Idaho Business Review, Boise articles from June 2003

Idaho Business Review, Boise archives from June 2003

Thornton Oliver Keller loses Thornton, who starts new firm.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin The founder of one of Boise's dominant commercial real estate companies, Tim Thornton of Thornton Oliver Keller, and two other TOK brokers have left TOK to start a new firm. Thornton, who founded the company more...

Spud processors eye taste trends.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Steven Anderson "At the end of the day, we all work for the consumer, and we've got to be very aware of consumer trends." That's Rick Fisch, vice president for special projects at J.R. Simplot Co., talking about issues in the...

Middleton hopes for business park.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Construction of a business park south of downtown Middleton could start in the summer of 2004 if the local economic development association receives grants. Sherry Maupin, president of the Middleton Economic...

Washington Trust Bank targets Meridian for branch.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Next stop for Washington Trust Bank in the Treasure Valley: Meridian. The bank recently purchased ground on the east side of Eagle Road north of Pine Avenue, fronting Presidential Drive. It will be the sixth...

Rise in fired-employee legal actions among seminar topics.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson With legal filings by disgruntled ex-employees on the rise as the economy remains sluggish, an upcoming seminar aims to address how to handle such claims and help prevent them. "Selecting and Terminating Employees...

Investors chip in $1.4 million in bid to boost Magic Valley jobs.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson About $1.4 million in job-creation grant money will be available by fall in the Magic Valley. New and expanding businesses planning to add base-industry jobs will be eligible for the grants, to be distributed and...

Coldwater Creek sees 35% net income increase in 1st qtr.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin Coldwater Creek Inc. reported a more than 35 percent increase in its net income for its fiscal first quarter, ended May 3. Net income increased $500,000, or 35.4 percent, to $1.9 million, or 12 cents per diluted...

Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce presents small biz awards.
June 2, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin Three Boise small businesses were singled out for their accomplishments last week by the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce during the chamber's Metro Expo spring trade show. For the second year, the Chamber combined...

Nampa's MPC Computers plows steadily through IT slump.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Steven Anderson Despite a seemingly endless IT slump, MPC Computers continues to make money for its owner, Gores Technology Group, and continues to employ about 1,000 people in Nampa. While some other high-tech companies --...

Lodge Logs Homes to double manufacturing capacity, build new corp. office.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Lodge Log Homes, a Boise company that makes log-home kits, plans to double its manufacturing capacity and build a new corporate office. Owner Dan Balbach expects the company's new plant, under development on...

Batteries Plus charges into Valley market.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin Batteries Plus, a Wisconsin-based seller of common and not-so-common batteries, plans to light up its first Idaho store in early July on South Cole Road. Franchisees Tom Sellin Jr. and Tom Sellin Sr. have purchased...

Atkinsons' Market buys Valley Market in Bellevue.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Steven Anderson Atkinsons' Market, which operates grocery stores in Ketchum and Hailey, has purchased Valley Market in Bellevue, giving the Ketchum-based company outlets in all three sizeable communities in the Wood River Valley....

Moving Boise synagogue slated for fall.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson After six years of planning and fund-raising, site preparation has begun on the parcel that will be home to Boise's new -- and old -- Jewish congregation buildings. The historic Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel...

Idaho gets more clout in overseeing mortgage firms.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Changes to the Idaho Residential Mortgage Practices Act give the state greater licensing and enforcement authority and allow mortgage businesses to streamline operations. House Bill 28, which takes effect July 1,...

Alliance Title consolidates in Emerald Street building.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Alliance Title & Escrow Corp. has consolidated operations in a recently remodeled building of 8,500 square feet at the southwest corner of Rifleman and Emerald streets. The firm's escrow and transaction-closing...

Boise Group Homes building planned on Ustick.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin A Boise man plans to build an office building for a non-profit, disabilities-training center in west Boise this summer. According to plans submitted to the City of Boise, Richard Davis is seeking a conditional use...

Commentary: Internet has many useful weather-related sites.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Rick Edvalson We once had a large, table-top FM radio that made my wife believe in ghosts. When a severe-weather alert was issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this radio would turn itself on at full...

Health-career academy plans 2nd Valley school in Nampa.
June 9, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson The Academy of Professional Careers, which began offering accelerated training for certain health-care jobs in Boise two years ago, plans to open its second Treasure Valley unit. The Academy recently leased 9,347...

Bank sues Intermountain Sports owners.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Zions First National Bank has sued former owners of the Intermountain Outdoor Sports, which closed late last summer after liquidating its Meridian store. In a complaint filed recently in Fourth District Court in...

Rock Art taps Web for clients far afield.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Rock Art, which carves and paints artwork, letters and numbers into large stones used as signs, shows there's no such thing as a typical online business. In many ways it's a classic local shop. John and...

Small banks face big-business governance rules.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson The federal law that Congress passed last summer in response to accounting scandals in several large, publicly traded companies is beginning to impact small Idaho-based banks. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp....

Boise Tower default declared.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Steven Anderson Boise Tower is in default on its agreement with the Capital City Development Corp., and developer Rick Peterson has until Aug. 11 to "cure" the default or return the site to the city. That's the ruling of the...

U.S. Bank offers Mexican transfer program.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson U.S. Bank and L@Red de la Gente (The People's Network) have partnered to encourage more Mexican people in Mexico and the United States to become bank account holders and savers through a new money transfer service. ...

Commercial lots sold near Notus-Parma interchange.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Three businesses recently bought building lots in 20-26 Commercial Park, a development on the north side of U.S. 20-26 west of the Notus-Parma interchange with Interstate 84, north of Caldwell. Smithcraft Cabinets,...

Airway project hits Boise Planning & Zoning snag.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin A Boise developer's plan to construct a multi-tenant commercial building for retail use in south Boise has hit a snag. The Boise Planning & Zoning Commission on June 2 recommended denial of a rezoning request and...

Extended Systems adopts 'poison pill' anti-takeover plan.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Directors of Boise-based software company Extended Systems Inc. recently approved a stockholder-rights plan designed to help prevent hostile takeovers and certain large, unannounced purchases of its stock. The...

Comfort Suites due at I-84, Eagle Road.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson A 77-room Comfort Suites hotel is planned northwest of the Eagle Road-Interstate 84 interchange, on Allen Street next to Holiday Inn Express & Suites. Eagle resident Kanti Patel is president of the...

Caldwell's Clearwater Plaza signs tenants.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin Construction is wrapping up this month on the first of a four-lot commercial and retail subdivision in Caldwell at East Cleveland Boulevard and Ustick Road. Called Clearwater Plaza, the 6-acre parcel adjacent to...

Elks Hospital plans $1.6 million building.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin The Idaho Elks Rehabilitation Hospital plans to break ground later this month on a $1.6 million medical office building near its North End Boise hospital at Fort and Robbins streets. Joseph Caroselli, Idaho Elks...

Former restaurant could become office space.
June 16, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson The former Lock Stock & Barrel restaurant building on Emerald Street in central Boise has sold, and may be remodeled into office space. The 9,640-square-foot building, on the south side of Emerald between Garden...

Natural gas hike laid to supply, demand strain.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Many south Idaho residents and business could become part of an unfortunate national trend: higher prices for natural gas, due to low supplies. Intermountain Gas Co. is seeking a "purchased gas adjustment" (PGA)...

Downtown Boise loses bar, shops; gains store.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin Downtown Boise saw the closure of several businesses recently, but national women's clothing retailer Chico's last week opened its first Idaho store next to one of the vacated spaces. The Interlude Bar & Grill, a...

Empire Building inks restaurant on street level.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin The ground floor of Boise's historic Empire Building, vacant for more than two years, is getting a tenant. The Milky Way, a 2-year-old fine-dining restaurant in downtown Boise, plans to relocate by September to a...

Micron loses $215 million but beats Street.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Micron Technology Inc. lost $214.9 million, or 36 cents per share, in the quarter ended May 29, compared to a loss of $24.2 million or 4 cents a share a year earlier, but the results were better than expected by Wall...

Records-storage business takes ex-Bekins Boise site.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson The former Bekins Moving & Storage Co. facility on the south side of downtown Boise recently became home to a records storage and management company, which plans a remodeling project. Idaho Records Management,...

Developer pitches idea of building new ski resort in Idaho.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Ken Miller For 20 years, Idaho real estate agents rolled their eyes as one developer after another trotted out plans for a blockbuster four-season resort overlooking Lake Cascade. Last week, those agents snapped to attention as...

Bodily RV expands in new building in Meridian.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Construction has started on a long-planned Bodily RV dealership southwest of the Meridian Road interchange with Interstate 84. The company will move its Meridian dealership from South Main Street just north of the...

Now Disc Optical Media seeks school-yearbook market.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson A Boise technology company sees the digital video disc as the wave of the future for high school yearbook staffs. Now Disc Optical Media Solutions, a supplier of CD and DVD duplication and digital media services,...

Meridian leads region in home-resale numbers in first quarter.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Meridian led the region in sales of existing homes in the first quarter, a study by Re/Max International says. Meridian produced the most existing-home sales, or resales, among 51 ZIP codes in parts of southwestern...

Youth Ranch aims at larger shelter.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Idaho Youth Ranch plans to build a larger Hays Shelter Home in Boise. The nonprofit organization, which works with troubled children and offers adoption programs and family counseling, is raising funds to...

Commentary: Guarding against disaster in cell-phone land ...
June 23, 2003... Byline: Rick Edvalson My son was in deep despair the other day. He had let the battery of his cell phone discharge completely, and his entire contact list was gone. For him, this was not a trivial matter. He does not use a PDA and...

Micro and 'nano' topics to be aired at events.
June 23, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Micro and "nano" applications in science, electronics manufacturing and other areas will be discussed in two upcoming events in the Treasure Valley. The Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers plans to...

Home Depot aims to build near Nampa Spectrum.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson The Home Depot Inc. plans to build a store in Nampa that would compete head-to-head with a new Lowe's store under construction there, a Home Depot official has confirmed. "We'd like to put a store there," said John...

Battery St. project awaits building code change.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Before construction of a multi-story condo and parking structure on Battery Street near downtown Boise can begin, backers will have to persuade the city to amend the building code. Boise in January adopted the 2000...

Carpet store planned on Federal Way by early '04.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin A Boise-area carpet store operator has purchased a Missouri-based carpet franchise and plans to break ground in August on a building for the new business on Federal Way. According to plans filed with the City of...

United Water of Idaho to go ahead with plant construction project.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Steven Anderson United Water of Idaho still plans to build a $12 million water-treatment plant to serve southeast Boise, but has delayed the project one year from its original mid-2004 completion target, a company spokesman says....

Florida-based Italian restaurant Carrabba's due at Spectrum.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin Carrabba's, a Florida-based Italian restaurant chain, plans to build its first Idaho restaurant on Overland Road in Boise, north of the Boise Spectrum. According to plans filed with the City of Boise, Carrabba's...

Is South Cole Road next growth area for Boise?
June 30, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson With busy intersections and a number of industrial buildings on one end -- and a lot of wide-open space on the other -- is the South Cole Road the Boise area's next development corridor? The new Costco Wholesale...

Eagle Home Depot work starts.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Site work has begun at State Street and Idaho 55 for the Treasure Valley's fourth Home Depot store, launching construction of Eagle Towne & Country Centre. The retail center, which Boise-based White-Leasure...

Idaho wineries grow in number.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Ken Levy Idaho wineries showed small sales increases in 2002, even as new vineyards and wineries are envisioned from Lewiston to Glenns Ferry. Sales in 2002 "were in the neighborhood of $2.5 million, which was within a couple...

Truck firm buys ex-Micron building in Nampa.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson UTS NationaLease recently purchased a building of 13,000 square feet on Karcher Road in Nampa, east of the Amalgamated Sugar factory. The company, which leases commercial trucks to clients, will move in early July...

Idaho governor's Export Marketing Awards announced.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Three Idaho businesses and a high school teacher received Governor's Export Marketing Awards at a World Trade Day luncheon June 20 at Idaho State University. Lt. Gov. Jim Risch presented the awards to AMI...

Alzheimer's facility planned at 15th & Hill Road in Boise.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Steve Martin Developer Bill Hodges plans to break ground later this year on an assisted and independent living facility in north Boise that would include services for Alzheimer's patients. Hodges, principal of Western Realty...

MedMan inks contract to manage Spokane group.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Staff Medical Management Inc. recently signed a contract to manage Spokane-based Inland Cardiology Associates. The Boise company, also known as MedMan, will provide all management services including staff supervision; financial...

Boise's Saffron eatery to close, reopen elsewhere.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson ***** CORRECTION: In a June 30 IBR story about Boise's Saffron restaurant planning to close and reopen elsewhere, the square footage of the new live music venue and eatery planned in the space called Pi was...

Closet & Storage Concepts opens in W. Boise space.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson Closet & Storage Concepts has opened in 4,500 square feet of space on President Drive in west Boise. Operators David and Kim Rose opened the business in mid-June. The space housed a Cascade Auto Glass call center...

Boise's ProClarity receives UK business, industry award.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Staff Boise-based ProClarity Corp. recently began supplying its data-analysis software to Reckitt Benckiser, a London company that makes many well-known household products. Reckitt Benckiser makes products under brand names...

State sponsored Internet study tracks activities in the great outdoors.
June 30, 2003... Byline: Brad Carlson How much does outdoor recreation contribute to Idaho's economic growth? Except for one's own outdoor-rec spending over the years -- mine has been considerable -- that's hard to say. Part of the problem is...