An open letter from the 'Gig Economy'

"What am I taking home today, $50 or $65?"

As a musician, I know what it’s like to land a gig. I also know what most gigs pay, which is why when I hear about the “gig economy” I feel no small amount of trepidation.

If this is the first time you’ve seen the term, rest assured that it won’t be the last. Go ahead and Google it. In the gig economy, your time is your own.

Remember the days when people found jobs that paid a fixed salary every month, allowed them to take paid holidays and formed the basis for planning a stable future?

How quaint! How 20th century!

My late father worked for the state of Delaware as a social studies teacher from 1956 to 1988. My late father-in-law worked for Westinghouse from 1948 to 1990. Both enjoyed working for employers that valued them, paid them steady if not lavish wages, offered solid retirement programs and medical benefits that would keep them from the poorhouse if they or members of their families got hurt or sick. Between the two of them, they put seven kids through college. My dad thought it would be good for me to take out a student loan my senior year. It would teach me responsibility and help me build credit. It was for $1,000.

I entered the work force in January 1979 with a baby boomer set of assumptions, i.e. that my career would follow a trajectory similar to my father’s. Instead of teaching, I chose newspapers. I liked to write, and what could be more solid than the newspaper industry?

Today, I have a gig writing my blog, BizMojo Idaho. I have a gig as a freelance writer. I have a gig as a substitute teacher. I peddle my book, “Legendary Locals of Idaho Falls.” I dabble in guitar lessons and play in a band called Happyville.

There are some real advantages to the gig economy. I get to work when I want and I don’t have to deal with a boss I never can seem to please for more than a couple of days in a row.

“I really enjoy what I’m doing,” I told a friend last spring. I love the connection with the community that my writing affords me. I enjoy getting to know young people through substitute teaching, a job I would recommend to anyone who wants a better understanding of the challenges that teachers face (especially Idaho state legislators, who ought to be required to do it for a week before they vote on any education bills.)

Last of all there’s music. Playing in my band I’m living the dream I had as a kid. My mom and dad told me I’d never make a living at it. But it’s part of my living now. We actually made a four-song CD three years ago and it's on iTunes. The only money I have seen is the cash people have handed me for copies I have burned on my computer. The iTunes money, negligible as I'm sure it is, might as well be with old, dead Steve Jobs.

And that's the gig economy for you -- a little bit here and a little bit there, but not a lot from any one source. After I tell people how much I’m enjoying myself, I add, “I’m lucky to have a wife with a full-time job.”

Are we returning to the economy like the one Adam Smith described more than 200 years ago in his book An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations? Smith wrote about a genuine market economy of individuals engaging in commerce with one another. Plenty of Americans swear by it, especially in this neck of the woods.

The thing is, the ink was hardly dry on Smith’s pages before mass production and distribution gave us modern corporations. The tradesmen of Smith’s day and age gave way to the salaried employees of the 20th century.

Ah, but we’ve been told corporations are people, too, haven’t we?

On a good day, being your own boss is empowering. You can achieve a work-life balance that allows you to take your kids to soccer practice or piano lessons without having to apologize to a scowling overseer.

On the other hand, there’s something reassuring about a steady paycheck, fixed work hours and company-provided benefits. It’s harder to plan your life long term when you don’t know how much money you’re going to be making next year.

Which reminds me. I’ve got to tell YourHealthIdaho how much I anticipate making in 2016. I’ll do it right after I tune my guitar. And bill my BizMojo advertisers. And check SubFinder to see if there’s a teaching job open.

Bonneville County home sales up dramatically so far this year

In the four years since I started BizMojo Idaho (my first post was Sept. 5, 2011)  I have routinely asked my friends in real estate how the market is. The answer has almost been "good" or "better." And while there has always been a temptation to dismiss this as what one might expect -- a positive attitude is essential for sales, after all -- looking at the numbers tells a compelling story.

As far as homes sales in Bonneville County go, numbers on the Snake River Multiple Listing Service Web page show the first seven months of this year were the best we have seen since 2007, the year before everything went in the tank. The number of homes sold, 993 is the best since '07, when 1,043 homes were sold between Jan. 1 and July 31. Homes were selling as fast this year as they were in 2007, which was, I hasten to remind you, a year in which anyone with a pulse could get a home loan, and probably more than they could afford, since that was the game. The easy credit of eight or nine years ago would be one explanation for the higher median prices we see as we crunch the numbers.

As for the chorus of "It's getting better all the time," it's pretty obvious that in 2011 things couldn't have been much worse. Home sales were down nearly 46 percent, prices were bottoming out and the average sale was taking close to four months. The first half of 2012 wasn't much better more homes sold, albeit at the same slow pace.

In all, if agents were happy last year with the way things were trending, they ought to be ecstatic now. Sales in the first seven months of 2015 were up 37 percent over 2014 and homes were selling on average a month faster.

Great Clips moving into Sandcreek Commons retail center

An artist's rendering of the retail center at Sandcreek Commons.

After last week’s big news about Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen coming to Sandcreek Commons, I’ve been eager to check in with the city of Ammon to find out what else may be shaking.

After all, they have a retail center with spaces for 15 businesses that is coming along very quickly. So far, there is one business committed to the center, Great Clips.

I realize this is hardly Popeyes or Panera Bread-level excitement, but there you have it. By way of consolation, let me tantalize you with the conversation I had with Greg McBride, Ammon’s plumbing and mechanical inspector, who said he has been getting a number of calls about ventilation hoods and grease interceptors. “They never say who they are, but from the questions they’re asking I’m thinking they’re small restaurants,” he said.

If you’re interested, Kohl’s and Texas Roadhouse have both filed plans for remodeling. Otherwise, on to Idaho Falls, where Java Express is planning a new building at the corner of St. Clair and Woodruff. Java has had a small drive-thru presence in this location for years. The plans at the Idaho Falls Building Department office show a 40.5-by-13.5-foot building with drive-thru lane, landscaping, parking and a patio.

Java Espress is owned by Shane Murphy, who has been in the coffee-serving business for 23 years. Murphy opened Kool Beanz in Snake River Landing in May, and told me then he toyed with the idea of naming it Java Express but then thought that might be confusing to people.

Flowers Power -- Idaho Falls utility chief to speak Thursday

Jackie Flowers

The Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce is featuring Idaho Falls Power Director Jackie Flowers as its speaker Thursday afternoon as part of its CEO Speaker series.

The free program will be from 3 to 4 p.m. at the ARTitorium on Broadway.

Flowers was hired to head the utility in 2006.

At 115 years, Idaho Falls Power is one of the oldest public power generators in the United States, and it is Idaho’s largest publicly held utility. Idaho Falls Power boasts some of the lowest utility rates in the country — less than half the national average for residential power. It is also unique in that more than 95 percent of its energy comes from carbon-free energy sources, predominantly hydroelectric power.

Flowers said she saw several challenges when she came to Idaho Falls from Sheridan, Wyo. Although she was a licensed civil engineer with infra-
structure experience in dams and municipal public works, she had never managed an electrical utility.

Her first day on the job, as she prepared to meet her staff, then Mayor Jared Fuhriman handed her the massive set of keys to all the facilities and said, “You know you are going to have to earn their respect. How are you going to walk in there and introduce yourself?” Flower replied, “Doughnuts will be involved.”

Since then, she has distinguished herself in her industry, serving on the board of directors for Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), which is made up of utilities from eight western states, as well as on several other industry organizations. She regularly speaks on energy issues and has been asked numerous times to speak about her position as one of few female utility executives in the country.

Asked about the challenges she may have faced being a female in such a male dominated industry, she said, “It isn’t really something that I have given much thought to in the past. In engineering school the ratio was about 4 to 1 male to female. There have only been a couple of times in my career where the fact that I am a woman has really stood out.”

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen coming to Sandcreek Commons

Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen will be coming to Ammon, most likely by December.

As part of a six-restaurant expansion into Idaho, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen will be coming to the Sandcreek Commons Shopping Center.

The plan is for the restaurant to be open by December, said Sandy Mann of Norcal Cajun Foods, the company in Concord, Calif., that has the rights to franchise Popeyes in Idaho. The restaurant will face Sunnyside Road, between Zions Bank and D.L. Evans Bank.

Norcal has opened Popeyes in Nampa and Caldwell and is preparing to open one in Boise. In addition to Ammon, it also has plans for Pocatello and Twin Falls. The company has 17 Popeyes in Northern California.

Popeyes dates back to 1972, when Alvin C. Copeland, Sr. opened a restaurant called Chicken on the Run in the New Orleans suburb of Arabi, serving traditional Southern fried chicken. After several months of mediocre sales, he changed the menu to spicy, New Orleans-style chicken and renamed the restaurant Popeyes, after the character Popeye Doyle in the movie “The French Connection.”

The menu features Cajun-style fried chicken and seafood that is typically served with buttermilk biscuits and a variety of sides, including Cajun rice, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, or french fries.

Today, there are more than 2,000 Popeyes in the United States and 25 foreign countries. Only 40 Popeyes locations are company-owned, according to the business profile on Hoovers.com.