Rizo's Pizza closing; MOD Pizza coming in April

Rizo's Pizza in Ammon will be closing Feb. 22.

By Rhett Nelson
Reprinted from East Idaho News

After nearly four years, Rizo’s Pizza in Ammon is closing its doors. Seattle-based MOD Pizza recently bought the restaurant and will be moving in early April. Rizo’s last day of operation will be Saturday, Feb. 22.

Rizo's Owner Jamie Rhoda told EastIdahoNews.com he has decided to pursue other interests that make sense for his family at this time. “Many of you know the trials our family has been going through over the past year and 10 months. We can’t thank the community enough for supporting us over the years,” Rhoda says.

The interior of MOD Pizza in downtown Boise

Rhoda’s son, Truette, was killed in a motorcycle accident during a trip to Utah in April 2018. The events of that day still weigh heavily on Rhoda’s mind, but he says he and his family are “hanging in there.” Rhoda did not say what he’s planning to do next, but he is looking forward to turning a page and beginning a new chapter in life. And even though the business is closing, he says he’s not going anywhere. “We will continue to be part of this amazing community in other ventures and look forward to seeing all of our friends and customers that we’ve had the privilege to serve at Rizo’s,” he said.

Meanwhile, MOD Pizza is eager to open its second eastern Idaho location. The company opened its store in Pocatello in early 2019, and also has locations in Twin Falls and the Boise area.

Renovations will begin soon after Rizo’s last day of business. The remodel will include the installation of a new oven along with several additional updates.

“Rizo’s has created a wonderful gathering place for the community of Ammon, and we’re honored to be able to continue this legacy,” MOD Pizza Real Estate Director Greta Pass said in a news release.

Someone with connections to MOD Pizza approached Rhoda shortly after he made the decision to close. After learning about their business model, he says it just seemed like a good fit. “This worked out very beneficially for both of us,” Rhoda said. “We’re very happy with it, and so are they. It was a great fit.”

MOD Pizza's menu offers a variety of artisan-style pizzas made on-demand, using freshly-pressed dough and signature sauces. Customers create their own pizzas and salads, using any combination of more than 30 toppings. The menu is rounded out with the signature MOD “No Name Cake,” hand-spun milkshakes, house-made lemonades and iced teas, and beer and wine.

Scott and Ally Svenson founded MOD Pizza in Seattle 12 years ago after searching for quick, affordable and healthy dining options for their busy family. Today, there are more than 470 locations nationwide.

“Their pizza is great. They embrace their local communities and make sure their employees are the No. 1 priority,” Rhoda said. All 15 of Rizo’s employees will be able to apply for employment with MOD.

“It has been a pleasure to work with the Rhoda family during this transition, and their warm spirit will certainly live on at MOD,” Pass said.

In the final days of business, Rhoda wants to say thank you to all his customers. From now until Feb. 22, anyone who walks in and says the code word “True Blue” in honor of Truette will get a large pizza for $6.99 or a personal pizza for $3.99.

Rizo’s Pizza is open 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

When it opens, MOD Pizza's hours will be 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

East Idaho Entrepreneurs: Colter Hansen, Arcane Marketing

NOTE: Each Monday BizMojo Idaho will feature a small business profile from East Idaho Entrepreneurs, Renae Oswald's podcast focused on local people in business. This week's profile is Colter Hansen of Arcane Marketing.

 

Attention to Detail

Colter Hansen

As the CEO of Arcane Marketing, Colter Hansen says he does not leave anything to chance. “Going through the merger of all those companies has been no small task,” Colter says. “We all define success differently, whether in personal or professional lives ... I really like to see my team succeed.”

Colter believes that since they have done the work around roles and responsibilities it has provided needed clarity for leadership and they can provide that structure for their employees to be successful. “It's taking people places, and we want to take them places,” Colter says.

“The entrepreneurial mindset has always been with me,” he says. Colter started a landscape company when he was 16 and also hired employees. “I love seeing a finished product, the deliverable is just so much fun for me.” Seeing the outcome of hard work has always been important to Colter, and he believes that's what drives him to be a good businessman.

Upon returning from a church mission, Colter sought the advice of a successful businessman and asked him what he should do for his career. He said, “It doesn't matter, just create value.” From that, Colter started a real estate career and invested in properties. He was doing this while attending college. During his real estate investing education he loved the practical application of what he was learning. Having early success with investing he was able to form some critical relationships that helped propel him forward in his career.

His career has not been without setbacks. In 2010 he says he got his "Harvard-cost-equivalent" education after a property investment went bad and he lost six-figures-plus. “I'm able to look back at that and understand the due diligence pieces that I missed,” he said. “Not everyone who you talk to and tells you the flowery story has the right flowery story.” This experience taught him to do the absolute best for every client and follow through with what his customers are told.

Being the first international accountant hired out of school to work for Melaleuca provided him the ability to learn how to structure his own personal business from experts. He worked in the corporate world for several years and loved it, but grew tired of the travel and being away from his family. This is what led him to fully branch out on his own, partnering with Ryan Harris in Strategic Social Partners, which is now Arcane Marketing.

Colter's advice for those interested in being business owners is, “Relationships are the priceless piece of life, there's no relationship worth any amount of money to sacrifice,” he said. “The risks are that sometimes things don't go as planned ... we do the absolute best we can. ... There's risk and reward ... as long as you can sleep at night because you were honest with those you dealt with and did your absolute best.”

Information
For more information on Arcane Marketing check out their website at https://www.arcanemarketing.com/. For more information on RizeCon or RizeX, go to their site at https://www.rizex.io/.

Bioplastics company BioLogiQ plans warehouse on Professional Way

Brad LaPray, BioLogiQ CEO

It looks like there will be some major construction on Yellowstone Highway south of Sunnyside Road, with BioLogiQ planning a new warehouse on Professional Way.

According to the building permit application filed Jan. 27, the Idaho Falls company has plans for a 31,180-square-foot warehouse. The job value is estimated at $1,571,904, and the applicant is Streamline Precision Contracting of Burley. The site plan show an area marked out to the north for future building.

BioLogiQ is a bioplastics company started in 2011 by Brad LaPray, an Idaho native who grew up working in fields but left for the East Coast for 20 years. According to the company website, LaPray started BiologiQ with the intent of creating a useful plastic from excess starch created during potato processing. This led to the invention of NuPlastiQ BioPolymers and technology that enables plastic manufacturers to use their existing equipment to make sustainable plastic products.

In 2017, several farms, including Wada Farms, launched production programs to sell fresh potatoes in bags made from the company's "Tater Made®" logo that were made from BioLogiQ's NuPlastiQ resin at Wal-Mart supercenters. In addition to its headquarters in Idaho Falls, BioLogiQ has offices in Hong Kong and Shaoguan City, in China’s Guangdong Province.


To read an interview LaPray gave BioMarket Insights in 2019, follow this link: Bringing the Humble Potato Into the New Plastics Economy.

East Idaho Entrepreneurs: Cody Hellickson, Snake River Solace

NOTE: Each Monday BizMojo Idaho will feature a small business profile from East Idaho Entrepreneurs, Renae Oswald's podcast focused on local people in business. This week's profile is Cody Hellickson of Snake River Solace.

Aficionado

Cody Hellickson

When Cody Hellickson was a kid he never saw himself as an expert in CBD and the hemp plant. His life was challenging with his biological parents and he was adopted by his grandparents and moved to Idaho. His journey of growing up has led him to a business that he is very passionate about and he spends much of his time educating those around him about what he does.

Snake River Solace is one of East Idaho's first CBD companies. Cody provides CBD products by sourcing the main product out of state and then combining it in Idaho with other ingredients for distribution. These products include oral tincture, pet CBD spray, topical ointment, gummies, and tea. Cody is clear to say that all of their products are tested by their Montana lab to assure that no THC is in the product. Cody explained that since the company makes it's own product the cost is controlled as compared to other sources.

“Idaho is so stigmatized by the word cannabis,” Cody says, “CBD is derived from a molecule that is a cannabinoid that can … help the human body or an animal.” He ardently defends that as American's we should have the right to products that will improve the human condition, especially pain, insomnia, anxiety and other ailments that CBD has been known to help.

Cody is very passionate about educating the community and those who don't know or have a bias against CBD. He has dedicated hundreds of hours to learn all he can about cannabis, hemp, and isolated chemicals such as CBD. He's proud to say that his customers receive this expertise when they buy from him. He only sells CBD products and his shop is comfortable and family-friendly.

Due to Federal regulations around selling cannabis products, financing from banks, and even having a business bank account, is not allowed for the type of business Cody has. When he started his business he approached private investors to help him get his vision launched. “They knew me and believed in me,” Cody says. Snake River Solace has two locations in Idaho Falls and Pocatello currently. Just recently he was able to secure the ability to take credit card payments, another limitation put on his industry.

In advising anyone who would be interested in being a business owner he says, “There are going to be a lot of obstacles ... if you feel you have a good idea, have a passion behind that idea, are educated ... do it for the service.”

He has visions to assist the agriculture community when hemp is legal to farm. “It's not about a money factor, it's about a legacy or a history of getting Idaho involved and up with the rest of America,” he explained.

Despite the challenges that having a CBD company has created, Cody said he loves it and wouldn't want to do anything else right now. The future for Cody is represent CBD in Idaho and to be a resource for anyone curious about the product.

Information

For more information on Snake River Solace, visit their website at https://snakeriversolace.com/.

Bonneville Hotel in downtown Idaho Falls officially open

The facade of the Bonneville Hotel, in downtown Idaho Falls. The roof deck at the second level will be accessible to both commercial and residential occupants and will include landscaping and exterior amenities for dining, events and relaxation.

The kitchen in one of the apartments

The newly renovated Bonneville Hotel at Park Avenue and Constitution Way held a ribbon-cutting and open house Thursday, showing off an urban renewal project years in the making.

If you want to rent an apartment there you’re probably going to have to wait. All but three of the building’s 34 units — one studio apartment and two one-bedroom apartments — had been rented, said Amy Raymond, resident manager for The Housing Co.

Raymond said rent for a studio is $515/month, $606 for a one-bedroom and $708 for a two-bedroom unit. “We have such a great mix of people, from young people to retirees,” she said.

The project was announced by the Idaho Falls Redevelopment Agency, which administers money collected from the city’s urban renewal districts. IFRA put out a request for proposals in early 2016 and selected developers later that year. The winning proposal, from THC, called for a mixed-use development with commercial, retail, restaurant and residential spaces. THC was responsible for the restoration of the Whitman Hotel in Pocatello, and manages more than 1,500 units, currently assessed at over $48 million.

The cost of the project was estimated at $10 million. Approximately $440,000 will be funded by the agency, while the majority of the funding is coming from housing and historic preservation tax credits.

Built in 1927 by a group of community investors, the Bonneville was once the crown jewel of downtown Idaho Falls, but had fallen into disrepair by the turn of the millennium. The renovation required the removal of all existing plumbing and delivery lines and soil lines, down to the basement and from the basement to the street’s main discharge line. All electrical wiring and fixtures were removed and discarded except for any fixtures with historical value, which were sent out for repair and rewiring.

Lee Radford, chairman of the Redevelopment Agency, said they are very pleased with the results. “It’s what we were looking for,” he said. “It’s hard to say how long we’ve been talking about this.”

Time was of the essence, because the urban renewal district that made it possible was phased out in the fall of 2018. Idaho’s urban renewal law allows for tax increment financing in areas that wouldn’t otherwise lend themselves to economically feasible development. Basically, a property owner pays normal taxes on unimproved property, but taxes on any improvements are diverted to the redevelopment agency and the city to pay for infrastructure, e.g. curb and gutter, water and sewer, and electrical. Tax increment financing has help boost projects such as Snake River Landing and Taylor Crossing on the River, as well as the hotels on Lindsay Boulevard.

“We were always getting input from the community that they want us to do this,” Radford said. “If you have a strong center, everybody benefits from it.”