Smith Group plans to move Chevy, Honda dealerships to Sunnyside Road

Excavation work on the land where the Smith Group plans to relocate its Chevrolet and Honda dealerships.

In an update from earlier this week, Stafford Smith, owner of the Smith Group, confirmed Thursday that he plans to move his Chevrolet and Honda dealerships to land he is developing on the south side of Sunnyside Road, near Interstate 15 Exit 116.

Smith has asked the Bonneville County Commission to change the zoning on 19 acres changed from agricultural to commercial. But crews are already digging trenches for the Porter Canal, which flows south from Snake River Landing and needs to be piped under the land before any surface work can start.

Smith said he is racing against the clock. What he is able to do this year depends on whether he can get the canal covered before the water starts flowing. If that happens, they will be able to start grading the land and paving the lots. Smith said he figures he has until around April 15.

Tacoma Screw Products plans 10,000-square-foot store for Idaho Falls

Earlier this month we reported that Tacoma Screw Products, a 66-year-old company with 16 stores in the Pacific Northwest, had bought the old Plaza Lanes property at 1811 North Yellowstone Avenue.

John Wolfe, the company's former CEO and current "executive adviser," said the company plans to start building its new store in early May and that they hope to be open in the fall. It will be about 10,000 square feet and much like the company's stores in Boise and Twin Falls.

The biggest challenge was finding a buyer for the lanes inside the old Plaza Lanes building, which has to be torn down before any new construction can begin. The wood is being cut up and shipped to a business in the southeastern United States that fabricates old lanes into table and bar tops.

"I've learned a lot about bowling lanes on this job," Wolfe said. One thing he didn't know was that maple is used for the parts of the lane where people let go of the ball and where the pins are set up. That's because it has to stand up to more punishment. In the middle section where the balls simply rolls, the lane is made of softer wood, like pine or fir.

Wolfe said he knew very little about Idaho Falls before checking the market out as a possible store location, but that he has been "impressed a lot by the upscale nature of development in the area."

Tacoma Screw Products has a very diversified customer base that includes retail, manufacturing, construction, transportation, aerospace, maritime, agricultural, food processing, recreational, institutional operations, and city, county, state, and federal governmental agencies. When customers need custom or special fasteners that are oversized, require special threading or bending, the company has a machine shop to fabricate them.

The company typically employs three or four people to work in a store and three or four people to handle outside sales.

Here's a link to a story about the company that ran last fall in the Tacoma News Tribune: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/10/28/2347441/tacoma-screw-broadens-its-sales.html.

And here's the link to their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/tacomascrew

The Hawk 105.5 FM names new program director

Don Jarrett

Don Jarrett is the new program director and morning host for KTHK-FM 105.5 The Hawk.

Jarrett has spent the past 15 years of his radio career programming and hosting at stations in Idaho, Oregon and Utah, including KEGA-FM 101.5 The Eagle in Salt Lake City, and KAWO-FM WOW 104.3 in Boise. Most recently he was midday host on KUPI 99 and morning host on KQEO-FM 107.1 FM The Arrow.

He is the recipient of five Idaho State Broadcasters Association Radio Program of the Year awards and three Utah Metro Radio Personality of the Year awards.

To listen in, follow this link: http://tunein.com/radio/The-Hawk-1055-s34683/

Riverbend Communications companies include, Classy 97, Z103 105.5 The Hawk, KBEAR 101, NewsTalk 97.7/690/1260, Riverbend Digital, Riverbend Outdoor and Riverbend Productions. The company is owned and operated by Frank and Belinda VanderSloot.

Idaho Falls spokesman resigns to take job as Lost Rivers Hospital CEO

Brad Huerta

Brad Huerta, the city of Idaho Falls' public information officer, announced Tuesday that he has resigned to take a job as chief executive officer of Lost Rivers Hospital in Arco. He will be starting there April 15.

Huerta came to work for Idaho Falls in May 2012. Prior to that, he was director of strategic planning and public information for Portneuf Medical Center, then the principal of his own company, Insight Communication Strategies. He also teaches health care administration for the Idaho State University adjunct faculty.

Smith Group owner seeks rezone of ground south of Sunnyside

Trenches are being dug on ground south of Sunnyside Road near Interstate 15. The owner Watts LLC, is seeking to have the zoning changed from agricultural to commercial.

The Bonneville County Commission has scheduled a public hearing Wednesday afternoon at 4 on two requests to have land south of Sunnyside Road rezoned from agricultural to commercial. Overall, the zone change requests cover 236.9 acres.

The first comes from Watts LLP, a company owned by Stafford Smith, owner of the Smith Group. The partnership is seeking to have 19.6 acres rezoned from A-1 to C-2. We struck out this morning trying to reach Smith to ask him about his plans for the land, but will keep trying. On the ground, crews are already engaged in excavation work.

Because the land is not contiguous to the city of Idaho Falls it can't be annexed or receive city services. The master plan at the county planning and zoning office shows water service coming from Andrus Distributing to the south and sewer lines hooking into the Eastern Idaho Regional Wastewater System, which hooks into a treatment plant in Shelley.

The other zone change request, from Melaleuca, is for 217.3 acres along the west bank of the Snake River. No details on what might be proposed for the ground were available from Melaleuca or Bonneville County at the time of this posting.

The hearing will be at the Bonneville County Courthouse, in the commissioners' office.

WinCo plans to opening new Pocatello store on Sunday

WinCo Foods' new store in Pocatello, which opens Sunday morning, is more than twice the size of the Pocatello Creek Road supermarket.

More news about WinCo Foods: The Boise-based chain is opening its new Pocatello store on Sunday morning. At close to 98,000 square feet, the store at 1030 Yellowstone Avenue is more than double the older 42,000-square-foot store on Pocatello Creek Road. It will employ approximately 210 individuals, 101 of whom are moving over from the old store.

WinCo's 85,000-square-foot store in Idaho Falls opened in 1999. 

Founded in 1967, WinCo Foods is an employee-owned discount food chain with 87 stores and four distribution centers in Idaho, Washington, Nevada, California, Oregon, Arizona and Utah. It employs more than 14,000 people.

More information can be found at its Web site, www.wincofoods.com.

Research Symposium attracts venture capitalists, entrepreneurs

Idaho Research Symposium participants examine biomass pellets during a tour of INL's new Energy Systems Laboratory. 

There's an interesting story today on the INL Portal about entrepreneurs and venture capitalists and their interest in the Idaho Research Symposium. The symposium is an energy-focused workshop sponsored every year by CAES, the Idaho National Laboratory and the Idaho Technology Council. The story is by Kortny Rolston, my old colleague from the Post Register.

https://inlportal.inl.gov/portal/server.pt/community/newsroom/257/feature_story_details/1269?featurestory=DA_606619