SREDA Board Meeting
January 7, 2026 – 7 am
FMTC, Fruitland, ID
Directors, Members & Guests present: John Breidenbach, Ontario Chamber of
Commerce; Dan Cummings, City of Ontario; Ken Hart, Valley Family Health; Larry
Hogg, City of Weiser; Mike Smith, Agile Homes; Kathy Patrick, City of Payette; David
Armstrong, Rogue Credit Union; Jeff Williams, CBCP; Ron Rembelski, Farmers Mutual
Telephone Company; Gordon Wilkerson, Washington County; Bob Komoto, Kiwanis
Club and Four Rivers Cultural Center and Museum; Torie Ramirez, First Security Bank,
Rotary Club; Kristen Nieskens, and Jeff Carpenter, SREDA.
Zoom: Tobin Dixon, SBA; Taylor Rembowski, Malheur County Economic
Development; Cathy Yasuda, TVCC; Dennis Parker, Idaho Northern Pacific Railroad;
Beau McNeff, Weiser Memorial; Tom Vialpando, SBDC at TVCC.
- Chairman John Breidenbach called the meeting to order at 7:00 a.m. and welcomed
everyone to the Wednesday morning meeting at FMTC. Chairman Breidenbach
introduced himself, as the newly elected Board Chair, and recognized the newly
elected Executive Board of Directors, as well as the new Board members. Chair
Breidenbach also introduced the newly hired Executive Director – Jeff Carpenter.
Mr. Carpenter introduced himself and shared with the group why he decided to take
the job and that he is looking forward to the job and to learning. - Introduction of Attendees: Chairman Breidenbach asked everyone present to
introduce themselves and the business or entity they were representing. - Approval of September and November 2025 Board Minutes as mailed out. Chairman
Breidenbach asked for a motion to approve the minutes. Director Hogg made a
motion to approve the minutes as written, and it was seconded by Director Patrick.
Motion passed. - The Financial Report was presented for the end of December 2025 by Treasurer
Larry Hogg. Mr. Hogg reported that the revenue is on track. Visitor’s Center $25,000
grant has been deposited. Mr. Smith pointed out that there are missed revenue
opportunities from municipalities that are currently not participating in SREDA, to
offset the payroll and advertising expenses. The Board members encouraged the new
executive director to continue reaching out to public and private entities to increase
membership. Director Armstrong made a motion to approve the budget, and it was
seconded by Director Rembelski. Motion passed. - Staff Report: Chairman Breidenbach reported that the Board agreed that Kristen will
be transitioning into a part time roll and will continue her employment for the
foreseeable future, to facilitate Mr. Carpenter’s training and onboarding. Chairman Breidenbach also reported that a 6-month probationary period has been set for Mr.
Carpenter. Kristen Nieskins presented the rest of the staff report:
SREDA Staff Report
January 2026
2025 PROJECTS
Project Wellness – International investment. $300K+, 3-10 employees. Looking for a
location in Idaho to start a business. (Idaho)
Project Corn Huskers – (Fruitland)
Project Coke – Entrepreneur (Washington Co.)
Project Save – Save Manufacturing: Emergency response equipment. $40M, 125 jobs
(welders, fabricators). Save HQ: Headquarters $17.2M, 5-50 jobs. (Malheur)
Project Myan – Entrepreneur looking to open a business in Payette. Interested in the
Opportunity Zone.
Project Wash – Business expansion, manufacturing company, looking to source out or
share resources. (Fruitland)
Project Hen House – Community Development project. (Midvale)
Project Kale – Housing project. (Weiser)
Project Dilly Dally – Business expansion. (Weiser)
Project Repair – Working with Washington Co. on Senior Center projects.
USDA/Commerce. (Washington Co.)
Project Par – Diesel repair shop. Fruitland business is expanding to a larger location.
Purchased land off exit 3 for expansion. (Fruitland/Payette Co.)
Project Ties – Idaho Northern RR. Seeing opportunities in Emmett, Payette & Fruitland.
(Payette Co.)
***Just a reminder that certain projects are not listed due to confidentiality agreements
or at the discretion of the project managers.
OTHER:
Snake River View Visitor Center Update: We received an MOU in November and a
check in December!
Annual Meeting: We are pleased to welcome our newly elected Board members for 2026
- Business Representative: David Armstrong, Rogue Credit Union
- At-Large Representative: Tom Vialpando, Ontario SBDC
- Public Representative: Kathy Patrick, City of Payette
We also congratulate our newly elected Executive Board Officers: - Chairman: John Breidenbach, Ontario Area Chamber of Commerce
- Vice Chair: Dan Cummings, City of Ontario
- Secretary: Tatiana Burgess, City of Ontario
- Treasurer: Larry Hogg, City of Weiser
We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to Patrick Nauman (Weiser Classic
Candy) for his years of service as our Chairman, Jef Williams (Coldwell Banker Classic
Properties), and Mike Smith (Agile Homes) for their dedicated service as they conclude
their terms. We are truly grateful for their time, leadership and commitment to our
organization.
Thank you to all who serve and support our organization – we look forward to another
year of strong leadership and collaboration!
Upcoming…….
Next meeting: February 4th, 2026
Kristen reported that staff will prepare the proposed annual budget and have it ready for
the next monthly meeting. Kristen also added that staff are working on the new action
plan. As with last year, a great focus will be on increasing membership. Another work
item is identifying a new marketing platform, to replace the ending of Idaho GEM
Prospector. Ms. Ramirez asked if the leads that were generated by Idaho GEM Prospector
could be quantified. Kristen said that there are no specific statistics for that. Vice-chair
Cummings added that the Oregon Prospector has been great at generating leads on the
Oregon side. Mr. Parker added that the Prospector site does not auto-update its listings,
unless it is manually maintained by staff, so information is not always reliable or current.
A lot of commercial or industrial listings are maintained in-house, within realtor
agencies. Mr. Parker suggested that maybe a program could be put together, by working
with the local title companies, within the three SREDA counties, to compile a roster of
available commercial or industrial listings. Mr. Parker indicated that he would be willing
to work on this project, along with SREDA staff and connect with the local title
companies. Mr. Rembowski agreed that Prospector is very time-consuming and requires
significant manual input to keep it current. Chairman Breidenbach asked Mr. Parker if
he’d be available in the upcoming month, to work on this idea with Jeff and Kristen, and
possibly present something to the Board at the next monthly meeting. Mr. Williams
added that the Board should budget for whatever marketing platform or solution is
chosen, as it is anticipated to be costly. Vice-chair Cummings agreed that the properties
listed on Prospector are manually kept up to date, and that properties may be sold, or if
newly advertised – only realtors know about the changes. Kristen said that a platform that
was looked at before was Re-Simplify: it pulls available listings from multiple marketing
platforms, and auto-updates periodically, while also allowing for manual input. The
subscription cost is about $3,000 annually.
Chairman Breidenbach reported that he will be meeting on Friday with Kristen, Jeff and
Director Vialpando to start working on organizing the Annual Economic Breakfast event,
schedule for February 20th. He reported that last year’s event generated about $3,000 and
the team intends on growing that revenue this year. Chairman Breidenbach asked for
input from the group, as they are in the early planning phase right now. Kristen said that
there are currently no secured speakers.
- City and Community Reports:
- Fruitland: Jeff Carpenter (in City of Fruitland Councilman capacity) reported
that the city continues to work on a plan to increase the city’s water supply and
ability to treat the wastewater. Mr. Carpenter, as well as Councilwoman Yasuda
commented county staff and department heads for a great job. Payette County
Paramedics is looking at expanding and possibly moving to a new location. Mr.
Carpenter reported that the new Autozone has opened at the Gayway Junction. - Payette: Kathy Patrick reported the new mayor was sworn in, along with 2 new
Council members. Ms. Patrick reported that the total number of building permits
issued in 2025 went down to 118 from 152 issued in 2024. The number of
business licenses also went down to 24 issued in 2025, compared to 35 issued in - The Boots and Blues Boys and Girls Club fundraising event is coming up
the last weekend of February. - Ontario: Dan Cummings reported that City of Ontario issued a total of 355
building permits in 2024 and 399 in 2025, which is about a 12% increase. Total
permits fees collected were $279K in 2024 and $441K in 2025, which is a 58%
increase, most likely attributed to inflation. City of Ontario Planning Department
was awarded a grant to update their development codes. Councilman Hart added
that at the most recent Airport Committee, it was discussed that a new helipad
will be constructed at the airport. Mr. Hart also added that a discussion is
scheduled for the January 27th Council meeting to reevaluate the master plan for
the downtown Moore Park, and the Revitalize Ontario group is scheduled to
attend. Mr. Cummings added that the master plan included several options for
preliminary designs only, and no actual design concepts have been created yet. - Ontario Chamber: John Breidenbach reported that the Annual Chamber Banquet
is on Friday, January 16th and close to 200 people have signed up. The monthly
Chamber Lunch is scheduled for every second Monday of each month. At the
January 12th monthly Chamber Lunch – the Boys and Girls Club will be
presenting. Center Ball is also coming up. The Chamber’s Leadership Program
is starting up in February; applications are now available. The Chamber is also
working on updating their directory and website. - Vale: Tom Vialpando reported that there have been several pop-up shops in
Vale. He also reported that he has been working with Four Rivers Cultural
Center on putting on more community financial classes. Mr. Vialpando reported
that the office manager, part-time position at the TVCC’s SBDC is now open. - Weiser: Larry Hogg reported that a few residential permits are in process. East
Commercial Street construction work is also in progress. West 9th project is
almost complete. On April 4th, Weiser Chamber of Commerce will host its
Annual Crab Feed. - No reports from Nyssa or New Plymouth. Chairman Breidenbach reported that
Nyssa’s Chamber of Commerce elected new board members. - County Reports:
- Washington County: Commissioner Wilkerson reported that Midvale broke
ground on construction of a new fuel station. The County is working with IDT
and Midvale to mitigate traffic concerns regarding the location of the station. A
new gold mining exploration project is ongoing on Kinney Mountain, led by
Hercules Metal exploration team, in conjunction with Barrett Gold. The
preliminary findings report large deposits of copper and some silver. The
County has been discussing the implementation of ADU standards in the county.
The county is interested in updating its development codes, to accommodate for
potential impacts to housing, from the mining projects set to go in. The county
has hired a new Planning and Zoning Administrator. - Malheur County: Taylor Rembowski reported that the county is formally under
contract with Jaguar Transport for the Reload Center. The plan is to develop an
industrial park, with the first building being built by the end of 2026. The
projection is for a lot of new businesses to join the area to move product on the
rail. The ESD is building a new building in Vale. CAPS Auto is also expanding
their Vale facility to accommodate wholesale. A large housing development on
the outskirts of Vale is almost ready to move into the next phase. - No report from Payette County.
- Round Table:
- Beau McNeff reported that Weiser Memorial has been able to fully fund its new
Safe Haven Baby Box, which will be the only one in SW Idaho, and the third
one in the state. The hospital is working on setting goals for the next 5 years. - Cathy Yasuda reported that Tuesday, January 20th TVCC will be presenting its
rebrand reveal, followed by a presentation of the Facilities Master Plan. Winter
quarter classes resumed on Monday, January 5th. Both the men and women
teams will have basketball games on January 7th. The student body along with
the Red Cross will host a blood drive on January 21st in the Weese building.
TVCC has acquired a new building – the new Advanced Energy building, at 297
SW 19th Ave, purchase partly sponsored by the $2M Renewable Energy Grant. - Tobin Dixon reported that last year was a record year for small business loans in
Idaho. The regional administrator will be visiting on January 20th with hopes to
listen to rural businesses and receive feedback from the businesses about “red
tape” challenges. - Bob Komoto reported that the Kiwanis Club participated in the Christmas
parade for the second consecutive year. The Kiwanis Club also conducted a coat
drive for kids with over 200 items collected. Four Rivers Cultural Center
continues to host a number of fitness classes. Ladies Night Out is scheduled for
January 13th. Ramona Rogers art exhibit is scheduled for January. A new film,
called The Living Voices is now playing. The Center Ball Fundraiser is coming
up on February 7th; tickets are now available for purchase. The Moanin’ Frogs
will hold a concert on February 13th, sponsored by Community Concerts. The
Four Rivers Cultural Center’s new executive director has been really great so
far. - David Armstrong reported that Rogue Credit Union has their scholarships now
open; the application process has been simplified, to apply for multiple
scholarships in one application. Bordertown Comic Con at Four Rivers Cultural
Center in Ontario is coming up on March 14th and 15th; vendor registration was
open on Monday, and sold out on Monday, and is now wait-listed. Event tickets
are coming up, and will also be available for purchase at the door.
With no further business, Chairman Breidenbach adjourned the meeting at 8:00 am.
The next regular meeting is February 4th at FMTC.
Reported by Tatiana Burgess, Board Secretary