Spokane Regional Business Barometer Q3, 2014
“Economic growth in the Spokane area hasn’t changed much in the last 12 months,” says Avista Chief Economist Grant Forsyth. He describes it as “just chugging along” and says he expects the economy in 2015 to look a lot like it did in 2014, “not terrible, but remaining modest.”
“I anticipate continued progress, at a reasonable pace, for Spokane’s economy,” says Steve Scranton, chief investment officer for Washington Trust Bank. “But I’m not in the camp that thinks it will be a blockbuster year.”
Shaun O’L. Higgins, Managing Principal of The Oxalis Group LLC and a longtime observer of the regional economy, has a more exuberant outlook. “Third Quarter numbers showed significant improvement in most indicators. They also point to a strong 4th Quarter and to full recovery of the regional economy as early as year-end, but certainly over the next 12 months.”
