Taxes And Business Climate In Idaho

This month we travel to the Pacific Northwest state of Idaho. Nicknamed, the gem state, Idaho is the 14th largest of the 50 states. It is known for it’s mountainous landscapes, vast areas of protected wilderness and outdoor recreation areas.

Forming part of the Pacific Northwest (and with the associated Cascadia Bioregion), Idaho is divided into several distinct geographic and climatic regions. The state’s north, relatively isolated Idaho Panhandle, is closely linked with Eastern Washington with which it shares the Pacific Time Zone- the rest of the state uses the Mountain Time Zone. The state’s south side includes the Snake River Plain which includes most of the population and agricultural land. The state is quite mountainous, containing part of the Rocky Mountains.

Business Climate
Idaho is an important agricultural state, producing nearly one-third of the potatoes in the United States. Additionally, all three varieties of wheat, dark northern spring, hard red, and soft white are grown in the state.

Idaho’s industrial economy is growing, with high-tech products leading the way. Since the late 1970s, Boise has emerged as a center for semiconductor manufacturing. It is the home of Micron Technology, the only U.S. manufacturer of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips. Hewlett-Packard has operated a large plant in Boise since the 1970s, which is devoted primarily to Laserjet printers production.

A number of fortune 500 companies started in or trace their roots to Idaho, including Safeway in American Falls, Albertsons in Boise, JR Simplot across southern Idaho, and Potlatch Corp. in Lewiston. Zimmerly Air Transport in Lewiston-Clarkston was one of the five companies in the merger centered around Varney Air Lines of Pasco, WA, which became United Airlines and subsequently Varney Air Group which became Continental Airlines.
Read More