B

lackfoot, Idaho, a town of about 24,000 people, is perhaps best known as the "Potato Capital of the World." There, for $3, you can buy a ticket to tour the Potato Expo, a museum saluting the versatile tuber. Blackfoot is also in the center of the Eastern Idaho Technology Corridor, one of the state's centers of high- tech development that is expanding this year.
   When Premier Technology announced early in 2005 that its rapid growth necessitated a bigger headquarters, the company quickly heard from economic development jurisdictions around the country. Business is good for Premier, a subcontractor whose products are used by contractors serving the Departments of Energy and Defense. So understandably, their choice of a location for their new 100,000- sq.-ft. (9,300- sq.-m.) headquarters and manufacturing operation drew interest.
   Premier manufactures a wide range of products, including isolation barriers, shielding windows, environmental management systems, storage containers, pressure vessels and material handling systems. The firm was founded in 1996 by entrepreneurs Doug Brown and Mark Sayer. It has grown to employ 180 with $30 million in annual sales in 2005.
   Arlen Wittrock, Premier's vice president of public affairs and organizational development, says the new $7-million facility in Blackfoot is due for completion by September 2006 and will provide much-needed space as it consolidates employees from several locations. The company, currently located in the Pocatello suburb of Chubbuck, has been housing employees in trailers and leasing space in other facilities since 2000. Premier projects that growth to continue to more than 300 employees by 2010.
   "Blackfoot is located between the two big communities in the area, Pocatello and Idaho Falls," Wittrock says. "It provides a central location for our employees." But before electing to move just 25 miles (40 km.) to a site just off Interstate 15, alongside the Snake River, Premier looked at sites in Texas and Nebraska as well as other locations in eastern Idaho.
   "Obviously, our existing work force is here and that was a major factor," says Wittrock. "The owners have their roots here and a connection to the state. We did look at offers from other states and some were quite interesting and generous. Each state has its own set of incentives and we were somewhat tempted, but the state put a good package together for us to build here in Blackfoot."