March 24, 2017 Vol. 38 No. 24 • $2.50 Boise Hawks owners bank on pro soccer, downtown stadium BY TEYA VITU which owns the Hawks, anticipates announcing soon Idaho Business Review that it will acquire the former Kmart building at Americana Boulevard and Shoreline Road that is now The owners of the Boise Hawks minor league occupied by the St. Luke’s Business Center, said Jeff baseball team expect to add a second-tier men’s pro- Eiseman, Agon’s president and partner. fessional soccer team to their portfolio, and to have Eiseman is trying to assemble a 15- to 20-acre Photo courtesy of Wide Eye Productions both teams play in a 5,000- to 7,500-seat stadium they checkerboard of properties in the area generally The Basque Soccer Friendly match between Athletic propose to build in downtown Boise. Bilbao and Club Tijuana in 2015 was the first interna- Atlanta-based Agon Sports and Entertainment, See SOCCER, page 16 tional soccer match in Idaho. Idaho Power plans significant shift from coal BY BENTON ALEXANDER SMITH Idaho Business Review Despite national rhetoric about loosening re- strictions on the use of coal, Idaho Power plans to significantly shift its portfolio away from the fuel type in the coming decade. The public utility accepts energy from seven coal-powered generators located in Oregon, Neva- da and Wyoming. Idaho Power plans to lower that to as few as two generators by the late 2020s. The shift is apparent in the development of Ida- ho Power’s 2017 integrated resource plan, which the utility updates every two years. “It has traditionally been routine, but increas- ingly our resource plan is becoming our road map Photo by Glenn Landberg away from coal,” said Brad Bowlin, spokesman Marce Barrera moves his camera while creating a 3D tour of a home that is on the market in Boise. for Idaho Power. Regulation and other factors have driven up the cost of coal-generated energy over the last few years. Treasure Valley realtors are President Donald Trump has said he will re- view coal regulations with an eye to helping the industry grow. But Idaho Power is worried that despite talk of lower regulation, high CO2-emit- adding 3D models to listings ting fuel sources such as coal will continue to be- come less profitable in the long term, Bowlin said. “We are continuing on the glide path away BY BENTON ALEXANDER SMITH A Silicon Valley company called Matterport has from coal because it seems more economically vi- Idaho Business Review created a camera capable of scanning a room and cre- able for our customers,” Bowlin said. ating a 3D walk through online. Treasure Valley real- Since 2010, coal has made up between 30 per- More and more real estate agents are taking ad- tors are now using the camera to replace traditional cent and 40 percent of Idaho Power’s fuel mix. To vantage of 3D modeling in the Treasure Valley. still photos of properties. replace that energy, Idaho Power plans to use a Several businesses have incorporated 3D technolo- “The nice thing about it is you click on the video mix of new solar project and Oregon renewable gy into their services the last few years, but the equip- and you can move around,” said Natalie Wilhite, a re- energy sources. Idaho Power has contracted with ment required to create 3D models has only recently altor with Team Realty in Nampa. “With the still pho- several solar farms over the last few years and has become accessible enough to attract local real estate agents. See 3D, page 19 See COAL, page 19 HOW WILL RISING INTEREST RATES AFFECT MY BUSINESS? VISIT THEBANKOFHOW.COM Business Viewpoint List Tax exemption bill ■ Page 3 Page 18 Usful Glassworks has hit a rough ■ spot Survey shows how lawyers use Public Notice technology in 2017 ■ Page 21 ■ Page 8 PO 8866, Boise, ID 83707 | 855 W. Broad St., Suite 103, Boise | 208.336.3768 | www.idahobusinessreview.com 2 IDAHO BUSINESS REVIEW | March 24, 2017 | WWW.IDAHOBUSINESSREVIEW.COM News 4 9 20 News News Special Features 3 Small businesses could soon have more access 7 State of Idaho looks to buy Hewlett-Packard 6 In Brief: ISU adds graduate-level taxation to property tax exemptions campus degree 4 BSU to study economic impact of Treefort Mu- 7 RoundUp sic Fest Business Viewpoint 18 List: Law firms 4 Idaho Youth Ranch will move Fairview store 8 Wallace Allen: Usful Glassworks has hit a into former Kmart building rough spot 21 Public Notice 5 Idaho tops nation in job growth for 2016 8 Black: Survey shows how lawyers use technol- 23 People ogy in 2017 5 Coffee shop will join the Chevron station in Harris Ranch Bus riders find merit in public transit BY TEYA VITU “I don’t want to deal with Refugees often rely on Idaho Business Review the parking,” Probert said. public transportation as “It’s a lot faster to go with well, said Joe Swenson, who There’s a stigma to riding the bus in the bus. I definitely consid- owns Square One Advisory the Treasure Valley. ered selling my car a few Services, a business consult- Donna Bernardelli, who rides to work times.” ing company. at the Moffatt Thomas law firm every day, New arrivals to the Trea- “Chances are the transit hears it all the time. sure Valley don’t see the system doesn’t support get- “’Are you afraid to drive? Do you have existing commute - which ting them to work,” Swenson a DUI?’” she said. “I get a lot of ‘Don’t you is generally a half an hour said. “They have to drive. ride with a lot of weird people?’ The over- from downtown Boise to They get old junkers that all impression is it’s dirty and there are Nampa in rush hour - as don’t work particularly well. strange people on it.” onerous. If they had an alternative, Office workers, the elderly, school chil- “My buyers are real- they would do it.” dren, young adults, refugees and others ly happy about commute The elderly and disabled use Valley Regional Transit buses, Ada times,” said Brandi Holaday, also tend to rely on public County Highway District’s Commuteride an agent at Hughes Real Es- Photo by Pete Grady transit. vans or Treasure Valley Transit rural tate Group in Boise. “They Boise Young Professionals members Heather Kimmett (left), “As you get older, your bus service. But those riders make up less don’t see that growth but I Chase Erkins, Amy Probert and Wyatt Schroeder aboard a Valley- reflexes slow down,” said than 1 percent of the local population, ac- do. I think it’s important to Ride bus discussing the merits of public transit for the younger Lupe Wissel, state director cording to the Community Planning Asso- look at long-term growth (in generations. of AARP Idaho, which has ciation of Southwest Idaho, or COMPASS. terms of increasing public 178,000 members in Ida- “There is the attitude to ‘those peo- transit).” ho. “How can folks still get ple,’” said Bernardelli, who rides the bus Boise Mayor David Bieter recalls hear- portation if it is robust enough to make around safely? Right now, we are pretty to work between Middleton and down- ing of a Pacific Northwest real estate it convenient, high quality, and service is limited with what’s available. You cannot town Boise. consultant who said, “If frequent enough that it can compete with afford a cab. The (Treasure Valley Transit Nowhere in America you’re not showing me a the option of driving a personal car,” said buses) go by every hour. If you have some is public transit a univer- project with rail transit, Kelli Badesheim, executive director of illness, how long do they wait?” sal mode of transport. DRIVE don’t even show them to Valley Regional Transit. Wissel noted that for many of the el- Even in New York City, me.” Better public transit would also help derly and disabled, transit means inde- only 54 percent of com- TIME Bernardelli drives very low-income people get to work, said pendence. muters ride public tran- AN EIGHT-PART SERIES ON PUBLIC 4 miles to a bus stop to Wyatt Schroeder, executive director of “Once you can’t drive, you are at the sit. Portland, Ore. has a TRANSIT IN THE TREASURE VALLEY catch the single morning Charitable Assistance to Community’s mercy of someone who can drive you,” transit ridership of only run of Valley Regional Homeless (CATCH). Wissel said. “I think it’s happening more 12 percent, according to Transit’s Route 44 bus, “Families spend $250 a month on a car than we know.” Census Bureau’s American Community which she has ridden since the route with an income of $800,” he said. “For Survey. started in June 2007. She does drive once those families, transportation is a lifeline. Idaho Business Review staff writer Teya Vitu has rid- But public transit advocates say tran- a week, usually. With transit, they can live farther out of den on at least 14 streetcar systems and at least 16 sit ridership has been steadily increasing “Money. It’s all about the money,” Ber- town (where it’s cheaper to live).” subway systems across the U.S., Canada and Europe. since bottoming out in the mid-1970s. Cit- nardelli said, adding that her employer ies in the 1970s that essentially rejected pays half of parking or half of bus fare for public transit, such as Los Angeles, Dal- employees. Her half of parking would be las, Phoenix, Denver, and Salt Lake City, $780 and her half for the bus is $258.