Ambassadors Group Inc., the Spokane-based provider of educational travel programs, plans to build a 100,000-square-foot-plus corporate headquarters on the West Plains.


Jeff Thomas, Ambassadors Group president and CEO, says the company has bought for its new home 11 acres of vacant land in the Pacific Northwest Technology Park, which is located along the east side of Flint Road, between U.S. 2 and Airport Drive.


Ambassadors has begun design work on its new headquarters there and hopes to break ground on the building in late summer or early fall. As planned, the structure would be completed in mid- to late 2007.


It takes care of our growth needs from the time we move in to another five to eight years after that, Thomas says.


The company employs about 200 people full time and operates out of four office buildings, with a total of 70,000 square feet of office space, that are within a few blocks of each other in East Spokane, says Ambassadors Chief Financial Officer Chadwick Byrd. The bulk of its operations are located in the Dwight D. Eisenhower Building complex, at 110 S. Ferrall.


Thomas says a new headquarters building will allow the company to create a more unified culture. In the future, he envisions the company building additional structures and creating a campus-like environment in the West Plains park.


We think it will make us a more attractive employer in the community, he says.


The project is the largest office building to move forward in the Pacific Northwest Technology Park to date. The 226-acre park, which is owned by Dick Vandervert-led Granite Investments LLC, includes four buildings, three of which are retail buildings that front on U.S. 2, at the parks north end.


This is a real coup for us, Vandervert says. Its going to be a neat-looking building.


Matthew Byrd, of Cornerstone Property Advisors Inc., handled the land transaction.


Thomas says Ambassadors Group looked broadly at a number of locations both in the Spokane area and in North Idaho. Early on, the company considered relocating outside of the Inland Northwest, but discounted that idea because, he says, of its success in finding quality employees here.


He says the West Plains location makes sense because of its proximity to the airport and the availability of land for long-term expansion.


Wolfe Architectural Group PS, of Spokane, is designing the new structure. A contractor will be selected by competitive bid in coming months, Thomas says. He declines to disclose the projects estimated cost for now.


Ambassadors Group offers an assortment of educational travel programs for students, student-athletes, and adults under the People To People Ambassadors name.


Ambassadors Group spun off in 2002 from Ambassadors International Inc., which started in Spokane in 1967. Now, Ambassadors International is based in Newport Beach, Calif., and operates as a travel and performance-improvement company.


In 2005, Ambassadors Group, a publicly traded company thats listed on Nasdaq quotation system, under the trading symbol EPAX, reported net income of $22.4 million, up from $15.6 million the previous year. Its net revenues increased 28 percent last year to $66.4 million, up from $51.8 million in 2004.


Contact Linn Parish at (509) 344-1266 or via e-mail at linnp@spokanejournal.com.