Utilities

• Electricity: Idaho Power
• Internet: Check our Internet Business Directory
• Natural Gas: Intermountain Gas Co.
• Sewer: Contact your city administration
• Telephone: Qwest
• Water: United Water of Idaho

Transition services:

• Jobs
• Apartments.com
• LendingTree.com
• Temporary lodging
• Search for hotels/motels
• Discounted Moving Boxes
• National Contractors.com
• Comprehensive Restaurant Guide
• Planning For Long Term and Elder Care

General:

• Ada County Highway District - manages roads in Ada County
• Emergency services - police, fire, hospitals, etc.
• Government agencies - state, local
• Best of the Treasure Valley - annual readers' choice survey
• Discover the Treasure Valley - find out more about the area

Downtown Boise

Boise Metro Economic Develop. Council

"We provide critical information at key points in the business expansion, location and start-up processes"

The Boise Metro Economic Development Council (BMEDC) is the separately funded economic development division of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce. With the long-term mission of creating jobs, encouraging investment in the community, and maintaining a balanced quality of life, the BMEDC is actively involved in the economic vitality of the Boise metropolitan area and the Treasure Valley.

What do we do? The BMEDC provides critical information at key points in the business expansion, location and start-up processes.

Regional Information: We represent the ACE Communities - Ada, Canyon and Elmore counties as a primary contact for economic development within the region.

Site Location: We offer many services to businesses considering location or expansion within the area including arranging and hosting site visits; determining available labor and rates; utility costs and addressing many other special requirements business prospects may have.

Business Retention and Expansion: We provide assistance to both existing businesses and start-up businesses in the Boise metropolitan area, providing data for business plans and helping with special problems, and state and local regulations.

International Business: We co-host seminars and maintain relationships with international service providers and many consular offices in the western United States in order to offer assistance to area businesses interested in selling their goods and services in the global marketplace.

Venture Capital: We sponsor an Annual Venture Capital Investor's Forum and bring together entrepreneurs, angel investors and service providers throughout the year.

Area Demographics: We gather statistical information about the Boise metropolitan statistical area.

About Ada County

It was French Canadian fur trappers that gave Boise its name in the very early 1800's. Traveling through the high desert terrain, they came upon the valley, "Les Boise!" they exclaimed: "The Trees!" Ada County was established as part of the Idaho Territory in 1864 with Boise as its county seat.

In 1890, Idaho was admitted as the 43rd state, and the City of Boise was chosen as its capital. Boise has aptly become the premier city in the state leading in population, manufacturing, retailing and quality of life. Ada County prospers through Boise's strengths, as does the other cities in the metropolitan statistical area: Eagle, Garden City, Kuna, Meridian and the adjoining counties of Canyon and Elmore.

Men with a vision made Ada County a corporate landmark. Men like C.W. Moore whose general store has evolved into US Bancorp. W.H. Morrison, and M.H. Knudsen, founders of the Morrison-Knudsen Corporation, now the global engineering and construction company Washington Group International; J.R. Simplot who started the Simplot Corporation and made Idaho famous for its potatoes; and Joe Albertson, who dream of food distributing netted one of American's largest and fastest growing chains of supermarkets. The list is long, Micron Technology, Inc. Hewlett-Packard, Boise Cascade Corporation, T.J. International, PRECO, Inc., and SCP Global Technologies. The pioneering, entrepreneurial spirit is nurtured here.

People are drawn to the Boise Valley from all over the world. Many come having never heard of Boise before; but once here, they often stay, or return with their families. The city and the surrounding area are captivating with their natural beauty, mild welcoming climate, and tradition of friendliness.