Idaho Business Review, Boise articles from July 2008

Idaho Business Review, Boise archives from July 2008

Avista gives Idaho customers advanced warning of rate hikes.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone As the price for natural gas continues to rise in tandem with gasoline, commercial and residential customers alike will see their power bills increase dramatically this winter, Avista Corp. said in a release on...

New federal law extends unemployment benefits.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Up to 5,000 Idaho workers may be eligible for extended unemployment benefits, and 15,000 more could become eligible over the next 12 months, under federal legislation that President George W. Bush signed June 30. The...

Stinky situation for everyone in Burley.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Robb Hicken Earlier this week, the Burley City Council decided to issue a legal warning to a the Pacific Ethanol plant owners. The neighbors are raising a stink about the industry that claims it's producing a cleaner-burning fuel...

Primary Health promotes 'affordable' health plan in Idaho.
July 4, 2008... Byline: Simon Shifrin Primary Health Inc., one of Idaho's largest insurance providers, is promoting a new health insurance plan the company describes as affordable and focused on preventative care. The SmartHealth for Business plan...

Real estate investment demand in Boise OK; funding slow.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Economic concerns and financing restrictions haven't completely dried up the flow of commercial real estate investment deals in the Boise area. We are experiencing continued interest from investors looking for...

Driving force in wind energy.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone If a proposed wind farm in the Jarbidge Foothills of southwest Twin Falls County gets through the permitting process it could be producing enough energy to power more than 120,000 homes by 2011. But it's likely none...

Second attempt allows Wal-Mart to build in Twin Falls.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Dani Grigg After years of planning and arguing and accommodating and resisting, Wal-Mart will soon throw down the first bricks of a Twin Falls store. The project is scheduled to accept bids from general contractors July 8. The...

Sun Valley firm offers green advice.(Company overview)
July 7, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone A new Sun Valley company is helping developers pursue sustainable green building projects by offering a complete suite of consulting and analysis services. Vital SPEC (Strategies for Performance and Environmental...

Keiretsu angel-investor group to gather in Sun Valley.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Keiretsu Forum, said to be North America's largest network of angel investors in promising companies, plans to host a meeting July 15-18 at Sun Valley Resort. Members and guests are slated to review presentations from...

N. Idaho College pushes eLearning, hires director.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone With advances in communication technology it's not unusual to hear of businesses run solely by email and phone, or workers who never step foot in the office. Education is following a similar route, with an...

Idaho lures firearms industry.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Simon Shifrin State officials hope to gain an edge in persuading one of the country's largest firearms manufacturers to move its headquarters to Idaho by launching plans for a state-of-the-art firearms industrial park. Idaho is one...

Tolman named as workforce development alliance executive director in Idaho.
July 7, 2008... Byline: IBR Staff Report Brent Tolman is the new executive director of the Workforce Development Alliance, a group organized to address workforce issues in south central Idaho. He will lead the alliance and work with its partners to...

5th District judge denies Blaine County request.
July 7, 2008... Byline: IBR Staff Report On Friday (June 27) a 5th District judge said no to Blaine County's request to put a developer's lawsuit on hold, according to a release from Cove Springs Development, Inc. The county, which plans to appeal Judge...

Eagle-based wireless tracking firm receives first shipment.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone Eagle-based global intelligence solutions provider Sky Detective has received its first high volume shipment of the SD30 wireless tracking device, its next generation global tracking handheld. The SD30, which improves...

Lewiston-based Potlatch Corp. picks CEO for proposed pulp-base spinoff.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Potlatch Corp. on June 26 announced that Gordon L. Jones, 58, accepted an offer to serve as president and CEO for the proposed spin-off of the Spokane-based company's pulp-based businesses. The proposed spin-off would...

Eastern Idaho manufacturer wins state employer award.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone The Idaho American Legion pays tribute to manufacturer and industrial contractor Premier Technology this week, after announcing in June the company had won the Employer of Veterans Award for 2008 in the large (more...

Stoller Corp. awarded $18.5M contract extension.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone The Stoller Corporation, a Colorado-based environmental, waste management, remediation, and ecological services company, has been awarded a two-year, $18.5 million contract extension for management of the disposal...

Idaho Real Estate Briefs: July 7, 2008.
July 7, 2008... Byline: IBR Staff Report Creekside Apartments, a 146-unit apartment complex at 529 Rossi St. in southeast Boise, was sold to Boise Green Investors II (managing member: Iconic Development). Cathy Rosera of MSA Realty LLC represented the...

Bid Briefs.
July 7, 2008... Byline: IBR Staff Report Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans remodeling, HVAC and refrigeration upgrades at its Mountain Home store. Project details are available from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Construction Department No.  8702, Ashli Amos, ...

Contracts Awarded.
July 7, 2008... Byline: IBR Staff Report  Idaho Falls, was awarded a contract to build a new Common Support Building at the Advanced Test Reactor Complex at the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Falls. Price estimate: $4 million. MBA General...

Commentary: Political columnist hits mark in Idaho.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Rick Carpenter CNN political analyst David Gergen gave Sen. Barack Obama the inside track on winning the presidential election during a speech before the Association of Idaho Cities recently, but said the next president will be...

Fractional ownership grows across Idaho.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Dani Grigg In the cold economy, the affluent are still seeking sunshine on vacations. But it may not be as plausible as it once was to fork out millions of dollars for a second home that will sit vacant for a majority of the year....

Balancing new growth with old values.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Steve Bunk Planners and developers have learned a few lessons from urban sprawl and the ensuing downtown revitalization over the past 15 years. In Twin Falls, where the boldest effort of the past three decades to remake the city...

Idaho staffing industry holds steady despite economic slowdown.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone As the economy faces a list of threatening trends - rising unemployment, record fuel prices, escalating food costs, fallout from the global credit crunch and a steep decline in the housing and construction industries...

Wind power projects coming to Idaho.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Mark Wilcox In Bingham County, the landscape of farming may be changing. In order to preserve their waning way of life, some ranchers are seeking to add wind to their list of things to farm. Unfortunately, traditional trucks and...

Southeast Idaho tech companies increase workforce, stimulate area's economy.(Company overview)
July 7, 2008... Byline: April Robinson Three southeast Idaho technology companies are expanding and upgrading facilities, creating new jobs and turning a small Idaho town into a thriving center for technology and industry. Premier Technology Inc., a...

Pocatello shopping district shows promise.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Mark Mendiola Finally landing a $17.5 million Costco wholesale mega store will help to firmly establish the greater Pocatello area as a regional retail destination and stop the outmigration of consumers and their shopping dollars...

After a year ... Idaho's wine industry rapidly growing after federal designation.
July 7, 2008... Byline: Roxanne Gail Beach Not since the end of Prohibition in 1933 has the Idaho wine industry's rate of growth been at the pace of 2008. This is only one year after receiving a federal designation for The Snake River Appellation. Issued...

Two words change University of Idaho undergraduates' futures.
July 7, 2008... Byline: IBR Staff When University of Idaho students Roxana Hickey and Rachel Westman discuss their research, they receive mixed reactions. Two words - vaginal microbiota - are enough to end a conversation or start a dialogue from...

Ethanol production - More spending, research on tap at Caldwell ethanol plant.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Idaho Ethanol Processing plans to spend $3 million to $6 million in the next year or so to fine-tune and improve the food-chain-friendly ethanol plant in Caldwell. Capital projects will aim to eliminate bottlenecks...

Sen. Larry Craig reports on trip to AREVA plants.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone U.S. Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, returned recently from a fact-finding trip to France, where he toured several AREVA nuclear facilities and met with the energy giant's CEO Anne Lauvergeon. Craig, who is a senior...

Post Falls considers 1,000-acre annex.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Dani Grigg In a city sick of urban sprawl, Post Falls officials are considering inflating the city's geographic footprint by more than 15 percent and edging the city limits farther into the prairie. The developer of the newest...

Architect starts new firm in Boise focused on sustainability.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Simon Shifrin Two years ago, Stan Cole left the Boise architecture firm he helped create over the previous decade, Cole + Poe Architects, to make a fresh start in a less administrative and more creative job with Steed Construction....

Boise-based Intermountain Gas sale positions service area from Minnesota to Oregon.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone MDU Resources Group, Inc., a publicly-traded North Dakota diversified natural resources company, announced at the first of the month it had entered an agreement to acquire Boise-based Intermountain Gas Co. in a $328...

Idaho Supreme Court: Insurance companies must broadly defend policyholders.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Simon Shifrin The Idaho Supreme Court ruled this month that insurance companies have broad obligations to offer legal counsel to policy-holders who face lawsuits in a decision that resolves a dispute that stemmed from an insurance...

Idaho unemployment rises on adjusted rates.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Idaho seasonally adjusted unemployment hit 3.8 percent in June, compared to 3.6 percent in May and 2.7 percent in June 2007. The May-to-June increase reflected a stagnant job market and escalating costs, and was the...

Boise-based Holland Realty merger creates state's largest sales agency.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Holland Realty, based on Emerald Street in Boise, is merging with Coldwell Banker Tomlinson Group, the firms said in a statement July 9. John Holland co-founded Holland Realty, which has nearly 200 agents and is...

Idaho attorney concerned about foreclosure.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Homeowners have five business days to void a foreclosure rescue contract under the Idaho Consumer Foreclosure Protection Act that took effect July 1. But Meridian-based attorney Lance Churchill says the law -...

New Idaho state finance laws to take effect.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson The three credit reporting agencies must freeze an Idaho consumer's credit report within three days of receiving a written request, under the Idaho Credit Report Protection Act that took effect July 1. The law aims to...

California dietary supplement maker plans move to Star, Idaho.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Simon Shifrin Palmer Natural Products, a California dietary supplement manufacturer, plans to move its operations to Star this winter, making it one of the biggest employers in the growing city. The company, now based in San...

Wireless tracker to be implemented in Himalayas, China.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone Located in the highest part of the Himalaya Mountain Range, Nepal's terrain is among the world's most difficult to traverse and communicate in. Now with a three-year contract to provide Nepalese satellite...

Commentary: 'Bipartisanship' - it's up to the voters.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Steve Ahrens The other day, talking politics with a friend who's also a state senator, I began pontificating about the Legislature's lack of bipartisanship in recent years. (Now, pontificating, you understand, is one of the...

Commentary: There's never any lack of demand for gasoline.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Robb Hicken I was looking at the beverages in the WinCo on Myrtle Street the other day when I overheard a conversation between two competitors talking about the strategies their particular companies were using to push the product....

Boise investment manager fights trademark infringement lawsuit.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Simon Shifrin A Boise investment management firm is fighting a federal trademark infringement lawsuit filed by a high-end residential real estate company based in Canada that uses the same name. Talisker Corp. of Toronto,...

After year of changes, Nampa-based computer maker MPC closer to AMEX listing.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone The American Stock Exchange has accepted Nampa-based computer maker MPC Corp's plan to regain compliance with listing standards, giving the company until November 2009 to come back in line. MPC officials were told...

Minimum wage rising; Idaho holds lower pay.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Robb Hicken State and federal minimum wages are scheduled to increase another 70 cents an hour July 24, providing a mid-summer boost of up to 12 percent in the paychecks of tens of thousands of low-paid Idaho workers, the Idaho...

ON Semiconductor's King joins Open-Silicon Inc. board.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Chris King has joined the board of directors of Open-Silicon Inc., a fabless semiconductor company providing a reliable, predictable and cost-effective alternative to traditional chip design and...

Building Permits.
July 14, 2008... BUILDING PERMITS CITY OF BOISE PERMIT/TYPE    OWNER    BUILDER    LOCATION    VALUE 01463-sign    Orchard Street Investment    Yesco  ...

Boise Real Estate Briefs: July 14, 2008.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Idaho Business Review Staff Report Market Limone, 112 13th Ave. S., Nampa, on July 15 plans to open a fine-dining restaurant on its mezzanine, owner Laurel MacKinnon said in a statement. The restaurant will serve wild game, seafood...

Bid Briefs.
July 14, 2008... The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans to build visitor and recreation centers, and fish passage infrastructure in eight Idaho counties: Ada, Adams, Bannock, Bear Lake, Camas, Madison, Shoshone and Washington. Project details are available...

Contracts Awarded.
July 14, 2008... M-13 Construction Inc., Springville, Utah, is the general contractor for a Marriott Residence Inn hotel at 635 EW Broadway, Idaho Falls. Cost estimate: $14 million. Benchmark Construction, Nampa, is the general contractor for First Choice...

Boise hotel industry hopeful for rebound.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Occupancy levels in downtown Boise's Owyhee Plaza hotel took a welcome step upward in June, owner and General Manager John May said. It's still not good. We're still not where we were last year, he said at the...

Boise-based LiveSigns gives hotel guests current facts on flights and other useful info.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Gaye Bunderson Hotels aren't big on recurring expenses, said Matthew Wheeler, co-owner of Indigo Networks in Boise. That's why hotels have been open to Indigo's latest product, LiveSigns. The hotels are getting an amenity valuable...

Two trained chefs in Idaho felt it was 'thyme' to launch own business.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Gaye Bunderson Without a lot of startup money, two Treasure Valley women are hoping they have the recipe for success for a new business they call A Table In Thyme. The two former social workers left their former jobs to attend...

Hoku Scientific confirms plans to stay on Oahu.
July 14, 2008... Byline: IBR Staff Report Hoku Scientific Inc., a materials science company focused on clean energy technologies, accepted an offer from Operating Engineers Local Union Number 3, District 17, in Hawaii, to sell its property and facility in...

Company that owns Boise-based TableRock files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
July 14, 2008... Byline: IBR Staff Report The company that owns TableRock BrewPub & Grill in Boise has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Table Rock Brewing Inc., 705 Fulton St., claimed more than $275,000 in liabilities and less than $50,000 in assets in...

Bankruptcy filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court's Idaho District rise 22 percent in quarter.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Bankruptcy filings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court's Idaho District increased by 22.6 percent in the second quarter, from a year earlier. The district includes Boise, Coeur d'Alene, Moscow, Pocatello and Twin Falls. ...

Norm Proctor to take helm in SBA's Boise district.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson The U.S. Small Business Administration has named Norm Proctor to direct the Boise District Office, which oversees SBA operations in southern and central Idaho, and much of eastern Oregon. He replaces Tom Bergdoll,...

State of Idaho confirms year's first case of West Nile virus.
July 14, 2008... Byline: IBR Staff Report Idaho health officials released a warning Thursday after the year's first case of West Nile virus was reported in Gem County. Typically spread through the bite of an infected mosquito, about 130 people in the state...

Call for nominations in expanded Idaho Innovation Awards program.
July 14, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone Stoel Rives, one of the nation's most highly respected law firms, has opened the nomination period for its third annual Idaho Innovation Awards program. The only program of its kind in the state, the awards are meant...

Melba mill signs aggregate tailings agreement.
July 15, 2008... Byline: IBR Staff Report Silver Falcon Mining, Inc. has reached an agreement with Bill Earll of Earll Excavation Inc. to load and transport, the tailings from the "Belle Peck" adit, to Silver Falcon Mining Inc.'s mill in Melba. Earll...

Bi-Mart plans Emmett store.
July 15, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Discount retailer Bi-Mart Corp. will anchor a commercial development planned on the south side of Idaho 52 west of Washington Street in Emmett. Bi-Mart aims to start site work by late this year, depending on permit...

Boise-based international business support firm expands.
July 15, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone A Boise company that provides language and cultural support for firms doing business abroad is expanding to incorporate a host of services - from document translation and formatting to cultural business coaching and...

In Ada and Canyon Counties, home sales up, prices down.
July 15, 2008... Byline: Dani Grigg In Ada and Canyon counties, there's good news and bad news. The good news: the number of homes sold in the second quarter of 2008 beat the first quarter in both counties, according to new numbers from the Intermountain...

Idaho ends fiscal year with $224 million surplus.
July 15, 2008... Byline: IBR Staff Report The state controller's office announced today that Idaho will close the 2008 fiscal year with a $223.8 million general fund surplus. The state's $2.9 billion general fund accounted for about 40 percent of the...

Awash in green - Clearing the air of environmentally friendly claims.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Simon Shifrin Companies hoping to tap into consumer's growing environmental concerns face an increasingly skeptical public inundated with claims of green products and business practices. While some companies have begun to...

Idaho venture capital, angel investor market makes solid increase.(Company overview)
July 21, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Boise probably won't become the next venture-capital hotbed any time soon because the metro area produces one or two deals a year considered fundable, said Mark Solon of Highway 12 Ventures. Deal volume has not...

Boise-based Micron scores big on patents, NAND innovation - is it enough?
July 21, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone Media coverage of Micron over the last few years has focused mostly on layoffs and glum financial reports, but some good news came for the Boise-based semiconductor giant over the past few months. First, in May,...

Idaho power chief discusses energy challenges and plans.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone Overcoming the obstacles of future demands on energy are only part of the challenges facing energy providers, IDACORP President and CEO LaMont Keen told some of the state's biggest economic movers. We are in some...

Call for nominations in expanded Idaho innovation awards program.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone Stoel Rives, one of the nation's most highly respected law firms, has opened the nomination period for its third annual Idaho Innovation Awards program. The only program of its kind in the state, the awards are meant...

BridgeTower to include business park in Idaho's Meridian.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Frank Varriale plans to develop a nearly 100-acre business park at the northwest quadrant of Ten Mile and McMillan roads in northwest Meridian, in his 750-acre BridgeTower mixed-use project. Buildings could range from...

More business sellers to stay on hook via 'carry-back' notes.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Soon it may be harder for many business sellers to cash out. More sellers will have to carry a promissory note for part of the purchase price if the buyer uses a U.S. Small Business Administration-backed loan,...

Time tracking company TSheets draws major online attention.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone If anyone still doubts the old maxim necessity is the mother of invention, then they've never heard of TSheets. And if they've never heard of TSheets then they haven't been reading Inc.com or checking on new media...

Boise-based international business support firm expands.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson A Boise company that provides language and cultural support for firms doing business abroad is expanding to incorporate a host of services. Originally focused on serving the communication and public relation needs...

Microsoft office build-out under way in Boise's IIB Building.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Microsoft Corp. plans to consolidate its Boise operations by occupying about 35,000 square feet in the Idaho Independent Bank Building, 401 W. Front St., in September, Boise Operations Director Amy Bailey said. Tenant...

Idaho Business Review's Top Projects magazine coming soon.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Steve Martin The Idaho Business Review's annual Idaho Top Projects magazine is coming soon to a mailbox near you. The 150-page publication showcases 105 Idaho commercial projects started or completed in 2007 of at least $1...

National real estate investment firm tries 'creative' approach to unload Kastera Homes lots in Idaho.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Simon Shifrin DBSI, the national real estate investment firm that laid off dozens of staff last month, is now hoping to unload 82 lots in the Treasure Valley owned by affiliate Kastera Homes by asking real estate agents to bid on...

Idaho Power seeks use of high-tech meters.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone Idaho Power has entered into an agreement with ESCO Technologies subsidiary Aclara Power-Line Systems Inc. to spend upwards of $25 million implementing the company's TWACS advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)...

Bi-Mart discount retailer heading to south side of Idaho 52.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Discount retailer Bi-Mart Corp. will anchor a commercial development planned on the south side of Idaho 52 west of Washington Street in Emmett. Bi-Mart aims to start site work by late this year, depending on...

Commentary: Smoke-free movement tackles bars.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Rick Carpenter A year after bowling centers became smoke-free, a coalition of area nonprofits are gathering petition signatures to try to get Boise bars smoke-free. Idaho bars are the last bastion of smokers' rights - even though...

Commentary: Incentives can go a long way -- Marketplace.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Robb Hicken I will certainly never pooh-pooh anyone who takes an enticement to move his or her company to a specific region. In today's business economy already there are myriad obstacles to overcome in order to get a business off...

New Idaho plant boosts company's outlook in high-cost environment.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Brad Carlson Marathon Cheese Corp. in early 2007 began production in a new building of 212,000 square feet in Mountain Home, at Idaho highways 67 and 51 north of the airport. The Marathon, Wis.-based company says on its Web...

On the horizon - Proposed Idaho nuke plant acquires new financing partner.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone It's been a rocky road for Don Gillispie's proposed 1,600-megawatt nuclear plant. First announced more than a year ago and sited in Owyhee County, the $4.5 billion Idaho Energy Complex, which would be the state's...

Alternate Energy's new partner comes with controversial past.
July 21, 2008... Byline: Zach Hagadone Powered Corporation, the Houston-based energy firm that has partnered with Alternate Energy Holdings, Inc. hopes will provide financing for its proposed $4.5 billion nuclear plant in Elmore County, brings with it a...