Chobani will open its Twin Falls facility later this year. The company has been approved for $3.3 million in training grants.
The Idaho Department of Labor has approved another round of workforce development training grants for eight companies, totaling $4.8 million dollars.
The biggest chunk of that goes to three businesses, Chobani, Central Garden and Pet, and ATK.
New York-based Greek yogurt maker Chobani is currently building its Twin Falls, Idaho manufacturing facility. It’s already started training managers, and the company is eligible for reimbursements of up to $3.3 million from the Idaho Department of Labor. The Department estimates Chobani will train 583 people, costing on average $5,700 per person. Continue Reading →
Idaho jumped 18 spots in this year’s Top States for Business list compiled by CNBC. The Gem State went from 31st in 2011 to 13th in 2012. Now, Idaho is sandwiched between Iowa and Indiana.
CNBC ranks states according to ten categories. Things like; the cost of doing business, education, cost of living, and business friendliness.
While Idaho’s overall ranking from CNBC improved, two category-specific scores got worse. Continue Reading →
We spoke with Stephen Berry back in March as he was searching for a job.
A report by the conservative-leaning Idaho Freedom Foundation concludes Idaho teens have fewer job opportunities because the state’s minimum wage has increased by $2.10 since 2007.
“There may well be multiple reasons why unemployment has risen so quickly among teens, but the one that cannot be overlooked is the rapid increase of the minimum wage. Between 2007 and 2009 the federal minimum wage increased from $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour. This represented a 41 percent increase during a period that included the beginning of a major economic downturn. It is unsurprising that such a dramatic increase in the baseline cost of labor led to an equally dramatic decline in the demand for it. Recent research and analysis have found that in 2011 over 2,000 additional Idaho teens would have been employed if the minimum wage had not been increased.” – Idaho Freedom Foundation
Governor's Housing Committee members Sen. Les Bock and Rep. Phylis King (D-Boise) want to sell the governor's mansion.
Idaho’s never-lived-in governor’s mansion will cost the state about $180,000 to maintain from now until next July.
The state has justified that cost by saying the mansion is frequently used by government departments and the first family. So, we wanted to know just how often it’s used, and how much rent it brings in on a yearly basis.
The hilltop house was donated to the state by the Simplot family in 2005. The Idaho Department of Administration has kept track of state agency events at the mansion since 2009. Since June 19 of that year it has been used for 42 state retreats and meetings. Those events brought in a total of $6,800 in rental fees over the last three years. Continue Reading →
At the table, from left to right Sen. Les Bock, Rep. Phylis King, Sen. Chuck Winder, Rep. Max Black, Dept. of Administration Director Teresa Luna.
After a dust-up over an email budget vote, the Governor’s Housing Committee has agreed to fund maintenance of the vacant governor’s mansion. That’s on the condition the committee hosts a public meeting in mid-September to discuss the possibility of selling the donated house.
Senator Les Bock (D-Boise) raised concerns last week that the committee violated Idaho’s open meetings law by voting on the annual budget via email. At the same time, Bock expressed his frustration with the fact the state spends about $180,000 per year to maintain the seldom-used mansion.
“My frustration is in our inability to bite the bullet,” Bock said at the committee’s Tuesday meeting. Bock wants to stake a for-sale sign on the property, which was donated by the Simplot family in 2005. No governor has lived in the house. Continue Reading →
Employees leave the XL Four Star Beef plant in Nampa in 2011 after the company announced plans to shut the plant down and layoff 522 people. XL Four Star received $564,231 in training fund grants.
Last month, Transform Solar announced that it was closing and laying off about 250 people at its facility in Nampa. As StateImpact reported, the manufacturer of high-tech solar cells, had received $1.68 million in workforce training grants from the state of Idaho — money that the company will not have to pay back.
It’s not the first time that’s happened. Eleven companies that have received more than $5.3 million in training grants from the Idaho Department of Labor since 1996 no longer exist in the state. That’s according to data from the department and StateImpact‘s analysis. Continue Reading →
Idaho spent $3,500 less than average on each public school student in fiscal year 2010 according to new Census data released today.
On average, public school systems across the U.S. spent $10,615 per student, while Idaho spent $7,106 from 2009-2010. That puts Idaho among states spending the least on elementary and secondary public school kids.
Public schools in the District of Columbia spent the most per students, at $18,667 in 2010. D.C. was followed by New York ($18,618), New Jersey ($16,841), Alaska ($15,783), Vermont ($15,274) and Wyoming ($15,169). Continue Reading →
Iraqi refugee Qusay Alani with Dhiaa and Ahmad, two of his three sons. They, along with Alani's wife and older son, came to the U.S. with travel loan that totaled more than $4,000.
The issue of refugees’ economic well-being has been a focus of ours here at StateImpact. This week, Boise Mayor David Bieter made refugee resettlement and employment one focus of his annual State of the City Address. Bieter had this to say:
Over the last few years, in this tough economy, it became obvious to me that the challenges refugees face are compromised further in a tough economy. So we convened a roundtable of the Idaho Office for Refugees, refugee agencies, our partners in the community, and the result of that is a refugee resettlement comprehensive plan and a way forward to help them with housing and transportation, social integration. We don’t just benefit them, but we benefit our community as a whole, to the extent that Boise has been recognized as a model for how you successfully bring refugees to your community. – Mayor David Bieter Continue Reading →
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