11.18.09
A Turboprop Built for Trouble
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.
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11.13.09
Hailey Business Owner Earns National Award for Innovative Product
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.
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11.13.09
Idaho Businesses Are Rolling Up Their Sleeves
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.
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11.05.09
Nezperce Settles Into Cozy New Library
Book by book and hand over hand, 6,500 volumes made their way Monday from the old Nezperce city library to a spanking new building a block away. Nearly 200 elementary and high school students, along with several teachers and other adults, formed the human conveyor belt for about three hours on a brisk autumn afternoon.
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11.04.09
Grants Bring More Geothermal Research, Projects to Idaho
The U.S. Department of Energy will send more than $10 million in grants to Idaho for geothermal research and projects, the agency announced. An additional $3.8 million will go to Boise firm US Geothermal for a project the company has underway in Nevada.
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11.02.09
Area Business Expands, New Building Going Up in New Plymouth
The Internet Truckstop owner Scott Moscrip watches across the road from his New Plymouth office as a three-story, steel frame building takes shape — a new, state-of-the-art structure that will house the growing Internet Truckstop business, along with Roady’s Truck Stops and other ventures that have spawned from the New Plymouth company.
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11.02.09
Economic Prospects Brighten
Economic indicators are brightening in Canyon County and beyond. The most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression appears to be reaching bottom, but officials forecast the state and Treasure Valley won't see substantial job creation for several months.
"The troubled Idaho economy should show more signs of life throughout 2010," Jeff Thredgold, economic consultant for Zions Bank, said.
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10.16.09
Innovation is Helping Idaho Companies Move Forward
As I travel around the state, I have the opportunity to visit a lot of businesses, business owners and their employees. I'm constantly reminded-in ways big and small-that businesses, like people, need to be willing and able to change in order to stay relevant and succeed.
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