Small Business of the Year (small size): Snake River Pool & Spa of Idaho LLC.
Small Business of the Year (medium size): Western Heating & Air Conditioning Inc.
Nonprofit Excellence: The Salvation Army Boise.
Financial Services Industry Excellence: U.S. Bank.
Healthcare Industry Excellence: Terry Reilly Health Services.
Travel Industry Excellence: Block 22 LLC d.b.a. The Grove Hotel, CenturyLink Arena and Idaho Steelheads.
Government Advocate of the Year: Elam & Burke P.A.
The chamber also honored Dennis Johnson, president and CEO of United Heritage Life Insurance, with its 2016 Hall of Fame Award. Johnson was chairman of the chamber board in 2005-06.
Cope Collision Center in Meridian has been certified by Assured Performance, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, for maintaining the right tools, equipment, training and facility to repair vehicles of participating automaker brands according to the manufacturer’s specifications.
D. L. Evans Bank was recognized by the Small Business Administration as “SBA Community/Rural Lender of the Year” for 2015.
The University of Idaho College of Law was recently ranked No. 18 for employment outcomes for its graduates by the American Bar Association. The data, based on the Class of 2015, ranks the college No. 3 west of the Mississippi River, behind the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford.
The U of I says employment outcomes improved more than 10 percent over 2014, with more than 78 percent of law school graduates in the Class of 2015 finding full-time, bar passage-required jobs in the legal industry.
The college also climbed 16 spots in this spring’s U.S. News & World Report data, to No. 111 of the best law schools in the nation.
Law School Transparency, a website aimed at giving prospective law students the most complete information available about law school costs and outcomes, ranks the U of I school as No. 30 in the country. It also scores UI as the fourth-least-expensive law school based on projected debt at repayment. The College of Law’s average student indebtedness at the time of graduation is in the bottom 20 percent nationally.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has awarded a three-year, $2.9 million contract to evaluate the Statewide Healthcare Innovation Plan, or SHIP, to a team of researchers led by the University of Idaho. The team comprises researchers from the U of I, the Idaho WWAMI Medical Education Program and Boise State University’s College of Health Sciences.
Funding comes through a $40 million 2014 grant from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to create and test a model health care system that focuses on value rather than the volume of care provided. Fifty-five Idaho medical practices have been selected as the state’s first cohort, with the goal of expanding to 165 practices over the next two years.
Janet Reis, research professor, and Tim Dunnagan, dean of the College of Health Sciences, will serve as principal investigators on the subaward to Boise State. They will partner with other U of I and Boise State researchers, including Jayne Josephsen, associate professor in Boise State’s School of Nursing; Shenghan Xu, the evaluation team’s overall principal investigator and program director and an associate professor of operations management in the U of I College of Business and Economics; Jeff Seegmiller, director of Idaho WWAMI and an associate professor in the U of I College of Education; and SeAnne Safaii, an associate professor in the U of I College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
WWAMI stands for Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. WWAMI provides publicly supported medical education to increase the number of primary-care physicians.
The College of Idaho has been named to the 2016-17 edition of Colleges of Distinction, a guidebook that features schools it considers the nation’s best places to learn, grow and succeed.
Ada County Paramedics has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline Quality Achievement Award for two years in a row. The award recognizes success in improving measures for patients with heart attacks, known as STEMI (ST elevation myocardial infarction).
The U.S. Department of Commerce presented three Idaho companies with the president’s “E” Award for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports. They are AERO Specialties Inc. of Boise, HMI Hamilton Manufacturing Inc. of Twin Falls and PakSense of Boise.
The Idaho Transportation Department won three awards from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, including two for efforts to increase public awareness of critical highway-safety initiatives.
The department’s Idaho Online Driver Record Dashboard won in the Innovative Use of Technology category. The tool lets businesses constantly track the status of employees’ driver’s licenses.
“Gramma’s House or the Big House” won the Public Affairs and Consumer Education award in the Digital Graphics category. The campaign based on the theme “Impaired driving wrecks the holiday” included a visual providing a clear choice of two possible destinations for holiday dinner.
The “Drive Safe, Belts On” video won the Public Affairs and Consumer Education award in the Internally Produced PSA or TV Commercial category. The ads were aimed at young drivers to help make seat belt use a habit early.
Treasure Valley Hospice and Healthwise have been honored with 2016 When Work Works Awards for use of workplace strategies to increase business and employee success. This awards are part of the national When Work Works project administered by the Families and Work Institute and the Society for Human Resource Management.
Wire Stone, a digital marketing agency in Boise, has acquired Tenthwave Digital, a New York City agency, on undisclosed terms. The acquisition expands Wire Stone’s national footprint to include the East Coast and adds about 60 people to its 200-employee roster of integrated marketing specialists.
Barry Equipment & Rental Inc., of Nampa and Twin Falls, have become authorized sales, service, parts and rental providers of Doosan construction equipment, including crawler excavators, wheel excavators, material handlers and wheel loaders. The dealership’s two locations are at 2324 Caldwell Blvd., Nampa, and 465 Addison Ave. W., Twin Falls.
Spherion Staffing Services has opened a Meridian office at 3999 Overland Road. It will be managed by Aubrey Robison in partnership with Ron and Jennifer Zarbock, of Utah. Robison joined Spherion in 2013 and has served as vice president of the company’s six Utah-based affiliates.
The Boise Hawks Baseball Club, a Class A Short Season Northwest League affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, has announced a partnership with TuneIn internet radio to broadcast all 2016 Hawks’ games. Each of the 76 home and away games will be available via BoiseHawks.com, the Minor League Baseball First Pitch mobile application (Android and iOS), and the TuneIn Radio mobile application (Android and iOS). This season, Steve Granado will be the voice of Hawks baseball.
New Plymouth’s Internet Truckstop Group, a freight-matching network, announced an investment from Bregal Sagemount, a New York private-equity firm,to support the company’s continued expansion. Phil Yates, a Bregal Sagemount founding partner, will join ITG’s board. Other terms were not disclosed.
AT&T says it invested more than $150 million in 90 upgrades in its Idaho wireless networks from 2013 through 2015 to improve reliability, coverage and speed. The company said it doubled capacity at more than 30 sites including Boise, Caldwell, Meridian, Pocatello, Rexburg and Twin Falls. It also launched nearly 30 4G LTE cell sites in areas including Albion, Ashdon, Driggs, Island Park, Mountain Home, St. Anthony and Swan Valley.
Mayor Dave Bieter recognized seven businesses, organizations and building owners at a May luncheon hosted by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Idaho. Here are the winners and the city’s reasons.
La Pointe Apartments, 1011 La Pointe St. The building uses natural colors and textures that complement adjacent buildings and the colors and textures along the Boise River.
Hawkinson Building, 592 W. McGregor Drive. The building was designed and constructed for the owner’s personal woodworking shop and storage. It recalls the industrial designs of the early 20th century.
St. Luke’s Shoreline Center, 1471 W. Shoreline Drive. The building was fully sprinklered and a new fire alarm system was installed. An accessible entrance ramp was added.
Ashtree Passive House, 727 N. Ashtree Way. A new single-family residence that meets the stringent Passive House building standards. The project is Idaho’s first PHIUS+ Certified Passive House.
VA Women’s Wellness Center, 500 W. Fort St. The new clinic is designed to meet the needs of women veterans and their families. The building meets the VA Sustainable Design and Energy Reduction standards.
Ada County Paramedics Medic 17 Station, 1666 W. Ridenbaugh St. The existing Ridenbaugh Street Ada County Paramedics Response Station was remodeled to provide an efficient site for a two- to three-person crew.
The Terraces of Boise, 5301 E. Warm Springs Ave. The retirement community offers residential living, assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care all on one campus.
This is the ninth year Boise has partnered with BOMA in presenting the awards.