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Idaho boasts 16 companies on Inc. 5000 in 2011

What recession? Sixteen Idaho companies were among the fastest growing companies in the country during the last three years.

Those companies have had a significant impact on the economy, adding a total of 1,400 jobs during that time.

Scentsy, a Meridian-based firm, ranked in the top 100 with a 3-year growth of 2,904 percent. The company showed revenues of $381.8 million.

Other top companies on the list include Balihoo (Boise), Alligator Diesel Performance (Coeur d’Alene), Valued Merchant Services (Idaho Falls), Sunshine Minting (Coeur d’Alene), ScotteVest (Ketchum) and Bodybuilding.com (Meridian) – all with more than 100 percent growth in that time period.

Of course, the bigger the company, the more difficult it is to achieve double-digit growth. That makes the 81 percent growth of Portage, an engineering services company in Idaho Falls, all the more impressive. The company showed revenues of $245.3 million. North Wind, another Idaho Falls engineering firm, showed revenues of $93.3 million and a 3-year growth of 43 percent.

Others on the list were: EcoAnalysts (Moscow), Porter’s Office Products (Rexburg), PolicyTech (Rexburg), Economic Modeling Specialists (Moscow), Fisher’s Document Systems (Boise), Pita Pit USA (Coeur d’Alene), and Flying Pie Pizzaria (Boise).

Some interesting contacts for an article on entrepreneurs and growing businesses in a down economy:

• Clearwater Analytics, named one of Idaho’s fastest growing companies, provides real-time analysis of financial documents for institutional investors and those tracking the trail of where the money goes. Is it any wonder this Boise company is growing at this time?

  www.clearwateranalytics.com

• GoNano, a university spinoff from University of Idaho in Moscow, stores energy in nanosprings and unleashes the energy in everyday items like batteries for your car.

  www.Gonano-technologies.com tk@gonano-9.comp

• ESS specializes exclusively in advanced eye protection systems for military, law enforcement, and fire/rescue professionals. Headquartered in Sun Valley, Idaho, ESS is a leader in eyewear sold to the US military and firefighting markets and their products are sold in over 90 countries.

  www.esseyepro.com

• Kickstand, a non-profit networking organization in Boise, started in 2000 to help tech entrepreneurs meet each other. The organization now has more than 650 members in the Boise region, and is franchised throughout the state.

  www.kickstand.org

• Tetridyn Solutions, a software engineering and information technology consulting firm, has software geared toward making America’s food supply safe. The company is the maker of E-trace, a radio frequency identification technology that is being used to create individual animal records.

  www.tetridyn.com

• In 1995, Ryan DeLuca started selling creatine through the internet out of his garage in Boise, Idaho. Bodybuilding.com has grown to be the Internet's most-visited bodybuilding and fitness site and largest retailer of nutritional supplements, offering more than 8,500 health and fitness supplements & accessories to help people achieve their health and fitness goals as well as over 25,000 pages of free bodybuilding & fitness information.

  www.bodybuilding.com

• PKG -User Interface Systems, is an industry-leading designer, developer, and manufacturer of advanced, innovative user interface systems (keyboards, control panels, etc). PKG provides interface solutions in medical, industrial/instrumentation, and avionics industries. As a single-source solutions provider, they possess full engineering services and are fully equipped to integrate multiple technologies into a cohesive system.

  www.pkg.net

Idaho healthcare outpaces national rate of growth

More than 1,000 new healthcare companies opened their doors in Idaho between 2000 and 2010, bringing the number of employers in this industry to more than 3,740. These companies employed nearly 69,000 workers with total annual wages of $2.75 billion.

Into the near future, healthcare is expected to continue its rapid growth in Idaho, expanding operations and job opportunities around the state. The growth projections reflect the new facilities either recently completed or underway.

In every subsector, jobs in Idaho’s healthcare industry are projected to grow faster than the national average. Between 2009- 2014, jobs at hospitals here are expected to grow by 17 percent, compared to 7 percent nationally. Jobs at nursing and residential care facilities are expected to be up by 20 percent in Idaho compared to 11 percent nationally. The direct health and medical insurance carrier segment is projected to grow by 28 percent between 2009- 2014, compared to 5 percent nationally.

Read more about Idaho’s healthcare section in our Fall 2011 Idaho Business magazine at: www.commerce.idaho.gov/media/media-resources/.

Other healthcare related stories:

• Idaho State University - Medical Isotope Production. ISU (with the Idaho National Laboratory) is working on accelerator based production of isotopes that has an economic advantage over the current method of producing medical isotopes (using nuclear reactors).

  At the Idaho State University Idaho Accelerator Center, researchers are experimenting with the use of nuclear accelerators or atom smashers to produce medical isotopes, which are tiny amounts of radioactive substances used to safely treat life-threatening diseases, such as cancer.

  http://iac.isu.edu/

• MWI Veterinary Supply is one of the country’s largest suppliers of animal health products to licensed veterinarians. The company sells products for animals ranging from small pets to cattle.

  www.mwivet.com

• Conex Med Pro Systems is a maker of a telemedicine system that facilitates clinical collaboration and education through a common set of tools designed for clinicians and patients.

  www.conexmps.com

• Idaho State University Meridian Health Science Center – The center houses 25 graduate and undergraduate health-professions programs, a speech and hearing clinic, a counseling clinic, classrooms and Human Patient Simulation Laboratory - featuring high-tech mannequins that enable students and faculty to practice real-life medical scenarios. These programs range from associate through bachelor, master, and doctorate degrees, and post-doctoral study (dental and pharmacy residency programs). They include Pharmacy, Nursing, Physician Assistant Studies, Clinical Laboratory Science, Public Health, and Speech Pathology & Audiology, among other fields.

  Contact: Chris Gabettas, Idaho State University Public Information Specialist, (208) 373-1806 or (208) 861-3121 cell; gabechri@isu.edu

Idaho finds success in niche rec-tech industry

When you're developing a rifle scope or ski goggles, doesn't it make sense to have a natural laboratory out your back door?

Idaho has attracted dozens of recreation technology developers and manufacturers as well as start-up businesses that make equipment for the Great Outdoors. Idaho also is attractive to gun manufacturers because of its tort laws. Here are some of the unique companies that are there:

• Qwest Aircraft creates "bush planes" , which can land in rough terrain and handle quick take-off and descents. The aircraft business, in Sandpoint, is a spinoff of a missionary group that needed unique planes to take supplies to undeveloped areas.

  www.questaircraft.com

• SJX/Phantom Jet Boats in Lewiston is building " Muscle Jon" boats - used in the war on narcoterrorism in Ecuador. The lightweight boats, also used for recreational purposes, can operate in as little as four inches of water and can glide over rocks and sandbars.

  www.sj-xbboats.com

• Quicksilver Manufacturing LLC designs and builds highly reliable, accurate and light weight titanium suppressors for government, military and law enforcement applications. In mid-2006, Quicksilver went from being a part time hobby to a full time business.

  www.qsmsilencers.com

• ESS specializes exclusively in advanced eye protection systems for military, law enforcement, and fire/rescue professionals. Headquartered in Sun Valley, Idaho, ESS is a leader in eyewear sold to the US military and firefighting markets and their products are sold in over 90 countries.

  www.esseyepro.com

• ATK is the world’s largest manufacturer of military ammunition and one of the world’s largest suppliers of sport shooting ammunition. ATK has a large facility in Lewiston that primarily focuses on small-caliber ammunition to federal and local law enforcement agencies, sport shooting enthusiasts and devoted hunters. The company’s tactical systems divisoin has a subsidiary in Meridian that is called Blackhawk.

  www.atk.com/corporateoverview/bl_securitycommercial.asp

Alternative energy projects heat up in Idaho

Nuclear, biomass, solar, wind and geothermal are hot topics these days, but Idaho has been building on these industries for decades.

With federal stimulus and investment money bringing new projects online quickly, Idaho has a unique headstart.

Some of the stories include:

• New wind projects, including a $500 million portfolio of turbines primarily owned by GE Corp.
• The state’s use of hydropower, making electricity rates there among the lowest in the nation.
• Two new large solar component manufacturers that have recently launched operations.
• A growing focus on geothermal for both direct power creation and downstream uses.
• Biomass projects using stalks and stems of wheat and barley.

Read more about Idaho’s energy industry in the Spring 2011 Idaho Business magazine at:
www.commerce.idaho.gov/media/media-resources/

Additional stories are:

• Areva, one of the world's largest developers of nuclear energy plants, is building a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Idaho beat out Washington and New Mexico for the contract because of its lack of red tape and business-friendly environment. Areva also takes advantage of locating near the Idaho National Laboratory, which is the lead federal lab for research into developing the next-generation nuclear reactors for the United States. In addition, Idaho Falls is the site for the Center for Advanced Energy Studies, a worldwide research and education facility.

• Areva -Contact: Linda Martin, CEO, Grow Idaho Falls, (208) 522-2014; www.growidahofalls.org

  Center for Advanced Energy Studies - Contact: CAES Director Harold Blackman, (208) 526-0245; www.caesenergy.org

  Idaho National Laboratory - Contact: Nicole Stricker, (208) 526-5955; www.inl.gov

• GoNano, a university spinoff from University of Idaho in Moscow, stores energy in nanosprings and unleashes the energy in everyday items like batteries for your car.

• www.Gonano-technologies.com; tk@gonano-9.comp; (208) 892-2000

• Today, companies like U.S. Geothermal are drilling far into the earth to tap into this natural and renewable resource. Water temperatures of 212-700 degrees F provide energy and then the water is returned to the earth to heat up again. The use of geothermal energy is an established method of electrical power generation with 2,000 megawatts of installed capacity in the Western United States. Geothermal energy is rapidly growing into a $1.5 billion per year industry.

• Contact: (208) 424-1027; www.usgeothermal.com

• The Idaho National Laboratory is the premier applied engineering national laboratory dedicated to supporting the U.S. Department of Energy. The lab is charged with developing the next-generation nuclear power technology, creating new forms of batteries - both for automobiles and spacecraft, and is home to a test site for protecting the nation's electrical infrastructure. www.inl.gov

• The Idaho Accelerator Center, one of only a handful of accelerator centers in the nation. This center is a unique research facility operated by Idaho State University and focuses have been detecting non-visible stress fractures in major infrastructure (aircraft, rail, bridges, etc) and port security. The center uses accelerator-produced radiation, radiography, tomography, and nuclear techniques for nondestructive assay, instrument and radiation detector testing, radiation effects in biological and electronic systems, and a range of accelerator produced radiation sources. www.iac.isue.edu

• The Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) opened 2009. This research center focuses on fossil, renewable, alternative energy, environmental stewardship, energy policy studies, and the national renaissance of commercial nuclear power. It also fosters alternate-energy related educational opportunities by integrating resources and expanding researcher-to-researcher collaborations. CAES is a public/private partnership comprised of the three Idaho public universities, private industry, and the Idaho National Laboratory. www.caesenergy.org

• Energy Systems Technology & Education Center (ESTEC), a program at the Idaho State University College of Technology concentrating on producing the technical workforce needed for the growing energy industry. The industrial focus is on applied industrial research and increasing ties to INL, electrical utilities and energy systems-related product vendors, as well as partnering students and faculty with industry to demonstrate, test, and innovate current components and systems as well as to develop and test new products (components, instrumentation, control systems, etc.) in a controlled and well-instrumented environment to prepare them for the new green technology jobs.