North Idaho Janna

IDAHO may be best known for its potatoes - it produces, after all, a third of all the potatoes in the United States. But its economy is increasingly being driven by technology and green manufacturing companies, big and small.  A great article in New York Times reports that some 70% of Idaho's economy is high technology.  Who knew?  Here under the tall timbers in North Idaho, where we are closer to Seattle than we are to Boise, I haven't seen many signs of EITHER potatoes or technology....

Yet it was the potato, in a way, that started Idaho on a path to high technology industry. In 1978, the late Jack Simplot, founder of the J.R. Simplot Company, developer of Idaho russet potatoes and of freeze-dried French fries for McDonald's, invested in a start-up called Micron Technology, a maker of semiconductors.

Micron now has more than 20,000 employees and close to $6 billion in annual revenues. (Micron is not immune to the turmoil in global economic markets. It announced last week that it would lay off more than 3,000 employees in the next two years because of a glut in microchips.)

Idaho farmers have been backing technological start-ups ever since. Gerald R. Thompson, for example, said he raised $2 million from farmers near Boise in 2006 to start a company, Sky Detective. The company combines global positioning satellite technology with cellular phone technology from Qualcomm to produce a device capable of tracking people and cargoes anywhere in the world. 

Facinating article!

Janna Rankin Scharf, GRI, CSP, CLHMS
Associate Broker
Coldwell Banker Schneidmiller Realty
(208)651-9700
NorthIdahoJanna@gmail.com
www.JannaScharf.com