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<blockquote type="cite" cite>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Visionaries--a good article about the
major business lobby in Idaho.</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
Rep. Tom Trail<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
size="+3"><b><br></b></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="+3"><b>Influential IACI
poised to shrink</b></font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font size="+2"><b>Higher costs for voice
in powerful Idaho business lobby likely to drive out some ag,
small-business members</b></font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><a
href="mailto:ghahn@idahostatesman.com"><font size="+1"><b>Gregory
Hahn</b></font></a><font size="+1"><b><br>
Idaho Statesman</b></font><br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><b>The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date:
07-13-2006</b><br>
</blockquote>
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<blockquote type="cite" cite>The most powerful business lobby in the
state is losing some members after the group raised the price of seats
at its influential table.<br>
<br>
And the state's chambers of commerce, which represent the front lines
of business and economic development, may create their own statewide
organization to speak for small-and medium-sized businesses in
Idaho.<br>
<br>
The Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry heads to its annual
meeting at Tamarack Resort this weekend, and the group's plan to face
the future will be a hot topic.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>"Why give them $1,000 if you don't
get a vote?" asked Stan Boyd, the lobbyist for the Idaho Wool
Growers Association, whose dues would almost triple.<br>
<br>
His group and the Idaho Grain Producers Association both plan to drop
out of IACI, and other agricultural and resource groups are debating
the move.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>The sheep ranchers were a founding member
of IACI in 1974 - Boyd still has the plaque in his office. But the
IACI board has adopted a new set of rules that makes trade
associations pay $1,000 a year just to attend the meetings and
requires any businesses hoping for a vote on the policy committee to
spend at least $5,000 a year. Company dues, depending on the size of
the business, would range from $500 to $10,000.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>"They're just making it a rich man's
club," Boyd said. "It'll make for a lot less crowded
room."<br>
<br>
But smaller crowds are what some in the group want.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>"In some ways, it probably makes
sense to have IACI be more focused," said Alex LaBeau, executive
director of the Idaho Association of Realtors, which plans to remain
an IACI member. "If your interests are too broad, you can't make
a decision."<br>
<br>
Fred Zerza, a Simplot Co. executive, served on the nine-member panel
that wrote the new rules, along with representatives from Qwest,
Micron Technology, Monsanto and other companies.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>"This in no way diminishes IACI's
support for agriculture or any other business," he said. "We
think the new structure will make IACI more efficient long-term for
all business in Idaho."<br>
<br>
But the feeling among some in Idaho's lobby and business worlds is
that the big companies like Idaho Power Co. and Micron wanted the
organization to themselves.<br>
<br>
"After the water deal last year, it was obvious there were a few
people running this anyway," said Dar Olberding, who lobbies for
the Grain Growers. "Why give them any more money?"<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>That "water deal" was one of
the most contentious issues the Statehouse has seen in years, with
Idaho Power and users of surface and spring water in the Magic Valley
going head to head with groundwater pumpers and farmers from eastern
Idaho.<br>
<br>
IACI members fought over that, and they had a hard time agreeing on
property tax policy, too. Along with the announced retirement of the
group's popular and influential president, Steve Ahrens, the 2006
session was a tough one for the group that had gone a decade without a
single issue passing the Legislature that its board had formally
opposed.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>IACI's incoming chairman, Qwest's Idaho
President Jim Schmit, said the changes were made to focus the group
just on the issues that mean the most to business and to help IACI
become more pro-active.<br>
<br>
"This is absolutely not a move by the larger organizations to
take control," he said.</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br>
With the group still so potent in the Statehouse, it was time to do
the first major evaluation of its structure in more than a decade, he
said.</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>"When you want to be everything to
everybody, you end up being nothing to nobody," he said.
"You want to do this at your peak. You don't want to wait until
you've gone over the hump."<br>
<br>
Still, Boyd and Olberding said some agricultural groups may put more
weight behind the Idaho Food Producers - a group that meets weekly
during legislative sessions.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>And Ray Stark, government affairs
director for the Boise Chamber of Commerce, said the 40 or so state
chambers plan to discuss this fall the chances of creating their own
group, one that may not be too dissimilar from the statewide chamber
that merged with another business group to become IACI 30 years
ago.<br>
<br>
"An Idaho Chamber of Commerce would be an organization that would
represent the diverse small, medium and large businesses throughout
Idaho," Stark said.<br>
<br>
And unlike IACI, the group could agree with the Boise chamber to
support local-option sales taxes and more funding for public
transportation and community colleges.<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Former IACI chairman and current state
Sen. Brad Little said time - and the person chosen to replace Ahrens
as president - will tell how the changes will affect IACI's
considerable clout in the Statehouse. At least some of that clout
comes from the group's smaller members, which hail from every
legislative district and aren't afraid to call their lawmakers.<br>
<br>
"I would advise my friends at IACI to not become the voice of
only big business," Little said.</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><tt>-- </tt></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite> </blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>Dr. Tom Trail<br>
International Trails<br>
1375 Mt. View Rd.<br>
Moscow, Id. 83843<br>
Tel: (208) 882-6077<br>
Fax: (208) 882-0896<br>
e mail ttrail@moscow.com</blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div>Dr. Tom Trail<br>
International Trails<br>
1375 Mt. View Rd.<br>
Moscow, Id. 83843<br>
Tel: (208) 882-6077<br>
Fax: (208) 882-0896<br>
e mail ttrail@moscow.com</div>
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