I am sometimes asked how the Journal of Business got its start. The answer is the kind you can’t exactly provide in an elevator speech. But I was there, so if you have a few minutes, let me tell you the story.

It’s a yarn I’ve written in various ways for past anniversaries of this cherished newspaper, so my apologies if you’ve heard the punchlines before. It’s also a story of how a new publication beat the odds to survive in a difficult industry, and one that became even more challenging years later.

It was a chilly Saturday morning in early February 1986, and all six staffers of the Journal of Business were scrubbing the dingy walls and windows of the inauspicious office space that would become our upstart newspaper’s first home, in an old warehouse building along Division Street near Sprague Avenue.

We had nothing. No office equipment. No furniture. No stationery or business cards.

We did have a desire—manifested that morning with each stroke of a dirty sponge, and in the nearly 40 years to follow, with each stroke of the pen, whether on a news story or an advertising contract.

Our first issue was nearly to press that February morning, orchestrated from our homes and pulled together in the back room of a commercial printer that had trustingly given us credit.

I also remember vividly the morning after the 28-page premier issue miraculously went to press a few days later. Our office space seemed dauntingly bare. A single working telephone sat on the carpet, and in a corner stood a handful of secondhand chairs left by an office supply store that had vacated the building. Skeptical of the startup’s financial depth, I bought myself an inexpensive desk and placed atop its imitation-oak surface an Osborne computer I had brought from home. After all, there was little time to waste. We had another paper to get out.

So went the early days of the Journal of Business.

Our sales “department” consisted of four people, headed by co-founder Scott Crytser, and our news team amounted to Editor and co-founder Norman Thorpe and me. We also lassoed a gifted artist seemingly on his way out of town, and managed to detain him as our contract graphic artist.

We often would run staff-written stories in our paper without bylines, embarrassed that we only had two staff bylines we could print. Every ad sale, meanwhile, was meritorious. No one knew of the Journal of Business, and only the bold were willing to risk their ad budgets on an unproven publication during unsettling economic times. The sales team would ring a small bell, placed strategically in the middle of our office, each time an advertisement was sold. Its chime was music to our ears. We still have that bell today.

In those early days, as we made our mistakes and the paper struggled to make payroll, we were amazed at the support we received. Spokane was embracing us as its own, and our confidence grew. Letters began arriving from business, civic, and government leaders, all congratulating our venture. Advertisers told us customers were mentioning our name. We knew we had something going, and it turned we would be fortunate enough to ride numerous ups and downs in the Spokane economy for the next nearly four decades.

The Journal has been more successful than any of us dreamed back then. It’s a much bigger enterprise today and became a subsidiary of Cowles Co. almost 30 years ago, when founders Crytser and Thorpe sold the paper to pursue other interests.

In recent years, our industry has been turned on its head, as publications fight for attention of readers bombarded with information from too many sources. Yet we have thrived, seeking to provide content not easily found elsewhere and amassing readership coveted by many. These days, we do far more than publish a bi-weekly newspaper. We also publish daily and weekly email newsletters, operate a news website, host events, produce podcasts, and publish specialty magazines, both for ourselves and our partners.

Perhaps the biggest change over the years has been our presence here. It’s a rare occurrence now when we have to explain to someone locally what the Journal is. Top executives and managers welcome us into their offices and factories. Advertisers support us with their pocketbooks, as do our loyal readers. This more than anything is why I still love to come to work, so many, many years after that Saturday spent cleaning up the Journal’s first humble home.

Author and speaker Simon Sinek tells us to always start with our “why” before deciding what your “how” and “what” should be. We did that.

Our Why 

"In everything we do, we strive to help Spokane and the Inland Northwest build a stronger economy and a more vital community for its residents."

Our How

 "We do that by informing and educating the business community and its partners,  by connecting advertisers to customers, and by bringing leaders together. 

Our What

We publish a bi-weekly newspaper and a host of annual resource guides. We produce daily and weekly e-mail newsletters, a robust website, social media, and podcasts. And we convene leaders at important business events.

Starting with our why gives us the clarity to do what we do. And you inspire us. We remain thankful to our staff, past and present, and you, our readers and advertisers. 

So there’s our story. I’m glad you asked. 

Paul Read is publisher of the Journal of Business.