Business

Paul Schaller, a former Silicon Valley pilot and high-tech executive, has spent the past five years getting Quest Aircraft Co., a turboprop manufacturer in Sandpoint, Idaho, off the ground. But just when business was taking shape, he ran into a wicked recession that has made owning a private plane about as politically correct as wearing mink to a PETA convention. Schaller's salvation has been to exploit an overlooked and defensible niche: utility turboprops for missionary and humanitarian organizations that need to access remote and dangerous regions. It's a growing $300 million market that hasn't seen much innovation since the Turbo-Beaver bush plane was introduced by de Havilland Canada in the early 1960s.

The Nail Jack® nail puller from Nail Jack Tools, LLP has been selected as a winner of the 2009 HANDY Innovation Awards by Handy Magazine of the Handyman Club of America. Michael Foley, inventor and CEO of Nail Jack Tools, will receive the award. The Nail Jack nail puller is a patented new hand tool that digs, grips, and pulls nails, staples and brads.

This month: Some good news, and a few words of caution. We heard recently that the recession may be over. Our nation’s economy grew about 3.5 percent during the most recent quarter, marking the first three-month period of growth in more than a year. But before we celebrate, let’s remember that while we may finally be at the bottom of this downturn and starting to turn things around, we are not yet anywhere near where we were or where we want to be.