News

Regional labor market information

Southwestern Idaho’s single-family home sales – January 2023 and 2024

Regional news

Ada County

• For the third year in a row, the Boise Airport broke its annual record for passenger traffic. The airport accommodated 4,990,885 passengers in 2024, this was an uptick of 238,000 passengers from 2023, with a growth rate of 5% from 2023 to 2024. The facility’s passengers increased 81% from 2014-2024. The airport has embarked on an infrastructure expansion due to this growth spurt. A seven-story rental car center is under construction, set to open in 2026. Concourse A will add 10 new gates with availability in 2027. New retail, food and drink options, along with a renovation of the Bardenay Restaurant, will be available within the next year. Much has already been accomplished including a new cell phone lot, increased employee and economy parking lots and an expanded TSA security checkpoint area. Source: KTVB News

• Albertsons Companies announced it will be combining its Intermountain Division and its Denver Division into one Intermountain Division. The company will have three regions and new leadership following previously announced layoffs at Safeway in California and Arizona which affected 380 workers. Source: grocerydive.com

• The Boise School District announced the purchase of three lots and parcels near Timberline High School for future campus expansions. The $3.4 million purchase came from its Plant Facility Fund. Source: KTVB News

• West Ada School District is proposing boundary changes that will impact Hunter Elementary School and Pleasant View Elementary School, both in north Meridian. Hunter Elementary School is currently at 58% capacity but will move to 109% capacity with the proposed changes. Pleasant View Elementary School is at 202% capacity and will be at 151% capacity after the boundary changes. Meridian is a rapidly growing city with a 2023 population estimate of 134,801, second only to Boise. It grew by over 5,000 people from 2022-2023 or 3.9%. Source: Idaho Press and U.S. Census Bureau

• The Idaho History Center, located in Boise near the old Penitentiary and Idaho Botanical Gardens, is set to expand its footprint from 62,000 square feet to 112,000 square feet with a second story. The expansion will combine several locations which are not up to standards for archiving historical documents and treasures. The agency serves over 110,000 people annually who contact its departments including the State Museum, State Archives, State Historic Preservation Office and Old Idaho Penitentiary. It also manages programs under the National Historic Preservation Act which administers the National Register of Historic Places. Having one building will also cut down on transporting fragile items between locations. Half of its budgets comes from fees, public and private grants, memberships and corporate and philanthropic gifts. The rest of the budget is from state funding with $15 million approved for the expansion. Source: Idaho Statesman

Canyon County

• The Western Youth Support Center moved to a larger location in Nampa. The center opened its doors one year ago serving 170 youth, ages 10 through 17. This expansion allows for the use of the facility by children ages five through nine, with parental consent. The type of usage depends on the youth as the facility is designed for visits to rest or recreate and is open 24/7. The process starts with a crisis experienced by a youth with staff responding to both walk-ins and referrals. The intake process involves a medical and mental health screening along with a tour of the center and introduction of staff. The center has expanded its capacity from six youth at a time to nine youth. Prior to 2024, youth in crisis went into police custody or the emergency rooms of local hospitals. The state of Idaho committed $6.5 million to establish eight youth assessment centers across the state. Source: Idaho Press

• The city of Nampa announced that Tractor Supply will build a new distribution center to serve the Pacific Northwest’s 200 stores. The facility will be a $225 million investment with space of 865,000 square feet and yield the creation of 500 jobs. There are currently 12 retail stores in Idaho with Emmett, Kuna and Middleton nearby. To commemorate the event, Tractor Supply donated $20,000 to local Future Farmers of America and 4-H programs. Source: tractorsupply.com

• The College of Idaho announced it will rename its basketball arena after one of its first renown student basketball players, NBA Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor, who moved on to become a Minneapolis Laker around the late-1950s. Mr. Baylor was the first round draft pick and named Rookie Player of the Year. He later moved with the team to its current home in Los Angeles. It will be called the Elgin Baylor Arena. There are currently six students with tuition paid by a scholarship in his name. Source: Boise State Public Radio and Wikipedia

Owyhee County

• Southwest Idaho Legacy Organization (SILO) awarded four grants to regional groups.
  • The Homedale High School Golf Program received $43,590, which will be used to purchase indoor and outdoor practice equipment.
  • The Homedale High School Drama Club used its $3,355 award to purchase equipment for stage productions. The equipment came with delivery and installation, a big help for those busy teachers.
  • The Homedale Library District received $1,800 for two new computers to be utilized by the public.
  • The Marsing School District received $800 to purchase food for two community education events that are held in the evenings. Offering dinner has been found to heighten participation of these events that provide information on mental health and substance abuse.
• SILO was founded in 1976 when the Caldwell Memorial Hospital was sold. A board comprised of community members reviews the funding requests from Canyon and Owyhee counties, not including Nampa. Source: The Owyhee Avalanche  

Openings

• Chick-fil-A opened its sixth restaurant in the Treasure Valley, on the west side of Meridian. The franchise hired approximately 120 full-and part-time workers. Source: Chick-fil-A.com

• Canyon County hosted a grand opening and ribbon cutting at its new Elections Building in Caldwell — the county seat. The $4.7 million, 16,500 square foot building was built with American Rescue Plan Act funding. It will expand space for a rapidly growing county which grew its residents from 2013-2023 by 33,865 or 30.6%, a 2.5% average annualized population growth rate. The facility is intended to ensure secure, efficient and accessible processing for elections. Source: Idaho Capital Sun

• Bardenay opened its fourth Idaho restaurant and distillery in Garden City. The 7,500 square foot space allocates 4,500 square feet to its restaurant and patio, with 3,000 square feet to the distillery. This quadruples the size of its Eagle distillery and will enable the company to produce canned cocktails and offer direct sales to the consumer with an in-restaurant state liquor store. It shares both a parking lot and a liquor license with the Riverside Hotel and Sandbar Restaurant. Source: Idaho Press

• Bamboo Sushi and Asian Bistro opened in Boise. It filled the space vacated by Madurai Virundhu. Source: BoiseDev

Closings

• The pet microchipping company, Save This Life closed its doors unexpectedly rendering the implanted chips meaningless for pet owners across the Treasure Valley. Other microchip companies can re-register for pet owners who have retained the chipping paperwork. Source: KTVB News

• The Boise Joann Craft and Fabric retail outlet will be part of a bankruptcy proceeding that closes its operations. The national company had been in business for over 75 years. Source: Idaho News 6

• Forever 21 will close in Boise’s Town Square Mall where it originally leased 18,000 square feet in 2008. The company has been facing financial struggles since 2019 and plans its second bankruptcy filing impacting stores nationally. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Volcom announced it will close its store in the Boise Town Square Mall as it files bankruptcy across its family of stores including Billabong and Quiksilver. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Mad Mac is closing its Kuna restaurant and returning to food truck status only. The restaurant enjoyed brick and mortar status in Boise for four years, then almost two years in Kuna. Source: Idaho Statesman

• El Tenampa and the former Johnny Carino’s restaurants at Boise’s Spectrum will be razed and replaced with a Chick-fil-A. The Johnny Carino space has been vacant since 2016, while El Tenampa will rebuild at its original location in Nampa where a fire caused its departure. Source: Idaho Statesman

Groundbreakings

• A groundbreaking was hosted by the College of Western Idaho for its student success center. The center will be home to the bookstore, a library, tutoring space and a one-stop center for students. Construction is expected to be completed by fall of 2026. The total cost is $21.7 million and will be named the CapEd Student Success Center in honor of the credit union which supplemented the state’s funding. Source: Idaho News 6

This Idaho Department of Labor project is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor for SFY25 as part of the Workforce Information grant (40%) and state/nonfederal funds (60%) totaling $885,703.

This workforce product was funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The product was created by the recipient and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership. This product is copyrighted by the institution that created it. Internal use by an organization and/or personal use by an individual for non-commercial purposes is permissible. All other uses require the prior authorization of the copyright owner.

Regional labor market information

Southwestern Idaho’s single-family home sales – December 2023 and 2024

Ada County

• The North End Zone project broke ground as the Boise State Bronco’s blue turf adds skyboxes and more elite seating for fans. The $65 million project will allow other sports to utilize the facility when football season is over. The Boise State band will move to the South End Zone for next year’s football season. Source: Idaho News 6

• Albertsons Companies announced there will be layoffs within its Idaho corporate workforce but will not affect store personnel. The specifics are still being reviewed and will be announced over the next month. This comes after a planned acquisition by Kroger was deemed a threat to competition by the courts. The ruling was handed down after lawsuits were filed by the state attorney generals in both Washington and Colorado. Albertsons Companies immediately filed a lawsuit against Kroger for undermining the transaction. Source: KTVB News and Idaho Statesman

• The Supreme Court ruled against the district court’s affirmation of the Boise City Council decision which allowed a conditional use permit for the Interfaith Sanctuary’s new shelter in Boise. The permit was originally denied by Boise Planning and Zoning based on concerns of the Veteran’s Park Neighborhood Association. The decision was overturned by Boise City Council members. The nonprofit has started renovation and construction of the 200-bed shelter. The case has been remanded to the district court with instructions to invalidate the council’s actions. Source: CBS2 News

Boise County

• Highway 21 was closed for an extended period due to avalanches and the potential to trigger additional avalanches. The closure of the road impacts residents of Idaho City and Lowman, as well as deliveries to stores and residents living in these mountainous areas. People traveling to Stanley had been rerouted to Highway 75, adding an additional couple of hours to the drive. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Bogus Basin received the prestigious top award for best ski resorts nationally by Newsweek based on a poll of its readership (rankings provided below). The Bogus Basin Tubing Hill was ranked seventh by Newsweek readers in its category of tubing hills. Source: Idaho Business Review

1. Bogus Basin, Boise, Idaho
2. Deer Valley Resort, Park City, Utah
3. Whiteface Mountain, Wilmington, New York
4. Sun Valley Resort, Sun Valley, Idaho
5. Aspen Snowmass Ski Resort, Snowmass Village, Colorado
6. Vail Ski Resort, Vail, Colorado
7. Alta Ski Area, Alta, Utah
8. Telluride Ski Resort, Telluride, Colorado
9. Heavenly Ski Resort, South Lake Tahoe, California
10. Steamboat Ski Resort, Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Canyon County

• St. Luke’s announced the opening of an OB/GYN clinic in Nampa above the former Saltzer Urgent Care Clinic. The closure of Saltzer’s operations by its parent company, Intermountain Health, left a women’s health services void. It employed nine physicians, either medical doctors, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives or physicians’ assistants. To further exacerbate the shortage, Caldwell’s West Valley Medical Center closed its labor and delivery unit, along with its OB/GYN practice. St. Luke’s will open with one full-time physician and two full-time certified nurse midwives initially. Source: Idaho News 6

• Darigold, a subsidiary of Northwest Dairy Association, with member dairies in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, received and agreed to pay a $318,000 fine from the Environmental Protection Agency. The company’s milk processing plant in Caldwell is accused of high levels of E. coli exceeding allowable limits in its discharge to the lower Boise River which feeds into the Snake River, then the Columbia River before connecting with the Pacific Ocean. The 300,000 gallons that are dumped daily based on Darigold’s permit were allowed volume-wise, yet the company failed to properly inspect and test for bacteria counts. The incidents occurred in January and May of 2020, then again in May 2021. Source: Idaho Statesman

Elmore County

• Mountain Home’s Richard McKenna Charter High School is expanding with the addition of 25,000 square feet at an estimated cost of $9.8 million. The addition to the existing high school building includes a new gym for indoor sports and workout equipment, along with a garage for the buses and vans used to transport students. There will be more classrooms with an emphasis on drones, robots, cyber security and programming. Completion should be in May of this year. An additional 130 students were enrolled prompting the expansion. Source: Mountain Home News 

Gem County

• Connectivity will soon be enhanced in Emmett after completion of a project that is underway. Idaho communities from Grangeville to Star will be positively impacted by the investment. Currently, multiple crews are laying 198 miles of fiber optic cable that will allow broadband access by both municipalities and private providers to these rural areas. Grant funding was provided by a middle-mile infrastructure grant from the State of Idaho’s Broadband Advisory Board, which is a conduit to the CARES Act monies. The grant provided $20 million with a $60 million match from participating entities. Crews are installing one to two miles of cable daily. Work around Emmett is to be completed this January by the public and private collaboration between Intermountain Infrastructure Group and Idaho Regional Optical Network. The project started in 2023 and has a completion deadline of February 2026. Source: Idaho Press  

Owyhee County

• Conduit for broadband is being installed in Murphy based on a $4.3 million grant from the Idaho Broadband Advisory Board. White Cloud Communications obtained the grant to provide fiber optic connectivity to rural Owyhee County. A new cell tower has already been developed in Murphy based on an earlier attempt to utilize broadband funding. More projects throughout the county will be completed in Grand View and Bruneau with the plan to provide fiber for Rimrock Schools and C.J. Strike Reservoir. Source: The Owyhee Avalanche

Valley County

• The McCall-Donnelly School District hosted a grand opening of its new employee housing development. The project offers eight units with six one-bedroom units; two two-bedroom, two-bath units and one two-bedroom, two-bath specifically designed to accommodate those with a disability. The units are for the school district employees only and rent will be based on a sliding scale to keep costs at 30% of the tenant’s income. The project started two years ago and ran into delays due to broader infrastructure issues. The project was budgeted at $5.3 million and has stayed within these parameters with landscaping to follow this spring. Source: The McCall Star-News

Ground breakings

• Ada County broke ground on the new park in Garden City at Expo Idaho. The $32 million dollar project is funded by American Rescue Plan funding and must be completed by 2026. The park is designed on 50 acres to include trails, open spaces, a skate park and a natural play area for children. It is being compared to New York City’s Central Park and estimate its influence over the next 50 years will be considerable. The Western Idaho Fair will continue in the same space as the last 58 years. Source: Boise State Public Radio

• Canyon County and Caldwell officials celebrated the groundbreaking of a new sheriff’s administration building in Caldwell. The new 82,866 square foot building has three stories and will house between 120 and 130 employees of departments including emergency operations, dispatch centers, pretrial and alternative sentencing services, the public records division along with training and meeting rooms for law enforcement personnel across the Treasure Valley. The $27.6 million cost is funded by American Rescue Plan Act monies and should be ready for occupancy by March 2026. Source: Idaho Press

Openings

• First Federal Bank, a 100-year-old mutual bank, opened a new branch in downtown Nampa – its 14th Idaho bank branch. The financial institution entered the Treasure Valley 10 years ago with operations based out of Twin Falls. A mutual bank is owned by its depositors and reinvests in the community. Source: Idaho Business Review

• The Griddle opened its fifth Idaho restaurant at the former Gino’s Italian Ristorante in Meridian. It has one other Meridian restaurant, in addition to eateries in Boise, Nampa and Eagle. Source: Idaho Statesman

• A virtual reality arcade opened in Meridian’s former Furniture Outfitters building. VR1 Arcade offers a new concept of gaming, as well as the payment method of a daily pass, rather than charging for each game. There is access to thousands of games plus the arcade can hold up to 84 people. There is also an in-house restaurant offering burgers and refreshments. On average, guests stay at the arcade for four to five hours. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Big Bun Drive-In opened a second restaurant at the previous Carl’s Jr. location in Garden City. It distributed free milkshakes on its first Saturday in operation to celebrate the opening. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Caldwell has its first Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop. It celebrated its grand opening with giveaways and different deals throughout the month of January. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Mazzah Mediterranean Grill opened within the auspices of Boise’s downtown Warehouse Food Hall. The Warehouse is now at capacity with 16 food and beverage choices. Source: Idaho Business Review

• Pueblo Lindo opened a family-style Mexican restaurant in Eagle. The location has been vacant since 2023 after Holy Cow Idaho lasted a year in the former Buster’s Sports Bar & Grill space. This is its third location with other restaurants in Meridian and McCall. Source: Idaho Statesman

• Americana Pizza — known for its popular New York style pizza — opened its second Boise restaurant in the former Cucina di Paolo building. The building is known for the signage that includes a laundry woman and her wash basin that originally attracted customers to a laundromat in the 1950’s. Temporarily, the new owners have dressed her in a ninja turtle costume. Source: Idaho Statesman

Closures

• Kohl’s announced the closing of its store in the Boise Town Square Mall. The Meridian and Nampa stores will remain open. Employees have been informed of their severance packages or if they can move to a different store or position within the company, according to a company news release. Source: Idaho Statesman

This Idaho Department of Labor project is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor for SFY25 as part of the Workforce Information grant (40%) and state/nonfederal funds (60%) totaling $885,703.

This workforce product was funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration. The product was created by the recipient and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Labor makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership. This product is copyrighted by the institution that created it. Internal use by an organization and/or personal use by an individual for non-commercial purposes is permissible. All other uses require the prior authorization of the copyright owner.