Spokane-based Hospitality Associates Inc. has re-franchised 30 of the 50 hotels it owns and operatesincluding two hereunder an agreement reached recently with Dallas, Tex.-based La Quinta Inns Inc.As part of the transition to the new new the

Brian and Kathy Mathis might well take a certain satisfaction from telling motorists where they can get off.Its not that either of them is prone to road rage. Its just that the need to tell drivers where to go and where not to go, and what &

Ashley Gardens at Northpointe, a 2-year-old dementia-care facility at 12420 N. Ruby, on Spokanes North Side, closed its doors last month, laying off 23 workers and forcing eight residents to find other accommodations.Two other dementia-care to

In a ruling with potentially broad implications for employers, the Washington state Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal of a civil lawsuit brought by a Spokane worker who claimed she developed a stress disorder and quit her job because of an and

After sustaining deep financial wounds in 2001, Avista Corp. is aiming to take some important steps in the first quarter toward recovery.First, though, the Spokane company, hurt over the last two years by precipitous wholesale energy prices and

Entry-level workers here saw more of an increase in their starting pay last year than did their mid-career counterparts, an annual compensation survey says.Thats what we call salary compression, says Bill Sweigert, director of consulting a

An interest in a four-store chain of Mattress Outlet stores, including two stores here and stores in Coeur d Alene and Kennewick, is being bought by a former regional vice president of the Southern California franchise of Serta Mattress Co.Ken

Itronix Corp., the Spokane maker of rugged wireless computers, is considering whether to consolidate its Spokane offices and manufacturing operations into one facility.The company currently leases the 30,000-square-foot former IBM complex, at S.

The group thats investigating building a biodiesel-processing plant here says it expects to have completed a draft business plan for the project in 90 days and hopes construction will start on the facility in early 2003.While the group has no

Two retail chains have leased new sites in neighboring buildings at the southeast corner of Sprague Avenue and Sullivan Road in the Spokane Valley.Hancock Fabrics Inc., a Tupelo, Miss.-based sewing and home-decorations retailer, has leased the &