Idaho's economy slumps over, sputtering

Last week Micron Technologies announced a plan to shut down some of the remaining manufacturing fabs still operating at the Boise plant. This week, Tamarack Resort announces it's complete and total shutdown, effective immediately.

For Idahoans, these are major losses. Not only are hundreds of jobs disappearing in one fell swoop, but the economic climate statewide is becoming increasingly dire.

Idaho's economy has traditionally been rooted in agriculture. In the technology boom of the nineties, Micron and Hewlett Packard rose to become the chief employers of the greater Boise urban area. The 1990 population of 125,000 rose to 215,000 in 2008, cookie-cutter developments between the capital city and neighboring Nampa popping up like noxious weeds to accomodate the growth. Now, the two municipalities are virtually inseparable, along with other once divided small towns such as Meridian, Eagle, Caldwell, and Kuna.

We all watched this happen. Recall with me drives out to Farmer Brown's, along the expanse of farms and nothingness that used to be the picture of Chinden Rd. Recall that once, a corn field wasn't a Halloween venue, but the rhythmic lines of tall, green plants passing out the windows of the car for seemingly endless miles. That and the smell of mint fields being mowed are immortalized in the memories of my Idaho childhood.

In high school, I spent a summer working for a cleaning company employed by Aspen Homes, a major developer in the Meridian/Nampa vicinity. The real estate market in Idaho was exploding, and people were flocking to the Treasure Valley from everywhere. For months, I cleaned the same interiors and floorplans ad nausea, the only distinctions setting them apart being the cheesy, cutesy neighborhood titles.

I could rant on about urban development, neighborhoods without character, and the slow death of the West as we've known it. But the truth is, it was good to the City of Trees while it lasted, the economy statewide was thriving with the influx of industry and swift population growth. It was nice to have good cash flow trickling down, even to the same psuedo-tile laminate flooring I knelt and scrubbed in different houses. We could hardly keep up that summer, worked overtime most evenings, and I made a decent cash wage even as a high school kid.

Contrast then to now. I heard that a post on the Boise Craigslist for a $7/hour had 400 applicants within an hour yesterday. As mortgages still need to be paid and basic needs of families must be met, people are terrified. Any job in the Treasure Valley is going to see serious competition this summer.

Onto the subject of Governor Otter.

Since taking office in January of 2007, he has aggressively cut down the size of government. Entire departments in the building my mom worked in for nearly a decade have been slashed. That ball was set in motion long before the recession struck hard, and just as Micron's U.S. operations began their visible decline.

Idaho industries - rural agriculture and technology in urban areas are on the downswing of an era. Food is being increasingly outsourced - except for potatoes of course, where we still hold the corner on the market. And technology - outsourced, primarily to Asia.

What's the next big employer in Boise? The State of Idaho. Drastically scaled down by the reigning administration, Butch Otter at the helm. Incidentally, our former DUI cowboy just declined stimulus money as well.

I understand Republican ideals. (I grew up in Idaho, duh.) I like the ideal of small government and solidarity that doesn't require federal help, but I don't know that it's a reality. I am gravely concerned for my family and the people who call my beloved state home.

For the people who aren't concerned, who back up Otter's decline of federal help, who feel secure about their ability to pay their mortgages and pay for their children to eat, I hope they're right. I hope they spend money at businesses that may otherwise fail, pay their taxes, and contribute to their communities.

For everyone who wouldn't have imagined this in the glory days of the River Festival, fat Micron bonus checks, and Bogus Basin having legitimate winters, I send you my love and prayers.

JH