Interview with James Wood

Mark Richard writes:

"Today I hosted a telephone conference call and interview with James Wood of The Economic Report. The Economic Report (E.R.) is a national television program focused, you guessed it, on the national economy. Earlier this month Mr. Wood contacted me to ask just what we were doing that is setting us apart from the national economy. Readers might recall that Spokane has catapulted from 114th to 9th on Forbes Magazine’s Best place to own a business in the past 4 years. Spokane County has seen 19,000 new jobs in the past 2 years, and (see related web article at www.richardforcommissioner.com linked from Bert Caldwell of the Spokesman Review) has defied recent trends by decreasing unemployment in the past quarter.

Over the past two weeks, I assembled the leaders of various areas of expertise in our local economic development efforts. Today’s conference call included Mr. Wood and Harry Sladitch, President and CEO of the Convention Visitors Bureau, Mike Wilson; the Interim Director for Connect Northwest, Jeff Severs; the CEO for Greater Spokane Incorporated, and Mark Peters, Director of the International Trade Alliance. Each shared statistics and anecdotal information with Wood of how this region, in partnership with local government, has collaborated to enter the national marketplace.

Mr. Wood was encouraged by our success story and asked to reconvene next week with one of his senior editors to synch the deal for producing a story sometime in 2009 that will showcase the unique and collaborative efforts that have set Spokane apart from other regions for attracting and sustaining a vibrant and diverse economy. Visit www.theeconomicreport.com to read more about the corporation and their host, Greg Gumbel."

Get out there and vote for Mark Richard tomorrow!