This is a tense time for those who lead the Spokane areas economic-development organizations.


Thats because its budget time.


For some, that has meant stating their case before city councils and the County Commission. For others, it has meant jockeying for position in the governors budget and primping for the Legislature. For most, it also means predicting how much private money their request-beleaguered donors will pony up in the coming year.


What theyre after isnt chump change. Several economic-development organizations here have annual budgets in excess of $1 million, and together the most notable players expect to have roughly $8 million in funding in the coming year.


Despite the still soft economy and the squeaky tight budgets of the government entities on which some depend, their revenues mostly are growing, and theres optimism that more economic-development money will be found.


The Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau, for instance, will have about $1 million more in its budget this year, giving it a 2005 budget of about $2.4 million, thanks to new funds from the recently established Tourism Promotion Area, which is funded by a new hotel-motel room tax.


Its been a great opportunity for us, says John Brewer, the bureaus president and CEO. It will allow us to be much more aggressive about marketing the area to travelers.


The Spokane Area Economic Development Council, which had a 2003 budget of just $750,000, has rebuilt its revenue stream to nearly $900,000 this year and likely will end up with about a $1 million budget in 2005, mostly due to more aggressive private fund raising and an anticipated federal grant.


Jon Eliassen, the EDCs president and CEO, had hoped this year to persuade Spokane County and the major cities within it each to provide $2 in funding for every citizen in their respective jurisdictions, which would have boosted the organizations budget to around $1.6 million.


The city of Spokane, however, was facing a serious budget shortfall and Spokane County and the city of Spokane Valley have their own financial challenges, so the EDC, says Eliassen, has been told that it will only get what its currently receiving from the three entitiesaround $425,000 collectively. Instead, he says, the organization is asking its member investors to give more, and will be looking for funds outside of the Spokane area to boost its budget and hire more business recruiters.


The EDC has applied for a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), and Eliassen says hes optimistic the grant will be funded. The EDC also is exploring possible state grants and might seek private grants from foundations.


In other areas of the country, foundations provide money for economic development, he says. Also, governments (elsewhere) are more active in funding economic development.


Eliassen says hes interested in exploring additional ways to support the efforts of the EDC and other agencies here through such tools as a dedicated sales-tax increase or the formation of a port district, another taxing mechanism, but worries about focusing too much on finding money inside this region.


We have to be careful not to go back to the same trough all the time, he says. What ultimately ends up happening, Eliassen says, is that one organization ends up getting money that another otherwise would have gotten, because the funding pie isnt getting any bigger.


We cant keep dragging money out of our left pocket to put in our right, he says.


One organization here that depends heavily on government funding is the Inland Northwest Technology Education Center, or Intec, which currently gets $485,000 a year from the state for its work-force training efforts and another $72,000 from the countytogether making up nearly three quarters of its about $770,000 budget.


Though Intec operates on a fiscal year that matches the stateswhich runs from July to Juneand thus isnt doing its annual budgeting right now, it recently secured increased funding from Spokane County for next year and is in the hunt for continued funding from the Legislature, which convenes next month. Intec CEO Louis Rumpler says the Spokane nonprofit is in the governors budget at its current funding level, and that hes hopeful that funding will survive whats expected to be a rough and tumble session.


Intec hopes to win additional money from the state to fund its Connect Northwest program, an effort launched this year that focuses on building the economy by supporting innovation-oriented entrepreneurs. Rumpler wont say for now how much money Intec hopes to get for that effort, but says the request will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.


Spokane County said it will double its annual contribution to the nonprofit, to $200,000 next year. Intec had asked for $300,000. Rumpler says Intec has been invited to come back to the county in June to request additional funding for its Northwest Connect program.


In addition, Intec this fall applied for a two-year, $300,000 grant from the EDA to fund some of its other efforts.


I think we could operate under the current funding scenario we have, he says, but we could scale it up if additional resources become available.


One organization here that truly is dependent on the state is the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute (SIRTI), which became a state agency in 1998.


Scott Simmons, SIRTIs acting director, says the agency currently receives about $1.4 million annually from the state, and hes hearing indications from Olympia that it will get slightly more in the next state budget. He says SIRTI requested morearound $2.2 million, or $4.3 million for the next bienniumbut has heard that it wont likely get that much when the Legislature hammers out its next budget under the cloud of a $1.6 billion revenue shortfall.


Any funding increase in such an environment is good, says Simmons.


Were definitely optimistic, he says. No. 1, were included in the governors budget, and No. 2, were at a higher rate than the current allocation.


The Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce is one of the few agencies here that doesnt rely on government money for its annual budget. Its current budget, which is based on a fiscal year that runs from October to September, is $1.6 million, says Rich Hadley, president and CEO.


The chamber gets most of its revenue from memberships, and the rest from event sponsorships and other sources. It did this year receive a $75,000 work-skills grant, but that is unusual for the chamber, Hadley says. The chamber also has done private fund raising for special initiatives, such as for lobbying efforts.


There also are smaller economic-development groups here that serve niches, such as the International Trade Alliance and the Inland Northwest Technology Alliance.


The trade alliance currently has an annual budget of about $190,000, most of which is funded through contributions by the state of Washington, Spokane County, and the cities of Spokane, Spokane Valley, and Liberty Lake. Roberta Brooke, its executive director, says the organization is asking for more money, but understands how tight government purse strings are and believes its budget will grow modestly, if at all, next year.


The technology alliance, known better by its nickname Technet, has an about $180,000 annual budget, but most of that money is in-kind donations and event sponsorships. It has no paid staff aside from a couple of interns. Jeannine Marx, its co-founder and longtime president, says the organization hopes to seek a private foundation grant and perhaps work with another entity in landing a government grant to fund a planned mentoring initiative for K-12 students.