M3 Eagle News

U.S. News & World Report: Boise is among the Top 10 Best Places to Live

2009-06-11T16:25:00.000-07:00

Boise was singled out by U.S. News & World Report as one of the Top 10 Best Places to Live in America in the June issue. Here’s a slide show of the Top 10 cities and a signature photo from each community.

The U.S. News ranking was based on a methodology that included cities with a population of 100,000 or higher with a relatively low cost of living, low crime, strong economies and lots of fun things to see and do.

“In selecting our Best Places to Live for 2009, U.S. News took a thrift-conscious approach: We looked for affordable communities that have strong economies and plenty of fun things to do,” said writer Luke Mullins. “The cities we selected are as distinct as America itself—ranging from a quaint suburb to a live-music mecca.”

Boise’s top 10 ranking comes on the heels of numerous high marks that the City of Trees has received from prominent national publications. Last year, Forbes ranked Boise as the 2nd best place in the country for business and careers, the fourth straight year that Boise landed in the top five. Forbes also ranked Boise as the 7th best Up and Coming Tech City last year. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine ranked Boise as the 4th Best Place to Live, Work and Play last year as well.

Information on M3 Eagle's water rights application

2009-04-07T15:42:00.000-07:00

For information regarding M3 Eagle’s water rights application, click here.

UGOBE is first technology company to locate headquarters in Eagle

2008-10-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

The City of Eagle has landed the first major technology company, UGOBE, to establish a headquarters facility in the planned Eagle-Star Technology Corridor. UGOBE officials announced in a news release Monday (Oct. 6) that the business move would potentially bring about 60 new jobs with it.

UGOBE, an inventor of robotics, has been operating a 9,000-square-foot research and development facility in Eagle for several years. The company created the Life Form Pleo, a cute green Camarasaurus, that won many awards for best invention in 2006, and Furby, an electronic furry toy robot that sold millions worldwide for Tiger Electronics in the late 1990s.

To learn more about Pleo, click here. To see a You Tube video of Pleo bonding with dolphins at Sea World, click here.

To view a news story in the Idaho Business Review about UGOBE’s decision to move its headquarters to Eagle, click here.

C. Lloyd Mahaffey, an Eagle-based businessman and former Apple computers executive, said he expects more robotics-type companies to possibly locate in Idaho. “This creates a solid robotics foothold in the TreasureValley, which will spawn other companies over time. When one company comes, others have a tendency to follow. This opens a whole new area of technology interest in the Treasure Valley that doesn't currently exist.”

Mary May, Community Liaison for M3 Companies, has been involved in the preliminary discussions and planning for the Eagle-Star Technology Corridor. “The news about UGOBE is very exciting and a great first step for this emerging sector,” May said. “We know that our friendly community, quality schools, pro-business climate and quality of life all played a part in bringing UGOBE to Eagle.”

Technology companies that are being courted in the Eagle-Star Technology Corridor include those that create computer games for kids, software development firms, alternative energy companies and more, she said. Another goal is to create a business incubator facility for entrepreneurs, similar to the Water Cooler in Boise.

Eagle Cycling Park draws 2,000 for Trailpalooza event

2008-09-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

(Photo by Mari Briggs)

Less than a year after the official ground-breaking last winter, the new 240-acre Idaho Velodrome & Cycling Park in Eagle is really beginning to take shape, with multiple trails open for bicycling, hiking and trail-running. The cycling park is located just a couple miles from M3 property in the Eagle Foothills.

About 2,000 people flocked to the park, located by the junction of Floating Feather Road and Horseshoe Bend Road, on Sunday, Sept. 14, to participate in a “Trailpalooza” event sponsored by Duke Enterprises and Larry Miller Subaru. The day started with a 2.5K fun run, and then there were trick-riding demonstrations, bike demos, food, live music and lots of biking on trails.

To view videos of cyclists riding a dual slalom course in the park, click here. To view video of people riding trails, click here.

The park now has five cross-country trails, covering a total of 8 miles, a concrete Skateboard Park, a dual slalom course, a pump track, free-ride jumps and more. The trails are built for all abilities, from beginner to expert.

The Velodrome portion of the project is under construction. It will be a 330-foot oval concrete outdoor cycling track, similar to tracks seen in Olympic and European cycling competitions.

Organizers seek to provide a cycling experience for everyone – BMX, mountain bikes, road bikes, track bikes, free-riding and cycle-cross. “Our goal is to develop a world-class facility that is accessible to the community, young and old, to participate and enjoy the lifetime sport of cycling,” said Dave Beck, president of the Idaho Velodrome and Cycling Park Association. “To our knowledge, this facility brings together more cycling disciplines in one place than any other cycling facility anywhere in the world.”

“For kids who grow up in Eagle and the surrounding area, this is going to be an awesome training ground and a place to grow cyclists from the ground up,” Beck said.

The park has been developed with more than $2 million in cash and donations, including funding from the City of Eagle, private donations and in-kind donations.

For more information about the park, see http://www.idahovelopark.org/.

Community flocks to Eagle Food & Wine Festival

2008-09-29T08:51:00.000-07:00

The second annual Eagle Food & Wine Festival Aug. 22-23 was a big hit – at least 1,000 people attended the two-day festival. The Gala Dinner & Auction at Spurwing Country Club was sold out on opening night, and 300 people participated in three seatings of 100 each in the Chef’s Tent at Merrill Park on the main day of the event.

M3 Eagle was a major sponsor of the event for the second year in a row, in addition to Food Services of America, which donated all the food for the Chef’s Tent.

“This year’s event was a tremendous success, exceeding all expectations,” said Mary May, M3 Eagle Community Liaison who helped organize the dinner at Spurwing and the Chef’s Tent events. “To have this kind of response from the community to benefit such a worthy cause was just overwhelming. We’re thrilled.”

The event benefited the International Special Olympics World Winter Games, which is coming to Idaho for the first time in early February 2009, and the Eagle Chamber of Commerce.

At the Chef’s Tent, 14 acclaimed chefs prepared special small plate entrees, paired with Idaho wines. Tom Atkins from 43 Degrees North Catering, for example, was paired with Three Horse Ranch vineyards from Eagle. Michael Mohica and Martin Oshiro from Ono Hawaiian Café, were paired with the Nampa-based Sawtooth Winery, and Travis Levi from Bardenay was paired with the Williamson Winery, based in Caldwell.

The concept of the Eagle Food & Wine Festival is to provide a showcase for local food and wine. Earlier this year, the City of Eagle formed the Eagle Wine District, an overlay that includes the Eagle Foothills, where M3 Eagle’s 6,005-acre master-planned community may include a viticulture component.

The Eagle Wine District is a sub-area within the Snake River Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA), a vast 8,263-mile region in Idaho and Eastern Oregon that was designated by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau in 2007. The designation elevates the status of Idaho wines and assists in marketing and sales.

Festival participants and chefs already are getting on a waiting list for next year’s festival, to be held Aug. 21-22, May said. The Treasure Valley Wine Society will be a partner next year, she said, which should bring in even more wineries to the event.

M3 Eagle works with community for charitable events and public recreation

2008-08-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

The Eagle Foothills have always been a popular place to go for outdoor recreation. With its commitment to community and nature, M3 continues to provide a public trailhead for general recreations and to work with local community and charitable organizations desiring to use the land for special events. The public access trail is off Willow Creek Road in the Little Gulch area, north of Eagle.

So far this year, M3 Eagle has hosted the Children’s Archery Challenge 3D Shoot in April, as well as the Eagle Extreme Endurance and Diabetes rides in May.

Tom Haver, president of the Children’s Archery Challenge 3D Shoot, said it’s been beneficial to hold the shoot on M3 property because a spacious area is required for the event. Over one weekend, three different archery courses for 1,200 kids are set up. The event raised nearly $10,000 for St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital and $1,500 for Hunt of a Lifetime, a non-profit group that awards guided fishing and hunting trips to children who have been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses.

“We love M3 – we couldn’t do this event without them,” Haver says.

The Diabetes Ride, co-sponsored by Humphreys Diabetes Center and Camp Hodia, had 230 participants and raised $28,000. Half of the proceeds went to the Humphreys Center and half went to Camp Hodia, says Lisa Gonser, Director of Marketing and Community Relations. “M3’s support was central to our success.”

A new hiking and trail-running guide for the greater Boise area features a description and map of a 5-mile loop in the Little Gulch area, which lies on M3 property, Avimor and Idaho Department of Lands property.

See link below for a map of the Little Gulch loop.

Please contact Mary May at M3 Eagle for more information regarding events or event requests. Mary can be reached at mmay@m3companiesllc.com or (208) 939-6263.

gulch.doc

Kiplinger ranks Boise as nation's 4th best city to live, work and play

2008-06-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

Amy Becker, a financial writer for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, discovered the city of Eagle when she traveled to Boise recently to write a profile about Idaho’s capital city for its top 10 ranking of the Best Cities in which to Live, Work and Play. Boise was ranked No. 4 nationwide.

When Ms. Becker spoke with Eagle resident Lloyd Mahaffey, a former technology executive who is bullish on Eagle becoming a grape-growing region capable of producing fine wines, he revealed the city’s potential. He is developing a community with 10 homes designed in a similar fashion to Italian villas, with each one having their own 4-acre vineyard.

M3 Eagle is also contemplating the development of vineyards as part of a 6,005-acre master-planned community in the Eagle Foothills. Overall, the Kiplinger’s report puts Boise in the national spotlight as a great place to live, work and play, which will cause more favorable publicity for the area and potentially encourage people to move to the area. .

Boise’s No. 4 ranking by Kiplinger’s came just a few months after Forbes ranked Boise as the second-best place to start a business and a career, and the seventh Up-and-Coming High Tech City. The full Kiplinger's story will be out in the magazine’s July edition.

Ms. Becker wrote in Kiplinger’s that, “Mahaffey moved to the former farming town in 2004, hoping to find a laid-back place where his kids could hunt and play tennis while he dabbled in winemaking and developed real estate.”

Mahaffey told her, “When you first arrive, you have to downshift and adjust to a more relaxed pace.”

Kiplinger’s team of experts looked at factors such as population growth, percentage of workforce in the “creative” class, income growth and cost of living in coming up with their top 10 list. The creative class consists of scientists, engineers, educators, writers, artists, entertainers and others, who add economic and cultural influence to a city and make it a great place to live.

For more information, please click on the Kiplinger’s article:
http://www.kiplinger.com/features/archives/2008/05/2008-best-city-boise.html

Eagle Foothills Cleanup a big success

2008-06-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

About 65 volunteers recruited by M3 Companies fanned out onto BLM land in the Eagle Foothills on May 17 to clean up hundreds of pounds of old debris. Items removed included shot-up 55-gallon drums, computers, a rusted truck pickup bed, tires, tin cans, refrigerators, freezers, barbed wire and many pounds of general litter.

The cleanup was sponsored by M3 Companies, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Keep America Beautiful – the Great American Cleanup, a national organization that works toward a cleaner, greener America by assisting community cleanup projects across the United States. An estimated 3 million volunteers nationwide will participate in Great American Cleanup projects in 2008.

“There’s been a lot of trash and dumping on BLM land over a long period of time, and we thought it would be important to go out there and clean it up so people can enjoy it,” said Gerry Robbins, senior vice president of M3 Companies in Eagle. “The BLM land is our neighbor, and we want to be good stewards of the land.”

In the Eagle Foothills, cleanup volunteers, including 15 Eagle High athletes, piled debris into a 20-cubic-yard dumpster provided by the BLM. Split into five groups, volunteers combed BLM land on the east and west sides of Idaho Highway 16, north of Beacon Light Road. Other participants in the project included Eagle Mayor Phil Bandy, State Sen. Brad Little, State Sen. Stan Bastian, Ada County Highway Commissioner John Franden, Eagle Chamber President Teri Bath, St. Luke’s Eagle, Stanley Consultants and many citizens.

Mary May, M3 Companies Community Liaison, said she was pleased to see all of the volunteers from Eagle come out and join the effort to cleanup the foothills. “This has been a great effort by a wide diversity of folks in the Eagle area,” May said. “We hope this project is the first of many to come where we can work together to improve natural resources in the Eagle Foothills.”

As the Eagle Informer reported, the volunteers braved ant bites, scratches from discarded strands of barbed wire and lots of dust and dirt. Fortunately, Pat Burton from St. Luke’s Eagle Medical Center was on hand with her first-aid kit.

As a thank you to volunteers for donating their time, M3 Companies provided commemorative T-shirts and Koozies, and served a lunch after the project was completed.

“We really appreciate the effort to step up and organize a cleanup project on BLM land,” said Paul Seronko, a BLM soil scientist who also coordinates numerous community cleanup projects for the agency in Idaho. “It’s always great to remove junk and debris from our public lands and work on community partnerships.”

Additional clean-up efforts for the Eagle Foothills are planned. M3 recognizes that the Eagle Foothills are a significant natural resource for everyone to enjoy and encourages users to pursue a high level of care and stewardship when accessing BLM and M3 Eagle lands. Since M3 fenced and limited access to its property in the Little Gulch area, trash and off-trail damage has been substantially reduced, and areas impacted by off-road vehicles are recovering.

"We appreciate everyone’s help and cooperation in keeping the foothills looking good," said May.

Forbes ranks Boise #2 for business and careers

2008-04-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

Compiled from Forbes magazine and other news sources

Forbes magazine recently selected Boise as the second-best place in the country for business and careers, behind only Raleigh, N.C., in its annual ranking released on March 19, 2008.

For the fourth straight year Boise landed in the top 5. Last year, Boise ranked third and was first in 2005. According to experts, ranking in the top 5 in the category for business and careers is one of the most prestigious of city rankings compiled by national business magazines.

A high Forbes ranking provides a marketing tool for state and local business recruiters like the Idaho Department of Commerce and the Boise Valley Economic Partnership.

“It's always beneficial to be in the top 10, but to be in the top five is absolutely incredible publicity,” Paul Hiller, executive director of the Boise Valley Economic Partnership, an arm of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce, told Idaho Tech Connect.

Hiller said he wasn't surprised that Boise ranked high. “There has been a lot of talk about a slowdown, but our unemployment is still under 3 percent, and we have a strong, diversified technology economy. When you look at Boise compared to other cities, we're still pretty strong.”

Hiller said his organization has had more inquiries in March than ever before from companies looking to expand to Boise.

The Forbes survey evaluated economic conditions in 200 of the largest metro areas in the United States (populations over 240,000) in nine categories, including the cost of doing business, job and income growth, labor costs, taxes, energy costs, office space expenses and cost of living index.

Other Rocky Mountain cities included in the top 50 include Fort Collins, Colo., at No. 3; Provo, Utah, at No. 11; Albuquerque, N.M., at No. 13; Colorado Spring, Colo., at No. 16; Ogden, Utah, at No. 23; and Denver, Colo., at No. 31.

Forbes ranks Boise #7 on Up-and-Coming Tech Cities list

2008-04-11T10:04:00.000-07:00

Compiled from Forbes and The Associated Press

The Boise metropolitan area ranked #7 among the top 10 “Up-and-Coming Tech Cities” list released by Forbes magazine on March 10, 2008.

Said Forbes online: “Since the 1970s, chip maker Micron Technology and computer giant Hewlett-Packard, along with the Idaho National Laboratory, had buoyed Boise's technology sector. But now there are new faces. In 2006, Idaho ranked seventh nationally in the percentage increase in venture capital investments and 11th in concentration of high-tech workers. One home-grown start-up, Quantum Point Technologies, provides a suite of information-technology management services to agencies at the U.S. Department of the Interior and regional businesses like Washington Trust Bank.”

Forbes reported a big factor in its ranking was the growth in the number of high-tech patents issued in a particular metro area. Boise has a large number of entrepreneurs who spun off from Hewlett Packard and other high-tech companies in the Treasure Valley and have created small business start-ups based on new products and patents.

The Top 10 list of Up-and-Coming Tech Cities:
Columbus, Ohio
Santa Fe, N.M.
Palm Beach County, Fla.
Houston
Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wis.
Pittsburg, Pa.
Boise
Iowa City, Iowa
Lake Charles, La.
Yuma, Ariz.

Planned community will bring significant benefits to Foothills

2007-11-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

The following Reader's View, authored by M3 Company's Bill Brownlee, ran in today's edition of the Idaho Statesman.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/readersopinion/

Planned community will bring significant benefits to Foothills
Reader’s view: Eagle development

By Bill Brownlee - Special to the Idaho Statesman

I wanted to thank the Idaho Statesman for running the Q&A piece Nov. 8 about the future of Eagle Foothills development. With inaccurate information being disseminated lately about the future growth in the Foothills north of Eagle, it was heartening to see some better factual information about the process.
As the Q&A pointed out, M3 Eagle (a community name will be chosen after entitlements are completed) purchased more than 17,000 acres of beautiful land in the Eagle Foothills several years ago.
We have proposed the development of a high-quality master-planned community on 6,000 acres of that land in an area that spans across the Eagle Foothills from Idaho 16 to Willow Creek Road.
If the Eagle City Council votes to adopt our proposal, we see a number of positive benefits that will accrue to the Treasure Valley:
Up to 40 percent of M3 Eagle, totaling more than 2,400 acres, would be dedicated to community and regional open space.
The property is currently zoned for 10- and 40-acre lots. If developed under current zoning, little or no open space would be available for the general public.
M3 is studying the feasibility of vineyards; some within the wine industry have touted our lands as having some of the best soil and climate conditions in the area for growing grapes.
A master-planned community provides:
- Centralized services (water and sewer) vs. wells and septic under a 10- and 40-acre plan.
- Organized open space over a larger area vs. fractured open space or no open space in smaller developments.
- Long-term planning commitments for schools and public infrastructure.
- Significant economic benefits.
During the prelude to the Eagle city elections, during the comprehensive planning process over the past 18 months, we have had a lot of discussion about open space, density, adequate public facilities, trails and growth in general. A large focus has been on losing open space in the Foothills to growth. Bear in mind that 85 percent of the lands in the Foothills are private lands. There are basically two options to achieving large contiguous open space in the Foothills:
Acquire the lands with public funds, which would require tens of millions of dollars to acquire the same amount of land as the city of Eagle will require through its planning process, or
Allow for master-planned community development in the Foothills and require open space dedications in exchange for increased density. The overall density being proposed by the city is an average of one unit per 2 acres.
So today, the best hope of preserving open space in the Eagle Foothills is for the city of Eagle to work with M3 Eagle and others through the comprehensive planning process to shape everyone's development plans in a way that will preserve trails and up to 14,000 acres of open space, if all goes according to the city of Eagle's comprehensive plan. This would create the largest city regional park system in the state of Idaho.
The M3 Eagle master- planned community (see www.m3eagle.com) reflects significant changes as a result of public input.
The comprehensive plan and approvals that we are seeking today only provide us with the foundation upon which to begin an approximate two-year process to work with public agencies, the city of Eagle and others to obtain approvals to commence construction of the first phase and embark upon a 20-year journey.