Idaho Business Review, Boise articles from February 2006

Idaho Business Review, Boise archives from February 2006

Boise-based Los Pastores sells salsa to raise funds for drug and alcohol recovery.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert "I've probably ministered to more people selling salsa than I have in the pulpit," said David Collins, co-owner of Los Pastores Salsa and pastor at RiverWind Fellowship, Eagle. Collins and his wife Gina Collins,...

'05 home sales in Ada and Canyon counties set record.
February 6, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Home sales hit record highs in Ada and Canyon counties again in 2005. Total sales increased by 33.9 percent in Ada County, from 9,123 to 12,222, according to statistics from the Intermountain Multiple Listing...

Boise-based Alliance Title slates office at El Dorado park.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Alliance Title & Escrow Corp. plans to open a Meridian office April 1 its eighth in the Treasure Valley, 29th overall and fourth in the past year. Boise-based Alliance leased 1,600 square feet in a multi-tenant...

Homes in Ada and Canyon counties stay on market longer in 4th quarter.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Houses stayed on the market longer in Ada and Canyon counties during the fourth quarter, compared to a year earlier, even though unit sales and prices continued to exceed 2004 levels, new data show. In the last...

Panel of Idaho business leaders grapple with future of recruitment.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Business leaders may not buy all of Ed Barlow's dire predictions about U.S. competitiveness, but there's no denying his premise that finding and developing workers will be critical. A panel of Idaho business...

Economic futurist predicts China and India will dominate global economy and worker pool.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Steven Anderson A specter is haunting America. The specter of Chindia. In a few decades, China and India will dominate the global economy and the global worker pool. By the end of the century, China "will be,...

Recently hot Coldwater Creek stock still gets warm reviews.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Coldwater Creek Inc. stock sprinted in 2005, and analysts still like it. Shares of the Sandpoint-based retailer (NASDAQ:CWTR) were trading around $20.50 last week, compared to a one-year range between $10.75 in...

Boise attorney helps restore rule of law to Iraqi province.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert Re-establishing law and order in Iraq was Boisean Paul Boice's mission. And one of the first things Boice, a Boise attorney and an Army Reserve captain, did there was issue Glock 19 handguns to all the judges in...

Eagle's Winding Creek mixed-use project grows.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Winding Creek, a mixed-use project on the east side of downtown Eagle, recently got bigger. The new Winding Creek East component adds 5 acres to the existing 22-acre project at the northeast corner of State Street...

Ada County judge rules Peterson must return Boise Tower site.
February 6, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Developer Rick Peterson must turn over title to the Boise Tower site to Capital City Development Corp., Ada County 4th District Judge Kathryn Sticklen ruled in a summary judgment last week. Published and...

Boise-based WinCo Foods once had ties to Supervalu.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Supervalu Inc., part of a group planning to buy Albertsons Inc., has had a Boise connection before. The grocery wholesaler and retailer formerly owned 25 percent of Boise-based WinCo Foods. Minnesota-based...

Six Idaho stores unaffected in OfficeMax closings.
February 6, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report OfficeMax Inc. will not close any of its six Idaho stores as the company reorganizes itself to attempt to improve its performance. The Itasca, Ill.-based retailer has announced plans to close 110...

Bread distributor Oroweat Foods of Boise to move to Boeing St., expand.(Company Profile)
February 6, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Bread distributor Oroweat Foods of Boise plans to move to a larger warehouse. The move from Allumbaugh Street in west Boise to a 46,000-square-foot building on Boeing Street in east Boise will include...

St. Mary's Crossing space in Boise goes to mortgage, law firms.
February 6, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Mortgage and law firms recently acquired space in the new St. Mary's Crossing office condominium project on State Street in Boise. Prime Equity Mortgage Group acquired a 3,200-square-foot building on the...

Pocatello-based AMI Semiconductor's 4Q net grows to 10 cents a share.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert Pocatello-based AMI Semiconductor, a maker of customized semiconductors, earned $9 million, or 10 cents per share, on revenue of $139.8 million during the fourth quarter of 2005. That's up from $7.3 million, or 8...

Boise Cascade Co. markets site in downtown Vancouver, Wash.
February 13, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Boise Cascade Co. has put its waterfront paper mill site in downtown Vancouver, Wash., up for sale. BCC views the property as "non-strategic" and as providing an opportunity "to free up some cash to invest in...

Office, commercial uses take shape at Meadow Lake Village complex in Meridian.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Meadow Lake Village developers say more commercial buildings are expected this year in the 140-acre senior complex, near the Eagle Road-Interstate 84 interchange in Meridian. Thirteen of the 40 acres set aside for...

Top 10 "ideal" gifts to give your special someone.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Angela Hagans Editor's note: In light of Valentine's Day this month, freelance writer Angela Hagans has compiled this purely unscientific, but informative list of the Top 10 "ideal" gifts to give your special someone now or at...

Second home more than a house - it's an escape.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Gaye Bunderson Nature, outdoor activities, and solitude.If those aren't good enough reasons to consider a second home in McCall or Sun Valley, there's always the inversion-free air and unobstructed night skies.Many fortunate people...

Staying flexible crucial to Idaho president of Qwest Communications International.(Company Profile)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Growing up in a small town in northern Idaho taught Jim Schmit to be adaptable - a valuable trait if you're going to work in the telecommunications industry with its wrenching changes. Schmit, Idaho president of...

Boise-based Skyline Development Co. plans major mixed-use community.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Skyline Development Co., a Boise-based developer, plans a major mixed-use community in the southwest quadrant of Lake Hazel and Five Mile roads on the southwest side of Boise. Plans for the 159-acre Hazelwood South...

Developer Rick Peterson discusses plan for Boise Tower sale; CCDC mulls funding.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Steven Anderson The Boise Tower project and site, including plans and building permit, would be sold to "a group of developers and investors with an Idaho connection" under an agreement longtime developer Rick Peterson announced...

Yearly passenger volume at Boise Airport tops pre-9/11 level at last.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert Passenger volume at the Boise Airport increased 9.6 percent in 2005, and the yearly total topped pre-9/11 levels for the first time. Last year, 1,569,734 passengers embarked on plane trips from Boise, topping...

Holly Plaza in Nampa attracts 3 tenants to ex-SuperThrift bldg.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Holly Plaza, an 84,000-square-foot retail center on Holly Street in south Nampa, is poised to get more tenants. That's because owners are converting the 26,000-square-foot former SuperThrift space into five smaller...

Boise-based Treetop's newly appointed CEO sees 'Windows' of opportunity.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert Treetop Technologies' view of Vista is a sunny one. Microsoft plans to launch its new operating system, Windows Vista, in the second half of 2006. And whenever Microsoft releases a new version of Windows, it's "a...

Poised to capture the security market -- Idaho Falls man invents system for detection of weapons.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Ken Levy Those all-too-familiar metal detectors we've all passed through may soon give way to weapons-detection devices we won't even see. Inventor Rick Fluck, founder and owner of Controlled Capture Systems LLC, is poised to...

'Louisiana' Cajun-chicken chain eatery planned near Boise State Univ.
February 13, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Louisiana Fried Chicken, a Cajun-style chicken restaurant, is planned to open in mid-April in the Broadway Plaza Center on Broadway Avenue south of Boise Avenue. The 960-square-foot walk-in, take-out restaurant...

Boise-based Saint Alphonsus hospital honored.
February 13, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center recently received the 2006 HealthGrades Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence. HealthGrades, an independent health-care ratings company, gives the award to...

Idacorp's quarterly earnings plummet on writeoff.
February 13, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Idacorp Inc. earned $7.5 million in the fourth quarter, or 18 cents per share, down by half from $14.3 million, or 37 cents per share, in 2005. A "goodwill impairment" write-off at the Idacomm communication...

Idaho Business Review to host Women of the Year event on Feb. 21.
February 13, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report The Idaho Business Review will publish its first Idaho Women of the Year magazine and host an event honoring the recipients on Feb. 21. The magazine will be inserted in the Feb. 27 edition of the Idaho Business...

Zions Bank economic consultant sees 'solid growth' for Idaho throughout 2006.
February 13, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Idaho economic performance "continues to rank with the best in the nation," economist Jeff Thredgold says. The Zions Bank economic consultant writes in his winter economic update that "most signs suggest solid...

Boise storage-condo builder eyes two more projects.
February 13, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report MSSB Enterprises LLC plans to complete the 89-unit first phase of its StorageCondos project at the end of March on Gekeler Lane south of Federal Way, Boise. Ron Ramza, vice president of business development,...

Boise Commercial Real Estate Symposium speaker predicts strong economy.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Don't worry about the U.S. economy, Robert Genetski advises. It will be fine - despite slower growth this year - as long as policymakers stick to classic economic principles, the economist and author said in a...

Boise-area companies tout mentor programs.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert Employer-sponsored mentoring programs are a powerful way to increase employee morale and company loyalty, according to representatives of some Boise-area companies. "From an employee morale standpoint, when people...

Narrow site in front of parking garage in Boise offers challenges.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert Thirty-two feet is plenty of room for a high-rise building, according to developer Scott Kimball. That's the width of his newest project, The Aspen, at its base. The planned 17-story building is to rise against the...

Experts predict sun will shine on commercial real estate in the Treasure Valley this year.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Commercial real estate experts expect continued strength in the Treasure Valley market this year. As construction, leasing and property buying stay strong, rents will start to catch up with rising construction and...

Idaho Independent Bank assets, earnings rise.
February 20, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Idaho Independent Bank reported after-tax earnings of $7.4 million for 2005, or $2.50 per share, up 48 percent from $5 million, or $1.73 per share, in 2004. Assets increased 29.2 percent to $509.8 million. ...

Proposed ordinance in Boise seeks to limit house height to lot width.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson If Boise approves an ordinance setting standards for building homes on narrow lots, that would be fine with Boise infill developer David Hale. "Ultimately I think it's a good thing, and a step in a positive...

Qwest to add customer-service jobs in Idaho Falls, Boise and Pocatello.
February 20, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Qwest Communications International Inc. plans to hire 350 customer-service employees in Idaho Falls, Boise and Pocatello. The effort will add 100 jobs at Qwest's residential sales center in Idaho Falls and...

Ada County rewriting decade-old comprehensive plan.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Ken Miller Ada County is on track for a summertime completion of its draft comprehensive plan rewrite, but planners caution the county shouldn't rush to meet its self-imposed deadlines before other regional plans are completed. ...

Boise-based T3 Cingular Wireless adds two new stores in Boise.
February 20, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report T3 Cingular Wireless plans to open two Boise stores in the next month, and add nine employees. An 800-square-foot store to open Feb. 21 adjacent to P.F. Chang's in the BoDo complex will cater to downtown...

Nampa-based MPC earns high marks from NASA contractor.
February 20, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report One of Nampa-based MPC Computers' desktop PC models was given the top ranking in computing performance by a company under contract to test computing products for NASA. Alterion, an independent firm that tests...

Idaho Power Co. seeks to buy power from Oregon project.
February 20, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Idaho Power Co. recently struck a one-year sales agreement with C-Gen Co. LLC to buy power from a 10-megawatt biomass plant in east central Oregon. Wood waste fuels the plant, which C-Gen operates next to the...

2nd annual Kickstart event slated March 22-24 in Boise.
February 20, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Bo Peabody, co-founder of Village Ventures and author of Lucky or Smart: Secrets to an Entrepreneurial Life, will be the featured speaker at the second annual Kickstart entrepreneurial symposium March 22-24 in...

Idaho companies turn to Six Sigma to cut waste, trim expenses.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert Idaho companies, manufacturers in particular, need to jump on the Six Sigma bandwagon if they're going to remain competitive in the global marketplace, according to an economic futurist who recently spoke in Boise. ...

Big Sky Airlines adds non-stop flight from Boise to Walla Walla.
February 20, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Big Sky Airlines started offering a daily non-stop flight each way between Boise and Walla Walla, Wash., last week. The flight from Boise to Walla Walla departs at 8:15 p.m. Mountain Standard Time and arrives...

Analyst 'neutral' on Boise-based Idacorp after earnings decline.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson D.A. Davidson & Co. maintained a "neutral" rating on Idacorp Inc. after the company announced lower fourth-quarter earnings recently. Davidson analyst Jim Bellessa also set a $33 price target for Idacorp over the...

Department of Defense awards contract to Eagle-based TenXsys.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert The loss of a limb doesn't have to mean the end of active duty for soldiers. Some amputees want to return to active duty once they've been fitted with a prosthesis, and the Department of Defense lets them if...

Boise State University mulls SkySuites construction project to begin in '07.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Gaye Bunderson Bronco Stadium is the home of a winning football team and one-of-a-kind deep-blue turf, but it lacks something most other Division 1-A stadiums already have: luxury suites. That may change by start of the...

Contractor registrations in Idaho pour in after deadline.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Ken Miller Maybe building contractors needed a good hard deadline to get their attention, or maybe it was the threat by banks warning they'd stop giving loans that contractors need for their projects. For whatever reason, six...

Want government contracts? Do your homework well.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Ken Levy Contractors and others wishing to add government agencies to their list of customers need to do a thorough job of preparation before making that first approach. Seminars such as January's "Construction Contracting...

Boise State Construction Management teams receive top academic honors.
February 20, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Boise State Construction Management teams placed first and second with two of its four teams earlier this month at the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Inter-Scholastic Regional Competition and Conference...

Meridian construction strong in January.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Meridian and several Treasure Valley cities reported sizable gains in construction in January and for the fiscal year that started Oct. 1. Meridian's combined construction value for the fiscal period rose by 44...

Boise-based CTA Architects Engineers remodels historical Meridian building.
February 20, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report A Meridian K-12 Christian school in Idaho will soon have a gymnasium with the capacity to house 1,200 people with the start of a recent building addition to the turn-of-the-century school. CTA Architects...

Firms shift focus with changing markets.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert It's the difference between a pop-up Internet ad and a Web site that comes up high in the search rankings. Or between blasting music in a crowded airport and text messaging the travelers to ask if they'd be...

Businesses benefit from using sophisticated, data-driven approaches to finding markets.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson It's no secret that big corporations spend a lot of money and crunch a lot of numbers before they decide to enter a market. But businesses of all sizes can benefit from using sophisticated, data-driven approaches...

Conference at Boise State Univ. to teach business leaders to 'be your own media'.
February 27, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Be Your Own Media, a marketing conference planned for March 16 at the Boise State University TECenter at the BSU West Campus in Nampa, will offer insights on how to use new technologies to reach customers. The...

Translating tech terms.
February 27, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Blog - Short for Web logs, blogs are online journals with frequently updated entries and are posted on the Internet for the public to read. They may be news-oriented or informational in scope or contain the...

Creative director at Davies Rourke Marketing in Boise answers questions about advertising.
February 27, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Editor's note: Ernie Monroe is the creative director at Davies Rourke Marketing Communications in Boise. He has worked in advertising for 30 years and had the following to say about his industry. Q. When should...

TiVo killed the broadcast ad.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert "The term broadcast is eventually going to go away I think," said Bill Drake, president of es/drake in Boise. Marketing firms might want to replace it with another term: the narrowcast. That describes what...

Multimedia campaigns tell the same story in different ways.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert A good multimedia campaign reinforces itself, according to Ernie Monroe. "When someone hears a radio spot you want them to think, 'I've seen that on TV,'" said the creative director of Davies Rourke Marketing...

Advertising statistics.
February 27, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report * The average consumer is exposed to 3,000 to 5,000 ads per day. Advertisers expect consumers to remember 1 percent of them. (Seth Godin, Permission Marketing, 1999) * When consumers record and watch programs...

Boise-based Idacomm CEO: Future bright despite 'heavy lifting' ahead.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson Business-sector growth in the three cities where Idacomm provides telecom services bodes well for the recently retooled company, new CEO Bruce MacMahon said. In the last several months, Boise-based Idacomm sold its...

Boise-based Micron counter-sues CA-based Rambus, files one suit in Italy.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert Boise-based Micron Technology filed two lawsuits against Rambus Inc., a Los Altos, Calif., technology firm, last week. Micron charged Rambus with violating the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations...

Ex-Oklahoma governor tells Boise Metro Chamber how state survived after bombing.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Brad Carlson The aftermath of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing proved to then-new Gov. Frank Keating that the state could confront challenges head-on. Those challenges included economic development, a priority during his two...

Larger Idaho Banking Co. HQ, new building, slated at Riverside in Garden City.
February 27, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report A headquarters expansion for Idaho Banking Co. and construction of a multi-tenant building are among projects under way at Riverside Office Park, Garden City. Developers Ron Sali and Dave Evans said the bank...

Boise's Marc Johnson heads six-office PR firm.
February 27, 2006... Byline: Lora Volkert Marc Johnson, a partner in the Boise office of the Gallatin Group, was recently promoted to president of the six-office regional public relations firm. The Gallatin Group has offices in Boise, Seattle, Portland,...

California manufacturer heading to Burley, Idaho.
February 27, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Mulholland Positioning Systems Inc. plans to move from Santa Paula, Calif., to Burley this spring, and hire 35 to 50 employees over the next two years. MPS will lease most of the vacant former King's discount...

Hewlett-Packard offers technology grants.
February 27, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Hewlett-Packard plans to give wireless technology packages worth $17,000 to as many as 100 nonprofit organizations. Organizations in areas where Hewlett-Packard has significant operations, such as Boise, will...

City of Nampa, Idaho, pays $8,000 in software settlement.
February 27, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report The City of Nampa, which was recently audited for possible software piracy violations, announced last week that the audit found only one software program that was not properly licensed. The Business Software...

Apartment vacancy in Ada County drops in January quarter.
February 27, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Apartment vacancy dropped to 7 percent in Ada County in the quarter ended in late January, from 8.5 percent a year earlier, a recent Ada Real Estate Surveys report said. Average monthly rent increased by two...

Boise Cascade agrees to sale of downtown headquarters.
February 27, 2006... Byline: IBR Staff Report Boise Cascade Co. announced that it has agreed to sell its downtown Boise headquarters building to Rafanelli & Nahas, a regional real estate developer. BCC said in a statement that it would become the largest...