Idaho Business Review, Boise articles from April 2007

Idaho Business Review, Boise archives from April 2007

Shops and restaurants in Atlanta, Idaho, not likely to get much business from nearby gold mine.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Shops and restaurants in Atlanta, Idaho hoping to see a little green from future workers at a gold mine proposed nearby may be out of luck. Though the proposed mine would be about a mile and a...

Mountain View High School uses in-house credit union as teaching tool.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Brad Carlson Mountain View High School Principal Aaron Maybon thought it was a good idea to use an in-house credit union as a teaching tool. His school board wasn't so sure. So Maybon first went to California to see an...

Salt Lake City-based Zions Bank launches online CD auction.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Brad Carlson The voracious loan appetite in high-growth communities often leaves banks scrambling for deposits - the cash they need to lend all that money. Zions Bank officials believe they have a solution: the brokered...

Idaho's Tamarack Resort real estate a hot sell.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Tamarack Resort has sold off the first offering of property in the Fairmont Tamarack. The first 125 condominiums and hotel-condominiums were sold in less than seven hours, generating $140 million,...

Broker plans way around new Idaho real estate law.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Lora Volkert Genius Realty co-owner Heinrich Wiebe said he's got a way around a new law that places new requirements on one part of his business: Charge the other guys. Gov. C. L. Butch Otter on March 22 signed into law the...

Triad Resorts to build Spanish Bit Resort & Casino in Jackpot, Nevada.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Eddie Kovsky According to the Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor, Jackpot, Nev., offers fun-filled gambling and entertainment at a handful of casinos in the small town, which is just across the Nevada/Idaho border. Patrick...

Peak Broadcasting takes over former Clear Channel Communications radio stations in Boise.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Brad Carlson Listeners should stay tuned to find out how the sale of six Boise stations affects the radio landscape. Some turmoil is likely in the coming weeks. Peak Broadcasting this week took over the former Clear Channel...

Contracts Awarded.
April 2, 2007... reizenbeck Constructors, Boise, was awarded a contract for Paradigm Condominiums at 402 S. Fifth St., Boise. Cost estimate: $4 million. Kreizenbeck Constructors, Boise, is the construction manager for Fairmont Park Elementary School at 7701...

Boise's 'Paint the Town' needs houses to paint.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Neighborhood Housing Services is organizing the 25th Anniversary edition of Paint The Town on June 9. With help from nearly 2,500 area volunteers, approximately 90 Southwest Idaho senior and...

Grant will help Boise State University engineering program get off the ground.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Eddie Kovsky Boise State University assistant professor Megan Frary has won the most prestigious award the National Science Foundation gives to early-career faculty. And on her first try, too. Frary, an instructor in the...

Idaho mill gets more efficient.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Brad Carlson John Bennett doesn't worry about lower lumber prices as he helps run Grangeville's year-old, $40 million sawmill and planer facility. The 160 workers at Bennett Forest Industries Inc. will keep getting more...

Atlanta Gold plans new route to Idaho mine.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Lora Volkert Atlanta Gold has changed the route to its planned Elmore County gold mine to allay concerns about truck traffic carrying chemicals near the Boise River. The company originally planned to take the North Fork Road to...

Former employee says developers considering building 'shorter' Boise Place.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Lora Volkert Charterhouse Boise has been considering building a shorter Boise Place, according to a former employee of Charterhouse. Gary Luke, who worked for developer Gary Rogers' firm until a month ago, said Charterhouse had...

Nomination deadline for Idaho Business Review's Accomplished Under 40 program extended.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report The nomination deadline for the Idaho Business Review's Accomplished Under 40 program has been extended to Friday, April 6. The program honors 40 people under the age of 40 who have reached a high...

U.S. Geothermal selected for 25-year agreement with Idaho Power Company.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report U.S. Geothermal, a renewable energy development company, is the successful bidder for Idaho Power Company's request for geothermal electricity, according to the Public Utilities Commission. Idaho...

Idaho Power Company wants to create permanent pilot programs.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Idaho Power Company wants to create permanent pilot programs in the Emmett and Letha areas to allow customers to shift their energy use away from peak periods of the day through the use of advanced...

Science/tech council meets in Twin Falls, Idaho.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Back in January, newly elected Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter rejected about $50 million in new spending recommended by the Governor's Science and Technology Advisory Council. Not to be dissuaded, the...

Boise-based Washington Group International to provide services for U.S. nuclear plant design.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Brad Carlson One of Japan's industrial heavy hitters picked Boise-based Washington Group International to work on its nuclear power plants. The contract with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries comes at a time when Washington Group...

Boise's Washington Group International partner works with company on Idaho project.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report OK, you have to read this one slowly. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries chose Boise's Washington Group International to do design work for Mitsubishi's nuclear power plants. Mitsubishi has an...

Qwest gets stake in billion dollar federal contract.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Brad Carlson Qwest was among three telecoms awarded a stake in the federal Networx Universal program administered by the General Services Administration. The entire Networx program is worth an estimated $20 billion over ten years....

Boise inventor wants entrepreneurs to get smart about planning a business.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Eddie Kovsky Caleb Chung is co-founder of Ugobe, the company behind Pleo, an autonomous toy dinosaur. Chung also designed Furby, which was released by Hasbro. He is one of the speakers and presenters at Kickstart, an annual event...

Interview with Kelly Mann, vice president and Treasure Valley manager of LandAmerica Transnation.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Lora Volkert Kelly Mann, vice president and Treasure Valley manager of LandAmerica Transnation, has 35 years of experience in the title industry. Prior to joining Transnation five years ago, he worked at Alliance Title and its...

Jeff Tunison leaves TitleOne, retains ownership.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Jeff Tunison, a founder and former vice president of TitleOne, has left the firm to join Intermountain Community Bank. However, he has retained his ownership in the company. I still...

Banks use title insurance to protect mortgage investment.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Lora Volkert Why do people need title insurance when they're refinancing a home or applying for a home-equity loan? It's a common question. After all, if nothing's changed since you bought the house and you're working with the...

Boise Real Estate Briefs: April 2, 2007.
April 2, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report JRA Nampa LLC purchased a 16,740-square-foot retail property at 224 and 300 2nd St. S., Nampa. Chris Pearson of Thornton Oliver Keller Commercial Real Estate represented the buyer. Hoyt Michener of...

Bid Briefs.
April 2, 2007... A Texas Roadhouse restaurant is planned on Bullock Street in Pocatello. Details of the 7,135-square-foot project are available from Greenberg-Farrow Architecture, 3455 W. Salt Creek Lane, Suite 100, Arlington Heights, Ill. 60005. A bid opening...

Building Permits.
April 2, 2007... BUILDING PERMITS CITY OF BOISE PERMIT/TYPE    OWNER    BUILDER    LOCATION    VALUE 00655-demolition    N& C LLC    Asbestos Abatement  ...

Idaho's governor says science and tech council went too far into advocacy.
April 3, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff Report Governor C.L. Butch Otter expressed his support for Idaho's science and technology industry at today's meeting of the Science and Advisory Council meeting, but he chastised the council for advocating for its...

Aspen condo development in downtown Boise clears CCDC hurdle.
April 3, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report The Aspen, a planned 17-story condominium project, has received its building permit and could break ground this month, developer Scott Kimball said. The building is planned on a narrow,...

State official says Idaho's science and technology industry is in trouble.
April 3, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Idaho's tech exports continue to rise, but wages are dropping. Idaho is no longer keeping up with wages in other states, university research spending is last among U.S. states and enrollment in...

Boise Web firm secures investment funding.
April 3, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Boise-based Balihoo has secured funding from investment firm Lacuna. Balihoo is building a specialized search engine for media buyers, planners, and owners. Lacuna's investment will be an integral...

Funding secured for Metropolitan in downtown Boise.
April 3, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report A downtown Boise housing development has a new lease on life. David Southers defaulted on loan payments to Hopkins Financial for his five-story mixed-use project, the Metropolitan, and Hopkins...

Restated earnings decrease MPC Corp.'s income by $6 million.(Financial report)
April 3, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report MPC Corporation has filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission to restate its financial statements for the fiscal quarters ending June 30 and September 30, 2006. The company...

Utilities commission approves Idaho Power growth plan.
April 4, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report State regulators have accepted a 20-year growth plan for Idaho Power Company, which calls for 1,300 megawatts of added generation from wind, geothermal, coal and nuclear resources to meet the...

Nampa-based MPC Computers gets stake in $5.6 billion federal contract.
April 4, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report MPC Computers has been awarded a prime contractor position on a new federal contract for the procurement of IT hardware and software, the company said in a press release. The Solutions for...

Boise-based Micron Technology reports 2nd quarter loss of $52 million.(Financial report)
April 4, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Micron Technology announced a net loss of $52 million on net sales of $1.43 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2007. Market conditions in the second quarter of fiscal 2007 for memory...

17-story hotel/condo tower to accompany Boise Whole Foods.
April 5, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Whole Foods plans to submit to the city of Boise later this month development designs for a 17-story building, according to Chuck Winder, president of brokerage firm The Winder Co. Plans call for a...

Boise-based Syringa Bancorp steps up stock offer.
April 6, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Syringa Bancorp on April 2 said it doubled the dollar amount of a stock offering due to higher-than-expected demand. Boise-based Syringa boosted the offering from the original $10,044,000 to $21,786,502....

Twin Falls-Sun Valley market added to U.S. radio survey.
April 6, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Media and marketing researcher Arbitron Inc. on April 5 said it is adding Twin Falls-Sun Valley to its Spring 2007 Radio Ratings Survey. With the survey, New York City-based Arbitron aims to help...

Idaho-based TechHelp aids about 200 companies a year.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff At Western Trailers, plant expansion and stepped-up production came with a price: reduced efficiency. Enter TechHelp, the manufacturing extension program that Idaho's three public universities operate. TechHelp is...

Tech wages rise in Idaho; other data points downward.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff The most recent meeting of the Governor's Science and Technology Advisory Council, and the council's conversation with Governor C.L. Butch Otter, was focused on an alarming statistic which signaled a downturn in Idaho's...

Familiar TV face finds new home radio market in in Treasure Valley.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff Tester Broadcasting Group CEO Dave Tester says opportunities abound for his small but growing radio broadcasting company even as major corporate broadcasters and well-funded private players work the growing Treasure...

Idaho-based Tester Broadcasting tweaks stations.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff Tester Broadcasting Group early this year took over operation of five radio stations owned by FM Idaho. The previous operator was Locally Owned Radio, of Twin Falls. Tester Broadcasting CEO Dave Tester said he plans...

Correction.(Correction notice)
April 9, 2007... Peak Broadcasting hired Kevin Godwin, former regional vice president for Citadel Broadcasting, to run the Boise stations that Peak acquired from Clear Channel Communications. An April 2 story incorrectly said Peak hired Jeff Godwin.

Boise City attorney says corpse on the ground here is going to be municipal, county capital planning.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff The corpse on the ground here is going to be municipal and county capital planning. That's what attorney Matthew Wilde said will be the effect of a lawsuit he lost. Wilde, an assistant city attorney for Boise, as...

Developer: Private sector should lead revitalization of downtown Nampa.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff Redeveloping downtown Nampa is best done by private developers, Jeff Needs says. Many are local and bought their commercial properties long before prices jumped, he said. That enables them to consider projects that...

Idaho teen entrepreneur stacks the 'DECA' in his favor.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff Trevor Shephard, a senior at Mountain View High School, bought his first business - the Super Shavers Sno Shack - when he was 16. During his junior year, he won a state and then a national independent business award...

New funding source puts Metropolitan in Boise back on track.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff A downtown Boise housing development has a new lease on life. David Southers defaulted on loan payments to Hopkins Financial for his project, the Metropolitan, and Hopkins scheduled a public auction for the site. ...

Interest rates help commercial investment real estate in Boise.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff Commercial investment real estate didn't slow down much in Boise in the first quarter. Some softness in the office sector was offset by new enthusiasm for apartment complexes and industrial buildings, commercial real...

Developer gets approval to start construction on The Aspen in Boise.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff The Aspen, a 17-story condominium project, has received its building permit and could break ground this month, developer Scott Kimball said. The building is planned on a narrow, 32-foot site between the City Centre...

2007 Idaho legislative session in review.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff Here's a summary of business Legislation considered during this year's session. Some bills passed, many didn't, and a few weren't even printed. House Bill 246 would have allowed regional public transportation...

Xerox plans buy of Boise Office Equipment parent.(Company overview)
April 9, 2007... Byline: Brad Carlson Xerox Corp. plans to buy Boise Office Equipment's parent company, giving BOE its second new owner in about a year. A $1.5 billion cash and stock deal would make Global Imaging Systems Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary...

Every day is a disaster for Idaho State's 'SIMS'.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff Sooner or later, everyone makes a mistake in his or her professional life. A deadline gets missed, a file is lost or a sale falls through. We learn from our mistakes and move on. But health care providers - paramedics,...

Nanotechnology in Idaho: It's what's for dinner.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff Food processing will take a giant leap forward in the coming decade, thanks to science and the arrival of nanotech. That doesn't mean we'll be chowing down on microchips. Applying nanotechnology to food processing is...

An interview with Tim White: President Univ. of Idaho - Focus.(Interview)
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff Q: What's new at the university? A: It's still open. We feel very good about how the legislative process is turning out. Education appeared much more strongly in Otter's State of the State and budget. The Legislature has...

Building Permits.
April 9, 2007... BUILDING PERMITS CITY OF BOISE PERMIT/TYPE    OWNER    BUILDER    LOCATION    VALUE 00784-sign    Idaho Trust National Bank    Aim Sign...

Commentary: Why you should consider going back for an MBA - Focus.
April 9, 2007... Byline: John R. Maculley, Jr. The Financial Times recently reported that this is the best time in a decade for MBA programs. Studies show that interest in earning the coveted MBA degree is at an all-time high, driven primarily by strong...

Bid Briefs.
April 9, 2007... A Lowe’s home-center store is planned at 305 W. Overland Road, Meridian. Details of the 169,112-square-foot project are available from Lowes Cos. Inc., 1605 Curtis Bridge Road, Wilkesboro, N.C. 28697. A bid opening is yet to be set. The...

Contracts Awarded.
April 9, 2007... The Ewing Co., Boise, is the construction manager for Lake Ridge Elementary in Nampa. Cost estimate: $8 million. Camco Construction, Salt Lake City, was awarded a contract for Talbots in the Boise Towne Square (negotiated). Cost not listed....

Boise Real Estate Briefs: April 9, 2007.
April 9, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff A three-story, 88-room Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott is planned on Midland Road north of the new Karcher Road interchange with Interstate 84, Nampa. JRW Construction owner Renny Wylie of Eagle, a partner in the...

Boise auto dealer penalized for advertising violations.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report The Boise auto dealer will pay a $5,000 civil penalty and $830.12 in attorney fees as a result of a legal settlement with the Idaho Attorney General. The settlement resolves allegations that the...

Work on Boise Place to start this week.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Construction will begin this week on the former Boise Tower site to bring the site and the base of the building up to street level, Boise Place developer Gary Rogers told the board of commissioners...

WinCo Foods opening in Eagle.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report WinCo Foods LLC is starting construction of its long-planned grocery store in Eagle. When they first acquired the site in 2000, officials with Boise-based WinCo knew it would be a while before...

Urban areas lead Idaho growth.
April 9, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Idaho's 11 urban statistical areas grew by 2.8 percent from mid-2005 to mid-'06, while the country's other 927 statistical areas grew by 1 percent, new U.S. Census Bureau data show. Most of...

Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Ray Stark: Some legislative issues aren't going away.
April 10, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Ray Stark has his eye on the committee formed to study Idaho tax exemptions. The committee meets this summer and fall to study all tax exemptions, credits...

Boise Place developer in default on loan.
April 10, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Boise Place developer Gary Rogers is in default on a $2,575,000 loan for his project on the former Boise Tower site. Alpha Lending issued a notice of default to Rogers' firm, Charterhouse...

Census data reinforces Idaho's urban shift.
April 11, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Idaho's biggest cities and urban areas showed no signs of any slowdown in population growth last year, with four ranking among the nation's 65 fastest-growing cities, according to the latest U.S. Census...

Boise Rescue Mission not quite ready for move.
April 11, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report The sign outside the Boise Rescue Mission reads, Thanks C-Squared for helping us move. It's a little premature, Rescue Mission Executive Director Bill Roscoe said. Developers Gary Christensen...

US Banker ranks Idaho-based Cascade Bancorp highly; earnings up.(Financial report)
April 12, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff US Banker Magazine, in annual survey results published in its new issue, ranks Cascade Bancorp 12th in the nation among mid-tier banks. Cascade purchased Boise-based Farmers & Merchants State Bank...

Citi will cut jobs in Meridian.
April 12, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff But Citi's job-cut plan won't affect the financial institution's Idaho workforce as much as its nationwide operations in percentage terms, a spokesperson said. The country's largest financial...

Idaho Power filing for annual rate adjustment.
April 13, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Idaho Power, which plans to file its annual Power Cost Adjustment case with state regulators today, said April 9 that inflow into Brownlee Reservoir is slightly less than 60 percent of average. Brownlee,...

Two banks with Idaho offices slate mergers.
April 13, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Two banks with multiple Idaho offices, Sterling Savings and Banner Bank, plan to grow by acquisition. Sterling Financial Corp. officials this week announced plans to buy North Valley Bancorp, a...

Idaho Independent Bank grows earnings.
April 13, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Idaho Independent Bank's first-quarter earnings increased 13 percent from a year earlier, to $2.6 million. Fully diluted earnings per share for the March 31 quarter were 43 cents compared to 39 cents a...

New hospital leasing land from City of Boise.
April 13, 2007... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff A group of investors planning to build a new hospital at Fairview and 27th Avenue have a draft agreement to lease some of the land from the City of Boise. Kirk Miller is listed as the manager of...

Proposed largest building in downtown Boise: Could this hole get any deeper?
April 16, 2007... Byline: Lora Volkert Second verse, same as the first. The developer of what would be the largest building in downtown Boise at Eighth and Main streets is in financial trouble. He has no construction financing yet and has been declared...

Idaho Cobalt project by no means cheap - or quick.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Brad Carlson Mining requires deep digging. Planning a mine requires deep pockets. And patience. If construction of the Idaho Cobalt Project starts in October or November as its backer hopes, the company will have spent...

Downtown Boise business dries up on dry First Thursdays.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Lora Volkert It's Thursday night. Perry Allen, who runs The Basement Gallery, pours another pitcher of water into a cooler of sliced lemons. A year ago, he might have been pouring glasses of wine. But last July the Idaho State...

Light snow lightens Sun Valley ski totals 2006-07.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Brad Carlson It was the drive market that shrank for the Sun Valley ski resort in response to below-average snowfall in the recently completed season, spokesman Jack Sibbach said. Most of the decrease in skier visits came from...

Boise Tower ruling means CCDC may not get settlement money.
April 16, 2007... Byline: IBR Staff A federal judge ruled against Boise Tower Associates in its lawsuit against a lender that backed out of funding the Boise Tower project. Federal Magistrate Judge Mikel Williams ruled in favor of Seattle-based...

Nampa aerobatic pilot Poe picks ethanol plane for '07 show circuit.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Brad Carlson Greg Poe of Nampa flies aerobatic planes in air shows around the country, at times 20 feet off the ground and upside-down. This year, he's flying an ethanol-powered plane. The Fagen MX-2 is a 385-horsepower,...

Chamber lobbyist says anti-Boise bias may have defeated infrastructure funding.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Lora Volkert Cities throughout Idaho that are struggling to fund their infrastructure needs got no help from the state Legislature this year, and it may be retribution for electing Democrats, says a key lobbyist for the Boise Metro...

Boise State Univ.'s executive MBA students learn to do business across cultural divides.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Lora Volkert The challenge of building a business relationship across cultural barriers reminded Professor Nancy Napier of a joke: Two men go into a bar, Napier said. One says 'cheers.' The other says 'are we here to drink or...

U.S. Sen. Larry Craig tells City Club in Boise: Immigration important to continued growth.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Eddie Kovsky Militia groups who are patrolling the border on their own initiative are a product of federal policy failure, U.S. Senator Larry Craig told the City Club Forum April 5. Local citizens are being impacted, he said....

Parma-based Parma Post & Pole nets $245k fed grant for 'high-end' wood.
April 16, 2007... Byline: Brad Carlson Parma Post & Pole owner Mike Sterling plans to use a $245,000 federal grant to go high-end. The Parma company's 12 employees make about 160 products, from fence posts and tree stakes to utility poles. Clients...