Idaho Business Review, Boise articles from February 2002

Idaho Business Review, Boise archives from February 2002

Paper products co. cuts costs, poised for rebound.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Steven Anderson Boise Cascade Corp., Idahos second-largest company in terms of sales, weathered last years economic storms reasonably well, and sees brighter days ahead, a corporate spokesman says."Were in a good position we feel...

'High-end' home segment expands each year.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson While some high-end homes over $300,000 took longer to sell last year than in previous years, the upper end of the housing market continues to expand, according to Boise-area real estate professionals.Homes that sold...

A-1 Fireplace Co. plans move to bigger building.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson ***** CORRECTION: An article in the Feb. 4 Business Review, headlined. "A-1 Fireplace heads for Franklin," misspelled Scott Privette's last name. He and Pat Minegar own neighboring A-1 Heating & Air Conditioning,...

Analyst: Albertson's Inc. stock will perform well.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Analyst Bob Toomey believes Albertsons Inc. stock will perform well in the next year.Toomey, a Seattle-based managing director and securities analyst with RBC Dain Rauscher, met with about 50 members of the firms...

13-building storage facility slated for W. Fairview.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin Plans have been filed with the City of Boise to build a 13-building storage facility on a nearly 4-acre vacant parcel on West Fairview Avenue between Wild Wood Street and Five Mile Road.The applicant, Chip Gallagher of...

Rehab of Collister Shopping Center nears end.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin The Collister Shopping Center at Collister Drive and State Street in Boise is nearing the completion of a nearly year-long renovation by on-site owners who hope to revitalize the 40-year-old, 8.5-acre mini-mall.The...

Donut shop works to beat Krispy Kreme into ID mkt.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin ***** CORRECTION: An article in the Feb. 4 issue the Business Review, hedlined "Donut shop aims to steal a march on Krispy Kreme," said another donut shop, DaddyO's, was "under construction" at Emerald and Five...

Co-branded A&W/KFC eatery planned near new Target.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin A co-branded A&W and Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant is one of two retail buildings planned at the southeast corner of Eagle Road and Chinden Boulevard in Boise in a shopping center anchored by a recently opened...

Farmer's & Merchant's State Bank deposits rise 37%.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Boise-based Farmers & Merchants State Bank loans and deposits rose 37 percent in 2001 to $229,891,000, according to a statement from President and CEO Clarence Jones. Farmers & Merchants continues to focus on...

Financial advisory group forms Treasure Valley Wealth Advisory Board.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Financial advisory group McMillen-Buckley Partners recently formed the Treasure Valley Wealth Advisory Board which it portrays as an alternative to efforts by many institutions to group financial services under one...

Second Bolo's Pub & Eatery location planned.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin Bolos, a Treasure Valley-based pub and grillhouse, plans its second restaurant in early March at Eighth and Idaho streets in downtown Boise, formerly home to Doughtys Bistro.Brad Bolicek, a Boise resident who opened...

Farm & City Supply to add 2 area stores.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Caldwell-based Farm & City Supply plans this spring to add stores in Eagle and northeast Nampa.Construction began recently on a metal building of 13,000 square feet on Franklin Road south of the Idaho Center, Nampa,...

Annual Boise Commercial Real Estate Symposium set.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Sherwood Johnson III, international president of Building Owners and Managers Association International, is scheduled to discuss national and regional market trends at the 5th Annual Boise Commercial Real Estate...

Spud convention set for Boise in '03.
February 4, 2002... Byline: Steven Anderson The 4th International Potato Processing Convention is scheduled to be held in Boise in June 2003, and is expected to attract about 200 visitors from around the world, according to its sponsor.Set for June 3-5, 2003,...

Buck's Bags tackles NFL teams as clients.
February 11, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Boise-based Bucks Bags is packing its bags for San Diego and the annual National Football League equipment managers meetings Feb. 25-28."That is an exciting deal," said Steve Nyce, athletic sales manager for the bag...

Developer teams with church to build apt. complex.
February 11, 2002... Byline: Steven Anderson Boise developer Jim Tomlinson, in a joint venture with the First United Methodist Church at 11th and Hays streets, plans to build a $16.5 million, 148,000-square-foot parking and apartment complex on a block the...

Parking 'ambassador' roves 8th St., tickets lingerers.
February 11, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin A parking program in downtown Boise has gradually lessened the number of illegally parked cars along Eighth Street and educated drivers about parking alternatives, according to Capital City Development Corp....

Idacomm continues to expand fiber-optics networks.
February 11, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Idacorp Inc. plans to keep growing its Internet service unit, especially in the business market.The Boise-based company known as Idacomm will continue to custom-build fiber-optic networks for businesses and...

Washington Group International reduces projections.
February 11, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Washington Group International has significantly reduced its revenue and profit projections.Boise-based WGI, which emerged from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in mid-January, last week released an updated financial outlook...

Building Materials Holding Corp. earnings soar 23%.
February 11, 2002... Byline: Steven Anderson SAN FRANCISCO Building Materials Holding Corp., parent of BMC-West Corp., reported a 23 percent increase in earnings during the fourth quarter, while sales grew 15.3 percent. The company, which operates both...

Staples Inc. to close Rexburg store in April.
February 11, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin Office supplies retailer Staples Inc. plans to close only one of its eight Idaho stores the one in Rexburg as part of a companywide restructuring that includes the closure of 30 of its stores over the next two to...

Annual Accomplished Under Forty awards announced.
February 11, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Winners of the third annual Accomplished Under Forty award program were announced by Brian Hunt, publisher of the Idaho Business Review. The program spotlights forty business leaders under the age of 40. Judging is...

Commercial property surge seen this year.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Commercial real estate specialists expect the Boise-area market to pick up by late this year.Property investment represents the strongest market segment, while multi-family housing is weakest, said presenters at the...

Work to resume on Boise Tower.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Steven Anderson Work on Boise Tower was scheduled to resume this week following an interruption of about a month attributed to permitting issues and contract negotiations between the developer and labor unions.Developer Rick...

Apt. vacancy hits 9.2% in Ada County.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson The apartment vacancy rate in Ada County topped 9 percent last month, the highest in five years and nearly twice the rate considered indicative of a balance between supply and demand.The quarterly Ada Real Estate...

Second retail coffee shop opened in Caldwell.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin A Boise couple has acquired licensing rights and opened the Valleys second retail coffee shop in Caldwell featuring coffee from Boise-based roaster and distributor Treasure Valley Coffee.The 2,000-square-foot shop,...

Tapas Mediterranean Bistro closes doors.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin After three years, Tapas Mediterranean Bistro on the third floor of the Washington Mutual Capitol Plaza building has closed for good and its assets have been acquired by the restaurants landlords.Timbre Wolfe, a...

Work on St. Al's Meridian center due to start in April.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center plans to start construction on the 43,000-square-foot first phase of its Meridian medical office and outpatient surgery center in April.Boise-based St. Als announced plans for the...

Zions Bank to take over former Wells Fargo branch.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Zions Bank plans to occupy a west Boise building that housed branch offices of Wells Fargo and First Interstate banks at different times in recent years.The Salt Lake City-based Zions which is expanding its Boise-area...

5th Sunrise Cafe slated for Middleton in April.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin Construction has started on a fifth Sunrise Cafe in the Treasure Valley on East First Street in downtown Middleton and is planned for an early April opening.Brian Godsill, Sunrise Cafe co-owner, said construction of...

Alloway Electric Co. Inc. spins off lighting store.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Recent changes at the electrical businesses named Alloway aim to keep them growing in the Boise area.Alloway Electric Co. Inc. President Steve Batten sold Alloways retail and commercial products division to Alloway...

Auto Java opens 2nd kiosk on Ustick Road.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin The owners of Auto Java, a drive-through coffee and espresso kiosk in southeast Boise, have opened a second Auto Java kiosk in a mini-mall they purchased last summer on Ustick Road, between Cole Road and Mountain View...

Energy holding company chief to keynote Chamber meeting Feb. 20.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin The future of energy in the Valley and the nation, and the role of corporations, will keynote the 116th annual meeting of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce Feb. 20 at the Boise Centre on the Grove.Keith Bailey,...

Expansion at McDonald House slated to begin during summer.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson The Idaho Ronald McDonald House which houses families of hospitalized children in downtown Boise is slated for expansion this summer.Executive Director Mindy Plumlee said seven bedrooms and a second kitchen and...

National program promotes ethanol awareness.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Idaho Stinker Stations are participating in the USEthanol program, a new public awareness campaign on ethanol.The national program includes commercials, giveaways, contests and incentives. It combines marketing, public...

Hollywood Video to occupy space near Wal-Mart.
February 18, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Hollywood Video recently agreed to occupy more than half of a 13,000-square-foot building planned in front of the Wal-Mart SuperCenter in Caldwell.The Portland-based video movie and game store will be "an excellent...

Idaho Power seen on upswing in '02.
February 25, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Boise-based IdaCorp Inc. will be hard-pressed to repeat the strong performance of its energy-trading subsidiary this year, but its regulated electricity unit, Idaho Power, may show improved results."We have it rated...

3 Mexican eateries lease Treasure Valley buildings.
February 25, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin Three Idaho-based Mexican eateries have leased three Treasure Valley buildings that previously housed Montereys Little Mexico restaurants. Casa Mexico proprietors Ernesto and Lidia Rocha and Victor and Patricia Rocha...

WestCoast Hospitality logs 4Q loss of 4cents a share.
February 25, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson WestCoast Hospitality Corp. reported a loss of 4 cents per share in the fourth quarter, on lower room occupancies and fees.The Spokane-based hotel operators loss in the three months ended Dec. 31 compared to earnings...

Boise developer plans office park, care facility.
February 25, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin A Boise developer plans to start construction this summer of a three-building office park and a 20-unit residence for Alzheimers and dementia patients on a 2.5-acre site on Five Mile Road, north of Overland Road.Doug...

Bogus Basin Ski Resort may break attendance record.
February 25, 2002... Byline: Peter Rose With 267,000 skier visits through Feb. 19, Bogus Basin Ski Resort is on its way to breaking its record high of 303,441 in the winter of 1998-99, when it first began offering $199 season ski passes."Were 40,000 to 50,000...

Tire software firm buys data unit.
February 25, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Quality Design Systems, Meridian, just got some more traction in the tire industry.The designer and marketer of software primarily for tire dealers has acquired the operations of Open Road Technologies Inc., a...

Computer-design conference set at local university.
February 25, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson Boise State University will host a Computer-Integrated Design and Manufacturing Conference April 9.The one-day conference, at the Student Union Building on University Drive, will address "two years of exciting advances...

Former retail center converted to govt. offices.
February 25, 2002... Byline: Brad Carlson ONTARIO, Ore. Conversion of a former Ernst Home Center building in Ontario into office space, primarily for Oregon state agency use, has entered its second phase.The states Senior and Disabled Services department and...

Jack-in-Box buys former Exxon building.
February 25, 2002... Byline: Steve Martin Jack in the Box has purchased a long-vacant Exxon station on Capitol Boulevard in Boise and plans to start building a fast-food eatery there this summer.The half-acre parcel, between Sherwood Street and Ann Morrison...

Computer hardware distributor touts price, quality.
February 25, 2002... Byline: Peter Rose Put them down for $20,000 a day $4,000 for retail, repairing and building computers, the rest for Internet sales at RS-Systems, 10527 Overland Road.They sell every kind of computer part to individuals and companies...

High-tech biz accelerator to enter Boise market.
February 25, 2002... Byline: Peter Rose A fledgling tech company can have the best product or service in the world, but if it cant raise venture capital, it may go under.To cushion that hard reality, T2M, a Salt Lake City-based, non-profit business accelerator...