For the first time in years, some businesses here are beginning to direct their gaze northward for more than a passing glance, stirred by a recent rise in the value of the Canadian dollar and a healthy business climate in Canadas western provinces.


The loonie, so-dubbed because of the loon on the back of the Canadian $1 coin, climbed from a historic worst exchange rate of $1.61 to the U.S. greenback in January 2002 to $1.33 last month, before edging back up to about $1.38 this week. Its surge has some local economic observers anticipating a possible upswing in visiting Canadian shoppers, since their money goes substantially farther here now than it did a year and a half ago.


We believe there has been an increase, says Nancy Goodspeed, spokeswoman for the Spokane Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau. Although statistics arent available that could validate that belief, some hotels here are telling us theyre seeing more Canadian (license) plates, she says.


Seeking to play off the recently boosted Canadian buying power, the CVB and the International Trade Alliance jointly are planning a tourism trade mission to Calgary, Alberta, in early September. The main intent is to allow hospitality suppliers here to network and conduct business with Calgary media, travel agents, meeting planners, and potential leisure travelers. The mission will include a business session, a consumer show, and sponsorship of a major Canadian event, the Masters Horse Jumping Tournament that Goodspeed says attracts about 170,000 people.


Meanwhile, some businesses here that distribute products into Canada or that have affiliated operations there have been seeing strong activity there, which they attribute to the combination of a more competitive U.S. dollar and a relatively thriving economy there.


Larry Larison, president and CEO of Spokane-based Columbia Paint & Coatings Inc., told the Journal recently that the more even U.S.-Canadian currency exchange rate has made Columbias products more competitive there and helped it take some contracts away from Canadian companies.


Steve Taylor, general manager of the Spokane branch of Seattle-based window distributor Pella Northwest LLC, which serves an area that includes southern British Columbia, says that company has increased its sales in Canada as well. Meanwhile, he says, its sales here have been flat.


Dave Shea, president of Spokanes Shea Graham Construction Inc., which is owned mostly by Calgary, Alberta-based Graham Group Ltd., told the Journal recently that although commercial construction has been sagging badly in the Northwest, it has been going strong in Canada.


Washington state appears to be benefiting from increased trade with Canada. Canadian-provided statistics for the first five months of this year show that the value of goods imported there from Washington were up nearly 15 percent over the year-earlier period, to $1.77 billion.


Provinces prospering


Brian Parrott, senior trade commissioner in the Seattle office of the Canadian Consulate General, says, In western Canada, things have been really upbeat until this mad cow thing, which has been hurting Alberta. Theres just been a lot going on in the resource sectors. It has been a pretty upbeat market up there, and it looks like it will continue.


The economy in British Columbia, Washingtons and Idahos adjoining provincial neighbor, has been on a steady upswing since Gordon Campbell became premier there two years ago and began implementing a pro-business agenda, Parrott says.


Theyve been reducing taxes fairly aggressively to get them more in line with the rest of Canada and to become more globally competitive, he says. Also, he says, Theres been a lot of aggressive action to grow businesses outside of the traditional resource sectors, with noteworthy growth occurring in information technology, biotechnology, and clean-industry sectors such as fuel-cell development.


Business growth in the high-tech sector has been strong enough that Kelowna, which is located in the Okanogan Valley about 270 miles northwest of Spokane and is known mostly for its orchards and wineries, has begun marketing itself as the Silicone Vineyard, Parrott says.


The notion that Northwest businesses, weary from the protracted slow U.S. economy, might be looking enviably northward at a comparatively vibrant Canadian business climate does seem a bit of a turnaround from past years, he says.


Canadians were flocking to the Inland Northwest to shop about 12 years ago, when the Canadian dollar climbed almost to within single digits of the U.S. dollar, but a steady widening of the exchange rate over the years since then is believed to have dampened Canadian spending here.


Goodspeed, of the CVB, says, We havent been doing anything proactive in a while (to market the Spokane area in Canada) because the exchange rate has been so poor.


At least some business owners here say they still havent seen any rise in Canadian visitors, despite the recent value gain by the Canadian dollar, and in fact have experienced a further decline.


Erich Guenther, owner and COO of Guenther Management LLC, a Spokane-based hospitality company, says, Weve definitely seen a decrease, a mostly steady drop-off since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and he adds, I think were just barely starting to see it pick up here.


Guenther Management owns Ramada hotels downtown and near the big Northpointe Plaza shopping center and a Super Eight motel near the Interstate 90-Medical Lake interchange, and manages others.


The companys properties accept Canadian money at par with U.S. currency, and have been trying to do real aggressive advertising (targeted at Canadians), but its tough to get them down here, Guenther says.


If there has been an increase in Canadian visitor activity here, it has been occurring only very recently and leaves considerable lost ground to make up, judging by border-crossing statistics.


Figures provided by the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection show that slightly more than 2.6 million people entered the U.S. through the main Eastern Washington and North Idaho ports of entry last year, which was down 7.7 percent from 2001.


Through the first five months of this year, about 915,000 people had entered the U.S. through those ports, which was down 6.4 percent from the year-earlier period.


One major Canadian eventthough still far off into the futurethat the CVB hopes will generate additional visitor traffic here is the 2010 Winter Olympics, which recently were awarded to Vancouver, British Columbia. The CVB says it already is working with Vancouver organizers and Washington state government planners on how it might attract additional business to Spokane during the games.


It says Idaho reaped a $100 million impact from the Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City.