Archive for the "Economic Development" category

Tech vs Ag - Too Many Bridges Burned?

Technology and Agriculture have made interesting bedfellows in this state.  Many have argued that ag is the withering dinosaur and tech is the shining star of the future.  I myself have been caught up in this “bipartisanship”. 
Many have ranted and raged about the need for the state to do more to help tech succeed [...]

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Ben Quintana named BVEP’s Poster Boy

A big congratulations to Ben Quintana for his new position with BVEP. An IBR Staffer wrote:
BVEP executive director Paul Hiller said, “By adding Quintana to our direct selling efforts, it significantly expands our ability to showcase what our region has to offer. I have been continually impressed with his work at the chamber, and [...]

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Eastern Idaho Gathering Energy

Last year I went on the INL tour and was really impressed with the aggressiveness that INL was licensing of their technology and also working to get companies to move their little corner of the world.
I don’t know how much INL played in the decision for Areva to move to Eastern Idaho but I do [...]

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HP and Micron can’t carry the Valley forever

Here’s my news tip for Boise (especially any elected or wannabe/soon to be elected officials):
LaserJet’s and DRAM are not going to carry the valley like they once did.
Can we expect to see more layoffs in Boise? It’s too hard to realistically predict any specific events tied to any specific market activity. Maybe not now. [...]

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WaterCooler: almost full - almost open

It’s nearing completion. Despite zoning battles, red tape galore and personal significant investment, Mark Rivers is almost ready to open the WaterCooler.
Mark let me wander through the building last week with my camera (sorry I’m no photographer). He also walked me down the row of nearly completed offices. All but two of them [...]

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The talk around the WaterCooler

Well it looks like it’s finally going to happen.  April 25th (or so) the WaterCooler is set to open.  I’ve been getting a lot of emails on this, so I figured it was getting close enough I should post about it.  If you’re not familiar with what the WaterCooler is, you can read the back [...]

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At least we’re not losing any jobs

Just in case you missed it here, here, here and here, Micron’s new joint venture will result in a new plant being built in Boise. That’s the good news. The bad news is that this isn’t expected to result in any new jobs, just not a loss of existing jobs.
The real interesting part of [...]

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SuperValu expands it’s data center in Boise

Eddie Kovsky over at the IBR is reporting that SuperValu will be expanding it’s data center here in Boise. This is a good thing. How good, I don’t know. I wonder how many jobs it will create.
One thing that has consistently impressed me about Albertons/SuperValu IT employees is
a)how many of them there [...]

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What Sun buying MySQL means to Boise

The Sun acquisition came as a total shock for local MySQL employees. MySQL has been talking about an IPO since the summer and the local office has been planning to expand. While the acquisition came as a surprise, local employees seem optimistic.
Rich Taylor, one of MySQL’s Marketing Managers says that they expect [...]

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I hate politics

Maybe it’s because I grew up the son of a lobbyist, but I really hate politics.
I haven’t weighed in on the disbanding of the Governors council because I don’t really know what to say. The Governor doesn’t get tech, that’s obvious. James Ellick doesn’t seem to be doing anything. Personally [...]

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