Business magnate and philanthropist John Hemmingson says he has long held a vision to grow and share economic opportunities in the Inland Northwest communities in which he leads myriad entrepreneurial endeavors.

That vision is being demonstrated most recently through a collaboration between Lakeside Cos., which he leads, Gonzaga University, and a consortium of about 50 organizations, to form the envisioned American Aerospace Materials Manufacturing Center.

The center is planned at the former Triumph Composite Systems Inc. site on the West Plains, which Lakeside Cos. bought in 2021.

“The tech hub testbed and training center will contain the largest composites press in the world and bring together world-class equipment under one roof,” says Hemmingson, who at 71 years old has been named the Journal’s inaugural Business Leader of the Year.

He says the tech hub will help meet demands for technological advancement for the overall aerospace industry.

“Spokane will be the go-to place for material scientists, engineers, and the aerospace industry to prove new capabilities,” Hemmingson says.

Gonzaga University President Thayne McCulloh says he first met Hemmingson, a longtime GU benefactor, shortly after McCulloh assumed the top post at the university in 2009.

“In my first contact, he was a very private individual,” McCulloh says. “I came to understand how in many unheralded ways he was working to enrich and improve people’s lives and their communities.”

The vision to form a manufacturing hub began to come together as the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 was enacted by Congress.

“John had acquired the (former Triumph Composite Systems) manufacturing facility, and he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with it,” McCulloh says. “He had also been working on creation and manufacturing of advanced thermoplastic components for commercial aircraft, and there was an opportunity to see if we could bring these two things together.”

It took an ambitious and inspired effort by a large coalition to put an application together that could compete on the level with top research universities and manufacturing centers, McCulloh says.

The effort eventually resulted in a $48 million federal grant award early this year.

“John’s willingness to be open-minded about some of the assets and resources he had that could be part of this was obviously instrumental,” McCulloh says.

Hemmingson founded Lakeside Capital Group LLC, which is now Coeur d’Alene-based Lakeside Cos., in 1997 while residing near Lake Washington, in the western Washington city of Kirkland.

“I didn’t have specific things in mind that I wanted to do necessarily, but rather a vision of a company that could pursue bold ideas by empowering great teams,” he says.

One of Lakeside’s early successes was in growing a nursing education company named ATI, a pioneering learning management system for nursing institutions.

“That’s the type of project I really love, where we start something from scratch and grow it into a great idea … or a new way of doing things to build something we never could have imagined at the start,” he says.

He sold ATI in 2008 and began investing in opportunities in the Inland Northwest.

“I have lived in a couple of different places around the West and Midwest, but to me, there is something so special about this area,” he says.

The Spokane-Coeur d'Alene area has some opportunities similar to Seattle, such as tech startups, the aerospace industry, and higher education, Hemmingson says.

“So there really is no shortage of opportunities if you are looking for them,” he says.

Current companies in the Lakeside Cos. portfolio include thermoplastic composite materials maker ATC Manufacturing, of Post Falls; homebuilder Architerra Homes LLC, of Coeur d’Alene; canola, winter wheat, and reclamation grass grower Century Farms LLC, of Spokane; real estate development company Kootenai County Land Co., of Spokane; and Rainier Seeds LLC, of Davenport, Washington.

ATC, which stands to play a major role in the manufacturing hub, was chosen in 2023 as a key partner in NASA’s Hi-Rate Composite aircraft manufacturing project. That year, ATC also was awarded an expanded contract with Boeing Co. for thermoplastic composite components.

Kootenai County Land Co. currently is handling the 2,800-unit residential and commercial community planned between Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls.

Hemmingson's enthusiasm for economic and community well-being is shared by people who work for him.

Reilly Roach, who helps manage the agricultural concerns in the Lakeside Cos. portfolio, says Hemmingson has an ability to elevate people and challenge them to grow.

“He says people are an organization’s best assets, and if you treat them well, they will be successful,” Roach says.

As general manager of Rainier Seeds and chief financial officer of Century Farms, Roach spends a lot of time out of the office and close to the ground.

“It’s a unique culture in which a lot of people wear a lot of hats and get to be involved in different things,” Roach says.

Maria Lusardi, marketing director at Lakeside Cos., says Hemmingson has been an inspiring leader.

“One of the things he’s shown me is the power of relationships—not just meeting with people, but collaborating and taking opportunities to build projects,” Lusardi says.

She says she admires Hemmingson’s ability to see beyond the immediate horizon.

“He’s also good about staying on top of what’s happening right now and adjusting,” she says. “It’s rare to find someone who does both of those things really well.”

Lusardi says Hemmingson cares about Spokane and people on a personal level.

“He wants the region to succeed,” she says.

Hemmingson’s affiliation with Gonzaga long precedes the tech hub efforts.

The four-story, 168,000-square-foot John J. Hemmingson Center that opened in 2015 on the Gonzaga campus is named for him, in part due to a $25 million donation toward the project. But Hemmingson says perhaps the most meaningful part of his philanthropic work at the university has been the opportunity to help strengthen Gonzaga University School of Law’s commitment to civil liberties and human rights.

“Establishing the John J. Hemmingson Faculty Chair in Civil Liberties and additional contributions supporting the Center for Civil and Human Rights, I’ve been proud to help build a foundation that will advance this mission for generations to come,” he says.

He’s also been on the university’s governing board of trustees for over a decade, and before that he was on the board of regents, which serves in an advisory capacity to the trustees.

Lakeside Cos. and the John J. Hemmingson Foundation have provided philanthropic support to more than 50 organizations, including Kootenai Humane Society, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Community Cancer Fund, Innovia Foundation, and Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery.

“I have had the pleasure of serving on various boards and nonprofits focused on the betterment of the Inland Northwest,” Hemmingson says. “Through my family foundation, I also work to build resiliency in our local communities by supporting organizations that address poverty, education, medical research, and animal welfare. The most important thing we can do in life is lift others up.”