INL announces NRIC-focused webinar in Industry Engagement series

Idaho National Laboratory’s Small Business Program kicked off the “INL Industry Engagement” webinar series with a discussion on broader economic partnership opportunities with various INL programs. For the next session, the program will continue focusing on partnership opportunities, highlighting the National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) led by the laboratory.

Authorized by the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act, NRIC was established in August 2019 to provide resources to test, demonstrate and assess the performance of new nuclear technologies – essential steps that must be completed before new advanced fission systems are available commercially. Among NRIC’s goals is to accelerate the deployment of advanced nuclear energy technology.

The webinar, which will take place July 8 from 9 to 10 a.m. MDT (11 a.m. to noon EDT), will feature a presentation from NRIC Director Dr. Ashley Finan, who will discuss her vision for the program.

Register Here

Anyone interested in learning more about NRIC and partnerships related to INL’s unique nuclear research capabilities is invited to join. There will be a live Q&A session with Finan at the end of her presentation for those able to attend the live event. For those who are unable to attend live, there will be a recording available.

Click here to see a schedule of upcoming events. Click below to watch a recording of the first webinar.

'I took messy action' | Amy Wood, Radiant and Rooted and Amy Lorraine Coaching

Amy Wood

Starting a women's empowerment retreat wasn't something that Amy Wood thought would be in her life, especially one surrounding meditation and connecting with one's higher self. Amy herself was struggling with being a wife and mom and saw the insecurities she had herself in others. “I needed a tribe, I needed something outside of what I was doing in the home. My soul felt like there was more. I was being called to it,” she said. She gathered her friends and planted the seed of the idea and it grew from there.

“I took messy action,” Amy said.

It was immediately successful with women, and the first retreat was sold out within 24 hours. “I think they were craving connection. A weekend with other like-minded individuals to connect, to feel loved, to be seen, to learn more about their purpose,” Amy said. It was a surprise to Amy and her friends that it was as successful as it was. She admits that the events have evolved since the first retreat and they keep getting bigger and better.

Amy doesn't have any special schooling around thought work, but she did (and continues to do) a lot of self-learning. She and her friends invested in their own education and then they were able to teach it themselves. She feels that her soul was called to do this work.

“When they leave, it's up to them to continue to do the work to change their lives. The women who come are hungry and want to put in the work. They are incredible and they make the (retreats) incredible,” Amy said.



Most of the attendees are there because of word of mouth from prior guests. Each retreat is different and varies from weekend events to weeklong retreats. They also have events that are held for an evening, giving an abbreviated version of the longer retreats.

“I thought I had things figured out when I started, and what I learned is that I'm on the journey too,” Amy said about herself. It's a lifelong journey, and she said she now understands how perfection will never be reached, which she teaches to her attendees. “I've learned that I need the healing, too. I can give myself some grace and compassion where I fall short. It was a piece of humble pie to take the journey along with them,” she said.

After retreats her attendees would ask her what was next. With that, she decided to do 1-on-1 individual coaching and group coaching. This also led to her husband, Steven, joining her to add the element of business coaching for some clients. She said during the COVID-19 crisis she has had more people reaching out for help and guidance.

Although the pandemic has caused one event to be canceled and another rescheduled, the business continues. This summer they will be having a co-ed retreat on the Salmon River. “We actually hope to get some more international retreats,” Amy said of her plans for the future.

Being an entrepreneur was something that Amy feels has been in her blood. She comes from a family of entrepreneurs and she felt the concept of working for someone else was foreign. This has helped set up her mindset for self-employment. Her optimism helped move her husband to self-employment. Be sure to listen to the show to hear her story of Nutella and graham crackers.

Amy's advice to those considering self-employment is, “If you have any pull or any idea, do it. Take the messy action and take the risk. You can have any life you want -- you just have to do the work that comes with it. You're never going to feel ready, you're never going to feel qualified.”

Amy has created a course called A Guide to Intuitive Living, A Soul-Centered Life, and will be launching it in July. This will include pods of group coaching that she will personally take through the course. Follow her on Instagram for more information on how to enroll.

Information

For more information on retreats, events, and more go to https://www.radiantandrooted.com/ or at https://www.instagram.com/radiant.rooted/.
Follow Amy on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/amylorraine23/.

INL researcher selected for DOE Early Career Research Program

Dr. Paul Humrickhouse

An Idaho National Laboratory scientist engaged in nuclear fusion research has been selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Early Career Research Program.

Dr. Paul Humrickhouse, INL’s Fusion Safety Program lead, is one of 76 scientists from around the nation – 50 from universities and 26 from national laboratories – to be selected. Under the program, run by the DOE Office of Science and now in its 11th year, researchers at DOE national laboratories receive grants of at least $500,000 per year. The grants extend over five years and are intended to provide support to exceptional researchers during their crucial early career years, when many do their most formative and groundbreaking work.

“We are immensely proud to see Dr. Humrickhouse achieve this distinction,” said Dr. Marianne Walck, INL’s chief research officer and deputy laboratory director for Science & Technology. “This is a fine reflection of INL’s reputation in the world of peer-reviewed research. It points not only to significant accomplishments already achieved, but discoveries that have the potential to change the world.”

Humrickhouse received his doctorate in nuclear engineering and engineering physics from the University of Wisconsin in 2009. He came to INL as a postdoctoral researcher that year, then joined the staff. His research has involved computational modeling and analysis of fission and fusion systems.

In any fusion reactor, plasma is surrounded by a blanket filled with lithium compounds whose purpose is to produce tritium, an isotope of hydrogen, for reuse as fuel. Computational modeling helps researchers predict fluid flow and heat transfer in the high-radiation environment. Using the Multiphysics Object-Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) – an open source simulation platform developed at INL – Humrickhouse intends to focus on the influence of high magnetic fields and material structure on tritium transport by coupling to other physics models and simulation tools. This should lead to safety evaluations necessary for the realization of fusion energy.

To be eligible for the DOE award, a researcher must be an untenured, tenure-track assistant or associate professor at a U.S. academic institution or a full-time employee at a DOE national laboratory, who received a Ph.D. within the past 10 years. Research topics are required to fall within one of the DOE Office of Science's six major program offices:

• Advanced Scientific Computing Research
• Basic Energy Sciences
• Biological and Environmental Research
• Fusion Energy Sciences
• High Energy Physics
• Nuclear Physics

Awardees are selected based on peer review by outside scientific experts. The details for each project award are subject to final grant and contract negotiations between DOE and the awardees. A full list of winners is available here: https://science.osti.gov/early-career.

Supporting Business & Strengthening Lives | Cordell Pickering, Pick PT Physical Therapy, Apex Fitness and Performance

Cordell Pickering

Cordell Pickering always knew he wanted to be a physical therapist, but he also knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur. “When I was 16 years old I did an English report where our teacher told us to find a profession we were interested in. The projections showed that physical therapy was a good profession,” he said.

Pickering chose Pick PT as the name for several reasons, not just because of his last name, but because he wants patients to pick PT before narcotics, especially for back injury. “The motto of our company is ‘Live Life Moving.' The evidence for treating people with back pain is movement,” he said.

He chose Rexburg to open his practice because of his training in spine therapy. There was a physician's office that was interested in working with him to rehab their spine patents, so Rexburg was a good fit. Cordell also is trained in vestibular therapy, working with local ENT's on patients with inner ear problems.

His physical therapy practice has expanded to Idaho Falls and is performed out of his second business, Apex Fitness and Performance. “Here it's different, there are two evaluation rooms and a huge gym,” he said. “A big issue in the PT world is that patients don't get stressed enough. A lot of issues are an endurance issue in their spine. It's definitely a different type of gym, but I've really enjoyed it.” His plans are to spend more time in Idaho Falls treating patients than he has in the past and growing his practice in both cities.



Pickering comes from a family that has had several different businesses. He has always known that owning a business would be a part of his life. “A lot of physical therapists aren't interested in doing to the business side of things. For me, it really comes down to how I grew up. I grew up in an environment of being with a business family. Talking about business on Sunday is not an uncommon thing,” he said.

He has had his own experience with back pain and in treating his family for their back pain, related to the type of the blue-collar work they have all done. He feels that makes him more relatable to his patients.

The gym focuses on performance and helping athletes achieve their peak performance. During the coronavirus pandemic, Pickering has started a Facebook group called Stand Up to COVID-19 Support East Idaho Local Business. “The reason that I started this group is that when COVID started I noticed that there were a lot of business owners who were confused and stressed out and they didn't know what to do. When I started the group it grew pretty quick. I created the group to try to bring good information and provide a platform for business owners to advertise and community members to support them,” he said.

The future of the group is to keep it open and active as a way to support East Idaho business. “The thing that is going to make the group the most effective is the number of members. I'm hoping to increase the group and keep it going after COVID-19,” he said. All businesses are allowed to post on the group up to twice per week.

Having opened his businesses during a very difficult time, Pickering has had to rely on his optimism. “I try not to get discouraged," he said. "I think every business owner probably had a little stress headache the first couple of weeks when everything was getting shut down. For me, I take it as there is nothing I can do about the situation and I can't change any laws. All I can do is be optimistic and helpful.” He feels this will be the key to his success in the future -- to be helpful to the community.

Information

For more information on Pick PT, visit the website at https://www.pickpt.com/. To learn more about Apex Fitness and Performance visit https://www.apexfitnessandperformance.com/.

Please join the Stand Up to COVID-19 – Support East Idaho Business Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/502652830641635/.

University of Idaho launching cybersecurity degree program

The University of Idaho College of Engineering is launching Idaho's first bachelor's degree program in cybersecurity, open to students this fall.

With more than 75 billion internet-connected devices expected worldwide by 2025, cybersecurity
professionals are essential to protecting Idaho’s computing systems, networks and critical
infrastructure. A study conducted for the nonprofit Center for Cyber Safety and Education estimates there will be 1.8 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs globally by 2022.

“The University of Idaho has long been a leader in cybersecurity research through partnerships with industry and government that date back more than two decades,” U of I President Scott Green said. “The addition of the state’s first bachelor’s degree program in cybersecurity continues that trend. Our students are already in high demand, and this new cybersecurity program will provide a focused curriculum that will further arm them with the crucial skills needed to protect our digital infrastructure.”

As one of the National Security Agency’s first seven National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense, U of I is a leader in advanced cybersecurity education and research, spanning more than two decades.

Students have access to the College of Engineering’s global network of leading industry partners, including Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho Power, POWER Engineers and Avista Utilities. Global power systems protection leader SEL and the College of Engineering began a $2.5 million partnership in April. The five-year agreement will support the cybersecurity program through ongoing research projects and faculty and graduate student assistance.

With support from the Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, the College of Engineering developed a distributed testbed connecting cyberattack response research infrastructure in Moscow, Idaho Falls and Coeur d’Alene.

Work is being done to build a network between U of I’s Reconfigurable Attack-Defend Instructional Computing Laboratories in Idaho Falls and Moscow to allow students to simulate cyberattack and defense protocols within isolated labs.

Since 2002, the U of I Center for Secure and Dependable Systems has awarded nearly
$9 million in undergraduate tuition to students participating in the  CyberCorps:
Scholarship for Service (SFS)  program. Funded through the National Science Foundation, the SFS program provides tuition stipends of up to $25,000 for an undergraduate and $34,000 for a graduate student for cybersecurity training for positions at the federal, state, local and tribal levels.

Learn more about this new degree program at uidaho.edu/bs-cybersecurity.

What's Your Perfect Product? | Neil & Karen Gwartzman, Private Label University

Neil & Karen Gwartzman, owners of Private Label University

In 1983, Neil Gwartzman dove into the private labeling industry when he joined his father’s brick-and-mortar manufacturing and importing company. After learning the business from the ground up, he committed himself to distill everything he and his father knew into a step-by-step system that could be used to easily and consistently identify, source and private label products for any company in any industry.

Private labeling -- also called “white labeling” or “product branding” -- involves finding an existing physical product that your clients are shopping for and then putting your brand on it. Some high-profile examples include Rachel Ray, George Foreman and Martha Stewart, who have leveraged private label products to build their brands and make extra millions.

Neil taught the system to Karen in 2004, when she was a dental hygienist looking for ways to make extra money. Revenue from her new private label business quickly eclipsed her salary, making it an easy decision to quit the dental industry. She joined Neil in his mission to help entrepreneurs and business owners leverage private label products to scale their companies and increase brand recognition. This is when Private Label University was born.



“What products do is complement and bring loyalty to those customers to keep coming back into their business. It also can act as an accessory to help the client move to the next level,” Karen said. “It's bringing in an extra revenue stream.” The Gwartzmans provide direction in determining what the perfect product is for a business. The idea is to build a brand that is cohesive with business and complement it with a product.

One of the most challenging things for service-based businesses is to stand out. The Gwartzmans have found that adding a product to a business can set your business apart. Your clients trust you and they trust products that you recommend, so when you have a private product they can purchase and use on your recommendation it's a win-win.

This isn't a new idea, private labeling products has been happening for decades. Karen and Neil believe their system has simplified the process so that anyone could do it. “Years ago it was a secret. You were not allowed to share what you were doing,” Karen said. They both felt drawn to share the secrets and help business owners create products on their own. In doing this they have had some blowback in their industry, but they continued to feel drawn to help others. “Why should there be a monopoly of stores or companies that have access to this information? We need to be sharing it,” Karen said.

The Gwartzmans travel to China annually for the Canton Fair and take any students who are interested along with them to learn about the business and experience the products first hand. Since the April fair was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the trip is now planned for October. Attending the product fair is not necessary. It can be done remotely, but takes more time. Investments in creating a product can range in cost, but starting small and proving sales is usually the starting point. “Building the relationships correctly with suppliers is important,” Karen said.

Neil knew from a young age that this was the work he wanted to do. He enjoyed seeing products from all over the world and helping the family business. They both recommend learning from mentors as you are looking to follow your passions. “Mentors -- years ago we didn't understand what a mentor was. I should have listened, that mentoring would have gotten me to a faster position to doing what I wanted to do,” Karen said.

When adding a product to an existing business they feel that the risk is low. “We aren't saying give up what you do, just complement it or add to it. Add a revenue source,” Karen said, “You should be able to make money every single day.”

Information

For more information on creating a private label product yourself go to https://privatelabeluniversity.com/.

Fall River Electric holds first virtual annual meeting

Fall River Electric Cooperative’s annual meeting of members was conducted virtually for the first-time ever in the co-op’s 82-year history. This was because of a decision made by the board of directors to safeguard the members and staff from effects of the coronavirus. Owner-members cast their votes via online, mail-in and in-person to select representatives for three board positions from a total of seven candidates. Despite not holding their traditional in-person annual event, a record setting number of 2,427 ballots were cast this year, which represents nearly 20% percent of the total number of eligible voters.

Incumbents Georg Behrens in District 3 (East Victor), Jay Hanson in District 2 (West Victor) and Jeff Keay in District 8 (Northern Island Park) were all re-elected for new three-year terms beginning this month.

Voters overwhelming approved a number of minor changes to the co-op’s bylaws but nearly split evenly on how board members should be elected in the future. The ballot had provided for an advisory vote as to whether to retain the current plurality voting method for directors or put to a member vote next year the option of requiring a candidate to win by a majority of votes. Owner-members voted to retain the current plurality method by a vote of 1,264 versus a switch to the majority method with 1,087 votes.

The traditional business meeting, which included the announcement of over 30 scholarship
awards, a report on the co-op’s financial audit as well as a management report from
CEO/General Manager Bryan Case, was held online and can be viewed on the cooperative’s
website under the heading of Video News on the home page.

Celebration planned for Johnson Bros. owner David Sargis

Johnson Brothers will be hosting a celebration to mark 50 years of leadership under owner David Sargis. The public event will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday, June 15, at the company's showroom at 233 Basalt Street in downtown Idaho Falls.

During his tenure, Sargis has guided the company through many challenges, including a fire in 2004 that destroyed much of its manufacturing facility in 2004, to expansion into the Treasure Valley, where they recently opened a new, expanded showroom.

"No matter what gets thrown in front of him, David has a way of reading the situation and establishing the best path forward," said company co-owner Chris Sargis. "His steady hand has
definitely benefitted the business over the long-term."

Founded in 1905, Johnson Brothers provides builders and homeowners with architectural casework, windows, doors, and quality millwork. For homes and businesses alike, it is known throughout the Intermountain West as a go-to establishment for custom-made details. David Sargis has been at the helm since 1970, nearly half of the company's 115-year history.

Home sales remain steady in Bonneville County

The numbers haven't been posted yet for May, but looking at sales statistics from the Snake River Multiple Listing Service for the first four months of this year shows clearly that the COVID-19 pandemic has had no effect on the market for residential properties in Bonneville County.

The number of units sold was up 3.7%, while the number of new listings rose 7.3%. Homes spent an average of 45 days on the market, the same as in 2019. Median price rose 11.7%, from $204,237 to $228,234.

Coffee and Business | Chip Langerak, Villa Coffeehouse

Chip Langerak

Becoming a business broker wasn't what Chip Langerak saw himself doing, but joining Arthur Berry & Co. four years ago allowed him the opportunity to help business owners sell their businesses and move into retirement. “Building the package, marketing the business, fielding the questions, pitching it to people, that's my specialty,” he explained.

In looking at what the coronavirus pandemic has done to businesses who are ready to sell Langerak says we have to see what happens going forward. “It won't have a huge impact on business evaluation unless it effects your business beyond now. Some businesses have been propped up by a vibrant economy.”

Langerak and his wife, Alexis, own The Villa Coffeehouse in downtown Idaho Falls (with another location in the lobby of Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center) and have been directly impacted by the pandemic. “We will survive. It may put us behind but we'll survive,” he said

When advising business owners who are looking to sell he suggests that at least three years prior the business owner should be thinking about the sale and what needs to be put in order to get the highest valuation. “The financials of a business are that business' curb appeal,” he said. About half the buyers he encounters are coming here from out of state. They are looking at financials, which means a business owner needs the financials to look as good as possible.



Asked what the number one mistake business owners make, he said, “I see not enough detail in financial reporting.”

The Langeraks have owned The Villa for eight years. Chip describes his wife as “the perfect operator” and attributes any success of The Villa to her.

“What drew us to The Villa was a love for the place. Ultimately we asked ourselves the question of is this something we could do for several years, and we knew it was,” he said. So many in the restaurant industry are focused on turning around tables but at The Villa they are happy to provide a space for people to spend time and feel comfortable. “It's built around the idea of community, and that's the part that's rewarding and we love about being here,” he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a dramatic decrease in sales. “The advice I would give to anyone in this position right now is adapt and adapt quickly and consider that change to be permanent,” he said. One of the adaptations they have implemented is a delivery service to Idaho Falls and Ammon.

Langerak admits to feelings of self-doubt, and thinks it's a common thing with business owners. “I think some of that comes from making entrepreneurship sound sexy,” he said. “We have to shift that thinking. We have to realize that those that are successful are closer to us that we realize. We are closer to that success than we know.”

A couple of thoughts he has for all business owners is to be thinking about their businesses and how they will transition no matter where they are. Start that process earlier than you need to. The second thing is to ignore the naysayers but don't let anyone talk you out of something that will bring you joy.

Information
For more information on Arthur Berry and Co go to their site https://www.arthurberry.com/.
For more information on The Villa Coffeehouse visit their site at http://villacoffeeandcafe.com/. Remember, free delivery on orders over $10.