Our Region

The Smith-Barbieri Progressive Fund is a 501(c)3 charitable foundation that believes in the Inland Northwest’s quality of life and its great future potential.

Our region’s K-12 public schools, community colleges, and burgeoning university system are strong. We are home to large and small, generational and start-up companies. It’s hub, Spokane is the service center to over one million people in Eastern Washington and the Idaho Panhandle. Health care, higher education and service industries are strong and growing and the Inland Northwest boasts some of the most beautiful waterways and mountains in the world.

Our region also possesses its share of challenges. It is home to areas of dense poverty and crime. Compared to Washington State, Idaho and the U.S., the Inland Northwest falls behind in all measurable income categories and has higher unemployment rates. There is a dedicated network of non-profits overburdened by the elimination and/or reduction of services and public and private funding.

The Seattle and Boise areas are often more familiar and recognized, but the Inland Northwest is a critical economic component for both Washington & Idaho. The health of our region is unique in its economic generators, challenges and opportunities and is important to the health of the Pacific Northwest as a whole.

The Inland Northwest

Inland Northwest Population and Poverty Statistics

Source: https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219