“We’re hearing from economists that entrepreneurship and small business is the way to create jobs. The question I have, is what are we doing about it?” said Teresa Lemmons, executive director for the Washington State Microenterprise Association, in Federal Way, Wash. Lemmons addressed a roomful of microenterprise advocates gathered for the organization’s regional conference in Spokane Valley, Oct. 14th.

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In 2003, Lydia Kinne ventured into her 15th year by auditioning for Spokane’s Christian Youth Theater’s production of “Little Women.”

“I didn’t get in. I was really heartbroken,” says Kinne, who is now the box office and registration manager for Christian Youth Theater in Spokane, known as CYT. She came back in 2004, took classes at CYT, and performed in her first show — Pinocchio — that same year.

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Do you know where your customers are in the virtual world? Jamie Lynn Morgan, owner and creative director for Relationship Philosophy Marketing, in Coeur d’Alene, says that’s the first step to creating an effective social media strategy.

“The basis of everything that I have ever done in marketing, advertising, and business development has been about relationships,” says Morgan, who has invested a lot of time in using social media as a relationship-building tool. Her area of expertise is social media marketing and networking for the Inland Northwest hospitality industry.

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“We were stacking them up like sardines,” says Veronica Evans, recounting her experience working as a medical tech at Andrews Air Force Base several years ago. Andrews Air Force Base is an air medical staging facility that receives wounded service personnel from combat zones overseas.

“It was the first time they were touching soil in the U.S., and some were really in bad shape — critical care with up to 300 pounds of life-support gear,” says Evans. “Sometimes all we could do was clean them up so the family could say goodbye while they were still warm and breathing. That’s what we would do for the families.”

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“When I do things, my tendency is not just to do them, but to take things on with a great enthusiasm,” says Barb Chamberlain, director of Communications and Public Affairs for Washington State University’s Spokane campus.

Chamberlain is among Spokane’s top Tweeters, having logged over 12,000 Tweets, which have attracted more than 2,000 followers.

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Sabrina Jones aims to be a mover and shaker in the male-dominated relocation industry in Spokane.

Well, maybe not a shaker — just a Movher– with the emphasis on “her.” That’s the name of her newly launched moving company that debuted in Spokane in February.

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Barbara Baines was one of those Eastern Washington University students who found it hard to choose just one major course of study. She says that’s why she took an interdisciplinary degree in sociology, communication and criminal justice, graduating from Eastern in 1990.

Today, as Eastern Washington University’s Running Start Operations Manager, that interdisciplinary approach has served her well.

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