Publicly-traded companies soon will begin rolling out their fourth-quarter and year-end earnings results en masse, spelling out in dollars and cents how they performed in 2013. As we prepare to review the profits and losses for the 14 publicly-traded companies based in Eastern Washington and North Idaho, it’s hard not to think about how much that landscape is changing. 

A year ago, 15 public companies called the Inland Northwest home. That number dropped when Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. announced a mid-year move to Chicago and a name change to Coeur Mining Inc., leaving behind its historic link to North Idaho.

Last fall, as Coeur was getting settled in Chicago, Portland-based Umpqua Holdings Corp. announced that it had agreed to acquire Spokane-based Sterling Financial Corp. in a $2 billion transaction. That acquisition is scheduled to be completed mid-year. Umpqua has said emphatically that it will maintain a strong presence in the Spokane market, but regardless, the number of publicly traded companies with headquarters here will drop to 13 at that time. 

The 13 figure assumes that Coldwater Creek Inc. will remain viable, publicly traded, and based in Sandpoint. The specialty women’s apparel retailer received notice earlier this month from the Nasdaq stock exchange that it would be delisted if it doesn’t raise its share price above $1 for a certain number of days by July 1. 

The report comes amid deep quarterly losses and speculation of bankruptcy for the well-known brand. Last month, for its 2013 fiscal third quarter that ended Nov. 3, the company reported a $23.8 million net loss and a $34 million drop in net sales. It’d be great to see Coldwater Creek re-emerge as a relevant brand and financially successful company, but if it continues on its present course, the number of publicly traded companies here could dwindle to 12. 

I’ve talked a couple of times with Avista Corp. chief economist Grant Forsyth about this trend, if you can call it that. He says that having a strong group of publicly traded companies based in the Inland Northwest is important, because they typically provide good-paying jobs and are heavily staffed, in part to comply with all of the regulations involved with being publicly traded. Seeing the number of companies shrink is somewhat concerning, he says.

As the business community loses corporate headquarters, Forsyth says, economic-development experts might look to see what growing companies might be well positioned for an initial public offering or if there are any based elsewhere that might be interested in moving here. That last happened about 15 years ago, when wood products manufacturer Potlatch Corp. moved its headquarters here from San Francisco. 

The Inland Northwest continues to serve as the home to a strong base of public companies across a diverse range of sectors. In addition to Avista and Potlatch, they include tech-product manufacturers Key Tronic Corp. and Itron Inc., as well as Hecla Mining Inc. and Red Lion Hotels Corp, among others.

As we move into 2014, let’s hope that landscape doesn’t change profoundly—or if it does change, that those numbers start to grow.