Red Lion to issue 5 million shares
Red Lion Hotels Corp. announced Thursday that it intends to issue 5 million shares of stock in an offering that is expected to raise $57.7 million.
The Spokane-based hospitality company said it would use the proceeds to redeem securities and reduce debt. The offering is based on a per-share price of $12.31, which was the closing price of Red Lion shares on Wednesday.
Kellogg
Mining firm has North Idaho plans
New Jersey Mining Co. recently raised $1.3 million through a private placement, and will use the funds for several North Idaho projects, company officials said.
The money will be spent on drilling and exploration at the Golden Chest mine near Murray; development work at the Silver Strand mine near Coeur d’Alene; and upgrades to the company’s mill facility.
Spokane
S-R, employees agree to contract
The union representing 92 newsroom employees of The Spokesman-Review agreed to a new three-year contract Thursday.
The contract calls for wage increases of 1.5 percent in each of the first two years for employees who are at the top of the pay scale, or about 65 percent of those covered by the agreement. Wage negotiations will reopen in late 2007 for the third year of the contract, the first time the newspaper has had such a contract provision, said Paul Schafer, the newspaper’s production manager and head of the management negotiating team.
Erica Curless, a reporter in the Spokesman-Review’s Coeur d’Alene bureau and the newly elected president of Spokane Editorial Society, said, “Our membership doesn’t believe the 1.5 percent pay increase is adequate for our quality of work, especially with all the additional demands in this changing industry. But we realize it is the best we can do in these tough economic times and that it’s a good contract.”
Spokane
AHANA gives out excellence awards
The AHANA Business and Professional Association gave its annual excellence awards to several businesses, a nonprofit and an individual at the group’s seventh-anniversary celebration last week.
AHANA, which promotes economic development among minority- and women-owned businesses, recognized Comcast Inc. with the corporate award of excellence for its support of minority youth-leadership programs. Warrior Electric was the recipient of the small-business excellence award; the company was founded in 2004 and generates more than $2 million in revenue annually. Downtown Spokane restaurant Chicken-n-More also was given a small-business excellence award for its high level of customer service.
The nonprofit winner was the Native Project, which provides health care and wellness services and other support programs. Chepa Knowshisgun was the individual excellence award winner, for her work in organizing the annual Riverfront Powwow.