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| Main / Idaho News |
Author: maricela Created: 3/26/2007 11:20 AM |
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Headline news in the state of Idaho. |
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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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Monday, November 05, 2007
Idaho Power Co. is the latest utility to temper its enthusiasm for new coal plants, telling federal stock market regulators that escalating costs, permit issues and greenhouse-gas-emission concerns led it to abandon plans to build enough coal-fired electricity generation by 2013 to light 187,500 more homes. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week, the Boise-based utility "determined that coal-fired generation is not the best technology to meet its resource needs in 2013." The company had planned to get an additional 250 megawatts from coal by then.
Instead, it now aims to develop a new natural gas turbine somewhere in southern Idaho by 2012, to augment plans to add 101 megawatts of wind generation in December 2008 and 45.5 megawatts of geothermal generation in phases between 2007 and 2011. One megawatt can light about 750 homes.
Across the nation, utilities have been making similar decisions, with at least 16 coal-fired power plant proposals getting scrap...
| Posted by maricela at 3:23 PM |
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Thursday, October 11, 2007
The Idaho Transportation Department is preparing to submit its final environmental impact statement for the planned conversion of 31 miles of U.S. 95 to a four-lane divided highway.
Once the Federal Highway Administration approves the EIS, the way will be clear for the state to start acquiring the necessary rights of way along the first two sections approved for design and construction.
Ultimately, ITD will spend about $342 million on the project between Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint beginning with the first two sections, which are in a 12.7-mile stretch of road near Silverwood Theme Park at the north end of Kootenai County. U.S. 95 is the primary north-south corridor for the state, and has seen increased international commercial traffic since the enactment of NAFTA in 1994.
A contract for design of the first section of the planned 31-mile highway conversion has been awarded to Keller Associates Inc. of Meridian, Idaho, and the southern part of the 6.7-mile Chilco section could go out...
| Posted by maricela at 10:00 AM |
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Tuesday, October 09, 2007
After 10 years running a highly successful Internet-based travel business in Sun Valley, local entrepreneur Tracy Lotz recently moved vacation/rental business to Boise to support the rapid expansion taking place in his business.
Lotz said, "We have had a lot of great people work with us over the years but the availability of affordable market rate housing, which resulted in the lack of qualified employees were the biggest factors for the change."
1st Choice Vacation Rentals became a pioneer in the vacation rental segment. Over the 13 years, 1st Choice expanded from being a web directory for vacation rentals to providing websites for vacation property managers.
Source: Idaho Business Review
| Posted by maricela at 9:42 AM |
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Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Avista Utilities seeks Idaho Public Utilities Commission approval to decrease its annual Purchased Gas Cost Adjustment (PGA) by about 4.5 percent. The adjustment would take effect Nov. 1. An average resident using about 65 therms on natural gas per month would experience an average $3.65 monthly decrease, according to the company's application. The company's reduced price projections reflect more stability in wholesale gas prices, increased storage capacity and no supply interruptions caused by hurricanes, the commission said in a release.
Avista's customers have until Oct. 24 to comment . The company serves about 70,000 households in its northern Idaho territory.
Variable costs such as wholesale market prices for gas, transportation and storage are adjusted yearly through the purchased-gas adjustment mechanism.
Avista's fixed costs of supplying gas and some variable costs of gas supply are covered in base rates, adjusted only when the company comes before the commission with a ra...
| Posted by maricela at 2:38 PM |
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Thursday, September 13, 2007
Potlatch Corporation will be acquiring about 179,000 acres of timberland in Idaho for nearly $215 million from Western Pacific Timber.
The transaction will take place in two phases, with a majority of timberlands to be acquired in the first phase, which is expected to close by the end of September, and the remaining timberlands to be acquired in the second phase, which is expected to close in January 2008, according to a press release.
The timberland are located in the heart of central Idaho's premier outdoor recreational corridor. It contains stocked forests of ponderosa pine and mixed fir. The cost breaks down to about $1,200 per acre. The majority of the ownership is less than a two-hour drive from Boise, and is adjacent to the mountain communities of McCall, New Meadows and Donnelly. Tamarack Resort, the newest four-season ski and golf resort in the West, is in close proximity to the property.
Potlach Vice President William R. DeReu said, "In addition to increasing our ove...
| Posted by maricela at 9:59 AM |
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Monday, August 20, 2007
For the second consecutive year, Idaho ranked among the most business-friendly states in the nation in the annual annual Milken Institute Index thanks to some of lowest electrical rates in the U.S.
That was good enough to earn Idaho a 6th place finish on the Ten Least Expensive states list with an index rating 82.8. Overall, the state finished in 46th place for the second consecutive year. Hawaii and New York ranked first and second on the most expensive states to do business list. Idaho was singled out as having the lowest electrical rates in the nation, while Hawaii had the highest. The Cost-of-Doing-Business Index indicates each state's comparative advantages or disadvantages in attracting and retaining businesses.Source: Idaho Statesman.com
| Posted by maricela at 12:34 PM |
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Monday, August 06, 2007
The Argus Observer in Ontario reports a company called Dot Foods Inc. looked into putting a new facility in the Oregon community not far from the Idaho border. But Ontario was passed over, and Burley was chosen instead. The plant is expected to be completed in 2008 and could employ up to 200 people. A man named Rodolfo Sanchez owns a chain of restaurants called Muchas Gracias. He opened one fast food outlet in 1997, now has more than 40 franchised branches in Washington and Oregon, and is looking to expand his Mexican eatery empire into Idaho as soon as possible. Sanchez is from San Luis Potosi, Mexico; his franchise is a model of American success. Everett, Wash. is trying to learn a little something from Idaho. The Washington community hopes to capitalize on the 2010 Winter Games to be held in Vancouver, B.C. A group of business and political leaders is working to help the area benefit financially from the games just as communities in Idaho benefited from those in Salt Lake ...
| Posted by maricela at 12:23 PM |
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