I had the opportunity to attend the ACAR Agent to Agent program this week with, guest speaker Paul Hiller, of the Boise Valley Economic Partnership, Mr. Hiller went over the list of the projects they are working on to bring companies and jobs to the Boise Area. There are 29 projects and 15 are ranked #1, as companies that are more likely to land in the Treasure Valley. We are on their short list! Most communities would do well to have a total of about 12 potential projects and we have 29! With over 10,000 potential jobs from this list, we are easily in a position to land a good number of these jobs.

There are two projects especially promising! Project #4 and project #16 on their list are both Solar Module Mfg. companies. #16 on the list, Apex, is engaged in talks with Micron about their MPC plant in Nampa. They are discussing the possibility of a joint partnership and Apex is very pleased with their talks to date. This represents 1000-1500 jobs, exactly where we desperately need them.

I asked Paul Hiller about the troubles in California and how that would affect Idaho. He said they are already in talks with companies from the Silicon Valley and expect that area to be a very rich environment for new prospects for the Treasure Valley. There is already venture capitalists for high tech industries looking very hard at the Treasure Valley.

Although we will continue to tough it out for a while longer, the future is very bright for our Valley. The things that have always been appealing about our area still exist: mild weather, great recreation, low crime, low cost of living, and overall quality of life. We need to continue to work together to look for opportunities and how to survive in the short term. Long term we are in good shape. Many other parts of the country will take far longer to recover from this economic downturn.

We are very fortunate to live where we do! So put away the sharp objects and dump the “Chicken Little Mentality” and we will survive these challenging times. The key is to be pro-active and be willing to change. I hope this news helps!