Finalists selected for Idaho Innovation Awards

Finalists have been selected in the eighth annual Idaho Innovation Awards and will be recognized at a special awards presentation during the Idaho Technology Council's fourth annual Hall of Fame Celebration Oct. 23 at the Boise Centre. Registration is available online at www.idahotechcouncil.org/.

As the state's only innovation awards program, the Idaho Innovation Awards recognizes innovative accomplishments in four categories. The categories and 2013 finalists are listed below (finalists are listed in alphabetical order):

Commercialized Innovation of the Year
• Automated Recall Process Management System by Recall InfoLink
• CradlePoint Enterprise Cloud Manager by CradlePoint
• KLIM Stealth Series by KLIM

Early-Stage Innovation of the Year
• ReadyLight Pistol Light by William Squires
• Switchable Polarity Solvents Forward Osmosis by Idaho National Laboratory
• Syphon Soundwrap by Syphon Sound

Innovative Company of the Year
• CradlePoint
• Kount
• MetaGeek, LLC

Innovator of the Year
• Nancy Caspersen, President and CEO, Quit and Live Global, Inc.
• David Cohen, CEO, FieldSync Mobile Solutions LLC
• Patrick Lawless, Executive Director, StartupBoise

The nominations were judged by a selection committee consisting of leaders from Idaho's business, technology and academic communities. Votes were tallied by accountants at Deloitte.

As for the ITC Hall of Fame Celebration, it recognizes innovative technology leaders who have made a significant contribution to Idaho's technology community. The 2013 inductees are prolific inventor Tim Barber and entrepreneur-philanthropist Greg Carr.

Before the Hall of Fame and Innovation Awards presentations, members of Idaho's business and technology communities will display their innovative products and technologies during an Innovation Showcase from 5:15 to 6:30 p.m. Click here to register to exhibit at the Innovation Showcase. The evening's schedule is as follows:
5:15 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. – Networking Reception and Innovation Showcase
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. – Dinner, Networking, Awards Presentation

Hall of Fame registration is available online. Individual seats are $85 for ITC and Kickstand members, and $125 for non-members. A table of ten is $750 for members and $900 for non-members. The Hall of Fame is sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, Micron and Zions Bank.

Registration open for Kern Memorial 5k

The third annual Kern Memorial Twilight 5K will take place Oct. 11 at 6:30 p.m., beginning and ending on the Eastern Idaho Technical College campus, the college community of Michelle and Malinda Kern.

Participants are welcome to walk or run the 5K route. Registration is $35 and will be available at the event.

Michelle Kern was a 2011 graduate from EITC’s Business Technologies Marketing & Management Associate of Applied Science degree program and an officer in Collegiate DECA. Three days after graduating, Michelle, her sister Malinda (who was an enrolled EITC student), and Michelle’s two young sons, Jack and Gage were murdered in Michelle’s parents’ home. This tragedy was a great loss to family and friends, Eastern Idaho Technical College, and the entire Ammon/Idaho Falls community.

Proceeds from the Twilight 5K will be used to support the Kern Memorial Scholarship for an EITC student.

Food and craft booth space is available at this event.

For more information on the Twilight 5K, please contact Michelle Ziel-Dingman at 208-524-0464. Information about the EITC Foundation can be found at www.eitcfoundation.org.

New specialty gift boutique, San Michele, opening on A Street

Mickey Thiel at her new store, San Michele, which she plans to open Tuesday.

For Mickey Thiel, her new business, San Michele, 357 A Street, represents a family homecoming of sorts. In the 1920s and '30s, Thiel's grandfather, Claude J. Slifer was projectionist and manager of the Colonial Theater down the street, showing silent films and booking vaudeville acts.

"We go way back in this town," she said.

Thiel is planning to her store Tuesday. Located where Paper Bag Princess was for years and years, it features sells jewelry made by Thiel and her friends, picture frames, clothes, cards, "irreverent magnets" and assorted other items.

Having worked 10 years around the corner at Lemon Meringue, Thiel has lots of experience in this sort of business, but has never done it for herself. "It's an itch I had to scratch," she said. "It's a wonderful creative outlet for me and my creative pals."

For more information, call 419-8730.

Rigby, Ammon named 'Best Cities for Young Families'

Rigby and Ammon have been identified on a list of “The Best Cities for Young Families” in Idaho by www.nerdwallet.com, a financial resources website.

Rigby came in second and Ammon was ranked fourth on a list of ten cities. A total of sixty-three Idaho cities were analyzed by the website in the process of creating the rankings.

The website analyzed three factors in determining which cities to add to the list:
1) Does the city have good public schools?
2) Can you afford to live there?
3) Is the city growing and prospering?

Nerd Wallet noted that Rigby county saw significant growth, with civilian employment increasing by 10.8 percent from 1996 to 2006. With regard to Ammon, the report said the city's population doubled between 2000 and 2010, with growth coming “so quickly because of its relatively low housing prices and proximity to Idaho Falls, the state’s largest city outside the Boise metro area.”

According to the website, Rigby has a median home value of $132,200, with a median household income of $45,089. Ammon has a median home value of $173,900, with a median household income of $55,617. Ammon received a high rating for the quality of its schools, and also showed an economic growth rate of 16.3 percent over the past decade.

For more information, see http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/2013/best-cities-idaho-young-families/.

Carl's Jr. opens third Idaho Falls restaurant

A juicy burger from Carl's Jr., now with three locations in Idaho Falls

In case you're wondering, Carl's Jr. has opened its third Idaho Falls restaurant, at West Broadway and Utah Avenue. It happened on Thursday. I had hoped to be ahead of the curve and have an opening date for my faithful readers, but there was a change at the CKE Enterprises office in California and my trusted source, Kelly Grieve, was no longer there. Alas, her successors were not as good about giving me up-to-the-minute intelligence. I only noticed today that the store had opened.

Win a few, lose a few. This is the third time, so the thrill isn't what it was two years ago when the first Carl's Jr. was opening on 17th Street. And in the fullness of time, a new fast-food hamburger restaurant counts for little in the world of breaking news.

Nevertheless, here it is: Idaho Falls Carl's Jr. No. 3. If you're in the mood, they're waiting for you.