|
|
|
|
| Main / Idaho News |
Author: maricela Created: 3/26/2007 11:20 AM |
|
Headline news in the state of Idaho. |
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
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 |
|
|
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Wealthy folks are colonizing rural areas,
bringing cash, culture -- and controversy
| Posted by maricela at 10:03 AM |
|
|
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter wants the state to go green. According to an Associated Press story in BusinessWeek, the governor has signed an executive order requiring state agencies to decrease fuel usage, cut back on the number of miles logged by employees and demonstrate a clear business need before purchasing SUVs or other specialty vehicles.
Source: Idaho Business Review
| Posted by maricela at 3:31 PM |
|
|
Monday, December 10, 2007
BOISE, Idaho -- When Europeans think if Idaho, Karen Ballard wants them to remember the state for something more than famous potatoes.
And, thanks to a new four-state international marketing initiative, there's been a seismic shift in the way potential overseas visitors see Idaho, the state's new tourism director says.
"People are starting to place us in the mountains, which is where we belong, versus we grow potatoes and we're somewhere in the Midwest, one of those 'I' states," Ballard said recently.
Ballard handled international tourism development for the state Department of Commerce before being named tourism chief last month. She's been attending international tourism trade shows for more than a decade on behalf of Idaho and notes that fewer people at European trade shows ask, "Where is Idaho?"
Now, hoteliers approach her to ask about their prospects for developing new hotels in the state. "It was a pretty seismic shift," she said.
Ballard credit...
| Posted by maricela at 11:42 AM |
|
|
Monday, November 19, 2007
It has been twenty years since I was in this state in the upper northwest and I was not prepared for what I found here, as the keynote speaker for the 61st meeting of the Associated Taxpayers of Idaho (ATI). The ATI meeting was a unique mix of state legislators and business people and Gov. "Butch" Otter joined the ATI meeting for lunch and as the featured luncheon speaker. All in all, an impressive assemblage of men and women interested in the future of this state.
I wasn't prepared to find a state economy that is red hot and one of the top growth economies in the United States. Idaho ranks first in so many important measurements of growth, innovation and entrepreneurialism, that it is hard to know where to start:
It's first in the nation with its investment in manufacturing.
It is first in the nation in the number of patents issued on a per capita basis.
And it's only 5th among the states that show a high start-up rate among new businesses.
It's the #2 state in terms ...
| Posted by maricela at 10:29 AM |
|
|
Friday, November 16, 2007
Although the tech sector is struggling, the Boise area's economic outlook for 2008 is upbeat, with the worst of the local housing slump soon to be history, experts said Tuesday.
Speakers at the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce's Economic Outlook Forum said high population growth and low unemployment will keep the Treasure Valley economy one of the nation's strongest next year.
Here are some key forecasts:
Housing: The national slowdown will last, but the Valley's won't
Portland-based economist Bill Conerly, principal of Conerly Consulting, said robust population growth will help reduce the Valley's excess housing faster than other areas.
"The national housing market is in very sad shape," he said. "We've overbuilt since 2002, when low mortgage rates allowed us to put first-time homebuyers in houses, and then home prices went up and investors moved in. But now home prices are too high for first-time homebuyers, and investors are moving out."
Conerly said he does...
| Posted by maricela at 10:31 AM |
|
|
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
President Bush today signed into law the Department of Defense bill containing the $940,000 for Boise State University to research a human West Nile vaccine. The virus is causing health concerns in Canyon and Gem counties. "It's exciting to know that this research will save lives and millions of dollars in health care costs. Boise State University is a great research university and the right place to get this job done," Sali said.
Source: Idaho Business Review
| Posted by maricela at 11:41 AM |
|
|
|
|
|