A holiday message from the BizMojo Idaho pulpit

Has anyone seen the new game show called "You Deserve It"? I think it is about as emblematic of our present day as anything I've seen recently.

It involves people going on TV to compete for the sake of friends or relations who are facing ruin because of their medical bills. For my own part, I think all of us deserve a health care system that doesn't hold the prospect of bankruptcy over the head of anyone who has the bad form to get sick or hurt. But let's go down that road some other day.

Since it's Christmas, let's address instead the question of who deserves what, if anything. This seems to be such a big concern for lots of Americans.

Take for example the Post Register's Goodfellow Fund, which I applaud for setting a new record this year. Money goes directly to local charities, which is great. Yet for the longest time (and perhaps even now), it advertised itself as helping people who are "down on their luck through no fault of their own."

In other words, "Relax, your donation is not going to be used to help lowlifes." Did they really need to say that? Apparently they felt they did.

When Jesus, whose alleged birth we celebrate today, fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes, I don't recall him saying to anyone, "Take a hike. I know what you've been up to. You don't deserve this." The Beatitudes do not say, "Blessed are the deserving poor," and in Mark 10:18, he went as far as to say, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God."

Jesus came into the world to heal the sick, feed the hungry, and for the forgiveness of sins. He was not hung up on qualifications.

A lot of politicians have gotten themselves elected by appealing to Middle America's obsession with the notion that someone out there -- a welfare queen, an illegal alien, even a public school teacher -- is getting something he or she doesn't deserve, and that it's being paid for with tax dollars. The people who want us to focus on that have a lot of money to spread that message, way more than any church or organization that says our society should reflect ideals of equity and mercy.

This blessed day, enjoy your presents, your turkey or your tenderloin (which is on the menu at my house; I can't believe what it cost.) Be lavish with yourselves and each other, as God is lavish with grace and the peace that passes all understanding. None of us really deserve these things, which means all of us do.

Costco evaluating ground in Idaho Falls, Ammon

This might not be the big announcement everyone is waiting for, but Costoco Wholesale, the international chain of membership warehouses, is evaluating locations in Idaho Falls and Ammon.

"At this point it's a feasibility study, but there's a good chance it will happen," said Brent Wilson of Pentad Properties, who is showing Costco possible locations. The company typically hires someone local who has an understanding of traffic patterns, local trends and zoning regulations.

Any incentive that a community can offer is taken into account. "It's not front page news, but it's not a big secret," Wilson said. "They want people to know."

Wilson is also involved with finding a new tenant for the T.G.I. Friday's building on Hitt Road. And no, it won't be Red Lobster. "There was interest, but Red Lobster's prototype is 7,700 square feet and that building is 5,234 square feet," he said.

Right now, Darden Restaurants, Red Lobster's parent company, is more interested in the Far East than it is in small town America, but something could happen in the Idaho Falls-Ammon area. "They are looking," he said.

Commission OKs more wind turbines for eastern Idaho



Wind turbines dot the hills to the east of Idaho Falls. More could be on their way.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has done an about face on Cedar Creek Wind's proposal for more wind turbines in eastern Idaho, but they could end up in Bonneville rather than Bingham County. Here is a link to the Associated Press story:

Eastern Idaho to get more wind turbines after PUC deal capitalpress.com

And if you want all the details, here is the PUC's press release, written by Gene Fadness, formerly of the Post Register.

http://www.puc.idaho.gov/internet/press/122111_CedarCreek.htm

Tucanos Grill for Idaho Falls? One can only hope

BizMojo Idaho reader William Waetje suggested this morning that Idaho Falls could use a Tucanos Brazilian Grill.

Since I learned last week that there are two restaurant developers looking at the old T.G.I. Friday's location on Hitt Road, and in the interest of keeping everyone up to date, I decided to investigate.

The Lakewood, Colo.-based chain has four restaurants: one in Boise, two in Utah and one in Albuquerque, N.M. This geographical distribution would lead one to think Idaho Falls might be considered as a possible location, but the next one is to open in Colorado Springs in April 2012. Considering Tucanos has been in operation 12 years, one can surmise the company is taking its time with expansion.

Still ... Brazilian food, how good does that sound? Check out Tucanos Web site. We gotta get these guys here, if only for the music.

http://www.tucanos.com/

Areva US CEO: Investors want assurance that Idaho Falls plant will be finished

Areva US CEO Jacques Besnainou

When it comes to getting information on up-to-date developments in nuclear energy, there is no better resource than Dan Yurman, who used to work at the Idaho National Laboratory and now lives in Ohio.

Here is a link to a report he put up yesterday, an interview with Areva US CEO Jacques Besnainou, on what we might expect now that the French company has suspended construction of its $3 billion Eagle Rock enrichment facility near Idaho Falls.

Key points:

• Asked what has to change for Areva to move forward with construction, Besnainou said, "Investors will want to know that once Areva starts building the plant that it will finish it." While $2 billion in loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Energy protects investors for the first two-thirds of the financing needed to build it, the remaining investors do not have the same protection.  A 4 percent contingency for cost overruns would amount to $120 million, which would have to be covered by Areva.
• There are considerable competitive pressures bearing on Areva's decision. In New Mexico, Urenco's operating enrichment plant already has a license modification from the NRC to double its capacity from 3 million to 6 million SWU/year. It may begin to expand and move up its target date of 2018 for that capacity if it sees Areva isn't going ahead with the Idaho site.

Idaho Samizdat: Nuke Notes: Areva US CEO Jacques Besnainou talks with nuclear ...

Downtown Idaho Falls building gets facelift

MCS Advertising is restoring its building downtown to its original look.

Here's a new development in the de-uglification of downtown Idaho Falls.

MCS Advertising, which owns the building at the southwestern corner of Park Avenue and B Street, is removing the hideous siding, something we have to assume passed for modern in the '60s. When they bought the building in September, agency owner Lisa Fischbach said they planned to restore the building to what it looked like in the 1920s.

Fischbach said they’ve taken to calling their property “Block 22” after its legal description, which dates back to 1884. They have gotten lots of paperwork that dates back to then, including the original warranty deed. “I can’t believe this came all this way with all these owners,” she said.

MCS has its offices on the second floor. Fishbach and her real estate agent, Kevin Cutler, are looking for tenants at the street level.

Fischbach said they were determined to keep an actual address downtown. “We’d been to a seminar on advertising agency principles, and they really advocated owning your own place,” she said. “We love it downtown and want to be part of the community.”
 

T.G.I. Friday's on Hitt Road closes

The restaurant gods giveth and the restaurant gods taketh away.

We got a note Tuesday from BizMojo reader Andrea Villalpando Todd that T.G.I.Friday's, 2665 S. 25th East was closing and Tuesday would be its last day. Sure enough, trucks arrived this morning to strip the furnishings. Management was told it was for lack of profit, said Todd, who had friends working there and who attended "the last supper" herself.

The restaurant lasted six years and employed 37 people. Not much more to report, but we may note that Hitt Road seems to be a survival-of-the-fittest environment for restaurants, chain or local. Everybody is making a big fuss over Chick-fil-A, but it was Fazoli's before that and we saw how long that lasted.

Given the location, it's hard to imagine some operator won't want to jump on the site and put something else in. What do you think would do well? What would you like to see?