EITC plans career fair for April 23

If you're an employer looking to hire, Eastern Idaho Technical College thinks it might have what you need. EITC is hosting a career fair on April 23 from noon to 4 p.m. for EITC students and almuni.

Graduates with the following skills will be on hand with their resumes:

Marketing & Management
Accounting
Office Professionals
Web Development
Computer Networking
Legal Paraprofessional
Automotive                       
Diesel
Welding
C.N.A.
Practical Nurse
Registered Nurse
Surgical Technologist
Medical Assistant
Dental Assistant
Radiation Safety
Professional Truck Drivers

Booths are free and include a complimentary lunch. Register here http://www.eitc.edu/career_placement.cfm, or call Annalea Avery at 524-3000 ext. 3337, or email her at annalea.avery@my.eitc.edu.

Best Buy Mobile store opening in Grand Teton Mall

While we wait for news concerning the Idaho Falls Best Buy store, Best Buy Mobile will be having its grand opening in the Grand Teton Mall April 11-15.

The Mobile store is located between Sears and JC Penney. In observation of its opening, it will be offering $50 off smart phones with any two-year activation. This applies to Verizon, Sprint and AT&T customers. It does not apply to iPhones.

Last Thursday, Best Buy announced it was revamping its business by closing 50 big box stores, cutting 400 jobs and trimming $800 million in costs. The company, which has about 1,400 U.S. locations, says it also plans to open 100 smaller, more profitable Best Buy Mobile stores across the country.

Going by the map at the Best Buy Mobile Web site, http://origin-m.bestbuy.com/bbyMobileStoreLocator/index.php, the Grand Teton Mall store will be one of the first stores of its kind to open in Idaho.

All eyes on gasoline prices

This is just to note that the gas price gadget on the right side of this page shows Idaho Falls' lowest pump price today was $3.61 a gallon, down from Sunday's price of $3.66 a gallon. It's at the Maverik on Woodruff Avenue.

I don't know if this is a fluke or an aberration, but I think it bears watching. Meantime, here's a link to the page that you would get to if you entered our Zip Code in the box: http://www.automotive.com/gas-prices/34/83401.html?zipcode=83401

Event Center board busy behind the scenes

An artist's rendering of what the Idaho Falls Event Center might look like.

No ground has been broken, but things are moving ahead with the Idaho Falls Event Center.

"I get asked all the time what's going on," said Bob Everhart, a member of the Idaho Falls Auditorium District. "I tell them nothing you can see, but there's a lot happening."

The district's board of directors wants to be certain their proposal has everything they want they come up with a price tag, he said. If having everything turns out to be too expensive, they will start with the basics and have a plan that can be expanded in phases.

One thing the center will have is an ice rink for a professional hockey franchise, which the directors say will be the "anchor tenant." The ice will be covered for trade shows or entertainment.

"We're looking at having our first hockey game in 2014," Everhart said.

In May 2011, Idaho Falls voters approved forming an auditorium district and a 5 percent surcharge on local hotel guests, estimated at $1.5 million a year. Along with fees and ticket sales, that money will be used to run the event center, to be located on 20.5 acres in the Snake River Landing development, whose operator, Ball Ventures, has donated the land.

Everhart said they plan to put out a request for proposals and hire an operator within 60 days. Once ground it broken, most likely in 2013, the project will take 15 to 16 months to finish.

To finance the construction, Everhart said they are looking into having investment grade bonds issued. Rather than going to voters, this can be done with a judge's approval. "The auditorium district in Boise just did it. We're following their lead," Everhart said.

CRSA, the Idaho Falls architectural firm working with the district, has been testing soil to determine what it will cost to excavate the site, which is just south of Pancheri Drive on the east side of Interstate 15. Negotiations with the New Sweden Irrigation District have to be taken care of as well (any time there's an alteration to a canal bank, such as a bridge, it requires the operator's permission.)

As far as design goes, CRSA is working with Sink Combs Dethlefs, a Denver architect that specializes in event facilities and sports arenas.

Waiting for word on Idaho Falls Best Buy store

Best Buy has announced it will be closing 50 stores in the coming fiscal year, but there is no news yet whether its store in Idaho Falls, No. 944, will be affected.

The retailer on Thursday reported a $1.7 billion loss for its fourth quarter, which ended March 3. Along with the store closures, Best Buy also plans to eliminate about 400 jobs in its corporate and support areas. The goal, the company said in a statement, is to achieve $800 million in cost reductions by its fiscal year 2015.

So far, the only specifics the company has offered has been in a canned e-mail: On Thursday, March 29, we notified employees at five stores in the Twin Cities area, and one store in the San Antonio area, that their stores will close later this year as Connected Store remodels are completed in their markets.

The company plans to cut costs by $250 million in FY 2013 and by $800 million by FY 2015. "We are quite deliberate and thoughtful when we make such decisions," Best Buy spokeswoman Susan Busch Nehring said over email. "We are working to ensure the impact to our employees will be as minimal as possible, while serving all customers in a convenient and satisfying way. We will announce details about specific store locations and timing for closings once they are finalized."

As part of the company’s new strategy, Best Buy will remodel some of its big box stores with what it calls a “Connected Store” format. These stores will “focus on connections, services and multi-channel experience through a total transformation of both the store and the operating environment.”

Stay tuned. Consumer spending may be up, but consumer spending patterns are changing faster than anyone can make heads or tails of.