The Lewis Clark Valley Innovation Hub is a feature of a new joint office of Beautiful Downtown Lewiston and the Lewis Clark Valley Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber’s first day in the 2,000-square-foot space at 528 Main St. in downtown Lewiston will be Monday. The chamber was previously located in Clarkston.
But it will not have office hours right now because it only has one employee, its president and CEO, Linnea Noreen.
BDL moved there 2½ months ago from Morgans’ Alley, also in downtown Lewiston. Its hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays.
The leased office is in the Paulucci Building, immediately east of Tapped. The building is owned by Asher Martin RE, LLC, said BDL Executive Director Brenda Morgan.
The two organizations are collaborating on the hub, which is intended to help new businesses flourish, Morgan said.
The hub has four spaces with about 50 square feet each that are available for entrepreneurs to lease for as little as six months to test the feasibility of their ventures in a brick and mortar setting, she said.
Customers can make purchases from businesses at the hub anytime BDL or the chamber has office hours or during hours the businesses choose to staff the spaces, Morgan said.
Only one company is at the hub right now, Infuse & Booze, which sells dried ingredients such as fruits and herbs in jars for craft cocktails.
This spring, the hub will introduce a makers’ space with equipment that can be rented by the hour through BDL. The hub has two computers with software to process video and make printed materials, an industrial sewing machine and a vinyl cutter.
BDL and the city of Lewiston are seeking a grant to purchase a three-dimensional printer and engraving machine, Morgan said.
“This move … allows us to share resources and work more closely with other economic development organizations,” according to a chamber announcement about the new office.
Pilot school landing at Lewiston airport
A flying school that’s positioning itself as part of the solution to the pilot shortage is expanding in north central Idaho.
Pilot Training Northwest in Sandpoint is adding a location at the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport where it is starting with one instructor, one aircraft and four students. In Sandpoint, the school has seven instructors, four aircraft and more than 80 students.
“There is a significant pilot shortage in the U.S., and along with that, a shortage of aircraft mechanics and air traffic controllers,” said Jacob Klinginsmith, owner of Pilot Training Northwest, in a news release.
A graduate of the University of Idaho who earned a degree in engineering, Klinginsmith took over Pilot Training Northwest in 2022.
“There is a real opportunity and path to a very high-paying career,” he said. “The 2021 median annual pay for airline pilots, co-pilots and flight engineers was $202,180 per year.”
The school’s lessons are for people who are 15 and older. Discovery lessons that introduce pupils to flying cost $145 for a 45-minute session. Other instruction runs $205 per hour, including the instructor, fuel and aircraft.
The instruction is for individuals seeking credentials to be sport pilots, private pilots and commercial pilots, as well as those training to have instrument ratings or fly seaplanes.
Sport pilots can get their licenses without getting physicals, but can only fly one passenger at a time. The aircraft private pilots fly typically carry three to five passengers. Instrument ratings allow pilots to fly in a wider variety of conditions, such as when there is cloud cover.
In Lewiston, Klinginsmith sees the potential for Pilot Training Northwest to be at least as big as its Sandpoint school.
Additional information is available at pilottrainingnw.com.
Latest round of grants announced by Lewis-Clark Valley Healthcare Foundation
The Syringa Hospital Foundation in Grangeville received the largest amount of money in the most recent round of grants from the Lewis-Clark Valley Healthcare Foundation.
The Grangeville foundation is getting $97,776 for the safety of mothers and babies during labor and delivery, according to a news release from the Lewis-Clark Valley Healthcare Foundation.
The grants are made to entities with projects promoting health and wellness in north central Idaho, southeastern Washington and Wallowa County in Oregon based on recommendations from a board of community advisers.
Other recipients in the 2023 round of large impact grants are as follows:
- Community Health Association of Spokane doing business as CHAS Health, $40,000 for patient assistance program in Lewiston, Clarkston and Moscow.
- Family Promise of Lewis Clark Valley, $25,000.
- Helping Hearts Child Advocacy Center in Enterprise, Ore., $30,000 for child abuse intervention and youth empowerment project.
- Homes of Hope in Lewiston, $30,865.
- Idaho Foodbank Warehouse in Lewiston, $75,000 for mobile pantry program.
- Interlink in Clarkston, $71,600 for elder health home visitor program.
- LC Valley Resource Center in Lewiston, $85,000 for drop-in and overnight programs.
- Lewis-Clark District Council of St. Vincent de Paul in Clarkston, $65,000 for Help Idaho Families Program.
- Lewis-Clark State College, $50,000 for nursing and health sciences clinical resource center/skills lab equipment updates.
- Pullman Regional Hospital Foundation, $75,000 to train family medicine physicians to practice in and meet clinical needs of populations in rural and underserved communities.
- Sojourners Alliance in Moscow, $50,000 for an emergency solutions housing voucher program.
- St. Vincent de Paul Society – Moscow Conference of St. Francis of Asissi, $30,000 for emergency housing, medical care and utilities fund.
- Suicide Prevention of the Inland Northwest in Lewiston, $80,000.
- Winding Waters Medical Clinic in Enterprise, Ore., $50,000 for the Wallowa County Community Pharmacy.
The Lewis-Clark Valley Healthcare Foundation was established in 2017 by then-Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden as part of the sale of St. Joseph Regional Medical Center by not-for-profit Ascension Health to RCCH Healthcare Partners, a for-profit business.
Renovations being done at Gritman’s Troy Family Medicine clinic
TROY — Renovations are underway at Gritman’s Troy Family Medicine clinic.
The practice has been temporarily closed since March because of continued water damage to the century-old building, according to a news release from Gritman Medical Center.
The work by a local contractor to renovate and refurbish the building at 412 S. Main St. in Troy began in August and is anticipated to be complete in the spring of 2024.
Jennifer Grinage, a certified physician assistant, and her staff will continue to see patients at Gritman’s Kendrick Family Medicine clinic until completion of the project.
Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.
