original Kootenai County Farmers Market, established in 1986 as a producer only market to "foster direct interactions between local growers, artisans and consumers"

The first market of the 2023 season will be held on May 17th from 4p-7p and will continue each week throughout the Summer. They say the market will continue to have the same vendors as before plus several new ones. The new site also will offer an abundance of free parking and is only a short drive / bike ride north of Downtown Coeur d' Alene, where the market had previously been held.

The market will also continue to serve the community at the Prairie Ave site (corner of Prairie & US 95) on the north side of Coeur d' Alene on Saturdays between 9am-1:30pm .

For more information on the Kootenai County Farmers Market, visit their website at http://kootenaifarmersmarkets.org

Numerica Credit Union to build new Five Mile branch

 A new, full service Numerica Credit Union branch is coming soon to the Five Mile area of Spokane at 6281 N. Maple. The groundbreaking will be held at the site today for the new construction, which will replace the current branch at 1916 W. Francis within the Five Mile Shopping Center.

The new N. Maple St. Numerica branch is slated to open in the winter of 2023. "This branch reflects our continued investment in the well-being of the Five Mile community" said Carla Cicero, Numerica president and CEO. The new branch will include a drive-thru ATM and modern design in a 3200 SF stand-alone building. Leone & Keeble will be the general contractor for the new building and architectural work was done by Bernardo Wills.

Headquartered in Spokane Valley, Numerica has more than 170,000 members throughout Eastern Washington, Central Washington and North Idaho. The credit union has 21 branches and more than $3.8 billion in assets. Membership is open to anyone who lives, works, or worships in the State of Washington or North Idaho.

For more info, check http://numericacu.com

Food trucks start opening at Post Falls Pavilion

 Nearly a year after it was once planned to open, food trucks are now beginning to open in the new Post Falls Pavilion food truck court located at 3758 E. Horsehaven . Currently the pavilion is in "soft opening" mode with only a few options open, but some others are actively setting up and even more have yet to move in but will in the near future. An official grand opening will be held at the site in the coming months. 

The development consists of two rows of food trucks on either side of a building that also houses a few other new eateries, with restrooms and indoor dining planned. A newly opened Jitterz Coffee drive up stand is also on the site, along the front of the lot next to Horsehaven Ave.

The new development is located on Post Falls' northeast side, approximately a quarter mile west of Hwy 41 and directly next door to The Courts at Real Life, an athletic facility connected with the Real Life Ministries Church. This new food truck project is a sister site of sorts to the Prairie Pavilion food truck court that has operated for a few years now at the corner of Prairie and Heartland in Hayden.

Recently the owner of Post Falls Pavilion shared via social media all the new dining options that will be coming soon to the project. They include-

Sugar Fix (Cookies, Dirty sodas,etc.,already open)

The Local Cone

Bobalicious by Jitterz

Benzo Box / Benzo Box Too

Grasso's Fine Foods

Puzo's Pelmini

Piumarta's Family Kitchen (Italian menu, already open)

Zach's Smoke Shack

Friendly Island Grill

The North Spork

The Fixx

Las Brasas (Mexican menu, already open)

Taco Works

Epicurean Appetite

Carnival Eats

Jitterz Espresso

Several of the food trucks are new businesses, like Grasso's Fine Foods who will bring a menu of delicious sounding sandwiches. Others are trucks that have already opened elsewhere but are relocating to the new Post Falls site, like The Fixx who's been serving some amazing looking burgers at a couple of venues recently. Additionally, Las Brasas and Taco Works are established businesses that will have new locations within the new development.

To keep track of the new openings and events at Post Falls Pavilion, follow them on social media at Facebook or Instagram

The Arc of Spokane planning new thrift store in Spokane Valley

 The Arc of Spokane, a nonprofit that provides support and services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is planning to add a new second location of their thrift store operations. The nonprofit has operated a popular thrift store inside a former big box store, at 808 N. Ruby, just north of Downtown for several years. But they are now hoping to replicate that success with a new store coming soon to Spokane Valley.

The future location of The Arc of Spokane's new Spokane Valley store.

The Arc of Spokane recently leased a 15,000 SF space at 1441 N. Argonne Rd Suite A, adjacent to Altitude Trampoline Park in the Argonne Mission center for that new store. SVN Cornerstone Designated Broker Guy D. Byrd represented The Arc in the space's lease transaction, and Bryan Walker of Black Commerical, Inc. represented the landlord.

The N. Argonne location was chosen for its ideal central location and size. The Arc's thrift operations help sustain and further the primary mission of The Arc, which is to serve and advocate for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families in the greater Spokane area. The Arc of Spokane is a chapter of the Arc of Washington and The Arc of the United States. 

No opening date is indicated just yet for the new Spokane Valley thrift store location, however mechanical permits have been pulled to renovate the space and when we stopped by late last week, workers we're obviously hard at work going in and out the space.

For more information on The Arc of Spokane, including their existing store, visit their website at http://www.arc-spokane.org

Lion's Lair relocating to a new space nearby Spokane Arena

 Big changes are coming to one of Downtown Spokane's more popular bars & restaurants. 

The Lion's Lair has spent a few years at 205 W. Riverside, by the corner of Browne & Riverside, but we're hearing new plans are likely in store for that building causing Lion's Lair to relocate in the coming weeks.

Lion's Lair will soon move to the building at 230 W. Boone, north of Downtown and just a couple blocks east of the Spokane Arena. The building there was last used a gym but has been sitting vacant for the last few months. Lion's Lair will open in the space in the coming months with the new place said to be going by the name ICON. The original bar / club / restaurant space will take the front section and a new event center will occupy the back section of the 4800 SF building. 

There appears to be no opening date set just yet, nor is there a last day for their present location in Downtown Spokane. However, to keep track of their progress check out their newly created page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/diamsden

Rex & Relax indoor dog park with beer & wine coming soon on Division

 It's a trend that's proved wildly successful in cities around the country, a business that's part indoor dog park and part bar for their human owners. And now it's coming to the Spokane area with the recent announcement of Rex & Relax, planned to open in the coming months at 1711 N. Division.

Rex & Relax is a locally owned and operated business that will open within a currently vacant former bike shop. The owners tell us they hope to open for business in the early summer, but no date has been set yet as the building will need to some renovations first, but one good sign is they have already applied for a liquor license at the site.

They plan to have a "snack bar" type set up with canned sodas, beers and wines and limited food offerings of pre-packaged snacks. They tell me they are working with many other dog parks in other states to get the best "tips and tricks" in creating Rex & Relax. They also will not have a separated small dog area at the time of opening due to extra work being needed in that section of the building but are listening to recommendations and may add that and maybe more features in the future.

The owners say via email that "the main reason we are opening this dog park is to really create an extraordinary experience for our beloved dogs". We plan to keep an eye on their progress but for even more info check them out on social media Facebook or Instagram

New apartment building to rise on highly visible site along I-90 near Pines

 Here at Inland Northwest Business Watch we don't cover every multi-family construction project in the area. There simply are too many as there is always at least a handful under construction, which is great as they are needed. But we do take note of apartment projects with commercial components, buildings where the use is being changed and in the case of this article a project in a unique location that will probably have more than a few people asking " Hey, I wonder what's going in there? "

Site work commenced just a couple of weeks ago at 12608 E. Nora in Spokane Valley for a new yet to be named apartment building. In this area E. Nora is a frontage road that faces I-90 from Pines Rd east to where it meets Mamer Rd. adjacent to the Evergreen Commerce Park. This means the site can be seen directly by thousands of commuters daily but will also offer easy access for the future tenants to get to work, school, etc.

Vertical construction is to start at the site this spring after site work is completed. Developer Skyline Homes,LLC plans the building to be a 4-story building with 32 units that will be a mix of 1- and 2-bedroom units. The new apartments will be ready for occupancy in early 2024, permits show the project is valued at $5 million and Skyline Homes will also act as the general contractor with architectural work being done by Mercier Architecture & Planning.

Ellie Mental Health opening new outpatient behavioral health clinic in Coeur d' Alene

 Ellie Mental Health is an emerging national franchise that recently announced their plans to open a new outpatient behavioral health clinic in Coeur d'Alene. Ellie notes that Kootenai County is a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) and they are taking the approach of improving the care of mental health professionals to increase retention, as well as draw new professionals into the community to meet the need.

Ellie Mental Health says they are on a mission to change the culture of mental health by "fostering a clinician-first model, offering innovative services while breaking down barriers to improve access, and normalize mental health care". In a statement they say "Ellie stives to break the stigma of mental health with the goal that seeing a therapist will have the societal equiveillance of going to the dentist". The company has seen substantial national growth with over 300 clinics under contract, 50+ clinics that opened in 2022 and an additional 200 openings scheduled for 2023.

Local Ellie Mental Health owners, Jamie & Melissa Major of Post Falls say that the first North Idaho Ellie is projected to physically open in early April, within the new Cornerstone Building at Riverstone in Coeur d'Alene ( 1579 W. Riverstone Dr. #1100 ). Ellie Mental Health of North Idaho is actively seeking patients virtually and taking appointments, while construction is slated to be completed around the end of March for in-person sessions.

The local owners also announced the appointment of Julie Krapfl as clinical director "Julie's servant leadership approach to her staff and our community, coupled with her unwavering passion to provide high quality services represents an ideal fit with Ellie's model". Julie is a licensed clinical supervisor and marriage & family therapist with extensive clinical and leadership experience. Recruitment is also actively underway for therapists and clinicians, with a target of hiring 10+ licensed therapists in the coming months with several new hires already completed.

A public open house is scheduled for May 4th,2023 and additional Ellie Mental Health locations are planned for Idaho. For more information or to schedule an appointment call 208-435-0788 or visit them online at http://www.elliementalhealth.com