Welcome to the Business Plus Newsletter!

December 2024

2024 Year in Review

Southern Idaho experienced a prosperous year in economic development! Here is a recap of notable accomplishments:

Six companies announced expansions, ground breakings or grand openings! The investments these companies are making in our region reflect a strong confidence in the Southern Idaho economy and our communities.

• DOT Foods invests $22M to expand their Burley distribution center

• Nelson-Jameson opens its 29,000 square foot distribution center in Jerome

• Suntado's $150M plant in Burley begins producing dairy-based shelf stable beverages

• Scoular announces its $20M expansion in Jerome

• Mart Frozen Foods holds a grand opening of its $65M facility in Rupert with a new consumer product: frozen baked potatoes

• Idaho Milk Products breaks ground on its $200M ice cream and powder blending facility

Mart Frozen Foods' new consumer product gave us a national PR opportunity. SIEDO amplified the news about Mart and our region with a news story that ran in 42 publications with an estimated 1.2 million views and an ad value of over $4.7M. This is a prime example of how SIEDO helps drive opportunities to Southern Idaho!

SIEDO is leading the state with Foreign Direct Investment opportunities. The 2024 SelectUSA Summit offered valuable opportunities to connect with attendees from France, Ireland, Taiwan, Japan, India, and Singapore, as well as engage in six international media interviews. Business France connections expanded as Senator Kelly Anthon and Pierre Lorieau of Lactalis Group USA presented to over 100 French companies about doing business in the United States. Next month, our French business liaison will meet with the Southern Idaho team and tour local companies.

Business Plus engaged the community with three important events:

• The Toolbox for Business Growth: Business Retention and Expansion
• Idaho's Water: Issues, Solutions and Alternatives
• Southern Idaho's Food Innovation: Dairy

In 2025, we will continue to address key issues that shape our economy.

SIEDO is hiring a Deputy Director to be trained to lead our Southern Idaho team. If you have a passion for Southern Idaho and would like to make a difference, please apply. Business Plus is dedicated to supporting SIEDO, especially during its transition and succession planning. By increasing your investment or introducing others to Business Plus, we can help sustain funding for SIEDO and its efforts to foster a prosperous regional economy.

We are excited about the opportunities that 2025 brings and look forward to continuing our partnership with SIEDO in driving growth and opportunities for our communities!

2024 Annual Meeting

Southern Idaho's Food Innovation: Dairy

L-R: Marsha Martin Wolfe, Brent Petersen, Rebecca Wildman, Venkat Sunkesula, and Rick Naerebout

The Business Plus Annual Meeting focused on Southern Idaho's food innovation with speakers Rick Naerebout of the Idaho Dairymen's Association, Venkat Sunkesula from Idaho Milk Products, Marsha Martin Wolfe with Commercial Creamery, and Brent Petersen with Glanbia Nutritionals. Speakers shared their companies' innovations with dairy and nutritional products noting that consumers are demanding healthier products with higher protein and fewer added ingredients.

Idaho ranks third in the U.S. for total milk production and is a significant contributor to the national dairy output. Our farmers are known for producing high-quality milk, which is used in a range of dairy products, especially cheese production. Idaho exports our dairy products to Asia, Mexico and other international markets and our cheese, milk powder and whey are in high demand globally. The dairy industry is a major driver of our economy contributing over $3 billion annually to the state's economy, supporting thousands of jobs in farming, manufacturing, transportation and retail. Many of our dairy farms are adopting more sustainable farming practices and are at the forefront in adopting innovative new technologies to improve production, animal welfare and farm management.

Guests were treated to ice cream innovated by Idaho Milk Products, a variety of Glanbia cheese, and popcorn and snacks with Commercial Creamery's cheese powder. Thank you to our speakers for sharing their food and presentations with Business Plus!

Thank You Idaho Central Credit Union!

L-R: Rebecca Wildman, Jeff May, Kathrine Fiscus, Ruben Torres, Janice Villasenor and Brett Buckley

Economic and Industry Reports

Thank you New and Renewing Investors!

Thank you Annual Meeting Sponsors!

COMMUNITY

Collins Connection - Kent & Cindy Collins 

  Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices*

Family Health Services

Gem State Welders Supply*

Ireland Bank

Moss Greenhouses

New Leaf Properties*

Oregon Trail RV Park*

Sparklight*

Stevens Pierce & Associates CPAs*

Strategic Financial Group

Stratus Marketing

Umpqua

Window Welder

LEGACY LEADERS

Leonard Anderson

Rep. Maxine Bell (retired)

Doug Brown

Cindy Collins

Rep. Lance Clow

Jeff Harris

Sen. Linda Hartgen, and in memory of

   Stephen Hartgen

Jeff Harris

Carleen Herring

Alan Horner

Dan Lloyd

Rex Lytle

Dave McAlindin

Mike McBride

Gregg Middlekauff

Gary Nelson

Dan Olmstead

Mayor Ruth Pierce

Cally Grindstaff Roach

Jan Rogers

Rich Stivers

Jody Tremblay

Doug Vollmer

Lee Wagner

Deb Wilson

John Wright

IN-KIND SUPPORT

Atlas Technical Services

BBSI

Best Western Burley Inn

Coldwell Banker Commercial

- Christy Latta

Con Paulos Chevrolet

Idaho Central Credit Union

Idaho National Laboratory (INL)

KeyBank

Minidoka Memorial Hospital

Nu-Vu Glass

Packaging Specialties of Idaho

PerforMix Nutrition Systems

Pizza Factory

PMT

Sparklight

Starr Corporation

Stratus Marketing

TOK Commercial

Umpqua Bank

Watkins Distributing

WATCO

Willamette Dental Group

WillTran, Inc.

*Indicates 10+ years of support since 2003

+includes additional promotional investment