Your Future in Technology (YourFIT), is returning to Fort Hall on March 27, at the Shoshone-Bannock High School from 5:30 pm to 7:15 pm.  A Technology Career Expo will be held for middle and high school students from Shoshone-Bannock, Blackfoot and Snake River schools, their parents and area residents.

The Expo will demonstrate High Tech, High Wage and High Demand careers and training available now in various technology fields.  Career paths highlighted during the event are welding, instrumentation/control technology, electrical engineering technology, machining, maintenance engineers/mechanics, information technology/cyber security, unmanned aerial systems (drones) and diesel mechanics. These positions are in high demand in the region and pay very well.

Free pizza, drinks and cookies are available for every event attendee.   There will be drawings for tablets, drones, t-shirts, hoodies and other prizes. Two $500 scholarships to ISU’s College of Technology will be given to participating high school counseling departments to award to one female and one male student in their high school.

Participating middle and high school students can enter the drawings by filling out a survey during the event.  Completed surveys are submitted for entry in the drawings.

Scott Rasmussen, Dean of ISU’s College of Technology noted, “Students can come to the College of Technology and in two years get the skills they need to go out and get a great job. For most all the jobs in the YourFIT program, the College of Technology has 100 percent placement. If you want a job, you’re going to get a job.”

Many great employers will exhibit at YourFIT, in addition to the College of Technology, including: Idaho National Laboratory, Williams Pipeline, Peterson Manufacturing, Premier Technology, Century Link, Bayer, Driscoll Farms, FBI, ON Semiconductor and Idaho Power.

For more information on the program visit http://www.yourfitidaho.org/ and view our video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/woMBT_50cAY

February 25, 2019                                                      Contact: John Regetz, President & CEO

Pocatello-Chubbuck, ID                                   208-530-1400, john@bannockdevelopment.org

The Pine Ridge Mall and Farmer Companies continued their support of Bannock Development Corporation and the community’s prosperity with a $3,000 investment today.  The support will help fund job attraction, talent development and local employer support efforts in Bannock County and the region.  At a ceremony today in the Pine Ridge Mall community leaders took stock of the benefits from both organizations. 

Drake Taylor, presented a check to Bannock Development to support their efforts, including expansion of current employers and recruitment of new ones.  “The Pine Ridge Mall is happy to support Bannock Development’s mission to bring good jobs to our community and grow existing companies.  We want to see the community grow, along with the Pine Ridge Mall and Bannock Development’s efforts help that happen”, said Taylor.

Brandon Lance, Chairman of Bannock Development Corporation, expressed appreciation and support for the Pine Ridge Mall.  “We at Bannock Development Corporation are grateful for the Pine Ridge Mall’s investment and we will use it to get more jobs in town and therefore more people in the Mall.  Our missions are much the same,” said Lance.

Pine Ridge Mall and its parent corporation, Farmer Companies, have supported the community, including Bannock Development Corporation, since Farmer Companies purchased the Mall.  New innovative tenants in the mall include Planet Fitness and GEM Prep School.  The Xtreme Idaho Outdoor Expo will be at the mall on April 5&6.

Recent projects involving the Bannock Development Corporation include the FBI expansion, housing supply research and promotion, Cold Storage development, and economic dashboard development.

Pictured: Co-owner Rory Erchul on Thursday sands a piece of wood that will be used in the new Union Taproom, which will open in early March in the Yellowstone Hotel building on West Bonneville Street in Pocatello. It’s one of five new businesses that will open in Old Town by this spring.

By John O’Connell joconnell@journalnet.com

POCATELLO — Five new businesses are poised to open by this spring in Old Town Pocatello, including a restaurant and taproom and a shop where customers will make their own all-natural personal and household products.

Union Taproom will be located inside the former Yellowstone Hotel at 230 W. Bonneville St. The project is planned by the group of owners who previously opened the high-end Yellowstone restaurant and The 313 Whiskey Bar in the same historic building.

Salt and Honey, which is scheduled to open Feb. 1 inside the Kress Building, 150 S. Main St., Suite A, will sell handmade sustainable, personal and household products made from natural ingredients.×

Photographer Sara Turpin will open the Photo Boutique in the former location of Bill Burke’s House of Photography, 159 S. Main St.

Stephanie Palagi, executive director of Old Town Pocatello, Inc., said announcements will be forthcoming about two additional businesses that plan to open in Old Town by March.

Jennifer Erchul, who is one of the owners planning Union Taproom, said the restaurant will include 26 taps, featuring craft beer from regional breweries. Erchul said the taproom will also offer “food that complements beer,” such as slider hamburgers, wings, pretzel twists with dipping sauces, personal flatbread pizzas and spiced nuts. She said the new business should be open by the first week of March.

“Everything will be made in-house,” Erchul said, adding live music and trivia will be hosted regularly at the restaurant. “The taproom is going to be our extremely casual, more playful side of things.”

Erchul said The Yellowstone restaurant also started opening for lunch recently, with a special lunch menu.

“The experience in Old Town is getting elevated, and to be a part of it is exciting,” Erchul said.

Keri Kimbrough hopes her business, Salt and Honey, will raise public awareness about how disposable products and synthetic ingredients and toxins are harming both the ecosystem and human health.

“There are major issues going on with our planet, and at some point we have to figure out how to live with less waste,” said Kimbrough, who is a certified wellness coach.

Her business will offer a line of reusable products, including reusable cloth trash bags with washable liners, reusable straws, reusable towels and reusable drier balls containing essential oils to replace drier sheets. Her aunt, Barbara Mills, who is also an investor in the business, will supply many of the handmade, reusable products.

Kimbrough will sell natural products such as handmade soaps, lotions and detergents. A unique aspect of her business is that she plans to invite groups of people to develop their own custom recipes and to make their own products in her shop, with her guidance.

Kimbrough worked in the insurance industry for 12 years, before she left Michigan about a year and a half ago to return to her childhood home, Pocatello. She and her brother, Sean Kimbrough, bought the local locksmith shop LDA Security together.

Kimbrough also plans to offer classes in proper composting.

“This is what I really wake up every day and care about,” she said.

Turpin has already opened her photography studio, though her renovations are continuing, and she recently received a permit to replace the door of her business with one bearing her logo. She has a background in graphic design and took photography classes while living in Las Vegas. At the Photo Boutique, she’ll specialize in photographing newborns, children, families and seniors.

Turpin plans to lease part of her space to a retail tenant and is still seeking a potential renter. For more information on her business, visit thephotoboutique.studio.

Palagi said Old Town typically experiences a rash of new business openings during both the spring and fall. Palagi said the forthcoming openings will build on the success of 2018, when a strong economy contributed to a dozen new businesses starting in Old Town. Those businesses are still open and have reported strong sales, she said.

“For the most part, we had a great holiday season,” Palagi said.

She believes the new arrivals will add to the eclectic mix of businesses in Old Town. She’s particularly pleased by the resurgence of the Yellowstone Hotel as as a staple of Old Town.

“It’s absolutely one of the best things to happen in Old Town in the past several years,” Palagi said.

By Danae Lenz, dlenz@journalnet.com courtesy of East Idaho Business Journal

Old Town Pocatello is getting a little snazzier thanks to a new restaurant in the historic Yellowstone Hotel.

The Yellowstone restaurant, 230 W. Bonneville St., is an upscale eatery with a farm-to-table focus, featuring menu items with ingredients from local sources, including produce, meats and more.

The Yellowstone Hotel itself is owned by Pocatello businessman Dick Carroll, but the restaurant on the first floor is owned by local entrepreneurs Rory Erchul, Jennifer Erchul, Denis Clijsters and Mike McCormick.

The restaurant, which had its grand opening Sept. 14, features a rotating menu that changes seasonally and includes vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options.

The current menu includes entrees such as “Tomahawk-style short ribs braised in rich demi-glace with wild mushroom truffle risotto and rosemary aromatic” ($32) and “Frenched chicken breast on top of pappardelle tossed in a creamy basil pesto sauce with sundried tomatoes” ($18) and appetizers such as “assorted cheeses with dried and fresh seasonal fruit, honeycomb and house-made crisp bread” ($15) and “sea mussels steamed in white wine and garlic butter, served with pomme frites” ($12). Everything, including the bread and butter, is made in house.

“This is an experience,” Jennifer Erchul said. “It’s not just a place where you’re going to chow down your food as fast as you can and get out of here. So we want people to linger, and we want them to have great conversation, and we want them to fully enjoy the entire time that they’re here.”

The Yellowstone’s liquor license is taking longer than expected, but despite that, Jennifer Erchul said the new restaurant’s opening night was “fantastic.”

“The great thing is people are already tasting the food and talking about how great the food is, so people are coming for the food,” Jennifer Erchul said. “Some people canceled their reservations because of the alcohol. Some people kept walking because of the alcohol, but people that planned to come in still came in. We had a busy night. It was pretty awesome.”

At most, it will take the restaurant 90 days to obtain its liquor license— and in the meantime you can try what Rory Erchul calls “temple-worthy mocktails.”

“Our LDS friends absolutely love it,” he said. “They feel like we thought of them as well. We thought about that population and what we could provide them. They’re all non-alcoholic drink options that are pretty phenomenal.”

In addition to the main restaurant, there is also a whiskey bar — called The 313 — that has more than 150 whiskeys. Prices will range from $2 to $10 for half-ounce pours and $8 to $40 for 2-ounce pours once The Yellowstone gets its liquor license.

The restaurant will also eventually add The Union, a taproom featuring regional beer and wine and upscale pub food. It’s a more casual option for people wanting to try out The Yellowstone and will be on the back side of the building facing Union Pacific Avenue. The Union still needs to be renovated and is awaiting new flooring and a long bar that will look out toward the railroad tracks. There will also be a large patio outside — complete with heaters, blankets and fire pits so it can be enjoyed in cold weather as well.

Jennifer Erchul said The Union will play host to some events, including comedy nights, live music and game nights.

“We really want to utilize this space for people to have fun,” she said. “This is going to be a grown-up bar. We’re not looking to get super rowdy. We’re not looking to be super loud. But we want to make sure that we do provide entertainment that’s a lot of fun and gives a reason to keep coming back.”

While everything else is worth bragging about as well, the highlight of The Yellowstone is the building itself.

According to SAH Archipedia, “The Yellowstone Hotel, built in support of the Oregon Short Line (Railroad), is a four-story, Renaissance Revival structure lavishly embellished with buff-colored terra-cotta. … This grand hotel and office building still evokes the elegant era of railroad travel.”

The Yellowstone restaurant’s main dining area features tall windows that look out onto South Main and West Bonneville streets. The area has been repainted a soothing gray, and a wall was added in front of the servers’ alley, making the area look tidier and giving servers some privacy.

Next door, the whiskey bar is the best feature of the building. Formerly the Yellowstone Hotel’s lobby, The 313 has all original features, including wallpaper, crown molding and woodwork, which is the main architectural feature of the room, and it is everywhere. The woodwork is a little beat up in some places, but Jennifer Erchul said they refrained from doing any major renovations to the space.

“All we did is come in and we cleaned and then we oiled the wood,” Jennifer Erchul said. “That’s all we did. We don’t want to change anything. … It’s a whiskey bar. It’s supposed to be wood-panelled and old.”

Additionally, a lot of the light fixtures in The Yellowstone are original, including one that has four heads on it: a progression of a woman from childhood to old age.

According to Jennifer Erchul, there is some discrepancy about whether the Yellowstone Hotel was built in 1913 or 1915. Regardless, it’s more than a century old, and in that century several businesses have been located there, including a drug store, various restaurants and bars through the years, as well as a hotel. Most recently, the building was home to The Bridge restaurant, which was sold to the owners of The Yellowstone in August.

“It’s kind of cool thinking about all the people who have walked through these doors in the last hundred years,” Jennifer Erchul said.

The owners hope The Yellowstone will be an asset to Old Town.

“What we want to do with this establishment is we want to help augment all the great things that are happening in Old Town,” Rory Erchul said. “We feel and believe that the more things that are happening down here and the more attractions, the more we’re all going to do better. We want to make Old Town Pocatello a greater destination than it already is. … It’s a great place. So we want to be down here as well.”

Jennifer Erchul added about the restaurant, “We want to be a place for the community. We’re working closely with local farmers and local ranchers, so we’re giving back in that regard. We also want to be a bit of an economic driver down here. We’ve got a large staff compared to (other Old Town businesses), and we want to make sure this is a place that everybody is welcome.”

The Yellowstone restaurant currently employs 25 people.

The Yellowstone opens at 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and continues serving food until 10 p.m. but doesn’t close its doors until midnight. The restaurant also plans to eventually serve lunch.