Idaho Business Review, Boise articles from October 2005

Idaho Business Review, Boise archives from October 2005

Scooters of Boise, a dealer for three-wheeled scooters, to target businesses with high fuel costs.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert With gasoline prices hanging around $3 a gallon, demand has been up at Scooters of Boise. Scooters get from 60 to 90 miles per gallon, and they've become so popular that the company pre-sold more than half its...

ID-based Eagle River Development keeps growing with new tenants, building plans.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Brisk construction and leasing this year at the maturing Eagle River Development haven't kept developer Chuck Carlise from planning for the future. Next year's projects include a previously announced...

Nonprofit takes on rehab of 10 Idaho apartment complexes.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson With $9 million in upgrades under way at 10 Idaho apartment complexes, a Boise nonprofit aims to ensure that low-income complexes don't become low quality. By buying and renovating older apartment complexes,...

Ontario firm touts cheaper Canadian prescription drugs.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Even for tech-industry veteran Tony Lund, going online in search of safe, affordable prescriptions for his mother took much time and effort. But now his mother, Gwen, pays less for medications and Lund co-owns a...

Idaho Power considers sites for needs of next 25 years.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson When Idaho Power infrastructure planners say, "long-range planning," they can mean the next 50 to 75 years. But now, as the Boise-based utility contemplates construction of substations, transmission lines and other...

Idacomm sells dial-up Internet subscriber base to Virginia company.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Idacomm, the communications subsidiary of Idacorp Inc., has sold its base of residential dial-up Internet subscribers to Sitestar Corp., Lynchburg, Va. The sale impacts about 11,500 customers in Idaho, Nevada,...

Micron Technology makes 7 cents a share in quarter, beating Street.
October 3, 2005... Byline: IBR Staff Report Micron Technology Inc. last week reported net income of $43 million, or 7 cents per diluted share, for its fiscal fourth quarter, on net sales of $1.6 billion, beating expectations of a loss. Analysts, on...

Changes in federal patent law loom: Legislation may generate rush of applications.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert Proposed changes to intellectual property law may provoke a race to the patent office, according to one Boise patent attorney. The Patent Act of 2005, pending in the U.S. House, would change laws under which...

Author Harvey Mackay to speak at NW Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho.
October 3, 2005... Byline: IBR Staff Report Harvey Mackay, who's scheduled to speak at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa next week, is nothing if not prolific. The author of Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive, a 1988 bestseller on...

Conference for nonprofit groups set Oct. 21 in Boise.
October 3, 2005... Byline: IBR Staff Report Paul C. Light, author of Sustaining Nonprofit Performance, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address Oct. 21 at the Idaho Nonprofit Development Center's statewide conference, at the Boise Centre on the Grove. ...

Kickstand, a support network for Boise-area entrepreneurs, slates pre-conference event.
October 3, 2005... Byline: IBR Staff Report Kickstand, a support network for Boise-area entrepreneurs, plans a networking event Oct. 4 for entrepreneurs to meet with venture capitalists and angel investors. The free event is scheduled from 6:30 to 8 p.m....

Out-of-state firms outsource patent law to Idaho attorneys.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert The patent law industry has seen a lot of growth in Boise, but it's not just from Boise's growing tech sector. Nor does it have much to do with the reputation Idaho has worked to cultivate as the No. 1 producer of...

Tuff Shed Inc. opens Boise store, shedding fuel costs.
October 3, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Managers at Tuff Shed Inc., which manufactures and sells sheds and garages, got tired of paying high fuel prices to ship products from Salt Lake City to Boise. So they set up shop in Boise last week, leasing 7,500...

Boise-based Ashley Manor cares for patients with Alzheimer's disease.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert The day Louisa Malm fell and broke her hip while working in her garden, her family knew they needed to find her a nursing home. Complicating the decision of where to take her was the fact that Louisa, whose 94th...

Idaho Manufacturing and Innovation Conference planned.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert How does a manufacturer keep customers loyal when foreign companies can make competing products cheaper? Surprise them, says Ken Schmidt, former director of communications for Harley-Davidson Motor Co. ...

Psychiatric hospital in Boise to expand.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson A $12.5 million expansion that will nearly double the number of beds at Intermountain Hospital, Boise, is planned next year by its new owners. Intermountain, a psychiatric hospital in west Boise, added beds in...

Sarah Bra - It's functional ... and elegant, too.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Gaye Bunderson Undergarments are such a common part of everyday apparel that most people don't give them a lot of thought - wash them, wear them, and toss them out when they're tattered. But imagine you're not able to slip into...

Business Forum slated Nov. 3 in Boise.
October 10, 2005... Byline: IBR Staff Report Hal Shear, a senior advisor to the National Association of Corporate Directors and president of Boston-based Board Assets Inc., is slated to speak at the fourth annual Intermountain Business Forum Nov. 3 in Boise....

Mountain Home mulls effects of base cuts.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Mountain Home, host to Idaho's only Air Force base, is likely to see its population shrink by about 1,000 over the next few years as the Pentagon moves fighter planes away, according to an estimate. The town, 40...

Va.-based-Capital One to shut Boise call center by 2006.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert Capital One plans to close its Boise call center by mid-2006, laying off 290 workers. Most workers at the site will lose their jobs by February, the company said last week. Employees will be notified at least 90...

Commentary: Putting your computer to sleep - gently and painlessly.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Rick Edvalson The Department of Energy recently urged all Americans to "change a light and change the world." According to the DOE press release, if all of us would replace one incandescent light bulb in our homes with one of the...

Pocatello-based AMI Semiconductor's buyout of Flextronics unit gets cautious backing.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Pocatello-based AMI Semiconductor's acquisition of the semiconductor division of Flextronics Inc. bodes well for the company's future - or at least one analyst thinks so. "We believe AMI's acquisition increases the...

Idaho engineer pool remains small, speakers at forum say.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson To grow, should a company stay or go? Leaders of emerging Idaho companies, and the people who finance them, keep asking that question - even though the southwest Idaho economy and venture climate have matured since...

12 Idaho Valley urologists form Idaho Urologic Institute.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson A group of 12 Boise-area urologists have combined their practices into one specialty institute, partly because they hope it will enable them to treat more patients with rare maladies in-state. "If something strange...

'Smart Women, Smart Money' conference slated Oct. 15 in Boise.
October 10, 2005... Byline: IBR Staff Report Robin Roberts, anchorwoman of ABC TV's Good Morning America, is slated to deliver the keynote address at the state-sponsored Smart Women, Smart Money conference Oct. 15 in Boise. The event, scheduled from 8...

Hewlett-Packard's Hollywood connections.
October 10, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert Wowing the audience is getting harder all the time, says Derek Chan, head of digital operations for Glendale, Calif.-based DreamWorks Animation, which produced the hit Shrek about a green ogre. "The audiences...

Executive Profile: Blue Cross of Idaho president seeks lower costs, healthier clients.
October 17, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert Putting himself through college was a big hurdle for Blue Cross of Idaho President and CEO Ray Flachbart. "I came from a working-class family," said Flachbart, who grew up in Cleveland. "My dad never made more than...

Spokane-based Washington Trust plans more Idaho branches.
October 17, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Washington Trust Bank plans to open branch offices near the Idaho Center in northeast Nampa, and in northwest Meridian, Eagle, Caldwell and southeast Boise in the next two to five years. Spokane-based Washington...

Meridian-based Computrol plans expansion of contract manufacturing.
October 17, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Computrol Inc., Meridian, plans to expand its contract-manufacturing business following the Oct. 3 sale of its Bottomline and Cannon brands of fishing equipment to Johnson Outdoors Inc. "Our contract manufacturing...

Construction begins on Myrtle Street condos in Boise.
October 17, 2005... Byline: Steven Anderson One of the larger "urban" housing projects slated for central Boise, a two-building complex of 72 condominiums, got under way last week at 13th and Myrtle streets on the southwest fringe of downtown. Developer...

'Urban' residential projects abound in Boise.
October 17, 2005... Byline: Steven Anderson Bob Hosac's CityLofts isn't the only condo project slated for construction in the downtown Boise area next year. A six-story, 40-unit structure planned at Fourth and Jefferson streets is expected to get under...

Designers, engineers honored for Idaho 'green' building work.
October 17, 2005... Byline: Steve Martin Ten innovators and supporters of 'green' building design and construction in Idaho were honored last week during the second annual BetterBricks Awards ceremony in downtown Boise. The ceremony, hosted by the...

U.S. Small Business Administration loans soar 30% in S. Idaho, E. OR in fiscal year.
October 17, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson It was another fat fiscal year for U.S. Small Business Administration loans in southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. Loan quantity and dollar volume both rose by just over 30 percent in the federal fiscal year ending...

National corporate board consultant to speak Nov. 3 at business forum in Boise.
October 17, 2005... Byline: IBR Staff Report Hal Shear, a senior advisor to the National Association of Corporate Directors and president of Boston-based Board Assets Inc., is slated to speak at the fourth annual Intermountain Business Forum Nov. 3 in Boise....

Boise recognizes 6 architects for creative designs of buildings.
October 17, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert Six architects have been chosen by the City of Boise for its 2005 Design Review Awards. The awards recognize outstanding examples of innovative architectural design and projects that benefit the environment and...

Boise commercial construction dips in September.
October 17, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Gains in apartment and home construction in the City of Boise in September failed to make up for a sizable drop in the commercial segment, as combined project dollar volume for the month fell. Meridian, meanwhile,...

A vintage year? Grapes look good, Idaho vintners say.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert Winemakers are never better than their grapes. That sums up the season for Ste. Chapelle winemaker Chuck Devlin, who with other Idaho winemakers says the grapes are particularly good this year. And...

Meridian to get first Idaho Kohl's Department Store.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Wisconsin-based Kohl's plans to enter the Valley market next year with a 96,000-square-foot department store in a retail development at Ustick and Eagle roads in Meridian, according to documents. The store would...

Ustick-Eagle intersection in Meridian slated for 30-acre retail development.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Another sizable development is slated next year at Ustick and Eagle roads in Meridian. Venture Development Group plans shops, restaurants, and mid-size and large retail stores at the southeast and southwest corners...

Nampa's Channel 6 to launch revamp of news 'brand'.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Steven Anderson One of the television stations serving the Treasure Valley, KIVI-Channel 6 (ABC), plans this week to revamp its local-news presentation and change its slogan. The Nampa-based station, which has marketed itself...

MarkMonitor sees future in Web security services.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert Software firm MarkMonitor, which has sizeable operations in Boise, plans to spin off Dacuro Technologies, a sister company that offers patent management technology. MarkMonitor plans to refocus on its business...

Idaho's bankruptcies rise 33 percent in quarter - then really jump.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Even before bankruptcy filings skyrocketed in mid-October as a stricter Chapter 7 law loomed, the caseload was rising at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Boise. The court received 3,089 cases in the third quarter, up a...

Ethnic restaurants pop up as Boise continues to grow up.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert Such culinary creations as lamb tikka and lemongrass chicken are becoming more common in the spud state. Ethnic restaurants are popping up in Boise as the city's population grows and, just maybe, becomes more...

61,000-ft. mixed-use building slated for downtown Nampa.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert Heritage Plaza, a planned 61,000-square-foot mixed-use building to be built starting in mid-2006, could give downtown Nampa the jump-start it needs, says developer Jeff Needs. People have commented to him that...

'Good' no matter how it's spelled.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert A restaurant needn't be Asian or Mediterranean to fill an ethnic niche. Tres Bonne Cuisine, which, contrary to the name, will sell mainly Eastern European items in its deli, will open Nov. 1 on Overland Road, said...

VA-based Ferguson Enterprises Inc. plans to consolidate in two new buildings in Meridian.
October 24, 2005... Byline: IBR Staff Report Ferguson Enterprises Inc., a plumbing-supplies wholesaler, aims to open a larger, consolidated Treasure Valley facility early next year. The Virginia-based company recently began construction of two buildings...

Three Idaho firms make Inc. magazine's list.
October 24, 2005... Byline: IBR Staff Report Three Idaho companies made it onto Inc. magazine's annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. Bodybuilding.com, a Boise-based Internet retailer of fitness products, was ranked No. 230...

Keeping up the pressure: Growing Valley cities scramble to expand their water systems.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Ken Miller SPECIAL TO THE IBR Residents in two Eagle subdivisions complained to state authorities this past summer that low water pressure left them unable to regularly flush their toilets, take showers and water their lawns....

Boise-based Second Chance offers used doors & more.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Ken Levy SPECIAL TO THE IBR Old cabinets and fixtures typically go to the dump, contributing to landfill crowding. But now a Boise nonprofit is diverting functional building materials and accessories from the waste stream...

School districts in Idaho adopt 'daylighting' in building design.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Gaye Bunderson To teach your children well, we adults sometimes need a refresher course. It's a philosophy certainly shared by Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg, director of the Idaho Design Lab in Boise, who wants to instruct school...

Nampa-based Radix Construction works round-the-clock to cut remodel times.
October 24, 2005... Byline: Ken Miller SPECIAL TO THE IBR When owners of commercial buildings such as restaurants decide it's time to remodel, they usually have two choices - and neither is particularly attractive. There's the "pardon-our-dust"...

Registration help for Idaho's Contractor Registration law to be available Nov. 8.
October 24, 2005... Byline: IBR Staff Report IBR Staff Report The Idaho chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry is helping contractors comply with the Contractor Registration law that goes into effect Jan. 1, 2006. Contractors...

Boise-based Fletcher Oil plans to resurrect Veltex brand.
October 31, 2005... Byline: Steven Anderson Time was in Idaho when Veltex was a widely known gas station chain. At its high point in the '60s, says Peter Hirschburg, Boise-based Fletcher Oil Co. fielded more than 100 Veltex stations in Idaho and others in...

Home sales sizzle in Idaho's Ada, Canyon Counties.
October 31, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Home sales and median prices jumped by more than half in Ada and Canyon counties in the third quarter as interest rates stayed relatively low and economic growth continued. Ada County home sales totaled 3,978 in...

Boise-based insurance company offers 'affordable' medical coverage - for pets.(Company Profile)
October 31, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert Pets Best, a Boise-based pet insurance company, plans to cover nearly one in every four or five cats and dogs within the next five years, said General Manager Lee Van Kirk. With only 2 percent of U.S. pets insured,...

Spokane-based Sterling Savings targets Meridian for 2nd Valley unit.
October 31, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Sterling Savings Bank, based in Spokane, plans to open its second Treasure Valley office next year. Sterling plans a full-service branch at the northwest corner of Overland and Eagle roads, in the Grandview Station...

New flights boost Boise travel.
October 31, 2005... Byline: Lora Volkert Passenger volume at the Boise Airport grew 10 percent in the third quarter, compared to a year ago, with 436,341 passengers embarking on plane trips from Boise, according to statistics compiled by airport officials....

Commentary: Podcasting comes of age - and very quickly, too.
October 31, 2005... Byline: Rick Edvalson It has been interesting to see how technologies leapfrog each other. Take the Web logging or "blogging" phenomenon as an example. Using blogging software, or websites created for blogging, just about anyone can...

Boise-based Extended Systems sold to CA-based Sybase for $71.3 M.
October 31, 2005... Byline: IBR Staff Report Sybase, a Dublin, Calif., database technology company, finalized its purchase of Boise-based Extended Systems for $71.3 million last week. Sybase plans to fold Extended into its subsidiary, iAnywhere, because...

Developers unveil 670-acre project near Garden Valley in Boise County.
October 31, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Plans have been announced for a 670-acre development near Garden Valley in Boise County, 40 miles north of Boise, with 473 home sites, commercial buildings and considerable open space. Oaas Laney LLC and Dynamis...

Zion Bank's Thredgold slated to keynote Nov. 15 Econ. Outlook Forum.
October 31, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Jeff Thredgold, economic consultant to Zions Bank, is slated to keynote the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce Economic Outlook Forum, scheduled from 7 to 9 a.m. Nov. 15 at the Boise Centre on the Grove. Thredgold,...

Boise Cascade vacates one of its buildings on West Jefferson.
October 31, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Boise Cascade Co. is moving employees of its trucking division, as well as information-systems staff, out of a building at 1010 W. Jefferson St. in downtown Boise. The company is vacating and selling the...

Micron Technology to build $250 million assembly, test plant in China.
October 31, 2005... Byline: IBR Staff Report Micron Technology Inc. plans a $250 million assembly and test facility in Xian, China. The memory-chip manufacturer is getting ready to build the facility and expects to start operating it by the beginning of...

Tax-benefit strategies: As year's end approaches, now is time to evaluate, 'clean up' portfolio, brokers say.
October 31, 2005... Byline: Brad Carlson Evaluating your stock investments with an eye toward reducing taxes almost always pays off - even if the investments themselves don't. In the fall, market analysts think about where market indexes have been during...

Software boosts accountant productivity.
October 31, 2005... Byline: Ken Levy From companies managing their own financial data to certified public accountants helping businesses and individuals, evolving technologies are taking traditional accounting practices far beyond just keeping records and...

Few Idaho state law changes could serve as incentive for early filers as tax season nears.
October 31, 2005... Byline: Ken Miller There may be piles of leaves still to bag this fall, but now is the time to take stock of your personal or small business finances to get a jump on the coming tax season, according to those who will help taxpayers...