Melaleuca holds open house at new world headquarters

Melaleuca CEO Frank VanderSloot speaking on the grand staircase Monday at the company's new world headquarters south of Idaho Falls.

Melaleuca held an open house Monday at its new world headquarters south of Idaho Falls. Given its size, it’s impossible to ignore whichever way you are headed on Interstate 15.

With a 355,000-square-foot floor plan, it’s big enough to cover six football fields. The facility incorporates at large meeting room that can hold 1,700 people, a call center that can hold 400, and all the company’s research and development labs and audio and video studios.

All of it is paid for, said CEO Frank VanderSloot. With facilities in Idaho Falls, Rexburg, Knoxville, Tenn., and Shanghai, China, the company is debt-free, he said.

As big and new as the world headquarters building is, Melaleuca’s 30-year history has been mostly one of renovating old places. The company started in the old S&H Green Stamp building on Broadway in downtown Idaho Falls, where it stayed until 1991. By that point, worldwide sales had brought things to the point where people were crammed in shoulder to shoulder.

When the Ziggy’s Hardware store on South Yellowstone became available, that’s where they moved, renovating it and, in time, a building next door, acquired from the city of Idaho Falls. Meanwhile, research and development was conducted in the old Union Pacific depot, attracting hardly anyone’s attention.

The move to the location near Exit 113 has been a long time in the making. The company opened its $11 million, 150,000-square-foot distribution center there in 2007, announcing that it had repaid in full the $2.5 million interest-free loan it had received from the Regional Development Alliance in 2002. The RDA administers money from the 1995 settlement between the State of Idaho, U.S. Navy and Department of Energy over spent fuel at the Idaho National Laboratory.

At the time of the shipping center’s opening VanderSloot said he had created three time the jobs it had promised the RDA in its proposal.

The announcement that Melaleuca was moving its world headquarters came in December 2012, a year after the company announced its worldwide sales had passed the $1 billion mark.

The complex has been a keystone in the development of infrastructure in the New Sweden area. In 2004, it announced it was contributing $1.3 million toward the Regional Wastewater Treatment Project, a joint effort between Shelley, Ammon, Bonneville and Bingham counties (another $500,000 came from the State of Idaho).

When it came to the actual construction of the $60 million world headquarters, Bateman-Hall of Idaho Falls was the general contractor. Thirty-two Idaho subcontractors were engaged in the project, including Johnson Brothers of Idaho Falls, which did all of the woodwork.

Melaleuca vice-president Damond Watkins speaking Monday in the meeting room at Melaleuca's new world headquarters.

Guns and Gear owner to speak at Advertising Federation luncheon

Ryan Later of Guns and Gear will be the next guest at the Idaho Falls Advertising Federation's “Lunch and Learn” series, March 19 at Dixie’s Diner.

Later’s life took a dramatic turn when he was robbed at gunpoint at a business where he was working. In addition to thinking about life, he decided he needed a firearm for his own protection. From there, the idea for Guns and Gear took shape.

He teamed up with Shane and Dixie Murphy in 2012, and in November 2014 they opened their $3 million indoor shooting range and gun shop.

Located on Crane Drive, Guns and Gear features tactical and static target lanes with the latest computer technology and an HVAC system compliant with EPA regulations. Overall, Later and the Murphys spent $2.8 million on the two-story, 15,000-square-foot building, which overlooks the Snake River Landing development, and $700,000 on equipment.

At the Ad Fed luncheon, Later will talk about how to develop a new business marketing plan that is effective and meets your company’s goals.

The luncheon will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cost is $12 for members and $15 for non-members.

'MORE' the theme of 2015 Mayors' Business Day

The sixth annual Mayors’ Business Day is scheduled to be held April 21 from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Keefer’s Island Convention Center, 780 Lindsay Boulevard, in the Shilo Inn. This year’s event is titled “It’s About MORE ... How Economic Development Can Bring More Business for All.”

Registration and breakfast will be from 7:30 to 8 a.m. The program will then start, featuring six presentations. Time will be allotted between each presentation for guests to visit business vendors set up around the perimeter of the room.

Featured presentations include:

Why Do We Want More? Local Businesses Use Economic Development to Grow
Presented by Mont Crnkovich and Ann-Michelle Jones of Broadway Ford, moderated by Linda Martin of Grow Idaho Falls

How Do We Get More Here? Regional Mayors’ Perspectives on Economic Development
Presented by Mayor Rebecca Casper (Idaho Falls), Mayor Dana Kirkham (Ammon), Mayor Paul Loomis (Blackfoot) and Mayor Stacy Pascoe (Shelley)

How Did the Magic Valley Get More? Big Recruitment Wins Create More Business for All
Presented by Jan Rogers of the Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization and Shawn Barigar of the Twin Falls Chamber

How Can the State Help Our Region Get More? More Assets Mean More Opportunities to Sell Our Area
Presented by Susan Davidson of the Idaho Department of Commerce

What is Eastern Idaho’s Plan for Getting More? An Introduction to Regional Economic Development
Presented by the Regional Economic Development Initiative Board of Directors

Tools for Getting Even More: Development Perspectives on Having the Right Tools
Presented by Tommy Ahlquist of Gardner Company, with an introduction by Cortney Liddiard of Ball Ventures

Pre-registration for the event is required. Seating is limited. The cost to attend is $60 for chamber members and $75 for non-members. For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.idahofallschamber.com.

We leave you with the late Andrea True and her smash disco hit from 1976, "More More More." You have our permission to do the Hustle.

Noodles & Company plans May 4 opening in Idaho Falls

Noodles & Company's restaurant in Idaho Falls.

Noodles & Company has set a tenative opening date of May 4 for its Idaho Falls restaurant. This has been a long time in the making, as we first reported last May that the company had filed a site plan with the city of Idaho Falls to build a 2,812-square-foot restaurant on a pad in the Grand Teton Mall parking lot facing Hitt Road, east of the main mall structure.

The Broomfield, Colo.-based chain has hundreds of restaurants spread out over 30 states. In Idaho, it has built two in Boise and one in Meridian.

The company was founded in 1995 by Aaron Kennedy, a Pepsi marketing executive who got the idea after eating at Mamie's Asian Noodle Shop in Greenwich Village. Kennedy felt there were not enough restaurants that served noodle dishes. So, using personal savings and investments from friends and family, he started Noodles & Co. in Denver's Cherry Creek neighborhood. After a rocky start,  the management team overhauled the concept and food critics in several cites began identifying it as the best fast-food restaurant. It grew from $300,000 in revenues in 1996 to $300 million when it went public in 2013.

For a look at the menu, click here.

EIRMC announces three promotions

From left: Scott Bradley, Kendal Beazer and Craig Keller

Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center has announced three promotions.

Scott Bradley has been named director of laboratory services, according to a hospital news release. Since starting with EIRMC in 2005, Bradley has been a phlebotomist, medical lab scientist, chemistry supervisor, assistant lab manager and lab manager. He holds a medical lab scientist degree from Idaho State University and also a master’s of business administration from ISU.

Kendal Beazer has been promoted to Bradley’s prior position, manager of laboratory services. Beazer has been a medical lab scientist since 2009. He came to EIRMC from Utah Public Health Labs in Taylorsville, Utah. He received a master’s in health administration from Weber State University in April 2014.

Craig Keller is the new director of nursing at EIRMC’s Behavioral Health Center. He had served there as the interim director of nursing and case manager November 2014.

What Icarus Can Teach You About “Return-Free Risk”

Brad Christensen
Yellowstone Partners Wealth Management

Most of us know the story of Icarus, the Greek mythological figure who flew too close to the Sun. But do you know the whole story?

Together with his father, Daedalus, Icarus was imprisoned in the labyrinth by King Minos of Crete. Unwilling to submit to captivity, Daedalus gathered feathers and wax and made wings for himself and for his son.

As they prepared to escape, he offered Icarus two points of advice. His first caution was the one we all know, “Do not fly too high, for the heat of the sun will melt the wax and leave you wingless.” But the second, which time seems to have forgotten, was this: “Do not fly too low, for the waves of the ocean will overtake you.”

Icarus soared too high and felt the heat of the sun remove his wings before plunging to his death. If he had flown too low, perhaps we’d more easily recall the second warning, but that’s not how it happened.

In conversations with clients almost every day, I often discuss the balance between risk and reward – between flying too high and flying too low. Every investor wrestles with risk and return. It’s immensely frustrating that return only comes to those who expose themselves to risk, and it doesn’t seem greedy to desire a solid return on investment without the potential to lose, but in today’s low interest-rate environment this is reality.

With yields on CDs, money-market funds, and bonds near historic lows, we’ve entered into a time when cash-equivalent assets suffer from the same type of danger Icarus would have been exposed to had he flown too low. Warren Buffett, one of the world’s great investors, has dubbed it “return-free risk.”

In a February 2012 article for Fortune magazine, Buffett detailed his investment philosophy, specifically, why he prefers stocks over gold and bonds for the long-term. In it, he divides the universe of investment opportunities into three separate classes.

1. Currency-denominated assets (bonds, CDs, money market funds). These are common investment instruments and are commonly denoted as “secure.” Some subsets of this class have historically been described as offering “risk-free return.”

2. Non-productive assets (oil, precious metals). Investors generally accumulate these assets on the premise that they are undervalued relative to an unknown future value. The principal problem with this class is that there is no mechanism for these investments to procreate.  Derivation of gain will come only from supply/demand re-pricing.

3. Productive assets (farms, businesses, real estate). Whether owned in the public market or in private, productive assets are generally capable of yielding annual return which may be reinvested or returned to owners.

Even from their definitions the productive asset category has a clear advantage over the others in the sense those assets are procreative. Consider the farm example, which may be capable of producing a variety of crops each year while still maintaining an intrinsic value of the land, which may fluctuate based on supply and demand.

Buffett is high on productive assets for good reason, as is demonstrated by the graphic below, an asset category historical return “quilt” that plots return statistics for each category over the past 20 years.  Even from a glance at the averages, it’s clear to see that the return profile favors the third class.

The four boxes mopping up the bottom of the list hail from the currency-denominated and non-productive categories. While these investments have their place in short-term investing, when it comes to an extended time-frame, this is precisely when the notion of “risk-free return” flips to the more accurate depiction of “return-free risk.”

When it comes to selecting an overall investment allocation, emotional schools of thought vary, from purchasing the previous year’s top loser (in hopes of a drastic recovery) to purchasing the previous year’s top performer (in hopes of a repeat performance).

Yet, a more rational approach is to build a diversified portfolio – consisting of productive assets such as small/mid/large cap stocks and real estate investment trusts (REITs), which will ultimately provide strong performance balanced with some of the other categories to reduce exposure to the extremes and safely navigate a solid return.

Precisely what Daedalus advised his son.

Click on the chart for a more detailed look at it and click here for even more information.

Tobin Cleaning & Restoration plans March 11 grand opening

Tobin Cleaning and Restoration has scheduled a March 11 grand opening of its new new location at 3466 E. 20th North, one block north of the intersection of Ammon and Lincoln roads.

The Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a ribbon cutting at 11:30 a.m. A free lunch will follow, and there will be a superhero photo booth, spin-to-win games and a chance to meet the staff.

The company is also unveiling the new Esporta is4000, a machine designed to clean almost any soft
item, even the ones your dry cleaner won’t touch.

“Our new location will allow Tobin Cleaning & Restoration to provide expanded services
to our customers. We are fortunate to serve extraordinary families and businesses who have made this new building possible,” said Rhett Judy, Tobin’s owner.

In business since 1972, Tobin Cleaning and Restoration provides service to homes and businesses affected by fire and water damage or mold, also those in need of specialized restoration services. The new location features a flooring showroom, courtesy of Stapleton Flooring, which allows customers an opportunity to conveniently choose their new flooring and arrange flooring restoration services.

For more information, visit www.tobinrestoration.com.