Se idaho business jounal sept oct 2013

Brad Hess is the general manager of Hess Pumice in Malad.

Doug LinDLey / SoutheaSt Idaho BuSIneSS Journal

September/October 2013 biz.idahostatejournal.com

In This Issuen Pg. 2

Outsourcing Inspiration n Pg. 2

Work, Life and ‘Blur’ n Pg. 3

Idaho’s continued growth tied to improvements in transportation infrastructure

n Pgs. 4-6 State’s agricultural exports on the rise

n Pg. 7 Content is King: A look at how the Internet has changed marketing

n Pg. 8 The Affordable Care Act: Tips for the self-employed in Idaho

n Pgs. 9-10 Pumice company utilizes outstanding natural resource

n Pgs. 11-12 Harnessing the Great Outdoors

n Pg. 13 City planners taking innovative approaches to public transportation

n Pg. 14 Pocatello Regional Transit gets high marks from customer

Business JournalSoutheaSt Idaho

Rock SolidHess Pumice Products in Malad takes advantage of Idaho’s superior pumice deposits

News for busiNessSoutheast Idaho Business Journal is dedicated to providing the best in news, trends and commentary to the Southeast Idaho business community. To that end, the Journal welcomes story ideas.

What kind of stories would you like to see covered? Whether it is business profiles, trends, commentary or advice, we want to hear from you.

Submit your local and regional business story ideas to Southeast Idaho Business Journal Editor Vanessa Grieve at [email protected].

2 September/OctOber 2013 Southeast Idaho business Journal

biz. idahostatejournal .com

Inkjet printing

$1.9

7.4Source: BCC ResearchGraphic: Pat Carr, Paul Trap

© 2013 MCT

Projected growth of the global market for inkjet printing hardware

and inks, in billions:

2012 2017

BizFact

Health searchPercentage of persons who said they

researched health-related issues online within 30 days of the survey:

U.K.

Source: Ipsos Global Advisor survey of about 500-1,000 persons in each nation, March 5-19, 2013; margin of error: +/- 3.1 to 4.5 percentage pointsGraphic: Pat Carr, Paul Trap

© 2013 MCT

49Mexico

55S. Africa

61Turkey

65

U.S.43%

Biz facts

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« By Rory Erchul »

Lately I’ve been read-ing and discussing with friends and colleagues

an issue we’re seeing more and more of in our plugged-in and connected lives. The buzzword for it is “blur,” and it’s pretty fitting. The term suggests a blur between our work lives and our home and personal lives. Consider this — Do we ever really take time off? Are we really on vacation when we take our computers and mobile devices with us? When at home or out with our families, how many of us are constantly checking texts, Facebook and answering emails? I’m just as guilty as the next, but there comes a time when I simply walk away, turn off my phone and spend time with and focus on those friends and family around me. Seems like so many of us take our work and technology with us everywhere we go. Especially if you’re like my wife and I who own our own business; it’s difficult to get away. Fifteen years ago you left your com-puter on your desk when you went home because you certainly couldn’t drag it along with you. With today’s technology, however, it’s so easy to get con-nected, stay connected and plugged in like never before. Let’s face it, the technology is fun, conve-nient and certainly can lend to increased produc-tivity, but the lines have blurred. Unfortunately, our behavior often appears to reflect that what’s happening on our smartphones is more important than the people we’re with or the things we’re doing. Obviously when at work, focus and complete attention to the job at hand is important. Communication is imperative and tech-nology is an enormous help. But what about when you’re not at work or not working? For example, why do we feel the need to answer every text mes-sage within seconds of receiving them? Why do we let that phone call interrupt us at anytime, anywhere? Why do we reply to that email when we know it can wait? And vice versa, this is applicable to those at work using their phone for personal matters or checking the latest Facebook postings. In a previous position as a sales manager and call center director, it seemed that some days half of

my battle was simply trying to keep people focused on their job and not on their personal phone or Facebook page. I’m sure you’ve seen this; two people sitting at a table in a res-taurant in silence, ignoring each other as they place all attention and interest to the device in their hands. Take notice of those walking, seemingly oblivious to their surroundings because they’ve got their heads down. If you have kids, most certainly teenagers, they’re more apt to be on their iPhones and iPads than watching TV.

Without question, there is a time and a place for everything. When I’m at work, I’m working. But, when I’m having dinner with my family or out on a date with my wife, they get my utmost attention. I leave the phone at home, in the car, or turn it off. When we go on vacation, we set certain hours in which to check email, do some work and address any pressing issues. Outside of those times, it’s a “no-technology” zone and my full attention is on those I’m with. We as adults and parents need to teach our children through example and show them these devices and technology cannot control our lives. They’re here to aid and assist, not rule and govern. If your No. 1 priority is your phone, take a step back and consider the message you’re sending the people you’re with — that they’re not as interesting or important as what or who is on your phone. One last thing, I love to fly fish and now that my son is 12 and we’re back in Idaho, it’s a dream come true to take him with me. While out fishing the other weekend, we had no connection and no service. We had nothing but the mountains, the river, the wildlife and each other. We talked, we laughed and we fished. My reward was not just spending valuable time with him, but also what he said to me. He said, “I like it here. It’s peaceful.” That blew my mind, and there was certainly no “blur” in what was most important that day. A former communications executive, Rory Er-chul and his wife own their own digital media and consulting firm, E-Squared Creative. For more information, please visit www.e-squaredcreative.com.

Work, Life and ‘Blur’

« By Alex Bolinger »

Imagine that you manage a student call center at an Ivy League university in

the East. You supervise student employees who call university alumni for donations to fund scholarships. Employee morale is low. The turnover rate is about 350 percent — that means that your entire staff quits ev-ery three to four months. Now imagine that a re-searcher from your university’s school of business approaches you with an idea for a five-minute intervention that would dramatically increase the amount of money your employ-ees raised — and it would cost you nothing. You are skeptical. After all, you have tried every-thing: pay-for-performance, friendly competitions, even relaxing the call script. But nothing has worked; you agree to the researcher’s request. The researcher divides your employees into two groups. One group of employees continues to work as before. The other group hears from a student who has received a scholarship from the money that your employees raised. After explaining that she is using her scholarship to pursue her goal of attending medical school, this student thanks your employees and leaves. She talked for just five minutes. Over the next four weeks, you watch with amazement at the difference between the group of employees who heard from the student beneficiary and the group that did not. Even though the two groups of employees were essentially the same in every other way, the group that heard from the student ben-eficiary for just five minutes quadrupled the amount of do-nations it raised. And that per-formance improvement persists for months. This is a true story. In a 2011 article in the Harvard Business Review, Adam Grant, a profes-sor of management at the Uni-versity of Pennsylvania, tells how he was the researcher who convinced the desperate man-ager to “outsource inspiration” by bringing in a student who benefited from the call cen-ter employees’ work. When it comes to motivating employees, managers often assume that employees will be motivated by financial incentives. But find-ing ways to connect employees to the people who benefit from their work can be incredibly motivating, Grant suggests, be-cause it makes a person’s day-to-day tasks more meaningful.

I have seen this principle at work at the College of Business at Idaho State University. Each fall, the students in my senior-level Organizational Behavior class partner with the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Idaho to raise money for a local child who is dealing with a life-threat-ening illness. Julie Thomas, regional development director of the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Eastern Idaho, speaks to my class early in the semester and tells stories of children whose wishes have been granted in the past. The students in my class are then divided into groups and given the task of designing and executing a fundraiser to raise money to grant the wish of a child in our community. Stu-dents meet the child at the end of the semester. The results have been re-markable. Although they are only required to complete one fundraiser, many students have completed two or three fund-raisers per group. Last year, fewer than 40 undergraduate students in two classes raised over $8,000 to grant the wishes of two children in our commu-nity! The Make-a-Wish Chal-lenge illustrates lessons about motivation that are far more interesting and authentic than I could ever communicate. In recent years, organiza-tions as varied as Medtronic, John Deere, Wells Fargo and Volvo have had great success in providing opportunities for employees to hear from or meet the people who benefit from their work. But the real win-ners are the individuals who get to experience first-hand how their work makes an au-thentic difference in the lives of others. If you would like more infor-mation about the Make-a-Wish Challenge; or, if you would like to make a contribution to our class’s project, please contact Alex Bolinger at 208-282-6242 or by email at [email protected]. Alex Bolinger is an assistant professor of management at Idaho State University.

Outsourcing InspirationA different approach to motivation

ALEx BOLIngER

RORy ERchuL

Southeast Idaho Business Journal SeptemBer/OctOBer 2013 3


Idaho’s continued growth tied to improvements in transportation infrastructure

« By Randy Shumway »

Driven by a strong hous-ing market, the nation’s overall economic recov-

ery is continuing its slow march forward. Promising labor data, a reduction in American house-hold debt, increased manufac-turing activity and higher levels of consumer spending all point to continued progress in the na-tion’s economic recovery.

Idaho housIng market After several difficult years of decline, demand for homes in Idaho has increased steadily over the last year. Coupled with limited supply and fewer dis-tressed properties available for purchase, this rising demand has significantly increased home prices in the state. According to Realtytrac, the number of prop-erties that received a foreclosure filing in Idaho decreased 48 per-cent in July compared with one year prior. During this same pe-riod, the CoreLogic Home Price Index, or HPI, reported that Idaho home prices increased 14.2 percent. The competitive housing mar-ket has also fueled higher levels of building activity. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, privately owned hous-ing starts authorized by building permits in Idaho totaled 749 in July — a year-over-year increase of nearly 28 percent. Mortgage rates are also climb-ing. Freddie Mac reports that

while mortgage rates have re-cently reached a two-year high, they remain historically low at less than 5 percent.

transportatIon In Idaho, the housing market is a bright spot in the economy, but continued growth will be tied to the state’s efforts to improve aviation and ground transpor-tation. According to the Idaho Transportation Department, the aviation-related economic impact in the state is $1.3 bil-lion, but despite this critical impact, the Boise Airport is suf-fering 10-year lows in scheduled flights, passengers and numbers of available seats. In an effort to combat these trends, the airport is currently seeking to enlarge the economic footprint of avia-tion in the state by expanding nonstop service between Boise and a major hub on the east coast. Idaho’s highways are a vital part of the state’s transportation

infrastructure. According to Ida-ho Transportation Department Director Brian Ness, nearly one-third of Idaho’s highways will require pavement repair in fewer than 10 years and more than one-third of the state’s high-way bridges are nearing the end of their usability. Although fund-ing strategies are still in debate, a sense of urgency surrounds efforts to sustain transportation infrastructure for the sake of the state’s economy.

u.s. Consumer prICe Index According to the Bureau of La-bor Statistics, consumer prices were unchanged from June to July on a nonseasonally adjusted basis as a sharp drop in apparel prices was offset by increases in food, housing and medical care. July was only the second month of 2013 where prices did not increase month-over-month, and prices have now climbed 2 percent year-over-year, led by a jump in energy prices. Consum-ers have seen the prices for natu-ral gas, gasoline and electricity all rise significantly over the past year. Meanwhile, food prices rose this month, largely due to a sharp increase in the cost of

fruits and vegetables across the nation. Beef and veal prices also increased last month, and are now at record highs across the U.S., according the U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture. Low cattle inventory in the U.S. continues to elevate prices, and the USDA is forecasting that this trend will be sustained throughout 2014.

Labor market Idaho’s unemployment rate rose slightly in July to 6.6 percent, influenced by below-normal hiring and above-normal seasonal government layoffs. In both June and July, the number of employed workers in Idaho decreased while the total labor force increased, push-ing the unemployment rate up 0.4 percent in just two months. Idaho has not seen a jump in un-employment of this magnitude since mid-2009. Idaho’s total population of unemployed individuals has decreased by about 8 percent year-over-year, but unemploy-ment benefit payments in the state have decreased 41 per-cent, due in large part to the Sequester.

u.s. Consumer ConfIdenCe Index

The national Consumer Con-fidence Index (which tracks how consumers feel about the economy) increased in August to 81.5. Consumers have generally become more confident in the di-rection of the economy through-out 2013 as housing, labor and stock markets have improved. However, this confidence ap-pears to have plateaued in recent months in light of political grid-lock in Washington, a relatively stagnant unemployment rate and potential conflicts abroad. The Present Situation Index (how consumers feel about their current business and employment situation) saw a month-over-month decrease to 70.7. The Ex-pectations Index (how consumers feel about the economy six months from now) increased to 88.7, es-sentially offsetting the fall in the Present Situation Index. Still, this month consumers were substantially more optimis-tic about the labor market: the percent of consumers anticipat-ing more jobs over the next six months increased, and the per-cent of consumers anticipating fewer jobs over the same time period declined modestly. More consumers are expecting their incomes to increase, while the proportion of consumers expect-ing their incomes to decline fell slightly. Randy Shumway is CEO of the Cicero Group, the exclusive data analytics and economic consult-ing firm to Zions Bank.

Randy Shumway

In Idaho, the housing market is a bright

spot in the economy, but continued growth

will be tied to the state’s efforts to improve

aviation and ground transportation.

GrowinG

idaho

“Exports have been setting records for the last couple of years.”— Idaho State Department of Agriculture Bureau Chief Laura Johnson





« Vanessa Grieve »

E xports of Idaho’s agriculture commodities increased 7.37 percent in the first six months of 2013 compared with the same time frame in 2012, according to the

Idaho State Department of Agriculture. Bureau Chief Laura Johnson for the ISDA Market Devel-opment Division said the increase is impressive considering 2012 was a record year for Idaho agriculture exports. “Exports have been setting records for the last couple of years,” Johnson said. Agriculture exports for January through June exceeded $500 million, up about 7.37 percent from 2012 for the same time frame. Increased exports and increased prices compared with last year’s crop may take some of the pinch out of the low water year for farmers and producers. Paul Patterson, a University of Idaho Agriculture Exten-sion Economist, said producers across the state have been impacted differently and will likely have varying results and options. Patterson said potato prices for the first week of Septem-ber were up this year between $9 and $10 compared with the same week last year at $4. The fall potato crop production nationally is projected to be down about 4.5 percent. In Idaho, projections indicate the potato crop could be down about 8.5 percent, Patterson said. “Why price outlook is much better this year than a year ago is ... because of lower anticipated yield,” Patterson said. “They figure production could be down about 10 percent in Idaho, but it will be a much more favorable year for the in-dustry than a year ago.” Patterson said milk prices have also “much improved” from last year. “(2012) wasn’t a bad year price-wise,” Patterson said. “The

thing that really hurt the dairy industry was the extremely high price of feed. While milk prices were certainly not that great, they were not as disastrous as they were in 2010.” Milk prices for the first six months of 2013 in-creased about 13.5 percent from the first six months of 2012. For that time frame, milk in 2012 averaged $16.56 per hundredweight and in 2013 averaged $18.80 per hundred weight in the first six months. For a look at Idaho’s major crops and acre-age compared with the national projections, see the graph at the bottom of this page. Within the last decade, demand for Idaho ex-ports has increased significantly, Johnson said. For the first six months of 2013, the top five countries importing Idaho exports (in order, from greatest on down) include Canada, Mexico, China, South Korea and Indonesia. “I think some of those trends are really increased ... like in China,” Johnson said. Ten years ago, China wasn’t in the top 10 for Idaho export-ing companies. For the year 2012, Idaho’s agricultural products accounted for about 13.42 percent of all Idaho exports, according to the Idaho Department of Commerce In 2012, Idaho’s ag exports to China increased 26.95 percent compared to 2011. “Depending upon where our products are going; where you have emerging markets and a wealthier middle class, ... (and) consumer growth,” Johnson said, adding that much off the growth is being seen in Asian countries. Live animal exports to Russia have also grown noticeably in the past three years.

Continued on page 6

Setting recordsState’s agricultural exports on the rise

Major crop acreage projections for 2013 coMpared to 2012Barley

u U.S. predicted to be down 4.3 percent

u Idaho predicted to be up 4.9 percent, approximately 640,000 acres, yields predicted to be up about 1.1 percent over 2012.

Wheat

u U.S. predicted to increase acreage 1.4 percent

u Idaho predicted to increase about 1 percent, estimated 1.325 million acres planted, yield expected to be down about 2 percent.

Potatoes

u U.S. acreage on fall crop projected to be down about 4.5 percent.

u Idaho predicted to be down about 8.1 percent, with about 317,000 acres, production down about 2 to

3 percent.

Sugar beets

u U.S. acreage expected to be down about 1.9 percent.

u Idaho acreages projected to be down about 4.4 percent, estimated acreage at 175,000 acres. University of Idaho Agriculture Extension Economist Paul Patterson said spring winds caused a record replanting effort. Yields are projected to be down about 4 percent. Over all change in productions (acreage and production) 8-8 percent decline. Price could be down 20-25 percent from 2012, mirroring a national trend.

Hay

u U.S. “all hay” projected acreage up about 0.6 percent.

u Idaho predicted to be up about 6.7 percent. Estimated acreage at 1.43 million. Projecting a slight increase in yield between 1 and 2 percent. Hay prices have been up from the past few years.

Information the USDA crop production report and Paul Patterson UI extension agriculture economist.

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Continued from page 5Continued from page 5

“I think the bigger part “I think the bigger part is the economic growth is the economic growth around the world and around the world and overall consumption,” overall consumption,” she said.

Depending upon the Depending upon the year, some countries will buy more or less Idaho goods. Australia is listed 10th for the half-year tallies. The country’s interest in Idaho ag was up 116.9 percent from 2012 during the first six months, purchasing $4.8 million to $10.4 mil-lion so far this year.

Depending upon type of crop, where it was located and how it was watered, Patterson said growers will have differ-ent experiences with this year’s crops.

In some parts of the state, irrigation compa-nies are turning water off two to three weeks earli-er than usual. Those who had access to ground water and utilized pumps to water to nourish their crops paid more in elec-tricity than in years past. Depending upon the electric utility, some pro-ducers may have paid a greater amount to water their crops during peak demand times than in years past.

“For example one of the things they look at in rate increases is how they price power; ener-gy charge and a demand charge. It’s not always as a straight rate,” Pat-terson said adding that rates went up about 7.2 percent for Idaho Power customers. Fac-tor in the energy and demand charges, some producers paid as much as 29 percent more on their power bill than in years past. “It certainly impacted a lot of pro-ducers.”

Idaho’s top crop export categories for January to June of 2013 compared with same time frame in 2012. Results may vary when fall crops come online.

1. Dairy products: Down 0.17 percent

2. Edible Vegetables — fresh or dried and legume: Up 5 percent

3. Misc. grain and seed: Up 19.47 percent.

4. Milling products, malt and starch: Up 44 percent

5. Processed foods, including frozen potatoes: Up 10.07 percent

6. Misc. food (mustard, flour and meal, condiments seasoning and nutritional supplements, soups, broths): Up 42 percent

7. Live animals: Up 50 percent

8. Cereals grains: Down 67 percent

9. Food waste and prepared animal feed: Down 44.8 percent

10. Animal and vegetable fats, and oils: Up 12.2 percent

Source: Idaho State Department of Agriculture

Idaho’s top exports for fIrst sIx months of 2013

BOISE — Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter was on hand Sept. 16 as Taiwan Flour Mills Associa-tion representatives and Idaho wheat indus-try officials signed an agreement supporting U.S. wheat exports over the next two years — a deal worth $484 million. Taiwan Flour Mills Association Executive Director Wei-Chang Chang, Director Gen-eral Andy Chin of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Seattle, and Idaho Wheat Commission Chairman Ned Moon joined Ot-ter for the ceremony. “Export markets are critical to Idaho’s economy and to Idaho wheat growers,” said Otter, “We met with the Taiwan Flour Mills Association during my trade mission to Asia in April and greatly appreciate their loyalty as an Idaho customer. ” “Taiwan and Idaho also enjoy a close trade relationship. In 2012, Taiwan was Idaho’s third-largest export market; Idaho exported $755 million to Taiwan in that year,” said Chang of the TFMA. The U.S. wheat industry has had an excel-lent working relationship with Taiwan for more than 40 years. The Taiwan Flour Millers Association imports 60,000 metric tons (2.2 million bushels) of wheat, every three months which is distributed among all of the millers. The TFMA continues to be one of Idaho’s best customers year-after-year, coming in as one of the top five wheat-importing trade part-ners. “These millers are some of our most so-phisticated and progressive customers,” said Idaho Wheat Commission’s Moon. “They like to buy U.S. wheat because they know exactly what quality of wheat they are getting in contrast with buying wheat from other countries that have lower grading standards.”

Taiwan flour millers sign $484 million wheat deal

Canada $117,081,777

Mexico $81,524,703

China $45,997,057

South Korea $29,083,236

Indonesia $26,506,674

Japan $24,633,773

Malaysia $15,543,836

Netherlands $11,796,276

Russia $11,383,580

Australia $10,474,553

Top ten Idaho 2013agriculture importersfor January to June

Source: Global Trade InformaTIon ServIceS

Idaho potato experts predict good-quality crop IDAHO FALLS (AP) — With about 5 percent of Idaho’s potato crop harvest-ed, experts are predicting a good quality crop with average yields. “This year, we expect yields within the five-year average,” Idaho Potato Commis-sion President Frank Muir said. “I think it will supply all the customers’ needs without putting any undue pressure on prices. I think we’ll have a good quality crop that is just about the right size.” University of Idaho Extension Educa-tor Lance Ellis told the Post Register

that adequate water storage helped with drought conditions in many parts of Idaho. “We had the storage for it,” he said. “Farmers were able to get what they needed early on. Without that storage, we would not have been able to do what (was needed).” A cold spring that postponed planting by several weeks means that many grow-ers are harvesting later this year. “In 2012, we had a very warm, dry spring, which allowed farmers to get

in their fields earlier, but this year not so much,” Ellis said. “This year was a colder spring, but it turned into a very hot summer.” The 315,000 acres planted with pota-toes this year in Idaho is down from the 340,000 planted in 2012. Muir said the decline is the result of an overabundance of potatoes last year. “In 2012, some of those acres didn’t have a home (with buyers or proces-sors) when they were planted, which put some pressure on the overall sup-

ply,” Muir said. Dillon VanOrden of Garth VanOr-den Farms in Pingree says the quality and size of the potatoes he’s harvested so far look good. He’s harvested about 45 percent of his 2,000-acre crop and hopes to finish in early October. He started harvesting Aug. 22 because of a late-summer spike in potato prices. “We saw a niche in the market and we thought we should capitalize on it,” VanOrden said. “Plus we got them in early, so our spuds were ready earlier.”



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« By Jeff Hough »

Since the dawn of time, mar-keters have sought ways to hock their wares. In the

past, travelling salesmen select-ed a street corner, stood on a box and shouted to attract attention. Because that strategy seemed to work, marketers looked for other interesting ways to get people to look at their products. Newspapers and magazines have ads that interrupt your ar-ticle, forcing you to turn the page and pass several other ads on the way. Radio, then television, used similar tactics. Even the Internet followed suit using annoying pop-up windows that interrupt your surfing experience. This method, called outbound marketing, pushes the message on consumers, rather than creat-ing a dialogue with them. While marketers try to target their efforts to identified demograph-ics (18-35, male or female, etc.), they are mainly concerned with broadcasting the message to as many people as possible. Their goal is to cause potential custom-ers to stop and take notice.

The MarkeTing ShifT The Internet changed the mar-keting game forever. Because the Internet is so vast, search en-gines became the primary means of finding what you are looking for. Marketers began trying to manipulate search engine re-sults by practicing “black hat” programming techniques that falsify information to improve their ranking in the search en-gine results. Search engine algorithms quickly found ways to avoid these “fake” results and began to search for real content that was fresh and relevant to “long-tailed” searches. A long-tailed search is a phrase used by search engines to find informa-tion. The phrase “what is search engine marketing” is an example of a long tailed search. Since the Internet provides a treasure trove of marketing information, I now know how many people are searching for a specific term — search engine marketing — and where they are located. This treasure trove of infor-mation has broken down tradi-tional marketing demographics. Marketers, for the first time in history, are able to target their message at specific people who are interested in their product and in the places those people frequent. If I want to market to people who like Christian Louboutin shoes, I now have the ability to reach them be-cause I know when and where they will be.

The BirTh of ConTenT MarkeTing

Due to the search-engine thirst for fresh and relevant content, companies had to find ways to attract visitors to their websites using “organic” search results (organic signifies search results ranked naturally — not paid for — based on the terms used). These search results bring interested people to the website and increase the conver-sion rates of prospective buyers because they find exactly what they want. Content marketing is like sprinkling bread crumbs all over so people who are looking for specific information will find the trail and follow it back to the provider. Content Marketing is comprised of Emails, Blogs, Vid-eos, White Papers, e-Books and Info-graphics — to name a few of the media used. These sources of information are not thrust on consumers; rather they are po-sitioned so that only those look-ing for particular information will find it. This trail of bread crumbs brings interested parties together to start a dialog. Content marketing is about the dialog between communities of like-minded people. Consumers are interested in companies that provide value and the best way to do that is to provide content users need. When companies provide relevant information to consumers, they become the trusted source of information and brand loyalty increases. While Super Bowl ads still draw record numbers of people to view them, their conversion rates pale when compared with well-run content marketing cam-paigns. Content marketing brings marketers eye-to-eye with the consumer so a relationship can build that lasts beyond the initial transaction. If you are interested in learning more about content marketing, visit bit.ly/wftcontent to sign up for a free newsletter that provides useful Internet marketing information. Jeff Hough is the director of Workforce Training at Idaho State University. He can be reached at [email protected].

Content is King

Jeff HougH

SoutheaSt idaho BuSineSS Journal online

Check out the following commentaries at biz.idahostatejournal.com.

u Got ya ears on? Truckers plan 3-day protestBy Mike Petrovsky

Not since the days of “Smokey and the Bandit” have I been so excited. Truckers are puttin’ the hammer down and heading for the nation’s capital next month to shut down America because, in the words of one organizer — or maybe a disorganizer — “the federal government is not following the Constitution.”

u A history of goldBy Dan Cravens

Few things have motivated men and women more than gold. It has forever been associated with wealth, power and beauty.

Share your Story ideaS with SoutheaSt idaho

BuSineSS Journal Submit your local and regional business trend story ideas to Southeast Idaho Business Journal Editor Vanessa Grieve at [email protected].



« By Calvin W. Goings »

T here are currently 23 mil-lion self-employed entre-preneurs in United States,

and that number continues to rise, especially here in Idaho. These innovative entrepreneurs reflect a diverse array of professions and businesses that are helping to drive our economy — from consultants and IT specialists to painters and roofers. As the number of self-employed individuals continues to grow, thanks to technology that allows more geographic flexibility and baby boomers looking to open their own firms, one key concern for entrepreneurs looking to go into business for themselves has his-torically remained unaddressed: health care. Under the Affordable Care Act, self-employed business owners now have more options than ever to find affordable health coverage, and it’s important to know the facts about the choices available as you start, or continue to operate, your own business. First, beginning in January 2014, self-employed individuals and oth-er consumers will be able to pur-chase their insurance through new Health Insurance Marketplaces (also referred to as Exchanges). All qualified health insurance plans offered in these new insur-ance Marketplaces will cover a core package of “essential health benefits” ranging from preventive and wellness services to maternity care and mental health services. The plans will vary according to the percentage of costs the health plan covers. Additionally, issuers may of-fer catastrophic-only coverage, which includes free prevention and several primary care visits, primarily to young adults under 30 years of age. Enrollment begins on Oct. 1, and the Marketplaces open in January 2014. Self-employed individuals may also qualify to get lower costs on monthly premiums when they pur-chase private health coverage in the Marketplace. When you fill out a Marketplace application, you will

learn if you qualify for these lower costs. Depending on income, con-sumers and the self-employed may also qualify for lower out-of-pocket costs, so they won’t have to pay as much for deductibles, co-payments and coinsurance. It’s also important to know that, beginning in 2014, the Individual Shared Responsibility provisions of the Affordable Care Act call for each individual to have: basic health insurance coverage (known as minimum essential coverage) for each month; qualify for an ex-emption; or, make an Individual Shared Responsibility payment when filing a federal income tax return starting in 2015. However, if coverage is unaf-fordable, if you spend less than three consecutive months without coverage, or if you qualify for an exemption for other reasons (in-cluding hardship and religious beliefs), you will not be required to make a payment. For many self-employed entre-preneurs, health coverage is a key factor in deciding whether to ven-ture out on their own and transform an idea into a business. By provid-ing access to quality, affordable health insurance, entrepreneurs can focus on helping the economy grow and thrive. And in a country built on the spirit of entrepreneur-ship, this is good news for us all. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov/healthcare or call the Boise District Office at 208-334-9004.

Calvin W. Goings is the Regional Administrator for the Small Busi-ness Administration.

The Affordable Care Act: For the self-employed in Idaho

AffordAble CAre ACtThis is the first of a three-part series of articles from the Small Business Administration on the Affordable Care Act and how it will affect employers. Parts two and three can be found on biz.idahostatejournal.com. An article combining parts two and three will run in the next Southeast Idaho Business Journal in November.

CAlvIn W. GoInGs

SoutheASt idAho buSineSS JournAl online

Check out the following commentaries at biz.idahostatejournal.com.

u A history of trade guildsBy By Dan Cravens

Trade guilds supported economic development in many medieval cities. In an era with few career opportunities for peasants, the guilds offered a pathway to a better life. Once guild members reached the level of journeyman, they were often given encouragement and support to start their own businesses. Those new businesses created jobs and opportunity for many outside the guilds.

u Success is a processBy Jeff Hough

Consistent success doesn’t come overnight. It means overcoming setbacks by believing in yourself and those with whom you have chosen to surround yourself. It means making the tough calls and having the courage to listen to your team when they disagree with you, then making better decisions.



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Nature’s Gift

“This natural resource has been a gift to our ... valley. By far (we are) the largest employer and biggestemployer herein Malad”

— Brad Hess, general manager

of Hess Pumice Story on page 10



By Vanessa [email protected]

V olcanic eruptions near the ar-chaic Lake Bonneville helped form one of the current whitest

and brightest pumice deposits in the world near the Idaho-Utah boarder. This unique pumice has uses in hun-dreds of products and more research is opening doors to new possibilities for this natural Idaho resource. Pumice is an igneous rock that is formed when lava cools above ground in volcanic eruptions or when magma cools, below ground. General Manager Brad Hess said the white pumice the company mines un-derwent a unique process on the edge of the prehistoric Lake Bonneville, a giant lake that at one time covered more than 19,600 square miles across parts of Utah, Nevada and southern Idaho nearly 15,000 years ago, accord-ing to the Idaho Museum of Natural History website imnh.isu.edu. The lake had a “washing” effect on the cooling lava. The impurities from the lava fell more quickly to the bottom of the lake. As the cooling lava settled it was left with few other ancillary components. “It’s a great advantage, in essence it’s been pre-filtered for us by nature. We have a much lower content of impu-rities because of that,” Hess said. “Our natural resource is one of the whitest and brightest pumice deposits in the world,” Hess said. “It allows us to be in the paint industry. It has the lowest impurity rate of any of the deposits. Basically because of the way it was deposited from the volcanoes and Lake Bonneville.” The deposit is on the north end of where Lake Bonneville reaches into Southeast Idaho. The Wright Creek Mine is about 25 miles northwest of Malad City-based Hess Pumice Prod-ucts. The business was started in 1958 by Marion Hess and is a family-owned business being run by the fourth-gen-eration. The processing, refining and packaging site is inside Malad. Once the pumice is mined, much like a sand and gravel mine, there is very little processing that needs to take place, un-less specified by buyers, Hess said. At the current demand rate, Hess says there is enough pumice in this one location to last for hundreds of years. It’s estimated that there are millions of tons available. Hess said pumice pro-duction is “self-sustaining” in that it is being created around the world regu-larly. “This natural resource has been a gift to our ... valley. By far (we are) the largest employer and biggest employer here in Malad,” Hess said. The company employs nearly 100 workers, including plant employees as well as administrative and office staff, and operates a commercial truck shop with mechanics and a logistics depart-ment.

History of Hess Pumice Products Hess Pumice Products were mined and sold as an aggregate to make light-weight block that was used by builders in the region and in Salt Lake City. In the mid- to late-’60s the television industry was looking for a domestic source of pumice to polish television screens. The polishing industry stayed strong into the 2000s until the intro-duction of plasma and LCD flat screen televisions. Finding new uses and mar-ket for a product is part of running a business. Research and development has opened the doors for pumice’s use in the paint industry and its use as a concrete aggregate and in pozzolan (a porous variety of volcanic tuff or ash used in making hydraulic cement) mix-tures. “The pozzolan is the same raw mate-

rial that has been ground down to a raw size (that) gives itself the pozzolanic effect the concrete is looking for,” said Brian Jeppsen, vice president of re-search and development, adding that the chemical makeup is the same as the lime-based cement used by the early and Romans. Jeppsen said Hess Pum-ice came across the technique about 15 years ago. The pozzolan is created when there is a chemical reaction between finely ground pumice and calcium, creating calcium silica hydrate, which works much like a glue binding the concrete. While not all pumice has the same pozzolanic value, the finer the par-ticles, the stronger the reaction, fulfill-ing a similar role as fly ash. “When you add water to Portland cement it creates that to an extent. The pozzolan takes it further down the road,” Jeppsen said, adding that differ-ent types of pumice provide different pozzolanic values. “In a typical con-crete it gets a 75 percent conversion by adding water. When you add pozzolan you get 90-95 percent. It gives you more of the glue substance.” Jeppsen said the pozzolanic affect can be seen when the aggregates are at about 45 microns, moving down to-ward 20 microns to as small as three microns, when the consistency is closer to lime-based cement, the pozzolanic affect is that much greater.

Pumice uses The nature of the pumice’s qualities has opened doors for use in a variety of industries. Hess Pumice currently exports about 70 percent of its product. When manu-facturing and technology businesses started moving overseas, Hess Pumice was still in demand. To meet the de-mand, Hess Pumice Products sets up distribution centers around the world. Often pumice is used by commercial and industrial businesses to create products. Every once in a while, Hess Pumice makes a direct sale to a con-sumer, Hess said. Pumice is found commercially in cosmetics (such as exfoliants), paint, grout and as a cement aggregate. Hess Pumice products are often used in polishing circuit boards and polishing through tumbling operations. The use of pumice in paint gives it durability especially when it comes to cleaning. “Our (pumice) hardness is slightly harder and slightly denser than most pumice. It’s superior for abrasive ap-plications,” Hess said, adding the pum-ice qualities make it more than just a filler. “It brings benefaction to paint mixes such as scrub-ability and flatten-ing. It’s not just a filler because of our brighteners and whiteness it can be in the paint industry.” For example, in paint applications, Hess said the pumice allows walls to be scrubbed of graffiti while not scrub-bing off paint.

Hess Pumice fast facts u Specialized impurity extraction technologies, combined with the natural characteristics of the deposit, allow for extremely high purity content (98 per-cent - 99.8 percent, depending on grade) u Low unit weight (40 - 50lbs per cubic foot, depending on grade) u consistent mOHS of between 5.8 and 6.1 u Superior friability characteristics u reported abrasive benefits of 25 percent - 50 percent over all other avail-able pumice worldwide u Near white color useful in many filler applications and decorative concrete applications Courtesy of Hess Pumice Products website.

emerging market Possibilities In the past 10 to 15 years, awareness of problems associated with using prod-ucts containing crystalline silica have caused companies to look for alternative products. pumice was found to be a comparable option noting its qualities as a non-crystalized silica. “We’ve got a lot of industries moving away from (using) crystalline silica,” Jeppsen. “When employes can get silicosis, non-crystalized silica doesn’t build up in the lungs. the dust is not considered hazardous. they are migrating that way. A lot of companies are replacing their crystalline silica with the pumice be-cause of that safety feature.” business is also picking up in the pre-cast glass fiber reinforced concrete GFrc. through the years, the need for more fine granules of pumice has emerged. “the finest human hair is 40 microns,” Jeppsen said adding that pumice grades can be refined to as small a 3 microns. “It’s more fine than that human hair.” to put it into perspective, Jeppsen said 3 microns is about the size of a smoke particle. the company makes about 300 grades of pumice to fulfill customer orders. Jeppsen said the chemical composition of the grades are the same, the dif-ference comes through “particle size distribution” or recipe size in the various mixes.

Business profileCompany: Hess pumice products

Address: 100 Hess Drive, malad city, Idaho

Founded: by marion Hess in 1958

Employs: About 100 local people

Product: mines and refines 300 grades of naturally white pumice

Websites: www.hesspumice.com, www.hesspozz.com, www.hessperlite.com

Telephone: (800) 767-4701

Companies under the Hess umbrella: Idaho minerals, U.S. Grout, Hess perlight.

Pumice company utilizes outstanding

natural resource


Jeremy DeJong fills a bag with pumice for shipping.

A truck prepares to deliver pumice at Hess Pumice Products in Malad.




Idaho’s wIld sIde

“The Western states, for as far into the future as we can see, our state populations are

going to be very strongly oriented to hunting, fishing (and) wildlife watching.”

— Mark Gamblin,

Idaho Department of Fish and Game southeast region supervisor

Story on page 12


« By Vanessa Grieve »

Outdoor adventure-based reality television shows, hunting rifles and camouflaged anything are a few of

the outward signs closely tied to the Ameri-can identity. This may not be just a trend, but a reflec-tion of a long-held tradition Americans have with the great outdoors and the antici-pated adventure when stepping outside the man-made environment. Through the years, as demographics across America have changed and more of society has urbanized, the participation in hunting decreased slightly, but overall participation in outdoor wildlife activities has increased. In recent, years there has been a “renais-sance” in wildlife participation, according to Mark Gamblin, regional supervisor for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game southeast region, based in Pocatello. “There is a pretty significant and sub-stantial increase in hunting participation,” Gamblin said. “In the short term, we’ve experienced some sort of renaissance in hunting.” When the Great Recession hit, there was a dip in the number of people engaging in hunting and fishing activities, but surveys show in the last five years 7 to 9 percent more Americans partook of the great out-doors. “The Western states, for as far into the future as we can see, our state populations are going to be very strongly oriented to hunting, fishing (and) wildlife watching,” Gamblin said. As society becomes more technological and urbanized, families and individuals are more conscious of the time allotted to activities. A hunting trip may require a greater time commitment than fishing or wildlife watching. “Hunting doesn’t capture as much of the attention and priority for families and individuals in how they spend their limited time,” Gamblin said. Still, surveys of Americans and Idaho-ans reveal hunting as a viable activity and tied to American identity, especially in the Rocky Mountain states, Gamblin said. Fishing, hunting and wildlife watching participation are tracked by Idaho Depart-ment of Fish and Game and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The wildlife industry sees more than big bucks in the wild, but those residential and out-of-state visitors bring a great economic benefit to the U.S., states such as Idaho and its counties and cities. Nationally, these outdoor activities amount to a $144.7 billion annually in related ex-penditure, with 90.1 million participants. In Idaho, the industry sees about $1.6 billion annually in expenditures and about 838,000 participants, according to 2011 figures in the National of Fishing Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation.

Looking at Southeast Idaho, Gamblin believes the regional counties can better promote and develop wildlife sporting in the region. In 2003, Fremont County, which is home to the world-class fishing Snake River Henry’s Fork, saw direct expenditures at about $48 million. Bonneville County saw about $18.5 million in fishing related ex-penditures and Bannock County saw $1.1 million in expenditure. Gamblin said those figures do not calculate the total eco-nomic impact. “We have huge potential,” he said. “What we enjoy here in Bannock County and Caribou County — with what we have here in the Portneuf and Blackfoot rivers — we can do a much better job for what we have,” he said. Gaining ground in promoting the local wildlife resources requires meeting with local governments and agencies in a di-rected effort. In 2005, 5,040 people hunted deer in Bannock County and totaled about 20,160 days spent, according to Jennifer Jackson, regional conservation educator for the Fish and Game. Recreationists spent an esti-mated $2.1 million in direct expenditures, including equipment, lodging and trips costs associated with the activities. Taking into consideration the multiplier effect, the total economic impact equated to about $5.2 million to Bannock County that year. In 2008, national attention highlighted Pocatello’s location as a prime place for sportsmen to reside. “Outdoor Life ranked Pocatello as a top-five destination town to live in if you had your choice because of the hunting and fishing opportunities,” Jackson said. “That figures into some people’s choice about where they live and choose to take jobs, and also have a benefit to a community, county or state, because of the opportuni-ties that you provide.” Wildlife watching may be less of an ex-

pense for the average observer than hunt-ing or fishing, but more than twice as many people in Idaho wildlife watch — about 558,000, than who hunt — about 246,000. More people fish than those who hunt — about 447,000, according to the 2011 report. Many people come to Southeast Idaho to hunt, fish, camp and bird watch, according to Mark Lowe, the president of the Pioneer Travel Council. The area is prime stop for birdwatchers, Lowe said because it is a “huge migratory flyway” that allows visitors to see birds that they might not see in other parts of the country. “We get people from across the county because of the quality of wildlife view-ing,” Lowe said, adding that there is a hefty amount of advertising put into attracting wildlife watchers for year-round viewing. “Those folks don’t come in for an afternoon or evening, they come in for a week or more. They’re the ones that are out in the field, so they come in and bird watch plus other out-door activities.” Wildlife watching in Idaho is one of the most popular outdoor recreation activities, with more than half of one million Idahoans participating annually, according to the Idaho Fish and Game website. The IDFG’s Idaho Watchable Wildlife Program promotes responsible observation of wildlife and ap-preciation, and wildlife-based tourism. About 40 percent of Idaho’s population participated in wildlife watching activities, according to the preliminary state finding in the 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recre-ation. Of the 464,000 Idahoans who par-ticipated in wildlife watching, 37 percent watched “around” their home and about

19 percent watched “away” from home.

Current cultural trends lead Gamblin to believe more people are looking for an outdoor experience as part of a movement toward better mental and physical health. Culture’s awareness of better health has caused a resurgence of people wanting to connect with the source of their food, and experience the beneficial psychological effects prompted by spending time in the outdoors. “That resurgence is partly explained by interest in younger generations in hav-ing a very healthy and locally produced diet,” he said. “There is a lot of interest in knowing where your food comes from and taking personal responsibility in knowing how to gather the food; having the direct experience. ... Gardening is a part of that and fishing, hunting or organic foods is all part of it. We know that is one factor in the resurgence and interest in hunting.” One of the areas that has hurt the game industry, is wolf predation. Gamblin said places like Northern Idaho are dealing with the issues, but misinformation has kept sportsmen from engaging in activities lo-cally. Southeast Idaho, has no “permanent-ly established” wolf packs, Gamblin said. There are a few wolf packs that “occasion-ally” pass through Southeast Idaho, he said. If strange weather patterns continue, their likely to impact the area’s wildlife habitat. “Our climate is critically important to wildlife. Moisture in this part of the world really determines the potential for fish,” he said. “We’re going to have to wait and see. We know the climate is changing pretty significantly with warmer temperatures, with snow and rainfall patterns that is go-ing to effect wildlife habitat. In some cases it may be a beneficial and in other areas it may be a liability.”

National expenditures and participation for hunting,

fishing and wildlife watching

u In 2006 Hunting:$22.7billion Fishing:$44.6billion TotalSportsmen(angles,huntersandthosewhoengagedinboth):33.9mil-lion Wildlife-watching:$44.9billionPar-ticipation:71.1million

u In 2011 Nationaltotalexpenditures$144.7billion.Participation90.1million Hunting:$33.7billion Fishing:$41.8billion

Unspecified:$14.3billion TotalSportsmenparticipation:37.4million Wildlife-watching:$54.9billionPar-ticipation:71.8million Ofwildlife-watching,46.7millionpeopleparticipatedinbirdwatching

Idaho expenditures and participation for hunting,


u Huntingandfishingexpendituresareestimatedat$1.16billionu Wildlifewatchingexpendituresareestimatedat$444,000. Informationfromthe2011NationalofFishingHunting,andWildlife-AssociatedRecreationpreliminaryestimatesissued

pense for the average observer than hunt-ing or fishing, but more than twice as many people in Idaho wildlife watch — about 558,000, than who hunt —

19 percent watched “away” from home.

Current cultural trends lead Gamblin to believe more people are looking for an outdoor experience as part of a movement toward better mental and physical health.

Culture’s awareness of better health has

Unspecified: $14.3 billionSportsmen participation:

Wildlife-watching: $54.9 billion Par-71.8 million

wildlife-watching, 46.7 millionparticipated in bird watching

Idaho expenditures andparticipation for hunting,


and fishing expenditures are$1.16 billion

watching expendituresestimated at $444,000.

Information from the 2011Fishing Hunting, and

Wildlife-Associated Recreationestimates issued

12 SePTember/OcTOber2013 SoutheastIdahobusinessJournal

Aquickglanceatthenumberofhuntingandfishing,licenses,tagsandpermits.Somefiguresareroundedtothenearesthundred.courtesyofIDFG.uIn1993,thetotalcombolicenses110,000downin2012toabout90,000.uHuntinglicensesin1993wasat58,000,downin2012toabout40,000.uFishinglicensesin1993wasat102,000upin2012toabout122,000.

1993 2003 2012

Total Residential licenses 333,700 338,500 371,300

TotalDeerTags 155,400 118,700 124,400

TotalTurkeyTags 12,500 30,100 29,600

TotalelkTags 85,000 80,600 74,000

TotalresidentialTags 292,000 281,900 315,750

TotalresidentialPermits 184,400 370,400 469,100

Total Non-residential Licenses 217,100 188,500 176,900

TotalNonresidentialDeerTags 15,900 14,600 11,400

TotalNonresidentialTurkeytags 137 1,066 706

TotalNonresidentialelkTags 13,500 14,550 8,900

TotalNonresidentialTags 31,500 34,500 30,000

TotalNonresidentialPermits 1,058,700 1,213,800 1,381,100

Hunting by the numbers

Harnessing the Great Outdoors Hunting,fishingandwildlifewatchingbooststate’seconomy




Transportation takes place everyday. The broad topic impacts a business getting

its product to market, a laborer getting to work and a pedestrian running an errand. In cities, gas prices and an other economic factors may be bringing people closer to city centers than the resurgence of decades past. Parts of society are looking for options when it comes to getting from one place to an-other, such as parking a vehicle and walking, biking, carpooling or using a public transit system. Matt Hunter, executive director for the Greater Pocatello Cham-ber of Commerce, recently attend-ed a transportation conference in Boise. One of the presenters noted that for the first time in 50 years people are moving back into city centers instead seeking rural liv-ing arrangements. “The trend (is) people want to go back to live in a large city and not have to drive,” Hunter said. David Doran, the regional mo-bility manager for Community Transportation Association of Idaho, said people aren’t seeing

the growth in sprawling isolated rural neighborhoods like in the past. The concept of walkability and living near where one shops or works is not a new concept, but the model is being “revisited.” The way transportation func-tions is often directly tied to the economy, according to Doran. “I think that is driving us in a different direction from the mus-cle cars in the ’70s and trucks in the ’90s,” Doran said of economic factors. “You hear the jingles and marketing has changed and I think that it is tied inextricably to the (economy). No longer can we stay on the same path.” CTAI is a nonprofit organiza-tion that promotes alternative forms of transportation and spon-sors a statewide Idaho RideShare program and transportation resources found online at http://i-way.org.

Mapping and adapting transportation routes

Meeting the needs of people

looking to locate to an area or im-proving the current routes takes planning and often a combined effort. Mori Byington, the executive director for Bannock Transporta-tion Planning Organization, said the trend in people regressing to a city center model are being seen in larger cities, such as Boise. “They are trying to recreate a downtown of the past with shop-ping, walking and working all in one place,” he said of people say-ing, “’I want to live near to where I work and have shopping oppor-tunities.’” CTAI helps to assess and promote alternative modes of

transportation, which many com-munities may be inadvertently utilizing, just not on a large scale. “We often have to take an inno-vative approach to various prob-lems that are in existence,” Doran said. “If we have need for people to travel from one community to another, we identify stakehold-ers who might have some sort of place at the table or conversa-tion.” He said part of the assessment process is connecting with com-munity and state officials about community needs. Common solu-tions could be developing a park and ride locations, setting up van pools or developing walkways, bike lanes or finding transporta-tion options to urban centers from rural areas. Sometimes when the topic of alternative transportation arises, people have the impres-sion that means getting rid of au-tomobiles. “Not that we are trying to get rid of the car. The car has its place,” Doran said. “We are tying

to diversify the different alterna-tives and provide people with a choice ... and lessen the burden for everybody.” The Pocatello/Chubbuck area hasn’t experienced as a dramatic shift in mobility trends like other metropolitan areas across the country. In comparison, the com-munity fills a small area and congestion is light. Under those conditions, Byington believes the area still needs to explore alterna-tives. “The biggest challenge is the built environment, especially in our area,” Byington said. “We live in a very tight geographic con-straint. How do we make those

changes, knowing that we are kind of locked into a space.” In the Pocatello community, the average ride is about 3.5 miles, compared with about 10 miles in larger communities. In the Po-catello area, about 97 percent of transportation is within a vehicle. Byington said the figure is close to the national average. Byington said most shopping and traffic in Pocatello weaves through the main corridor of Fourth and Fifth avenues then along Yellowstone Avenue through Chubbuck. Understanding the corridor, ac-commodating different modes of transportation and making chang-es to better flow traffic could not only save people the headache of navigating the roads, but also ensure businesses do not lose op-portunity. For one example, Byington said the City of Pocatello and the Idaho Transportation Department have been working to time the lights through the main corridor

to better handle traffic flow, and find tangible solutions rather than creating massive roadways. Every four years the BTPO updates its transportation plan. The most recent Portneuf Valley Workshop was in mid-August. The BTPO is seeing a change and in some cases a diminish in people’s mobility behavior. Peo-ple are starting to shop at certain locations at different times than in the past. “It’s a certain time of day to go shopping and (that’s) changing,” Byington said. “I’ve not heard that in the past. People would say we need wider roads. Some (people) just aren’t going places anymore.” The change in people’s shop-ping behavior could mean loss of business because of perceived congestion. “We need to be concerned be-cause 95 percent of our trips, if we shop, are all on one street. If they are all on the one street they are going to miss opportunities,” he said. “I don’t see our area hav-ing a new commercial or retail center development. It’s going to be along that corridor.”

transportation needs of businesses

When it come to transportation issues, businesses are concerned about getting merchandize to the marketplace or delivering a prod-uct to a client on time, according to Matt Hunter. Hunter said individual busi-nesses may promote carpooling, or alternative forms of transpor-tation for the workforce, but are typically more focused and how to move their products. Access to transportation routes is key to many prospective busi-nesses looking to move to an area. Connie Stopher, the executive assistant and investor relations specialist with Bannock Develop-ment Corp., said Pocatello is posi-tioned nicely for a city its size.

“Transportation is an issue when we are recruiting busi-nesses,” Stopher said. “We have a lot of great transportation options because we have two interstates. We have a railroad and airport and all in fairly close proximity which is a big draw for companies wanting to come ship items.” Stopher said the only thing Idaho doesn’t have is an intermo-dal facility, which would allow railway cars to be loaded onto the beds of semi-trick trailers for fur-ther transport. She believes the state would greatly benefit from having such a system. Concerns arise with transporta-tion infrastructure when activity such as construction affects flow and access to commercial routes or when infrastructure fails such as a weakened or collapsed de-stroyed bridge. Hunter said businesses may be inconvenienced by temporary delays such as construction of the diverging diamond interchange in Chubbuck, but knowing the end result will likely benefit business access makes the process more tolerable. The downside of creat-ing new infrastructure is when there could be long-term hin-drances to transporting products. “When they were designing that south-end connector they were going to take it up and over (Interstate 15),” Hunter said, adding that many “oversized” products from local manufactures are moved along that route, and building an overpass “would have caused some real problems and going near the Interstate, but it’s one that’s been solved.” The Pocatello South Valley Connector is slated to go under I-15 and will not impede over-sized transport. For the most part, Hunter be-lieves the Pocatello/Chubbuck area is in good shape as far as its business access in and out of the community.

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P ublic transportation regularly helps get to and from work. Martin, who is the information

officer at Life Inc. in Pocatello has used the Pocatello Regional Transit system as her primary source of transportation since 2001. Martin has seen changes to the PRT system with the addition of routes and, in more recent years, has seen more people riding the bus in the morning and late af-ternoon than before. “I think there are more people using it more now,” Martin said. Trends in ridership of the PRT system have gradually increased through the years. Dave Hunt, the city of Pocatello transportation director, has worked for the entity through various name changes and its switch from private to public hands. Hunt said people use the system for variety of reasons. The department has worked to make the system more user-friendly. “What we look at in the future is a con-tinued growth trend in people looking to park their vehicles,” Hunt said. “We are looking at more of an outreach. This is not just for persons of special needs, but for everyone and helping people understand the service.” The PRT system has gone through many changes. In the early ’80s after

Pocatello/Chubbuck surpassed the “magic” 50,000 population mark, feder-al “urban” funding became available to the required public services. Up to that time, mostly private entities provided transportation service for the popula-tion. The service known as Tello Bus was operated through nonprofit South-east Idaho Community Action Agency until 1982 when Pocatello City Council

voted to the make a transportation de-partment. The service was renamed Po-catello Urban Transit. PUT started with one fixed route, run-ning a circuit through Pocatello and Chub-buck, then in 1982 added a second, which ran the opposite direction of the first route. The name changed to Pocatello Regional Transit in the late ’80s as services expand-ed to the surrounding communities. Recent counts show between 450,000 and 500,000 rides are given annually on the PRT system. The bulk of those riders are from routes on the Idaho State University campus. In 2011, with changes at ISU to parking and students living and attending classes

closer to campus because of the completion of the Rendezvous Center, riders on the campus decreased slightly. About 65 percent of ridership was from on campus, that number has since de-creased to between 40 and 45 percent. But in return, the PRT system began picking up more fare-paying riders on the fixed routes throughout the municipalities. The PRT also did an “overhaul” on its system in 2011. “We transferred those resources from

campus to the larger community,” Hunt said. Hunt said the system grew from three routes to five and recently added the sixth fixed-route “G,” which serves the Mink Creek and Indian Hills areas. “The most recent trend is we now have quite an increase in the number of fare-paying passengers and opened up new areas where we’re not able to serve prior to 2011.” Counts from 2012 reveal of the 500,000 total riders about 180,000 riders utilize the fixed routes, another 42,000 utilized the demand-response service. The remainder of riders are from the ISU campus and the services provided to rural counties.

“(In) about 1987-’88 ... the name changed to Pocatello Regional Transit, that was to reflect and expansion of the service,” he said. “We had people who needed transpor-tation in Blackfoot. Some came from Black-foot and South Bannock County and began to provide home Medicaid, nonemergency medical transportation.” PRT was contract with the Agency on Aging and nutrition programs. PRT eventually expanded to offer ser-vices in the seven Southeast Idaho coun-

ties, Bingham, Power, Bannock, Caribou, Oneida, Franklin and Bear Lake. Martin said a large percentage of people affiliated with Life Inc. use the PRT fixed route and demand response services. Off all the places throughout the Northwest, Martin said the public transportation sys-tem in Pocatello is among the most user-friendly. “I know. I’ve traveled to other places; to Boise and to Oregon and Washington,” she said. “As far as bus systems go, ours is one of the easiest to utilize. As far as improved or stayed the same, I think it’s more stayed the same. There are more people using it now. I don’t know if that is (because of) gas prices or what it is all about.”

Public TransPorTaTion changes One way of accessing areas of a community and reducing congestion is through public transportation. the pocatello regional transit system is building a new public transportation site and shop to better fulfill needs in the community. to better help people un-derstand the public transportation system the pocatello regional transit system is adding better signage and digital screens at major bus stops. Dave Hunt, the transportation director for pocatello regional transit, said bus stops currently have a sign denoting that it is a prt stop, but new signs will indi-cate route, direction, pickup times and other pertinent information. major stops and busses will be equipped with digital signs using Global positioning System technology. the signs can help riders know pickup and destination times, bus schedules, routes and a busses’ estimated time of arrival. “When you see timetable and route schedule’s they aren’t always understood,” Hunt said. An ItS, or intelligent transportation system, will better “illustrate” for riders how the system operates and can be used. “We’ve put computers on all of our active busses. they are connected to a satellite,” Hunt said adding that GpS technology will track vehicle locations and give dispatch and busses the ability to communicate. the technology will track about how much time it takes a bus to get from on place to another. “It’s inte-grated with Google maps and tied to the state’s 511 transportation system.”

User Friendly

pocatello regional transit gets high marks from customer


Tracy Martin, who works at Live Inc., gets strapped into a Pocatello Regional Transit bus by driver Russ Meredith.


New electronic signs are to be tested for real-time schedules on the Pocatello Regional Transit buses. The signs are designed to provide GPS tracking of the buses in route.

“I know. I’Ve traVeled to other places; to BoIse and to oreGon and washInGton. as far as Bus systems Go, ours Is one of the easIest to utIlIze.”

— tracy martIn, pocatello reGIonal transIt customer

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Se idaho business jounal sept oct 2013

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