Vino Rosso's new owner plans new name, new look

Chuck Chute, who has bought Vino Rosso and is renaming it Black Rock Fine Wine and Craft Beer.

Vino Rosso, a downtown anchor for more than 10 years, will be getting a new name and a new look in the next few weeks.

New owner Chuck Chute, who bought the business from Bret and Sara Scibior, is renaming wine bar Black Rock Fine Wine and Craft Beer. The red and yellow interior will be converted to dark sage and peppercorn grey, and the bar top is being replaced with black basalt.

Although he has lived on both coasts, Chute, 60, has always had a soft spot for eastern Idaho. His uncle came to the area in the 1950s to work on the Palisades Dam project, and his family grew close to Swan Valley’s Kopp family. “Many people on the East Coast want to retire to Florida. I wanted to retire to Idaho,” he said.

An executive for more than 30 years with the Maersk Line, a global shipping company, Chute first checked with the Arthur Berry Co., a business brokerage. to see what was available in Idaho Falls. Vino Rosso was by far the most appealing alternative.

Originally from Contra Costa County, after graduating with a degree in international relations from California State University at Chico he got a taste of the hospitality industry with the Rusty Pelican chain first as a bartender, then as a manager. Although eventually went into international shipping and logistics, Chute says he never forgot the lessons he learned.

While relying on the staff already in place, he plans to be very hands on. He has been immersing himself in the community and learning everything he can about it. "I'm here to be here. This place has to be authentic. It has to represent Idaho Falls,” he said. “We want to make an impression, and we want to make the right impression.”

Vino Rosso has plenty of things going for it already, he said. “We want to take all the best that is already here and optimize it.” That includes more music and food. Since the place has a kitchen, Chute plans to add bar food to what Black Rock will have to offer. He described his concept as “small plates, big flavor, low cost.”

Good Samaritan names 2015 board members

Good Samaritan Society’s Idaho Falls Village, the community's only not-for-profit fully skilled nursing living center has named new advisory board members for 2015.

Located at 840 E. Elva, Good Samaritan serves the elderly and disabled of Bonneville County and the surrounding area, a news release said.

The 2015 board consists of Kevin King, of Edward Jones, chairman; The Rev. Susan Speir of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church; Natalie Hebard of the Eastern Idaho Technical College Foundation; Melody Gyorfy of Journeys; Sandie Fulks of Rich Broadcasting; Dorothy Yelton of Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center; Brittany Ohman of Mountain View Hospital’s Cancer Institute; Andrea Ohman of the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce; Mandy Searle of Archibald Leavitt Insurance; and Tanner Gleave of US Bank.

Dave Bargmann is Good Samaritan’s administrator. The advisory board assists, advocates and supports the Good Samaritan Society under the direction of Jeanie Brady, director of community relations.

Idaho Falls Airport had more passengers in 2014

Idaho Falls Regional Airport finished a major terminal remodel last year, with streamlined TSA operations moved behind the counter.

The Idaho Falls Regional Airport saw a dramatic jump in passengers in 2014, according to a the operations report it released Thursday.

New air service, a terminal expansion and a considerable increase in passengers topped the list of positive developments.

On the negative side, Frontier Airlines’ non-stop service between Idaho Falls and Denver was a short-lived thing. Service started in June, but Frontier announced in November it was curtailing the flights, part of a realignment that involved most of the regional airports it was serving.

As far as passengers went, IDA saw a 12 percent increase over 2013: “Remarkable growth, especially considering the dramatic changes in the airline industry,” said Airport Director Craig H. Davis, in a press release.

Total commercial airline passenger enplanements:

• 2014: 163,274 
• 2013: 146,378
• 2012: 159,976
• 2011: 148,863
• 2010: 143,836

“(Enplanements) only tell part of the story,” Davis said. Total pounds of cargo/freight deplaned continued to increase, for the fourth straight year.

• 2014: 2,204,795
• 2013: 2,141,287
• 2012: 2,050,454
• 2011: 2,036,669
• 2010: 2,065,816

Financially,the airport continues to operate in the black and sustain itself financially without relying on city general fund assistance. In fiscal 2014, operating revenues totaled $5,047,839 including $2,518,891 in federal and state grant reimbursements.

Davis said he and local economic development officials are continuing to search for an airline willing to utilize the Transportation Department’s Small Community Air Service Development Grant as a revenue guarantee to establish daily service to an east coast hub airport. Search efforts also continue in establishing direct flights to Seattle and expanded service to the Los Angeles area.

After-effects Emmy winner to speak to Idaho Falls Advertising Federation

Mikey Borup, whose after-effects work has won national acclaim, will speak Feb. 19 to the Idaho Falls Advertising Federation.

Last week we reported YouTube guru Bart Miller would be speaking Feb. 19 to the Idaho Falls Advertising Federation at its monthly “Lunch and Learn.” Scheduling conflicts have since forced them to find a replacement, but this is far from bad, as Emmy-winner Mikey Borup, an after-effects and video production professional from Rexburg, will be doing the presentation.

Borup says it’s not just about creating a great video, but also about creating the right video. He is an expert YouTuber, and has helped several channels build thousands of subscribers. His personal channel has nearly 70,000 subscribers and 3 million views.

He is also a founder of www.cinemaspice.net, a new site that offers resources for video editors. In addition, he runs the largest after-effects community on Google+ and has a successful
YouTube channel dedicated to after-effects tutorials.

Borup is a contributor to Tuts+ and PremiumBeat and Udemy.com.

Lunch starts at 11:30 a.m. at Dixie’s Diner, 2150 Channing Way. Cost is $12 for members and $15 for non-members.

Here is just one of his many videos on YouTube. You could probably even justify watching it on your boss' dime.

Idaho Falls company presenting at Utah investors' conference

BiologiQ, an Idaho Falls company that has invented a way to make potato starch waste biodegradable plastic resin pellets, will be one of two Idaho companies presenting Thursday at the Wayne Brown Institute’s Investors Choice Conference in Midway, Utah.

All of the company’s products, which are used in everything from bags and bottles to cutlery, are competitive with products made from petro-chemicals. The starch comes from potato processing plants in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.

Zions Bank is the founding sponsor of the conference. Additional principal sponsors include the law firm Ballard Spahr LLP, Tanner LLC, the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development and the Utah Division of Securities.

The Wayne Brown Institute is America's oldest and most successful non-profit venture accelerator. To date, more than 800 groundbreaking high tech companies have presented in a WBI program; 70% have participated in financial transactions totaling more than $8.5 billion in private equity, accounting for nearly 1 percent of venture capital deal flow in the United States.

”Last spring, Zions Bank CEO Scott Anderson encouraged our board and the team at The Wayne Brown Institute to set up an office in Boise," said Brad Bertoch, president and CEO of the Wayne Brown Institute.  "Scott's vision paid off immediately this year with GenZ Technology, BiologiQ, Inc. We have three more presenting companies from Idaho, plus companies from surrounding states."