Emilie Ritter Saunders was StateImpact Idaho's multimedia reporter until the project merged with the Boise State Public Radio site in July 2013. She previously worked as the Capitol Bureau Chief for Montana Public Radio and was a Senior Fellow with NPR's Economic Training Project from 2009 until 2010. She graduated from the University of Montana School of Journalism in 2007.
Inc. Magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies was released this week, and 18 Idaho businesses made the cut.
To qualify, companies apply by providing relevant financials and a general description of their business.
Some familiar companies that frequent these kinds of rankings were again included. Scentsy ranks 516, Balihoo ranks 853 and Pita Pit ranks 4,256.
Four newcomers to the list are based in Idaho. Lucky Bums makes outdoor recreation gear for kids. The Boise-based company made $3.4 million last year and is expected to grow by more than 600 percent in the next three years. Husband-and-wife teamJeff and Julie Streeter founded the company in 2004. It currently has 12 employees.
Jeff Streeter says he has often considered applying for the magazine’s annual ranking, but has never before made the cut. “And to come that close to the top 500, we were really pleased with the results,” Streeter says. Continue Reading →
Micron Technology CEO Mark Durcan is scheduled to speak at next week’s City Club of Boise luncheon.
Duran took over as CEO in February after longtime CEO Steve Appleton died in a plane crash.
Micron employs more than 5,000 people in Idaho, but has gone through a series of layoffs since 2005. The company shuttered its solar panel venture this year, laying off 250 people. It’s also in the process of purchasing a bankrupt Japanese chip-maker, a move intended to strengthen its manufacturing capacity.
Durcan is expected to address key trends in the tech sector and explain how Micron plans to maintain its spot in the industry.
The luncheon takes place Tuesday, August 28 at 11:45 a.m. at The Grove Hotel in Boise. The reservation deadline is Friday, August 24 by noon.
Gov. Otter speaks with Col. Brad Richy, left, after a helicopter tour of the Halstead and Trinity Ridge fires.
*StateImpact received new information this afternoon from the Idaho National Guard that the federal government will pay 100 percent of the cost to activate Idaho soldiers and airmen for support on the Trinity Ridge fire. The federal government typically shares this cost with the state, but in this case, the federal government requested Gov. Otter activate the guard, therefore, they’ll pick up the full cost.Â
More than 100 Idaho National Guardsman have been activated to support firefighting efforts in the state, costing $25,000 per day.
On Sunday Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter activated 101 soldiers and airmen to help with the Trinity Ridge Fire. They’ll provide security and helicopter support.
Col. Tim Marsano anticipates the guardsmen will be active through September 14. That would put the estimated cost at $675,000. The federal government will reimburse the state for 100 percent of the cost.
The Trinity Ridge Fire, burning near the towns of Featherville and Pine, has burned nearly 100,000 acres so far.
The Idaho Department of Lands says the state’s general fund paid for almost $6 million in fire suppression costs for the year ending June 30, 2012. The average general fund cost over the last five years is $8.6 million. The Department of Lands reports as of August 1, Idaho had already spent $9.1 million.
IDOC says inmates who have been convicted of serious or violent crimes won't be considered for a move to Colorado.
The Idaho Department of Correction flew 130 prisoners to Colorado this morning in an effort to relieve crowding as Idaho’s inmate population goes up.
“We know how hard this is on the inmates’ families but the fact is we’re running out of room,” Idaho Department of Correction Director Brent Reinke says in a press release.
The Department could eventually move as many as 800 inmates to Colorado over the next couple of years. It’s unclear how long the inmates will be housed out of state. A written press release says it could be “several years.”
On average, it costs the state $52.82 per day to house an inmate at an Idaho correctional facility. It will cost, on average, $54.19 per inmate per day at the Kit Carson Correctional Center (KCCC) in Burlington, Colorado. Continue Reading →
St. Luke's CEO David Pate started blogging on health and policy issues in the fall of 2011.
The results are in on an informal Medicaid and insurance exchange poll by St. Luke’s CEO.
As StateImpactreported last week, Dr. David Pate wanted to hear his blog readers’ thoughts about whether Idaho should expand Medicaid eligibility and create a state-run health insurance exchange. Both are fundamental pieces of President Obama’s health care law which was recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
As Pate writes on his blog, about 140 people responded to the unscientific poll:
“In all, 142 people answered the question, “Should Idaho implement a state-operated exchange or allow the federal government to implement the exchange in our state?”  Continue Reading →
Sec. LaHood visits the Port of Lewiston Wednesday.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will be in Idaho Wednesday, days after the Obama administration announced plans to send unspent transportation dollars to states.
As The Associated Pressreported Friday, $470 million will be made available to states for infrastructure projects as long as states “promise to use the money to create jobs and improve transportation.”
The AP reports it’s an effort by the Obama administration to sidestep Congress. Continue Reading →
Do you have a photo you'd like to see here? Maybe an Idaho landscape or something that reminds you of the economy? Send them to ersaunders@stateimpact.org
Each week we collect the five posts getting the most reads, comments and shares. Take a look and let us know what you think!
Idaho's jobless rate ticked down two-tenths of a percent from June to July.
Almost 20,000 more Idahoans had jobs this July compared to last. The Idaho Department of Labor reports July’s seasonally adjusted jobless rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point from June to 7.5 percent. That’s a three-year low, and it’s better than the national rate of 8.3 percent.
According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, Idaho and Rhode Island were the only two states, to post a decline in the jobless rate from June to July. The District of Columbia also saw a decrease. Continue Reading →
Researchers Godfrey Miles, ARS, (left) and Venkatesan Sengoda, Washington State University, evaluate symptoms in fried chips made from potatoes infected with zebra chip. (USDA)
Starting Friday, fresh potatoes from Idaho, Oregon and Washington can no longer be exported to South Korea.
As Capital Pressreported earlier this week, Korea’s export ban results from concerns over an insect-borne disease that causes light yellow potato flesh to darken and stripe — the zebra chip.
According to the Idaho Department of Agriculture, the state exported $469 million worth of vegetables in 2010. Potatoes were, by far, the state’s the single largest vegetable export.
Still, Idaho Potato Commission president Frank Muir says just one Idaho potato grower sends fresh spuds to Korea. “At this point it doesn’t hurt Idaho’s economy because we didn’t have that much product shipping,” Muir says. Continue Reading →
St. Luke's CEO David Pate started blogging on health and policy issues in the fall of 2011.
The CEO of Idaho’s largest health system, St. Luke’s, is asking readers of his blog what they think Idaho should do about expanding Medicaid.
Dr. David Pate began his blogging endeavor almost a year ago as a way to reach more of St. Luke’s 10,000 employees spread across six hospitals and 100 clinics in Idaho.
He says so far, it’s been a success. And he’s recently experimented with informal online polls to better gauge how St. Luke’s employees and the community feel about cornerstones of President Obama’s health care reform law.
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