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Monday, April 28, 2008
More than 400 Idaho employers and employer representatives have signed up for one of 30 free seminars this spring on controlling unemployment insurance costs and information on the latest developments in state wage and hour and unemployment insurance laws, the Idaho Department of Labor said
The department said in a release that it plans to introduce an online application that allows employers to electronically manage their unemployment insurance accounts and monitor claims charged to them. In addition to information on unemployment insurance taxes, the claims process and the employment and business services available through 25 Labor offices located throughout the state, employers will receive instructions on how to log into the new system and use its tools to control costs.
Seminars get under way May 6-7 at Coeur d'Alene's Hampton Inn, 1500 Riverstone Drive. The morning sessions each day begin at 8 a.m. and run until noon. The afternoon sessions start at 1 p.m. and run...
| Posted by maricela at 10:32 AM |
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Builders in the Treasure Valley have a new resource to help them create earth-friendly homes.
The Building Contractors Association of Southwestern Idaho said Monday that it is embracing new voluntary guidelines developed nationally.
The association also is forming a new Green Building Council that will provide resources and education for local builders on how to participate in the National Green Building Program launched this year by the National Association of Home Builders.
"We're bringing green building into mainstream home construction," said Steve Martinez, a home builder in Eagle and president of the local association. "Builders can do a tremendous amount to make homes more environmentally friendly, without pricing them out of the reach of the average homebuyer. Our Green Building Council aims to educate builders and consumers about building green."
Homes in Southwest Idaho already must comply with the International Energy Code, a m...
| Posted by maricela at 11:59 AM |
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Tuesday, April 15, 2008
A Kuna sawmill operator plans to buy equipment and supplies to expand his livestock-bedding and custom-sawmill business with a little help from federal officials seeking to reduce the risk of fire in national forests.
Diamond Ridge Lumber of Kuna has been awarded $168,200 grant from the U.S. Forest Service Woody Biomass Utilization Grant Program.
Owner Albert Wolske opened Diamond Ridge Lumber in 2000, after racking up more than 2 million miles behind the wheel of logging trucks in six states for companies like Boise Cascade.
Even after eight, years Diamond Ridge is a bare-bones operation. There is the saw. A vintage loader is parked nearby. Logs are piled and scrap lumber is stacked haphazardly around the yard. There is a small storage shed, but no office. During breaks, Wolske either pulls up a log or ducks into his pickup truck.
The Wolske family operated a small custom mill in the 1970s, but Albert Wolske followed helicopter-logging operations and wasn't...
| Posted by maricela at 10:40 AM |
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Monday, April 14, 2008
Date: 4/15/2008
Time: 04:00 PM
Location: META's offices in the Mtn. States Group building, 1607 W. Jefferson Street, Boise
4pm-5pm. Learn about upcoming four-week business plan course covering topics on Success, Marketing, Cash Flow, and Operations Planning for your existing or start-up business. Favored eligibility for immigrants, women, minorities, former military, and "green" entrepreneurs.
Free. Information/registration: e-mail meta@mtnstatesgroup.org or 336-5533 ext. 230. More info about META at www.metaidaho.org
Source: IdahoBusinessReview.com
| Posted by maricela at 10:12 AM |
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Thursday, April 10, 2008
Population: 203,649
Pro: Low-cost office space and housing
Con: Competitive labor market
Boise Valley is the third-fastest-growing metro area in the U.S. and is home to a very clever populace: Boise routinely tops lists of patent grants per capita. The tech industry is particularly strong - thanks to resources out of the University of Idaho and major corporations in the area, such as semiconductor firm Micron - but the health services industry has also demonstrated robust growth. And while unemployment is extremely low (just 1.9%), the university provides an annual crop of young grads eager for work.
Boise's Economic Development Team assists entrepreneurs with startup strategies, from selecting potentially profitable sites to accessing community and county data. Business owners who have made the move to this mountain town find low housing and office-space costs, light traffic, and low taxes.
Many also discover an improved quality of life. With sunny weather, plenti...
| Posted by maricela at 9:58 AM |
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Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Kuna City Council members Tuesday night approved the 3,400-acre annexation.
"This represents a unique opportunity for the city to control its destiny on . the southeast border," Gary Allen, an attorney representing the developers bringing the annexation forward, told council members. "You get to consider all those things that get left behind when land gets developed in little parcels."
Osprey Ridge Partners, Origin Properties and Kuna 830 LLC requested to annex 3,424 acres of primarily farmland and desert open space into the city of Kuna. The land lies mostly south of Kuna Mora Road and stretches from Swan Falls Road all the way out to east of Five Mile Road.
The land was zoned rural residential and rural preservation in Ada County, according to the Kuna Melba News. The land is being annexed into the city of Kuna with an agricultural zone designation.
The driving force in the annexation is Osprey Ridge, which is seeking to develop about 1,600 acres on the easternmost portio...
| Posted by maricela at 11:28 AM |
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Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Boise is among the top 18 least-costly metropolitan areas to do business in the U.S., according to the auditing firm of KMPG.
The study ranked Little Rock, Ark., as the least expensive among 18 U.S. locations with populations between 500,000 and 1.5 million. Boise ranked 13th. Contributing factors in the rankings included competitive labor and investment costs, as well low transportation costs.
The study measured 27 significant areas that are most likely to vary by location, including labor, taxes, real estate and utilities as they applied to 17 industries, over a 10-year planning horizon.
City cost Index Rank
Little Rock, ARK 93.4 1
McAllen, TX 93.7 2
Oklahoma City, OK 94.3 3
Greenville-Spartanburg, SC 94.4 4
Charleston, WV 95.3 5
Jackson, MS 95.4 6
Nashville, TN 96.8 7
Raleigh, NC 97.6 8
Omaha, NE 99.0 9
Wichita, KS 99.6 10
Youngstown, OH 100.2 11
Harrisburg, PA 100.5 12
Boise, ID 100.5 13
Buffalo, NY 100.6 14
Salt Lake City, UT 101.0 15
Albuquerq...
| Posted by maricela at 12:46 PM |
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Friday, March 28, 2008
The dust has settled after the news broke in mid-February about the surprising bankruptcies of two of Tamarack Resort's majority owners. Still, important questions remain: if Idaho's most prominent resort has such difficulties, what will follow? What does it all mean?
Not much, really. Idaho construction insiders insist, despite the financial problems at its most prominent resort, that the overall economy of the state has a decent shine to it, and may even be improving.
(Tamarack CEO Jean-Pierre Boespflug said the bankruptcy will have no impact on the resort's day-to-day operation. "You can continue to do business with Tamarack Resort in a complete and normal way," he said at the time of the filing.)
"Residential building has hit bottom, and we're on the ascent," said Steve Martinez, president of the Idaho Building Contractors Association. "Permits are going back up, the phone is ringing again. For months, it's been remodel orders, but now we are seeing clients. It's a little ...
| Posted by maricela at 10:14 AM |
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
Just you wait, Raleigh. There's always next year.
Boise is the second-best place in the country for business and careers, according to Forbes magazine.
For the fourth straight year, Boise landed in the top 5 in what may be the most prestigious of city rankings compiled by national business magazines. A high Forbes ranking provides a marketing tool for state and local business recruiters like the Idaho Commerce Department and the Boise Valley Economic Partnership.
Forbes released its annual list of the top cities Wednesday. Boise moved up one spot from No. 3 in 2007. Raleigh, N.C., captured the top spot for the second year in a row.
The report ranked 200 metro areas on factors including job and income growth, business and living costs, education of the work force, migration trends, and quality-of-life measures like crime rates and cultural opportunities.
Boise ranked highest in job growth at 13. It also ranked 17th for the cost of doing business and 15th for...
| Posted by maricela at 10:20 AM |
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
No. 7 . that's where Forbes magazine ranking's put Boise on its list of up-and-coming tech cities.
Their write up included: Since the 1970s, chip maker Micron Technology and computer giant Hewlett-Packard, along with the Idaho National Laboratory, had buoyed Boise's technology sector. But now there are new faces. In 2006, Idaho ranked seventh nationally in the percentage increase in venture capital investments and 11th in concentration of high-tech workers. One home-grown start-up, Quantum Point Technologies, provides a suite of information-technology management services to agencies at the U.S. Department of the Interior and regional businesses like Washington Trust Bank.
Source: Idaho Business Review
| Posted by maricela at 12:13 PM |
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