Representatives from the Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization (SIEDO) met with the Blaine County Commission Tuesday to discuss ways to enhance the Wood River Valley's job market.
SIEDO is a marketing organization formed five years ago to recruit and develop business throughout southern Idaho.
The city of Hailey and Blaine County purchased the services of SIEDO over a year ago for roughly $6,000 a year. Commissioner Tom Bowman said in the past year the organization's marketing and recruiting attracted a "couple nibbles" from businesses eyeing the Wood River Valley but nothing materialized.
The Blaine County Commission will discuss whether to continue the services of SIEDO in the coming weeks.
Conversation on Tuesday focused on Blaine County's increasing struggles to attract employees and new businesses due to the high cost of living and shortage of entry-level housing. Lee Wagner, general manager of KMVT-TV in Twin Falls and a member of the SIEDO board, noted that Blaine County is a "different critter," but there are still opportunities to attract new business.
Commissioner Tom Bowman wondered whether "we would be competing against ourselves" by trying to attract new business when there's already a shortage of employees.
"Instead of looking for more (business) development, shouldn't Blaine County want to be more diversified?" Bowman asked.
Jerry Beck, president of the College of Southern Idaho, which has a campus in Hailey, said there are already qualified candidates in Blaine County whose talents have not been used, and the establishment of new businesses should not be discouraged.
Beck was backed by Hailey Mayor Susan McBryant.
"We do have the employees," she said. "We have a lot of underutilized talent. That's the anomaly of ski areas. They attract highly educated people who become dishwashers. We need to tap into that resource of people that are underutilized."
Beck said that about 90 College of Southern Idaho students currently commute to Blaine County for a variety of internships.
"They dream about living here," he said.
State Rep. Wendy Jaquet, D-Ketchum, who has helped SIEDO evolve over the last five years, stressed that it's important not to "lose sight of the issue involving housing."
Blaine County recently passed an ordinance requiring all future subdivisions in the county to include 20 percent community housing.
Jima Rice, a member of the county's Planning and Zoning Commission, founded the Entrepreneurs Collaborative last April to assist small businesses throughout the county. She said about 85 percent of the businesses in the valley are entrepreneurial, with between one and 10 employees.
"They're hungry to expand their businesses," she said.
She is currently working on the creation of an economic development partnership to grow small businesses and job opportunities throughout the Wood River Valley.
