Health care, manufacturing, tourism, and real estate are among current growth industries in Kootenai County that are expected to continue to improve in the new year, sources in North Idaho say. Alivia Metts, Post Falls-based regional labor economist for

In some sectors of the Inland Northwest economy, activity levels are returning to prerecession levels, welcome news that comes none too soon for economic observers. In overall employment, Spokane-area economists are expecting job growth next year, though

Northwest MedStar, the Spokane-based air ambulance service operated by nonprofit Inland Northwest Health Services, expects to take delivery early next year of the second of two helicopters it has bought this year. The first twin-engine EC-135 helicopter

A couple who needed jobs in the latter 1990s have built up a home-based, first-aid supply business here into a growing enterprise that now serves more than 3,000 employers across three states and employs five other people. Their company, Action Medical,

The Empire Health Foundation is projecting that its investment in health care initiatives next year will grow even faster than the size of its endowment. Antony Chiang, president of the nonprofit health foundation, says the organization this year has con

Cancer Care Northwest's new Valley clinic is off to a running start, due largely to new technology on hand for radiation treatments that target cancer tumors more precisely with less exposure to healthy organs, says Dr. Christopher Lee, a radiology oncolo