Business Briefs

Second office for Silvercreek

Silvercreek Realty Group plans to open a second Treasure Valley office by mid-March.

Co-owner and Associate Broker Aaron Doughty said about 20 agents will be based in the office off Parkcenter Boulevard in southeast Boise, where Silvercreek leased 4,000 square feet at 290 Bobwhite Court. An additional 40 to 50 agents will use the office on a drop-in basis.

He said Silvercreek has reached capacity at its 16,000-square-foot headquarters building off Wells Street near the Eagle Road interchange with Interstate 84, Meridian. The firm has about 375 agents.

The firm wanted a southeast Boise office to serve and recruit agents who work in downtown, north and east Boise, Doughty said.

Silvercreek is owned by Doughty and his father, Roger Doughty. They launched the firm in November 2008 by acquiring the former All Pro Real Estate, and about a year later bought Market Pro.

IBR Staff

Commerce Department’s IGEM research initiative wins House committee’s approval

Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter’s $5 million proposal to speed commercialization of university research into commercial products that boost Idaho’s economy won a House committee’s blessing.

The Commerce Committee voted unanimously Feb. 21 to send the Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission, or IGEM, for a full House vote.

Department of Commerce director Jeff Sayer says IGEM may not immediately produce tangible results, but he’s optimistic about its prospects.

According to the plan, Idaho would direct $1 million toward grants for startup businesses or technologies, as well as $2 million each for the Center for Advanced Energy Studies and Idaho’s other three four-year universities.

The measure, modeled after a Utah program, still must survive legislative skeptics who worry it dabbles in picking winners and losers, something they feel is best left to private industry.

The Associated Press

Hecla’s income rises four-fold

Hecla Mining Company on Feb. 21 reported fourth quarter net income applicable to common shareholders of $18.4 million or 7 cents per basic share, compared to a $13 million net loss a year earlier. For the full year, net income was $150.6 million, up more than fourfold from $35.35 million a year earlier.

Sales were $102.9 million for the quarter, down 23.4 percent from a year earlier. Full-year sales were $477.6 million in 2011, down 14 percent. The cost of sales, and other direct production costs, rose slightly for the year but fell in the fourth quarter from the year-earlier period.

Analysts expected Hecla to earn 7 cents per share on $98.83 million in sales revenue in the fourth quarter, Yahoo Finance reported.

CEO Phil Baker, in a conference call Feb. 21 with analysts, said Hecla posted record sales and gross profits in the fourth quarter. Silver production was lower but in line with forecasts. Costs remain low despite problems at Lucky Friday Mine, which regulators have closed for a year after a fatal accident.

Hecla benefited from a 56 percent jump in silver prices for the year. Capital investment totaled $28 million in the fourth quarter and $102.1 million for the full year, both records, the company said.

Silver production declined for the year at Greens Creek Mine in Alaska as mining focused on sections with lower ore grades, Hecla said. Lucky Friday’s silver production declined mainly because of interruptions to operations, the company said.

Two miners have been killed at Lucky Friday in the past year, and seven were injured in December in a rock burst. The mine has been closed since mid-December.

IBR Staff

Idaho’s household income puts 61 percent in middle class

Idaho has a median household income of $46,000 and a larger middle class than the U.S. average, according to the state Department of Labor.

Blaine, Ada, and Teton counties had the highest median household income in 2010. Blaine County’s was the very highest, at $62,000; Owhyee County’s was the lowest, at around $34,000, the Department of Labor said.

Ada County’s median annual household income was almost $56,000 in 2010. The Department of Labor said 61 percent of Idaho households make between $25,000 and $99,000, putting them in the middle class. Nationally, 55 percent of households are classified as middle class.

About a quarter of the households in Blaine and Ada Counties had incomes over $100,000. Just 4 or 5 percent of the households in Boundary and Lewis Counties – both areas with many retirees – had households with that income.

Alivia Metts, a regional economist with the Labor Department, said people between the ages of 45 and 65 are more likely to have higher incomes because they are in their prime earning years.

Idaho House aims to curb eminent domain

The House voted to curb urban renewal agencies’ eminent domain powers after a northern Idaho lawmaker argued these organizations could use the threat of seizure to coerce private property owners’ cooperation.

Before the 47-18 vote Feb. 21, Rep. Bob Nonini of Coeur d’Alene argued that urban renewal agencies have grown too powerful and unaccountable to voters.

His bill would limit their condemnation powers and forbid them from inspecting properties without owners’ permission.

Democratic lawmakers and Republicans from Idaho Falls opposed the bill, on grounds that limits on urban renewal agencies’ powers approved during the 2011 Legislature were sufficient.

Rep. Bill Killen of Boise said Nonini’s measure unnecessarily restricts local government as it attempts to remedy blighted areas.

The measure now goes to the Senate, where it could face a tough fight.

The Associated Press

Amalgamated to run some of its own warehouses

Amalgamated Sugar is changing its warehousing approach.

Most of the grower-owned beet processor and sugar marketer’s approximately 30 warehouses around the U.S. are operated by other companies that charge a fee. Boise-based Amalgamated is starting to run its own warehouses in key locations.

President Vic Jaro said the company recently entered a long-term lease for a warehouse in Grand Prairie, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Move-in is planned in mid-March.

“We will manage it with our people,” Jaro said. “Given the state of the economy, we can do some leases right now that are very lucrative.”

Amalgamated is putting together a similar lease for warehouse space outside Chicago, and might pursue one in Chino, Calif., he said.

The three locations handle big volumes of sugar for established customer bases and are expected to see increased demand, Jaro said. Cutting out the third-party warehouse services is expected to save Amalgamated 15 percent.

The company will continue using third-party managers at sites with temporary needs, he said.

Amalgamated and France-based Sucden Americas in mid-2011 formed National Sugar Marketing, which likely will manage the warehouses, Jaro said. Inventory and activity in the three key warehouses is expected to go up over time because Sucden, which has supply relationships in Latin American countries, likely will increase the volume of refined sugar it sells into the U.S. market, he said.

Brad Carlson

Senate agrees: Idaho needs another federal judge

Senators agreed to encourage Congress to authorize a third federal judgeship for Idaho, saying there’s so much court business that existing members of the bench have a tough time keeping up.

The chamber unanimously passed the non-binding measure Feb. 20.

There have been only two federal judges in Idaho for the last 58 years. Chief District Judge B. Lynn Winmill and District Judge Edward J. Lodge now occupy the posts.

But lawmakers say their caseload has grown so dramatically that another judge is needed.

The Senate’s vote that included Republican and minority Democratic backing was a marked departure from the House’s decision on this memorial, when 21 Republicans opposed the measure on Jan. 30.

They cited concern a third judge might get appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, not an Idaho favorite.

The Associated Press

Canadian company explores for gold

A Canadian company is spending millions of dollars exploring for gold deposits in a historic mining district near the tiny mountain town of Yellow Pine.

The exploration activity is taking place in the so-called Stibnite district, located in central Idaho about 50 miles east of McCall. The site produced nearly a million ounces of gold between the 1920s and late 1990s.

The Lewiston Tribune reports that the Midas Gold Corp. acquired control of the district in 2009 and has filed additional mineral claims.

Company officials talked about their exploration project Feb. 20 before the House Environment, Energy and Technology Committee.

Company Vice President Anne Labelle told lawmakers a decision has not yet been made if the new deposits are big enough to justify spending millions more on developing a mine.

The Associated Press

Apartment conversion begins in downtown Macy’s

Work has started inside downtown Boise’s former Macy’s department store, slated for conversion to apartments.

Colliers International commercial property broker Dave Wali, who represents new owner Northwest Real Estate Capital Corp., in mid-February said crews were doing survey and pricing work as well as asbestos remediation. A “small percentage” of tiles from previous remodels of the 1927 building contain asbestos, but all must be examined and documented, he said.

Project architect CSHQA’s plan calls for shop space at street level and 64 market-rate apartments on upper floors.

The schedule depends on permitting and bank financing, Wali said.

Macy’s closed the store two years ago.

Brad Carlson

Basque Country, Idaho sign trade agreements

Idaho will open a trade office in the Basque Country, and the Basque Country will open an office in Boise under an agreement officials with both governments signed Feb. 20 at the Idaho Statehouse.

Boise developer Mark Rivers traveled to the Basque Country on his own four times over the past two years with an eye toward developing a stronger economic bond between the governments, and building relationships between government and private sectors.

Idaho Lieutenant Gov. Brad Little said the state doesn’t track exports with the Basque Country, but that it offers opportunities in wine, energy and other industries.

Iberdrola, a wind energy company headquartered in the Basque Country, employs about 400 in Oregon, Little said. “There is no reason not to have some jobs in Idaho,” he said.

Bannock County Development Corp. has new director

John Regetz has been hired as the new Bannock County Development Corporation director in Pocatello.

Regetz has spent nearly his entire career in economic development in the Midwest and South Dakota. His last stop, at the Michigan City Economic Development Corporation in Indiana, lasted about six and a half years.

The Bannock County Development Corporation lost its director when Gynii Gilliam went to work for the Idaho Department of Commerce.

Regetz said that he has experience working with industries that would fit in well with Pocatello’s economy, including the high-tech and national computing sectors in Urbana, Ill.; and “advanced manufacturing” in Michigan City.

“The whole scope of my career seems to have been preparing me for this position,” Regetz said.

The Bannock County Development Corporation works with companies, governments and other organizations to coordinate economic development efforts within the county.

Regetz will start on March 19.

IBR Staff

Credit unions merge

A merger of Valley Community Credit Union into Les Bois Credit Union gives Les Bois branch offices in Nampa and Cascade, and 2,184 additional members.

Les Bois now has seven branch offices and 13,487 members. The credit union in December converted its charter from federal to state.

Les Bois was formed to serve employees of the former Morrison-Knudsen Co. It later expanded, shifting to a community charter to serve Boise and Garden City residents. The charter later was expanded to include Garden Valley.

Valley Credit Union was formed for customer-members of the Producers Supply agricultural cooperative. The credit union later adopted a community charter and opening a Cascade branch.

CEO Ryan Drake said Valley Community Credit Union members will benefit from merging with the widely recognized Les Bois Credit Union. Les Bois CEO Ken Clifford said Les Bois will provide Valley members with more lending options and online services in addition to the added branch locations.

Angie Nelson, marketing coordinator at Les Bois, said the additional services offered former Valley members include online budgeting software, online mortgage application, and access to business lending and services.

Brad Carlson

Bill would provide more staff to liquor regulators

The state agency that regulates alcohol sales in Idaho would get reinforcements to police liquor licenses under a bill that has passed the house.

The Alcohol Beverage Control Division has one officer that conducts inspections for the state’s more than 5,000 alcohol businesses.

New legislation that cleared the House on Feb. 20 57-11 will dedicate $1.5 million from vendor license fees paid to the state to better staff the agency.

With the money, the division could hire up to 12 people. The bill heads to the Senate.

Nampa Rep. Christy Perry says the funding will expedite licensing for small businesses and enable more investigations of vendors that sell alcohol illegally.

Majority Leader Mike Moyle opposes the move, saying local governments that also get money from licensing should chip, too.

The Associated Press

Lawmakers mull emissions testing waiver

Motorists could get another year to comply with vehicle emissions standards under a bill introduced in the Idaho Senate.

Nampa Sen. Curt McKenzie presented legislation Feb. 17 that would grant a one-year hardship waiver for drivers required to pay more than $250 in repairs to pass Idaho’s auto emissions test.

McKenzie says the bill gives a temporary reprieve to low-income drivers who typically own older cars or trucks that may need more work to meet state standards enacted in 2008.

It would also require the Department of Environmental Quality to undertake a review of the state’s mandatory testing program every five years, starting in 2013.

Ada and Canyon are the only counties in the state that require vehicle emission tests. And for years, Canyon County leaders have fought mandatory testing.

The Associated Press

Fishery managers consider Priest Lake options

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is looking at changing its policy involving lake trout in Priest Lake and Upper Priest Lake in northern Idaho.

Priest Lake is managed for trophy lake trout, while Upper Priest Lake is managed to restore native fish populations.

Agency spokesman Jim Fredericks says managing the two lakes as independent systems isn’t practical or feasible.

Fredericks says possible options include managing both lakes for lake trout or suppressing lake trout in both lakes and restoring native trout and kokanee fisheries.

Fredericks tells the Bonner County Daily Bee that Priest Lake draws lake trout anglers and the species is easy to manage and maintain.

The agency is holding public meetings in March to discuss options.