I.F. insurance rep named finalist for national award

Kandace Kepler

Kandace Kepler of Premier Insurance's Idaho Falls office has been named a national finalist for the 2012 Outstanding Customer Service Representative of the Year award. The award is sponsored by the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research, and recognizes the contributions and commitment of those who serve clients within the insurance industry.

Kepler began her insurance career as a customer service representative in 1987 and has been associated with Premier Insurance of Idaho Falls since 1997, serving as a commercial account executive. She earned a certified insurance service representative designation in 2001, construction risk and insurance specialist in 2011, and most recently, certified insurance counselor. She is currently working towards the designation of certified risk manager.

Idaho ranked best place in America to practice medicine

Idaho's low cost of living and culture of physician independence make it the best place in America to be a practicing physician for the second straight year, according to Physicians Practice's 2012 Best States to Practice project.

Physicians Practice is a magazine that provides practice-management advice to more than 150,000 physicians and practice administrators across the United States.

The Idaho medical board's low rate of disciplinary actions against physicians; its low density of practicing physicians per capita; and its relatively friendly malpractice climate are among the reasons.
"Along with its low cost of living, Idaho has a climate of physician independence that makes working there great for doctors," said editorial director Bob Keaveney.

Since 2003, the Best States to Practice project has ranked the states and the District of Columbia using six metrics that are important to physicians, including cost of living, tax burden, and the climate for malpractice litigation.

In addition to its annual article, published in the October issue, and its detailed survey results, Physicians Practice has created a clickable map of the United States where users can find specific data on each state, and an interactive My Best States to Practice tool, where users can manipulate the weights assigned to each metric. The tool recalculates the list based on the weights assigned by the user.

http://www.physicianspractice.com/best-states-practice

Teton Toyota negotiating for VW dealership rights

'Big Buddy,' Teton Toyota's newest addition

Teton Toyota is negotiating with Volkswagen for the right to sell its cars in Idaho Falls, and should know by the end of next week whether they have a deal, General Manager Mario Hernandez said Friday.

As for Audi, they have pulled out of the Idaho Falls market and are not showing any interest in returning. "I would love to have Audi, and I know a lot of Audi owners who aren't pleased they have to take their cars to Utah to get them serviced under warranty," Hernandez said.

Idaho Falls has been without a VW or Audi dealer since the German carmakers pulled out of Wackerli Auto Center, their longtime location on North Holmes Avenue. Wackerli continues to sell Subaru and GMC.

Whether or not a VW sign goes up at Teton Toyota's Sunnyside Road dealership, passers-by are bound to notice the new "Big Buddy." Buddy is Hernandez's 9-year-old black Labrador, who appears in all the dealership's advertising.

The statue measures 9 by 15 feet, and was made by F.A.S.T Corp. of Sparta, Wis., a manufacturer of fiberglass statues and water park attractions since 1983.

Great-granddaddy of "Glee," Yale's Whiffenpoofs, to give concert in eastern Idaho

The 2012 Whiffenpoofs at Lincoln Center in New York City

If you know and love "Glee," maybe it's time you got to know its great-granddaddy, The Whiffenpoofs. Lucky for you, Yale University's 103-year-old male a cappella singing ensemble will be coming to eastern Idaho later this month.

The "gentleman songsters" will be giving a concert Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. at the Rexburg Tabernacle and Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. in the recital room of the Piano Gallery, 2995 E. 17th St. Tickets are available online at www.whiffenpoofs.com/tickets or at the door. For the Rexburg show concert, tickets are $12 for general admission or $7 for students. Group and family rates are available.

Tickets for the Piano Gallery show are $15. For more information about the Piano Gallery show, call 524-4420.

Founded in 1909, the Whiffenpoofs is are 14 senior undergraduates who compete for a spot on the roster. The group has appeared on such television shows as as Jeopardy! The Today Show, Saturday Night Live, 60 Minutes, Gilmore Girls and The West Wing. Each year they tour extensively, to more than 30 countries. They have performed at the White House, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and the Salt Lake City Mormon Tabernacle, and at such events as the Rose Bowl and Edinburgh Festival.

The group's best-known alumnus may be Cole Porter, who sang in the 1913 lineup when he was a senior at Yale. Today the group often performs Porter songs in tribute.
To learn more, visit their Web site,
http://www.whiffenpoofs.com/, or "like" them on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/whiffenpoofs.

Here is a 2010 YouTube clip about them from NBC's "The Sing Off": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhMrdNVc4r4&list=PL7805B0B390A5E170&feature=plcp

Melaleuca says new patent will result in manufacturing, more jobs

Melaleuca President and CEO Frank VanderSloot

If you haven't heard much from Melaleuca about Oligo (pronounced oh-LEE-go), there's a reason. For the past three-and-a-half years, the Idaho Falls company has been using it in more than 30 of its wellness products, but it wasn't until Sept. 25 that it received a patent from the federal government.

With that piece of paper in hand, Melaleuca CEO Frank VanderSloot said Wednesday that they're ready to go big next spring with a new manufacturing plant south of Idaho Falls that will employ hundreds of more people. Right now Melaleuca employs about 1,400 people in Idaho Falls and Rexburg.

Melaleuca is claiming that Oligo minerals are far more absorbable and generate fewer free radicals than the minerals used in everyday multivitamins. With its Vitality Pack vitamins and other nutritional supplements the company has already sold $414 million of products using Oligo.

"But that's without the marketing push we can do now," VanderSloot said. "It's a big deal to us."

In the time it took the patents to be approved, there was ample opportunity for the company's competitors, as well as the scientific and nutrition communities, to dispute Melaleuca's claims, VanderSloot said. Likewise, competitors could have claimed the technology was similar to something already invented.

The patent is good through 2030, and the company is already filing papers to extend it beyond then.

"We're going to be able to do more manufacturing, more research and development. We can invest," VanderSloot said.