Fall River Co-op sets annual meeting for Saturday

Beth Looney

Fall River Electric Cooperative’s annual meeting for owner-members, set for Saturday in Ashton, will feature a presentation from PNGC Power’s CEO Beth Looney.

PNGC Power, based in Portland Ore., provides sophisticated power management services to 14 electric cooperatives in the Northwest and represents nearly 200,000 utility customers, including those of Fall River Electric. Their services include ensuring lower, more stable long-term power costs, energy conservation efforts and helping to meet the challenges that their
member cooperatives face.

Looney will share with owner-members of Fall River what the future of power production and wholesale power rates will be in our region. Her presentation will be part of Fall River Electric’s business meeting, which will also include the results from the election of board members in three of the co-op’s nine service territory districts. Since Fall River Electric is owned by its customers, the board represents the interests of all owner-members and manages the business affairs of the cooperative.

The annual meeting will be held from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at North Fremont High School, 3581 East 1300 North in Ashton, just east of downtown. Other business meeting topics will include an audit report, presentation of high school scholarship winners, and a review of the cooperative’s accomplishments during 2016 and plans for future projects and initiatives.

Fall River Electric’s annual meeting will also feature a free breakfast of pancakes, eggs, sausage, bacon, hash browns and a drink.

Cooperative owner-members may also visit nearly two dozen area businesses and public organizations at the Cooperative’s Health, Energy & Community Expo.

Thousands of dollars in free prizes will be given away, including a $1,000 energy credit that is enough to pay the power bill of an average home in Fall River’s service territory for a full year. There is no charge to register for the free prizes, but members must be present to win. There will also be bounce houses, games and other activities for children, too.

Northwest Cosmetics acquires California company

Northwest Cosmetic Laboratories of Idaho Falls has acquired Dream Team Beaute of Sun Valley, Calif., a cutting-edge color cosmetics innovator that has seen rapid growth since it was founded in 2013.

A major formulator and manufacturer of skin care and cosmetic products for private labels, Northwest Cosmetics dates back to 1995, when it was started by Doug Rooney and Gary Voigt in a small building on Holmes Avenue. Rooney, a cosmetic chemist, made his first batches of makeup on a hot plate in a small rented office. With a vision of creating quality skin care and cosmetic products for the most popular and prestigious brands in the world, they built their company on a “no surprises” philosophy.

The company expanded in 1998, to a 15,000-square-foot building on Technology Drive, which has been expanded over to 47,000 square feet. In 2013, the company added a 23,000-square-foot building for research and development, production and warehousing lab and a 30,000-square-foot, 30-foot tall, high-rise warehouse building. In 2016 it broke ground on a 79,000-square foot expansion, expanding its capacity to a combined 178,000 square feet in four neighboring buildings.

The company is now owned by Clearview Capital Fund and is run by Matt Bryant, who took over as CEO around 2010. CEO. Gary Kurtz, the company’s marketing director, told the Idaho Business Review in 2016 that NCL intends to stay in Idaho Falls. The location doesn’t deter client cosmetics and health care products companies, he said.

The Dream Team Beaute acquisition will elevate NCL’s existing color capabilities while adding new offerings in pressed and loose powders. Dream Team co-founders Kimberly Clark and Esme Mancia will continue to lead the Dream Team division and drive new business opportunities for the combined company.

The integration of the two companies will take place over the summer. Dream Team’s California location will allow NCL to provide additional development services for existing West Coast customers as well as prospective customers.

“We have been seeking an acquisition that would complement our brand and bring in a new element of innovation,” said Bryant, in a press release. “We found these great attributes in Dream Team and its talented founders, Kimberly Clark and Esme Mancia. The prospect of blending their experienced and forward-thinking people with our team will result in cutting-edge cosmetics and unique services that can only be found in our family of companies. Together, we will offer more prolific capabilities and talent, including pressed and loose powders."

“This combination with NCL will help Dream Team continue to grow its reach beyond color,” Clark said. “Our capabilities complement each other very well, and we can leverage NCL’s organization and infrastructure to bring more resources to serve our customers.”

Eastern Idaho Visitors Center moving to River Parkway

The new location of the Eastern Idaho Visitors Center, which is slated to open Monday.

The Eastern Idaho Visitors Center is moving from its current location on North Capital Avenue to 355 River Parkway. The visitor center will be closed on Friday and begin serving the public in the new location Monday.

Chamber CEO Chip Schwarze said the move was initiated to better promote tourism in eastern Idaho and to meet growing needs of local residents. The chamber will maintain its long-term partnership with the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service in its new location, where it will continue to offer their maps, permits and gifts.

“What an amazing location for a visitor center, right across the street from our greenbelt and the falls,” Schwarze said. “I am sure this Visitor’s Center will be something the whole community will be proud of.”

In addition to providing tourist information for the entire region, the new visitor center will have a new gift and souvenir shop. The Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce will move in as soon as the remodel of their new office space is completed.

Salt Lake-based law firm opens office in Idaho Falls

Lee Radford

The Salt Lake City-based law firm of Parsons Behle & Latimer is opening a law office in Idaho Falls, with four attorneys from the Idaho Falls office of Moffatt Thomas becoming part of the firm: C. Edward Cather III, Lee Radford, Jon A. Stenquist and Bradley J. Williams. They will continue to practice in their offices at Snake River Landing, 900 Pier View Drive, Suite 206.

The move was approved by Parsons Behle & Latimer shareholders in a meeting May 24 and became effective June 1, according to a news release from the firm.

“Combining with Parsons Behle & Latimer provides our clients with the deep resources of a regional firm,” Lee Radford said in the release. “By combining with Parsons Behle & Latimer, we can provide the best client service and the highest degree of legal ability for eastern Idaho business.”

Parsons Behle & Latimer has more than 135 attorneys, serving clients in natural resources, manufacturing, technology, real estate, banking, retail, utility and health care industries. Founded in 1882, the firm has offices in Boise, Idaho Falls, Las Vegas, Reno, Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C.

New loan fund for small businesses established

The Montana & Idaho Community Development Corp. and Capital Matrix have established a new loan fund to provide financing to “nearly bankable” small businesses in Idaho. The fund will allow Montana & Idaho CDC to further increase its lending to startups and existing businesses that cannot access all or part of the financing they need from a bank.

Capital Matrix, a private, non-profit corporation licensed and regulated by the U.S. Small Business Administration to administer the SBA 504 loan program, has partnered with Montana & Idaho CDC since it began lending in Idaho five years ago. The establishment of the new loan fund furthers Montana & Idaho CDC’s support of small business and economic development in the state. As loans originated from the fund are repaid, those proceeds will be recycled and go back into the fund to be loaned out to new eligible borrowers.

Montana & Idaho CDC specializes in providing loans for business startups, business purchases and existing businesses that are light on collateral or cash flow. In 2016, 52 percent of its small-business loans, amounting to $5.1 million, went to entrepreneurs and small-business owners in Idaho. Loans range from $1,000 to $2 million and can be used for purposes such as purchase of real estate, equipment, inventory or an existing business, or for remodeling or working capital. Loan clients also receive one-on-one technical assistance in financial management, marketing, sales management and other area of business management.

For more information about the new loan fund or to apply for a loan, contact Mike Trueba at 844-728-9234 ext. 240 or miket@mtcdc.org.