Bonaventure names marketing director

Bonaventure Senior Living of Idaho Falls has hired Melissa Thayer as its marketing director. She comes to eastern Idaho from Utah, where she has more than 15 years' experience in the health care industry.

Thayer has a bachelor's degree in business administration from Utah State University in Logan, Utah, and an associate degree in nursing from the University of Phoenix.

D&L Cleaners adds tailor to staff

D&L Cleaners has added a professionally trained tailor, Enrique Macias, to its staff. The 51-year-old business, which has five locations, in Idaho Falls, Ammon, Rigby and Rexburg, has had its own in-house sewing and alterations department for more than 40 years. Services include:

• Shortening and lengthening hems
• Taking in and letting out waists
• Shortening and lengthening sleeves
• Fixing and replacing zippers
• Patching
• Seam repair
• Replacing buttons

Alterations are based out of the D&L location at 1558 W. Broadway, where they do fittings, consultations and quick fixes. For jobs that don't require fitting, however, customers can drop off garments at any of the five locations.

All garments must be clean before alterations or repairs can be done. Repairs and alterations generally require one week to complete. Call 522-0821 for more information. Or visit the D&L Web site: http://dlcleaners.com/

Daylight Donuts on 17th Street now open

Daylight Donuts on 17th Street, which we learned about last month, is now open. Here's owner Jim Feuling and cashier Colleen Southworth late Friday morning. The store is located on the north side of 17th between Juniper and Ponderosa, near Harbor Freight Tools.

Rush's Kitchen Supply begins carrying Le Creuset cookware

Rush's Kitchen Supply owner Alex Constantino with the Le Creuset cookware he began carrying in May.

When you have died and people are going through your things, a piece of Le Creuset cookware is one thing that will make them say, "Wow, he was serious about cooking."

Don't underestimate the potency of this pitch.

Rush's Kitchen Supply on Lindsay Boulevard began carrying Le Creuset (pronounced la KWOO-say) last month. Store owner Alex Constantino reasoned that if he is going to have the best store he has to have the best stuff.

There are some arguments against carrying a premium brand like this. It's not cheap, so the market is limited. A 5.5-quart Dutch oven costs $265. Moreover, you can buy Le Creuset just about anywhere (Macy's, etc..) for roughly the same price. Since the Internet knocked brick-and-mortar retail sideways, everything has come to have a "minimum advertised price" that's available to anyone willing to do their homework.

Nevertheless, Constantino decided he had to have it. "It's everywhere, but it is the best," he said. "The enamel is more durable, the inside is more stain resistant, it cleans up easier."

One thing he does is replace the ceramic knobs with ones made of stainless steel, a $15 upgrade. "It looks more elegant," he said. But the real sales come from the classes he teaches, where the pots get used and wannabe cooks have a direct experience of what a difference quality cookware makes. They may not buy Le Creuset right away. They may opt for a Chinese-made Mario Batali casserole that costs half as much, and there's nothing wrong with that. But they know about it, and Christmas is always coming.

NanoSteel wins fifth R&D 100 award from R&D Magazine

NanoSteel's unassuming applications engineering shop on Shoup Avenue, in downtown Idaho Falls.

Nanosteel, a 10-year-old company with its roots in the Idaho National Laboratory, has received its fifth R&D 100 award from R&D Magazine.

This year, the company has been recognized for NPM 3100, a new class of high-strength nano-structured stainless steel in powdered form. Because the steel molecules of this substance are 10 times smaller than the molecules in any other stainless steel on the market, parts made from it are much more resistant to corrosion and wear.

Nanosteel's corporate headquarters are in Providence, R.I., but its research and development and applications engineering take place at two locations in Idaho Falls, one off Hitt Road and the other downtown, across Shoup Avenue from the Frosty Gator. The company was started by Dan Branagan, who took processes and patents he developed at the INL and spun them out for licensing to industry.

Company spokesman Greg Nixon said NPM 3100 is already for sale, but a full product rollout still has to take place. He said it should be particularly useful in the oil and gas industry for pipeline and slurry valves. The company has also been involved in "hard banding" metallic coatings for drill pipes.

NanoSteel employs 13 full-time people in Idaho Falls. "Everything originates in Idaho," Nixon said.

Earlier this week, the company announced it has developed three classes of advanced high-strength steel that will give automakers new ways to safely stretch steel in the design of lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. “Previously, sheet steel made of nano-structures was considered too brittle (no elongation) to form the shapes required for automotive parts," Branagan said. NanoSteel’s materials are based on newly discovered mechanisms to form nano-structures during production which eliminate the cause of this brittleness.”

By using conventional steel processes and avoiding the use of exotic alloying elements, it also should allow the auto industry to continue using the steel industry’s existing infrastructure. This would preserve scale and efficiencies that would be lost by switching to other lightweight materials with higher costs, longer cycle times and limited availability.