Around Idaho: Economic Activity in May 2020

Information provided in these news updates is from professional sources, news releases, weekly and daily newspapers, television and other media.

Northern Idaho
North Central Idaho
Southwestern Idaho
South Central Idaho
Southeastern
Eastern Idaho

 

NORTHERN IDAHO – Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai & Shoshone Counties

Bonner County

• Schweitzer Mountain Resort executives are unveiling plans for $85 million in new development, including new runs, lifts and a previously planned boutique hotel. Resort executives said expansion is justified by robust annual attendance figures. Completion of the new hotel was slated to accommodate the opening of the 2020-21 ski season, but construction has been delayed due to COVID-19. Source: Spokane Journal of Business

Boundary County

• The Kootenai Tribe has reopened the Kootenai River Inn Casino after nearly seven weeks of being closed due to COVID-19. The tribe paid all employee wages, including tips, during the shutdown and used the downtime to conduct improvements to the facility’s parking lot, swimming pool and casino space. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

Kootenai County

• Downtown Coeur d’Alene is in the process of reopening according to the guidelines issued by the governor’s office. Restaurants have opened dine-in service with reduced capacity, and the Coeur d’Alene Resort has re-opened. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
• The Salvation Army’s Kroc Center has re-opened after the extended COVID-19 shutdown. Gym and swimming facilities will operate at a reduced capacity to limit crowding, and hours will be modified to accommodate an intensified cleaning schedule. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press
• Silverwood Theme Park has announced plans to open May 30, with a variety of alterations to reduce crowding. Changes include limited daily attendance, complementary masks and reconfigured waiting lines. Source: Coeur d’Alene Press

Sam.Wolkenhauer@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
Idaho Department of Labor
(208) 457-8789 ext. 4451

NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO – Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis and Nez Perce Counties

Region

• Idaho resumed sales of licenses, tags and permits to out-of-state hunters and anglers in mid-May. The Idaho Fish and Game Commission suspended the sale of some nonresident licenses and tags in April to support Gov. Brad Little’s stay-home order. The resumed sales will allow river communities such as Orofino, Riggins, Kamiah, Lewiston and the Three Rivers area, to attract more out-of-state tourists. Source: Lewiston Tribune
• Low returns of salmon from the ocean compelled Idaho Fish and Game to close the spring chinook season on the Clearwater River May 13. This is the third time in four years that spring fishing was scuttled before it really began. The closure is another blow for hard-pressed outfitters and guides. It also hurts hotels and restaurants along the Clearwater. Fishing will continue on the two rivers that meet at Riggins, despite the lower harvest share projection. Source: Lewiston Tribune

 Clearwater County

• The Idaho Youth Challenge Academy in Pierce closed in late March, sending its 116 cadets home because of the COVID-19 shutdown. The National Guard school helps high school students or dropouts from all over Idaho through boot-camp-style training combined with high school education, volunteer experiences and one-on-one counseling and mentorships that last for a year after they complete the program. It educates two classes every year. Cadets were given three options: withdraw from the program and be awarded the credits they earned up until the academy’s closure; withdraw and be given a “golden ticket” to come back for the next class that starts July 18; or finish out their schooling remotely. Half of the cadets decided to complete the course remotely, 45 percent chose to come back in July and 5 percent opted to retrieve the seven credits they had completed so far and leave the academy for good. Source: Lewiston Tribune
•  Lewis-Clark State College plans to close its outreach center in Orofino in June. For more than 20 years, the center has offered adult basic education, college courses, computer training, customized workforce training and personal enrichment classes. Coronavirus-caused economic problems added to an already tight financial situation forced the college to close the outreach center. Source: Idaho County Free Press
• Tek-Hut Inc. plans to make a high-speed connectivity fiber optic line from Orofino to Timberline High School in Weippe and the Idaho Youth ChalleNGe Academy in Pierce by June 30. Source: Clearwater Tribune

Idaho and Lewis Counties

• COVID-19 is slamming the region’s ranchers, who face low cattle prices and great uncertainty about future demand. The shutdown of restaurants across the U.S. sharply reduced beef sales, pushing cattle prices down. The June futures contract for live fed cattle, which was $112 per hundredweight in February, closed at $80 April 13. The global economic downturn might further depress cattle prices, because American beef is sold around the globe. According to the census of agriculture conducted every five years, 854 farms and ranches in north central Idaho raised more than 52,000 cattle and calves in 2017 and the total market value of livestock sold was $34.6 million. Idaho County raises more than half of the cattle raised in the region. Source: Capital Press
•  Hospitals, especially rural critical access hospitals, are struggling as their costs have risen and revenues have plummeted. While they spent money to have personal protective equipment and other medical supplies on hand in case of a significant COVID-19 outbreak in their communities, their most profitable operations — elective surgeries and many outpatient services — were shut down. That in turn led to a decrease in imaging and therapy services. With many people leery of potential exposure to coronavirus, fewer people are visiting emergency rooms. In addition, the dramatic decrease in traffic and the closures of many workplaces reduced the number of accidents during the coronavirus shutdown. At Syringa Hospital in Grangeville, emergency room visits fell 60 percent. Syringa furloughed 10 of its 70 employees for 30 days ending in mid-May. All of its administrators and most of its doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants took voluntary pay cuts up to 10 percent. After implementing new safety measures, the hospital resumed routine care at the end of April. The CARES Act provides federal dollars to keep hospitals functioning. For most hospitals, the amount they receive is about two weeks of revenue. Syringa recently received a $2.5 million Medicare loan and a $430,000 stimulus grant. It also applied for the Small Business Administration paycheck protection funds of $1.8 million. Source: Lewiston Tribune; Post Register; Idaho County Free Press
• As Idaho’s economy began reopening, the St. Mary’s Hospital in Cottonwood and Clearwater Valley Hospital in Orofino reopened their clinics in Craigmont, Nezperce and Elk City. They also resumed elective surgeries and other non-essential services. Source: Idaho County Free Press
• Budget problems led to Lewis-Clark State College announcing it plans to close its outreach center in Grangeville in June. Since 1991, the center provided access to college courses, workforce training certificate programs and adult basic education, as well as enrichment classes. It customized training for employees of local businesses. The Main Street center also offered a computer and study lab for students and other members of the public. Source: Idaho County Free Press
• Kids Klub, a youth enrichment program in Grangeville, received an $85,000 award from the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning program. The funds will also benefit its sister after-school programs — Center for Discovery in Kooskia and the Reach Cub in Elk City. The programs offer after-school and summer learning programs for children. Source: Idaho County Free Press
• Gov. Brad Little announced April 30 that Stites and Kooskia each would receive $500,000 community development grants for water system improvements. Source: Lewiston Tribune

Latah County

• Since consumers began stocking up on shelf-stable food for the COVID-19 crisis in February, dry beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas have been in high demand. Columbia Grain International at Portland reported a 40 percent increase in demand for pulse crops, and processing plants are working around the clock to fulfill an ever-increasing number of orders. The demand surge lead to a 12 percent bump in prices for growers in Latah County and neighboring counties, one of the leading producers of pulse crops in the U.S. Some farmers planted more acres with peas and lentils because of the demand surge. Source: Lewiston Tribune
• The steep decline in airline passengers since early March has resulted in reductions in service to the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport. Before the coronavirus, Horizon Air made as many as five round trips a day between Pullman and Seattle. Now, the carrier is making a single round trip each day. On May 3, that flight began stopping in Walla Walla on its way to Pullman. Source: Moscow-Pullman Daily News
• The University of Idaho’s biological sciences department will use a $100,000 National Science Foundation grant to look for a drug that block viruses from attacking human cells. The drug ideally would prevent the “spikes” on the coronavirus from docking with and thereby infecting a healthy cell. That would be a more effective strategy in the long run than antiviral drugs, because viruses can evolve rapidly making drugs ineffective. Source: Idaho Education News
• Another research team at the University of Idaho composed of engineers, recently developed a way to use ultraviolet light to kill or inactivate viruses, which health care providers can use to sterilize and reuse protective equipment including face masks. The project started when an emergency room doctor at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston contacted the college of engineering for help design and build a UVC cabinet. A team of electrical, mechanical and biological engineers quickly formed to tackle the problem and rapidly built the large unit requested by St. Joseph. The team then put together an open-source document with a plan any medical facility can use to build its own. Source: Lewiston Tribune
•  A financial crunch stemming from the coronavirus shutdown of elective surgeries and other outpatient services, forced Gritman Medical Center, the Moscow hospital, which employs 566, to lay off an unspecified number of employees in late April. In addition, executives and many physicians, nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists and physician assistants accepted salary reductions. As of May 1, Gritman and St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston resumed elective surgeries and some outpatient services. Source: Lewiston Tribune
•  Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), based in Pullman, and the University of Idaho are partnering on a program to train future workers in cybersecurity over the next five years. Cybersecurity is critical to electric power and other infrastructure systems for which SEL makes control systems. The university has been researching cybersecurity for years. The university recently received approval to offer a bachelor of science degree in cybersecurity, as well as the master’s level program it is working on with Boise State University and Idaho State University. The programs will generate trained graduates who can go on to work for companies like SEL. Source: Idaho Business Review
•  This summer, a $510,000 building project will include build a sidewalk along State Highway 6 from Potlatch City Hall to Scenic 6 Park. The Idaho Transportation Department will provide $473,000 from the Federal Highway Administration’s Transportation Improvement Program and the city will cover the remaining costs. To make the sidewalk project possible, the Washington, Idaho & Montana Railway History Preservation Group recently deeded one-fourth of an acre of its property bordering the highway to the city. Source: Moscow-Pullman Daily News

 Nez Perce and Asotin Counties

• The nationwide hoarding of toilet paper has benefited Clearwater Paper, which employs 1,300 people in Lewiston. The company, which has its largest manufacturing complex in Lewiston, shipped more than 15 million cases of tissue products in the first quarter of 2020, about 19 percent more than in an average quarter in 2019. Clearwater Paper’s paperboard sales also grew because of the coronavirus hoarding, as people stashed extra food and medicine sold in packages made from the company’s paperboard. Source: Lewiston Tribune
• As of May 1, St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston resumed elective surgeries and some outpatient services. Source: Lewiston Tribune.
• To assist businesses struggling in the harsh environment caused by COVID-19, the Port of Lewiston plans to allow its tenants to defer up to 35 percent of their lease payments in May, June and July without interest or late fees. Whatever amount a tenant defers, it would have to be paid within 10 months starting in August. The port serves as landlord to 28 businesses at its incubator and business parks. Source: Lewiston Tribune
• Like airports across the country, the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport has experienced a huge decrease in air travel, forcing Sky West, the only carrier serving the Lewiston airport, to cut flights. In early April, Sky West dropped two of its three daily round trips between Lewiston and Salt Lake City. Starting May 1, it began providing service on only five days a week. After dropping to historic lows in April, passenger numbers rebounded somewhat in the first three weeks of May. Skywest therefore returned to seven round-trip flights a week in late May. Source: Lewiston Tribune; Idaho Business Review
•  Lewis-Clark State College plans to eliminate more positions as the college struggles to cut $5 million out of its budget for the coming fiscal year. This year, it slashed its budget by $2.5 million. This spring’s enrollment was 3 percent lower than a year earlier, reducing revenues. The college lost about $2 million in revenue after the pandemic caused the cancellation of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics World Series, Art Under the Elms and other events. In addition, the governor mandated all state agencies cut their budgets 1 percent and there was another 5 percent reduction in state appropriations. On the positive side, LCSC will receive approximately $989,000 in federal funding through the coronavirus relief bill. The net result was a $5 million shortfall. Source: Lewiston Tribune; Idaho Education News
• Pier 1 is going out of business and soon will permanently close all 540 stores including the one at the Nez Perce Terrace shopping center. The home décor chain has struggled to compete with online retailers Wayfair and Amazon. Lewiston has lost other major retailers in the last 12 months as Shopko, Kmart, Macy’s and Rue21 closed. Source: Associated Press
• Lewis Clark Credit Union broke ground in May on a new 9,000-square-foot building in the Lewiston Orchards. Projected to open before next April, it will contain a new branch and most of the credit union’s administrators. It also will include a training room civic groups may reserve for meetings. Teachers at the Lewiston and Clarkston school districts and employees of Lewis-Clark State College founded the credit union in 1939. Source: Lewiston Tribune
•  Asotin County, Washington, got the green light from the state of Washington on May 18 to move to Phase 2 of the state’s four-stage reopening plan. That allowed the area’s biggest jet boat builder, Renaissance Marine Group, to start manufacturing again as long as its staff of nearly 100 follow new safety precautions. In addition, many retailers, hair salons, professional service firms and many other businesses reopened their doors. In Phase 2, new construction projects may start. Source: Lewiston Tribune

Openings

• Greene’s Engine Repair opened at the Steelhead Inn in White Bird.
• Hardware Brewing Co.—a brewery serving craft beer, local wine and food— opened in downtown Kendrick. 

Kathryn.Tacke@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
Idaho Department of Labor
(208) 799-5000 ext. 3984

SOUTHWESTERN IDAHO – Ada, Adams, Boise, Canyon, Elmore, Gem, Owyhee, Payette, Valley & Washington Counties 

Region

• The number of initial filed in southwestern Idaho since March 14 has been 35,807 — 25 percent of the state total. Accommodation and food services and retail trade were the hardest hit industries by the COVID-19 shutdown.
• District courts reopened May 1 to the public with social distancing measures in place. Many hearings will still be held virtually, and civil and criminal jury trials will not occur until August. Some trials will have to take place in person, including where parental rights are at stake or in criminal cases where a life sentence is possible. Rules have been suspended to allow all other court proceedings to be held remotely and audio recordings of every court proceeding are required. Source: Idaho Press
• Idaho families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were able to purchase groceries online beginning in early May at Amazon and at Walmart stores. Source: Idaho Press
• The Boise National Forest opened some lower elevation campgrounds for the Memorial Day weekend. The COVID-19 pandemic delayed preparation for the normal campground openings in mid-May. The majority of the forest is open for public access, including trails and trailheads. However, the forest officials reminded people to avoid congregating at trailheads and parking areas and avoid gathering in groups over 10. Source: KIVI

Treasure Valley

• West Valley Medical Center and St. Luke’s hospital are participating in a national study to determine if plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients may benefit those hospitalized with severe cases of the virus. Critically ill patients are the target for this therapy. The idea is that people who have just recovered can donate plasma that contains the antibodies that may help other people who have the COVID-19 virus recover more quickly. Source: KIVI & Idaho Press
• Idaho Youth Ranch and other area thrift stores reopened May 1. The Youth Ranch had furloughed about 300 of its 450 workers for two and half weeks. Some of the workers were placed at food banks and other nonprofit organizations to keep them working during the interim. Source: Idaho Statesman
• Gordmans department stores filed for bankruptcy and announced it will close all its stores unless it finds buyers for at least some of them. This move affects two stores in the Treasure Valley – one in Nampa and one in Meridian. Both stores planned to reopen during the Phase 2 to liquidate inventory. Source: Idaho Statesman
• Farmers markets were deemed essential by the state government and many markets have opened with social distancing in place. The Boise Farmers Market adopted a drive-through style market where people order their produce online during the week and pick it up on Saturdays. Capital City Farmers Market has moved from its traditional Eighth Street location to 34^th Street in Garden City. Caldwell Farm-to-Fork Farmers market is open Tuesday evenings on Indian Creek Plaza. Nampa and Eagle farmer markets are encouraging social distancing and have other precautions in place. Meridian Main Street Market opened May 23 with new guidelines. Kuna Farmers Market will not reopen. Source: Idaho Press
• Home prices in Ada and Canyon counties set a record in April. Ada County’s record median price was $374,900, according to the Intermountain Multiple Listing Service, though the number of homes sold fell 15.4 percent from March and 19.5 percent from April 2019. Of those sold in April, 495 were existing homes and 266 were newly constructed. It was the fewest homes sold in April since 2014. The number of homes sold in Canyon County, 483, was down slightly from 515 homes sold in March, but up slightly from 453 homes sold in April 2019. Source: Idaho Statesman
• Ada and Canyon County election offices increased staff and added shifts in May to keep up with absentee ballot requests. Both offices pulled people from other county departments to help operate 24 hours a day. Ada County had a request for 16,000 absentee ballots in one day. Source: Idaho Press

Ada County

• The Idaho Shakespeare Festival cancelled its first two productions this season – Much-Ado About Nothing and Ain’t Misbehavin’ – because of COVID-19. The earliest possible performance would be June 13. Adjustments to the 2020 season have not been announced. Last year about 75,000 visitors attended performances. Source: KTVB
• In a normal year, The Record Exchange would have customers lined up outside on the annual Record Store Day, which was April 18. Due to the pandemic, however, it has been moved to June. To compensate, the Exchange sold tickets to a one-time special online screening of a never-before-seen documentary, “Vinyl Nation,” about the resurgence of vinyl records. Source: BoiseDev
• Boise State University, faced with an immediate $10 million cash flow crunch, asked most of its employees to take furlough days May 3 through July 31. The length of the furlough is based on the employee’s current annual salary. BSU President Marlene Tromp noted that the university’s leadership team would take a minimum of two weeks furlough, staggered over the two-month period. Source: Idaho Education News
• The Boise airport halted construction of an employee parking garage until it is able to assess the impact of the pandemic. Construction was to begin later this year. Source: Idaho Statesman
• Boise’s Twilight Criterium for 2020 has been cancelled due to the pandemic. The 34-year event has been one of Boise’s largest mass gatherings downtown, and every July, the international road racing competition has brought thousands to the city. Source: Boise Weekly
• Ada County Trial Court found an unlikely ally to help with the demand for increased remote access to court hearings – Expo Idaho. As the courts reopened with strict guidelines for social distancing and other protective protocol, the courts needed more room to operate remotely as people appeared in court via computer or phone phones from their attorney’s office. Because some defendants did not have that capability, the court worked with Expo Idaho to set up a bank of computer kiosks people can use. Since most events have been cancelled, the large facility was available. Each person in a hearing is allowed to bring one person with them. Lawyers do not have to appear with their clients. The county will review the process to see if it is working, how many people are using the remote access point and if it is worth the investment. Source: Idaho Press
• Albertsons is planning to make an initial public offering of stock .Sales have surged in response to the coronavirus pandemic and has been paying workers an additional $2 an hour. The filing said Albertsons had hired more than 55,000 workers since March 1 and borrowed $2 million in March as a precautionary measure. The company, founded in 1939 by Joe Albertson, has announced that it would go public several times in the past but has pulled back. The company experienced heavy losses between 2014 and 2018 but has improved its bottom line since. The filing stated that Albertsons had $6.7 billion in debt, an amount it expects to remain steady in coming quarters. It had $10.5 billion a year and half ago. The company has remodeled stores and opened larger stores geared toward foodies such as the Broadway Avenue Albertson in Boise and the Albertsons Market Street in Meridian. The company has also invested in technology, sold off some of its real estate and added home delivery and grocery store pick-up options. The company is the nation’s second largest grocery chain after Kroger Co., whose brands include Fred Meyer. Albertsons operates 2,260 stores under a number of names, including Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco and Haggen. Source: Times-News & Idaho Statesman
• Apollo Global Management, a private-equity firm announced, has invested $1.75 billion in Albertsons Cos. The investment gives the New York City buyout company and other investors a 17.5 percent stake in the company through convertible preferred shares. Albertsons sees the investment by Apollo as a vote of confidence in both its business and long-term strategy. Source: Idaho Statesman
• Boise-based SMHeuristics, an outsourced sales and marketing company, is leveraging its relationship with Taiwanese firms to bring personal protective equipment to the U.S., including Idaho. The company is working with a variety of health care systems in the U.S., to equip hospitals with masks, as well as shoe covers and even testing kits. SMHeuristics also is working with another company, Brain Navi, to convert a robotic brain surgery product into a robot swabbing solution that can take a swab sample for COVID-19 so medical professionals are not exposed. The company has been able to expand its workforce to 11. Source: Idaho Business Review
• Boise State University’s arena is being renamed ExtraMile Arena, pending approval of the Idaho State Board of Education. The new name coincides with the rebranding of Jacksons Food’s Chevron and Texaco sites as ExtraMile convenience stores that will take place over the summer. Source: Idaho Business Review
• A new website, Idaho PPE Exchange, is designed to get personal protective equipment (PPE) to people in smaller Idaho hospitals and first responders. It is a Craigslist-style marketplace especially tailored to find PPE for Idaho, especially in rural areas. Source: BoiseDev
• The Hoff Building in downtown Boise has been purchased by Hendricks Commercial Properties. The redevelopment plans for the 90-year old building will be simple with visible upgrades. The Hoff Building operated as a hotel for 46 years. Source: BoiseDev
• Hendricks Commercial Properties filed a design review application with the city of Boise for a plan to remake a large portion of Bodo into a food hall. The fool hall would replace the former Urban Outfitters, LOFT and UpCycle spaces. It would incorporate Caffe D’arte and The STIL. Source: BoiseDev
• VisitPay, AppDetex, Black Box VR, Pingman Tools, PlexTrac, ClickFunnels and Retrolux were named to the Tech Tribune list of the 2020 10 Best Tech Startups in Boise. Silverback Learning Solutions in Meridian also made the list. Source Idaho Business Review
• The Greater Boise Auditorium board voted to transfer $1.5 million from its rainy day fund to help with a significant decline in revenue. The money will help make up for the cancellation of all events at the Boise Centre facility related to the coronavirus, as well as a sharp decline in hotel room tax revenues. The board outlined several other cost saving steps it will take including wage and hiring freeze and a furlough of full-time hourly and part-time staff. The hotel occupancy has dropped to 6 percent. Source: BoiseDev
• The Boise School District said it would pause three school remodel projects and further delay the opening of a new school in Barber Valley. Expansion and remodel projects at Longfellow, Collister and Roosevelt schools will stop in the current pre-bid stage. The long-awaited school in Boise’s Barber Valley was pushed back to a potential opening of 2024. Source: BoiseDev
• The Women’s and Children’s Alliance and the Idaho Youth Ranch began a partnership in May to help victims of domestic violence and their families. Through the partnership, clients at the Women’s and Children’s Alliance domestic violence shelter in Boise will have access to the Youth Ranch’s skills-based job training. Additionally, classes on financial empowerment and healthy relationships at the WCA will be available to clients at the Youth Ranch. The WCS’s thrift shop, The Shop, will permanently close and previously donated items will be transferred to the Idaho Youth Ranch. Source: Idaho Press
• Eagle City Council amended guidelines that loosened restrictions to allow Sunday liquor sales. The code, which also banned sales on certain holidays, was not enforced and deemed “outdated.” The new ordinance also allows businesses to sell liquor on Memorial Day and Thanksgiving, though it does not allow liquor sales on Christmas. Source: Idaho Statesman
• New flights that would have been added to the Boise Airport have been cancelled due to the coronavirus. Delta Airline’s nonstop flight from Boise to Atlanta’s Hartsfield Jackson International airport has been cancelled. Alaska Airlines was to add a flight between Boise and Everett’s Payne Field, but has pulled back due to marketing conditions. The airport no longer offers nonstop service to Minneapolis, Houston or Spokane due to current lack of travel buffeting the airline industry. Source: BoiseDev
• Pier 1 Imports announced in May it would be closing all of its 540 stores, including the two in Ada County. The store filed for bankruptcy in February. Source: Idaho Statesman
• Most events for the annual Meridian Dairy Days, which has been held for many years the third week in June, have been cancelled. Meridian Dairy Days will provide a one-day venue for dairy cattle and dairy goat shows for 4-H and Future Farmers of America youth on June 27. Source: Idaho Press
• Roaring Springs Water Park opened May 30 with precautions in place. The staff wear personal protective equipment and are behind plexiglass shields wherever possible. Both visitors and staff will have temperatures taken before entering the park. Queue lines for the slides will be spaced and frequently disinfected. Hand sanitizer stations will be placed throughout the park. Some park features will operate at limited capacity to maintain distancing. The 18-acre park treats its more than one million gallons of water with chorine, which inactivates the COVID-19 virus. Roaring Springs also installed a modern ultraviolet light system in 2018. The water park also premiered its new water slide, the Snake River Run. Source: Idaho Business Review

Canyon County

• Construction on the I-84 expansion is continuing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current construction site between Karcher and Northside has operators working late into the night, bringing in tens of thousands of cubic yards of fill and aggregate. Source: KIVI
• Developer deChase Miksis has proposed redeveloping a 1.5 acre vacant lot adjacent to Indian Creek Plaza with two four- and five-story buildings. The ground floor would have retail and apartments above. A hotel would also be included. The project, Creekside, would bring nearly 200 apartments to downtown Caldwell. Source: Idaho Statesman
• The Block and Pantera Market in downtown Nampa were granted wine and beer licenses from the city council. There waivers were necessary because both food establishments are located within 300 feet from a church. Source: Idaho Press
• Rolling H Cycles saw a spike in the number of customers buying bikes or getting theirs tuned up for spring in March. The Nampa bike shop experienced the best numbers in eight years, with sales growth of about 40 percent and service growth of about 70 percent. Source: Idaho Press
• Parma Motor-Vu opened April 24, four weeks after its original planned date. The drive-in theater is open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, though operators say they will decide to open on a week-by-week basis. The drive-in has social distancing precautions in place. Source: Idaho Statesman
• The College of Idaho in Caldwell will reopen its campus for in-person instruction and residency for the fall semester. A task force is working on changes required to open the campus, focusing on housing, food services, student travel, sanitation and hygiene. On the academic side, the focus will be on class sizes, athletics, events and activities, to include physical distancing. Source: Idaho Press
• IndieDwell, an affordable housing manufacturer, is expanding its factory in Caldwell. The company has leased an additional 3,000 square feet adjacent to its 21,000-square-foot warehouse. The additional space adds the capacity for research and development and prototyping of new modular units. The company employs 70 people in Idaho and Colorado. IndieDwell has projects in the works in three states, including 54 units at The College of Idaho for student housing and 125 units for workforce and permanent supportive housing for developer customers in Los Angeles. Source: Idaho Press
• Middleton School District trustees voted to switch from a five-day schedule to a four-day schedule starting in August. The move with cost savings of overall budget by 2 percent with a cut in transportation and food costs. Nearby charter schools also operate on a four-day schedule and 75 percent of the employees and 73 percent of the parents said in a survey they preferred the four-day schedule. About 45 of Idaho’s 115 school district operate on a four-day calendar along with 15 charter schools. Source: Idaho Education News
• Melba Olde Tyme 4th of July celebration has been cancelled. The event typically draws 45,000 to 50,000 attendees. Source: Kuna Melba News
• KickStart Caldwell is a city of Caldwell initiative to ensure Caldwell citizens and businesses are reconnected and have the resources they need to move through the phases of reopening. Source: KBOI

Gem County

• March was a strong sales month for homes in Gem County with 24 homes sold in the county during March 2020, the same number as in March 2019, according to the Boise Regional Realtors. There were 41 new and existing/resale homes available for sale at the end of March, up 5.1 percent from a year ago. The median sales price reached $250,435, an increase of 20.5 percent over the same month last year. Source: Idaho Press
• The Gem County Chamber of Commerce and its Economic Development Foundation are stepping up a series of programs to assist local business to obtain some of the federal funding for their operations and employees. They are launching a grassroots program, “Emmett Together” to support the community. Source: Emmett Messenger Index
• The annual Emmett Cherry Festival scheduled for June 17-20 has been cancelled. A freeze in March had wiped out 90 percent of the anticipated cherry and apricot harvest for the year. About half of the peach crop was lost although apples and pears, which mature later, appear to have escaped the damage for the most part. Source: Emmett Messenger Index

Owyhee County

• The Marsing Post Office reopened in early May. It had been closed for two months because of smoke damage from a fire in a neighboring building. Operations had been moved to the post offices in Homedale and Huston. Source: Idaho Press

Valley County

• Valley County is welcoming tourists as the state eases the stay-home order, while taking precautions to avoid spreading COVID-19. Shore Lodge introduced flexible cancelation policies to encourage potential visitors. Throughout the resort, it made physical changes to provide social distance and maintain cleanliness. At its restaurants, menus now are used only once and silverware is in sealed packages. Tamarack Resort began a phased reopening May 16. It resumed construction activities, opened hiking and biking trails and offered some dining and lodging services. Tamarack trained employees to follow local and federal COVID-19 guidelines, added hand-sanitizing stations throughout the resort, began conducting daily temperature checks and provides gloves and masks. It increased cleaning intensity and installed plexiglas dividers at all cashier locations. Zip lining and guided whitewater rafting trips on the North Fork of the Payette River will begin in June. Source: Idaho Press
• McCall awarded a $6.6 million contract in April to Knife River Corporation of Boise to build a mile-long taxiway 100 feet east of the current taxiway at the airport. The project is funded by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is requiring the taxiway to be relocated to comply with current regulations. The new taxiway will provide a safety buffer between airplanes taking off or landing and those taxiing. Today, the airport regularly serves private passenger jets and C-130 firefighting aircraft with wingspans twice as wide as the airport was designed to handle. The added distance between the runway and the taxiway would also allow the airport to accommodate scheduled commercial passenger flights in the future. Construction is expected to begin in July and extend into October. Source: McCall Star-News
• Valley County workers filed 1,043 initial unemployment insurance claims between March 25 and May 9. Those workers made up about 16 percent of all workers on payrolls there. More than half of the claims — 602 — came from workers laid off by the leisure and hospitality industry, the sector that has lost the most jobs nationwide and the sector that is more than twice as large in the county as in an average U.S. county. Source: Idaho Department of Labor

Washington County

• Fry Foods temporarily shut down its Weiser plant in mid-May after a few workers tested positive for coronavirus. The plant, which manufactures onion rings and related products, will reopen as soon as the company determines it is safe. Meanwhile, its 260 workers are furloughed. Source: Idaho Press; Idaho Statesman
• Union Pacific Railroad permanently shut down its specialty rail-shipping facility in Wallula, Wash., the main method onion producers in Oregon’s Malheur County and neighboring Idaho counties get their onions to market. The massive Washington complex featured two miles of track to handle specialized trains that could get fruit and produce to eastern markets in just days. The closure will raise shipping costs for farmers already financially stressed by a large drop in demand following the closure of restaurants across the U.S. The USDA’s National Potato and Onion Report on May 15 showed year-to-date onion shipments from the region were 17.7 percent lower than in 2019, and prices are running 12 to 16 percent lower. Source: Malheur Enterprise; USDA National Potato and Onion Report

Openings

• Ideal Option, a company specializing in the treatment of Opioid Use Disorder, opened a new outpatient clinic in Boise as well as the launch of a virtual clinic on April 14.
• Good Apple Taphouse opened on East McMillian Road in Meridian.
• Biscuit & Hogs opened a takeout and delivery menu for the Sunrise Cafe kitchens in Boise and Meridian in early May. A full-fledged brick-and- mortar storefront on East Overland Road in Meridian opened May 16.
• Bella Biscotteria, an Italian bakery, opened a brick-and-mortar store on West State Street in downtown Eagle.
• Bank of Idaho will open a branch in Nampa on 12^th Ave South where Key Bank was previously located. It is the eighth location for the bank in Idaho.

Closings

• Paddles Up Poke in Meridian closed in May.
• Walla Walla Clothing Co. will not reopen its store on Idaho Street in Boise.
• Gordmans department stores filed for bankruptcy.
• The 36^th Street Garden Center & Bistro closed permanently in May.

Janell.Hyer@labor.idaho.gov, research analyst, senior
Idaho Department of Labor
(208) 332-3570 ext 3914

SOUTH CENTRAL IDAHO – Blaine, Camas, Cassia, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, Minidoka and Twin Falls counties

Blaine County

• Long-time Ketchum resident Bob Brennan purchased Warm Springs Ranch. In 2019, a potential buyer with plans for a large-scale resort bowed out after conducting due diligence. The property is 78 acres consisting of nine lots valued by the county assessor at $12.5 million each. The sales price for the property was not released. It is the largest piece of undeveloped land in Ketchum and has been repurposed from decades ago when a popular restaurant and tennis courts drew residents and visitors. Before the 2009 recession, it was slated for development as an upscale resort to include a golf course, 122-room hotel, 32 condos and single-family homes. The area currently serves as a dog park and disc golf course. A concept plan has yet to be released. Source: Idaho Mountain Express
• Bellevue City Council approved dedicating space toward a community garden with a few venue options under consideration. The idea came from a Bellevue citizen who transported thousands of pounds of free potatoes from a farm in the southern part of the region for distribution. COVID-19 disturbed the food service supply chain for farmers when restaurants, colleges and universities closed. Source: Idaho Mountain Express

Cassia County

• In response to the high youth suicide rate, the CONNECT pilot program offering free mental health counseling sessions to students and their families at four schools started in the fall of 2018. Mini-Cassia area local businessman Ryan Phipps followed up by donating $200,000 over two years to expand the program to serve all of the Cassia County Joint School District schools. In 2019, 132 students used the free counseling sessions. The district and its counselors are determined to ensure that COVID-19 stress demands are met with virtual sessions or even social distancing sessions in person. Source: Times-News

Jerome County

• Rite Stuff Food tested all of its employees after an outbreak of COVID-19 was identified. As of May 21, 23 workers test positive with half of these staffers already recovered. The cross-board testing was a means to focus in on areas in the plant needing reorganization of its processes and shift reductions. John MacArthur, managing director of the food processing facility, reported that a mobile testing unit was brought on-site with all production lines closed for deep cleaning sanitation. The company was purchased about a year ago from its long-term family operated entity. Current management assures the public the sick employees will be compensated for time off as required by the Families First Coronavirus Act. Other food processing plants have released news of COVID-19 spread including CS Beef Packers in Kuna and Fry Foods in Weiser. Source: Times-News

Twin Falls County

• The Pennant Group in collaboration with Idaho Health & Welfare and the Governor’s COVID-19 taskforce have repurposed Twin Falls Manor as a COVID-19 residential care center for patients who need assisted level of care. The facility accepts residents testing positive for COVID-19 from all over southern Idaho. Source: KMVT News
• The former Twin Falls downtown Salvation Army thrift store space is now home to a local food hall dedicated to small business vendors selling food products made in the Magic Valley. The Second South Market’s latest commitment comes from Cloverleaf Creamery, well known for its milk distributed in glass bottles and quaint ice cream shop, both located in Buhl. The ice cream shop will expand to that location ‘hopefully later this summer’ according to Cloverleaf owner Eric Butterworth. Source: KMVT News  
• KMVT staffers brought home 19 Idaho Press Club awards based on 2019 news shows. Source: KMVT News
• Chobani donated $100,000 to the Idaho Food Bank for purchase of a refrigerated truck. The company has been a strong supporter of the organization since 2014. This allows the nonprofit to pick up donations requiring refrigeration and distribute those donations to local food banks across south central Idaho. Source: KMVT News

Openings

• Kohl’s opened in the former Sear’s space in the mall. The COVID-19 crisis delayed the March grand opening. The store is following strict COVID-19 cleaning and spatial protocols. It also has set special hours limited to those vulnerable to COVID-19. It also offers pick-up options for shoppers, and a dedicated section of the store is accepting Amazon returns. Source: Times-News
• Twin Falls Farmers Market opened to the public in a new location — the far side of the Magic Valley Mall. It moved from its location on College of Southern Idaho campus next to the community garden when CSI closed its campus due to COVID-19 concerns. The market will no longer allow food samples or live music, but is practicing social distancing and using masks. The U.S. Department of Agriculture encourages shopping at farmers markets to take some pressure off grocery stores and supporting local farmers. Source: KMVT News

Upcoming Events – cancellations, postponements, restrictions:

• Jazz on the Canyon in Twin Falls is cancelled for 2020. The popular event scheduled for the last weekend in June draws sufficient crowds that the social distancing regulations would be compromised. The festival has been ongoing for 19 years. The proceeds have benefited the College of Southern Idaho’s MusicFest summer camp for students, the Twin Falls Education Foundation and the Magic Valley Art Council. Source: Magic Valley Arts Council and Times-News
• Hailey City Council announced Hailey’s Days of the Old West 4^th of July parade is still up for debate, but the rodeo will not happen this year nor will the Riverfest which is held at Lions Park after the parade and sponsored by Wood River Land Trust. The Independence Day fireworks is allowed as the community can enjoy the display while distancing. The rodeo was determined financially not feasible once the number of those allowed admittance with social distancing was quantified. The Hailey farmers market and the Antique and Art show will proceed with protocols in place for distancing and disinfecting. Summer’s End-Draper Rendezvous Music Festival, estimated to host 60 musical groups, has been postponed until August 2021. Source: Idaho Mountain Express
• Ketchum city leaders announced the Ketch’em Alive series, free weekly concerts held in Forest Service Park attracting up to 1,000 people, will not continue its tradition this summer, which would have been its 20^th anniversary. The Wagon Days Parade held on Labor Day will be cut back to include only the Big Hitch wagons. This is one of the area’s biggest events, but due to its popularity, the social distancing would be difficult to maintain. A decision on Trailing of the Sheep, another crowd pleaser, is pending. Sun Valley Economic Development estimated economic loss of $50 million or more because of these cancellations.  Source: Idaho Mountain Express
• Sun Valley Tour de Force canceled its third annual fundraiser usually held the third weekend of July, but plans to host it in 2021. The event has included speed runs on Highway 75, about 200 exotic, super and rare cars displayed around Ketchum Town Square and draws many automobile aficionados.  The Hunger Coalition, which was to be the beneficiary this year, will be next year’s beneficiary. Source: Idaho Mountain Express
• Burley cancelled its 34^th annual Spudman Triathlon due to concerns regarding COVID-19. The event is sponsored by the Burley Lions Club and had its full roster of 2,300 athletes already registered. Source: Times-News

Jan.Roeser@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
Idaho Department of Labor
(208) 735-2500 ext. 3639

SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO – Bannock, Bear Lake, Bingham, Caribou,
Franklin, Oneida & Power counties

Region

• Delta Air Lines has asked the U.S. Transportation Department for approval to suspend flights to nine U.S. airports including Pocatello Regional Airport due to low passenger volume. Delta says passengers can use other nearby airports. Pocatello city officials are contesting this request and hope that the $1 million federal grant the airport is set to receive to alleviate economic hardships caused by the pandemic will help matters. Source: Reuters, Idaho State Journal
• Idaho State University’s colleges and divisions have presented proposals for trimming their budgets by up to 6 percent to help the institution offset a projected $16 million budget deficit. Mandatory furloughs of $2 million in 2020-21 will help chip away at the deficit. Other steps to erase the shortfall by June 2022 include:
  • Layoffs, which would save $2.2 million.
  • Eliminating vacant positions to save $4.5 million.
  • Cutting $3.6 million in operating expenses.
  • University-wide spending reductions. College and division budgets, including the division of health sciences, will be cut by an average of 4.8 percent next year. Remaining divisions — including athletics, research and Museum of Natural History — will be cut by an average of 6 percent.
  • Cutting $900,000 in temporary and irregular salary pools, including those for adjunct salaries.
  • Collecting $1.3 million from one-time and ongoing strategic investments, including from a $650,000 statewide marketing campaign and by devoting more than $1 million to “areas mostly designed to improve student recruitment and retention, fulfill urgent workforce needs and … have an impact on increasing revenue through student enrollment.”
  • Anticipation of $480,000 in revenue growth from prior expansion of some “high-demand programs.”

Source: Idaho Education News

• With the concurrence of public health officials, the Fort Hall Tribal Business Council has reopened its casino, hotel and spa. Like all other large venues in Idaho, the Sho-Ban Casino Hotel was closed for seven weeks due to the COVID-19 emergency. Several other Sho-Ban businesses will open later. The RV park in Fort Hall tentatively is scheduled to open on May 30. The Sage Hill Casino south of Blackfoot and the Bannock Peak Casino and High Stakes Bingo Hall in the Arbon Valley will remain closed until further notice. Source: Idaho Business Review
• Twelve Idaho Community Development Block Grants awards for $5 million will be distributed to benefit public facilities and infrastructure, downtown revitalizations and senior center improvements in cities and counties throughout Idaho, including $203,000 for upgrades to the Caribou County Senior Center. The city of Shelley also would be receiving $200,000 for upgrades to their senior center. Source: Caribou County Sun

Bannock County

• A local business is expanding into the city of Chubbuck. BMC West recently purchased 7 acres of land for a 32,000-square-foot light manufacturing facility for making trusses, creating about 25 more jobs. Construction was slated to start in May or early June and be fully functional by November. Source: KPVI
• In an effort to make itself more accessible to area businesses and entrepreneurs, the Idaho State University Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED) has opened a new outreach office in Old Town Pocatello. Source: Idaho State Journal, Idaho Business Review

Bear Lake

• Bear Lake Memorial Hospital in Montpelier recently was named one of the Top 20 Critical Access Hospitals for Best Practices in Quality out of more than 1,300 facilities in the country by The National Rural Health Association. Bear Lake Memorial Hospital has earned this recognition in the past and is being recognized again this year for achieving success in quality. This premier hospital performance rating is based on the rank across five measures: timely and effective care, complications and deaths, unplanned hospital visits, psychiatric unit services and payment/value of care. Source: The News Examiner

Closures

• • Gordmans in Blackfoot
  • ATCO Structures and Logistics in Pocatello

Esther.Eke@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
Idaho Department of Labor
(208) 236-6710 ext. 4331

EASTERN IDAHO – Bonneville, Butte, Caribou, Clark, Custer, Fremont, Jefferson, Lemhi, Madison, & Teton counties

Idaho National Laboratory

• In response to President Trump’s declaration that the COVID-19 pandemic has become a national emergency, Idaho National Laboratory’s Technology Deployment organization has launched the Rapid Technology Deployment Program. This program supports national relief efforts by transitioning INL innovations to industry as expeditiously as possible and removing possible delays or burdens on partners. INL will open a substantial portion of its unencumbered patent portfolio to any U.S. company that can use available inventions to help solve the current national crisis and drive strong economic development. Source: East Idaho News
• The federal government awarded Battelle a contract to deploy 60 of its new N95 mask decontamination systems around the country. The one in Idaho Falls is available to serve Wyoming and parts of Utah as well as Idaho, and will clean masks for medical providers and emergency services departments for free, even paying to ship them back as part of the federal contract. The system can handle up to 80,000 face masks a day. Source: Post Register
• Idaho National Laboratory has created a new interactive web app for truck drivers facing pandemic-related problems. Named the Commercial Routing Assistance application, the online tool can “visually display route restrictions, alternative routes and other pertinent information pulled from publicly available sources, including state websites and databases.” Officials from both INL and the Department of Homeland Security are hoping the app will be helpful even after the pandemic is over and believe it will continue being useful during disasters such as hurricanes and floods. Source: Idaho State Journal

 Region

• The Idaho Falls Regional Airport saw a 93 percent decrease in passenger levels due to the pandemic. In April 2019, the airport saw more than 29,000 departing passengers. This April, only 1,300 passengers departed the airport. Revenue is down approximately 90 percent. As a result, the airport has been forced to make adjustments to services and its budget by implementing measures including hiring freezes and reduced work hours for employees. The Federal CARES Act funding will help defray some of the financial losses, but even with cuts, the money will last six months at most. The airport director anticipates layoffs happening “pretty quickly.” Source: Post Register
• The health care industry is feeling major financial losses as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center (EIRMC) has seen a 42 percent drop in ER visits. Mountain View and the Idaho Falls Community hospitals have seen reductions in ER patients as well. Smaller, more rural health facilities have been hit the hardest. Teton Valley Health Care in Driggs has seen ER visits halved. Part of that is attributed to people staying home. While EIRMC, Mountain View Hospital and the Idaho Falls Community Hospital declined to provide numbers, all reported that the significant decline in patients had negatively affected their revenue. Madison Memorial Hospital reported its revenue had “decreased significantly organization-wide.” Teton Valley Health Care anticipates its revenue will be around “40 percent below normal” this month. In response, EIRMC, Teton Valley Health and Madison Memorial have all cut staff hours. Mountain View Hospital temporarily reduced the amount of paid time off (PTO) that can be accrued in a pay period by 50 percent and limited PTO hours to no more than four hours per day. According to hospital administrators, the CARES relief packages from the federal government will not be enough to offset losses. Source: Post Register
• Yellowstone and Grand Teton National parks announced a limited and measured opening of the two parks to the public. The first phase includes opening public restrooms in some areas, day-use hiking on accessible trails, boardwalks, medical clinics, gas stations and some stores. All five entrances to Yellowstone opens June 1. Grand Teton National Park has not announced its plans for phase 2 as of May 29. Both parks closed to the public March 24 in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Source: Post Register
• Many of eastern Idaho’s outfitters and guides are in survival mode. A recent industry survey by the Idaho Outfitters and Guides Association found that 42 percent of businesses showed bookings were down 62 percent to 100 percent. The survey also found that 71 percent of the business could only survive for another six months to a year if the COVID-19 crisis continues for an extended period of time. The Salmon-Challis National Forest began issuing river floating permits starting May 16 for the Middle Fork of the Salmon and Main Salmon River. The National Forest also plans to gradually open campgrounds and developed recreation sites on the same date as manpower allows. Idaho Fish and Game Commission has also resumed selling nonresident licenses, tags and permits May 16. As restrictions begin to ease, it is hoped that the economic devastation is stymied. Source: Post Register
• The College of Eastern Idaho and Western Governors University announced a new partnership to make it easier for students and staff members to continue their education beyond the two-year college. The agreement will create a simplified pathway for students to transfer credits to the online nonprofit university after they graduate from CEI. It will also make CEI alumni and staff eligible to receive up to $2,000 off tuition and course fees from WGU’s Community College Partnership Scholarship. Source: Post Register
• Twelve Idaho Community Development Block Grants awards for $5 million will be distributed to benefit public facilities and infrastructure, downtown revitalizations, and senior center improvements in cities and counties throughout Idaho, including $500,000 for a new sanitary lift station in Rexburg. Other cities in the region receiving grant money include $500,000 to the city of Driggs and $200,000 to the city of Shelley. Source: Caribou County Sun

Bonneville County

• Alturas International Academy, a K-8 public charter of some 550 students, has asked the Idaho Public Charter School Commission to authorize Alturas Preparatory Academy. If approved, the new high school will exist somewhere in Idaho Falls and eventually serve some 500 middle and high school students in the Idaho Falls, Bonneville and Shelley school districts. Source: Idaho Education News
• Construction on the new ShowBiz Cinema Entertainment Center inside Jackson Hole Junction in Idaho Falls is at a standstill since the onset of COVID-19. The pandemic hit eastern Idaho just a few weeks after the ground was broken on Feb. 27. The managing partners are waiting to see how things play out over the next 30-60 days before moving forward. The estimated time of completion is unclear. It was originally slated to be complete by the end of the year. Source: East Idaho News
• Construction on the new Holiday Inn inside Jackson Hole Junction continues to move forward despite the pandemic. Crews are putting the finishing touches on the 78,000-square-foot building, including cleaning and carpeting the rooms. The hotel will open to the public June 25. An official grand opening will occur at a later date when concerns about the pandemic have tapered. Source: East Idaho News

Clark County

• Exploration work by a Canadian company hoping to build an open-pit gold mine in Idaho west of Yellowstone National Park was halted following a federal judge’s ruling involving its impact on groundwater. The proposed Kilgore Project would cover about 19 square miles on Forest Service land and land managed by the state of Idaho in Clark County, about 60 miles north of Idaho Falls. The company says the area contains about 825,000 ounces of gold. The new ruling shuts down drilling at least until the Forest Service completes its groundwater analysis at Dog Bone Ridge and issues new approval documents. That requires a public process with comment periods. Source: Idaho Press

Custer County

• Because COVID-19 resulted in cancelled events like the Challis Classy Chassis car show, tourism in the area has been slowed. Businesses are most concerned about cancellation of the Braun Brothers Reunion. The music festival is Challis’s biggest draw and a large source of income over the summer. While many businesses struggle, a few have seen unprecedented sales. A local electronics store recorded an uptick in sales of TVs, laptops and educational tools for online learning. The store also saw an uptick in satellite phone and home security systems purchases. Source: Challis Messenger

Jefferson County

• Rigby Pediatric Dental and Mooso Orthodontics & Imaging Center will soon share a 5,000-square-foot space on Rigby Lake Circle. The clinics are two separate businesses. Rigby Pediatric Dental is slated to open July 1, while Mooso Orthodontics is scheduled to open Aug. 1 while. The Rigby project is an expansion for Mooso Orthodontics, which has been in operation on Elk Creek Drive in Idaho Falls for 28 years. Source: East Idaho News

Lemhi County

• A preliminary economic assessment for the first phase heap leach component of the Beartrack-Arnett Gold Project in Lemhi County is beginning. Wood PLC, an engineering and consulting firm with offices in Boise and Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has been hired to conduct the assessment with help from KC Harvey Environmental of Bozeman, Montana. Beartrack-Arnett is the largest former producing gold mine in Idaho. Revival Gold, a Toronto-based company, has the right to acquire a 100 percent interest in Meridian Beartrack Co., owner of the Beartrack Gold Project. Revival Gold also owns rights to a 100 percent interest in the neighboring Arnett Gold Project. Revival Gold is pursuing other gold exploration and development opportunities. The company holds a 51 percent interest in the Diamond Mountain phosphate project in Uintah County, Utah. Source: Challis Messenger

Madison County

• A local chiropractic clinic that permanently closed due to Idaho’s recent stay-home order has now been saved. Elevated Chiropractic & Laser Therapy was acquired by AmeriHealth, a local company that runs multidisciplinary clinics in Idaho Falls, Pocatello and Rexburg. As part of the acquisition, the chiropractor at Elevated Chiropractic and all of his clients will move to the AmeriHealth building. Source: East Idaho News

Openings

• Idaho Burger Grill in Rexburg

Esther.Eke@labor.idaho.gov, regional economist
Idaho Department of Labor
(208) 236-6710 ext. 4331