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40under40_FINAL_6-3-15.pdf 1 6/3/2015 3:06:30 PM

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is a supplement to the

IDAHO BUSINESS REVIEWFor more information about other special

publications by IBR, email: [email protected]

Interim PublisherBill Cummings

Regional Vice PresidentJoni Brooks

Managing EditorAnne Wallace Allen

Special Sections EditorJeanne Huff

Newsroom WritersBrad Iverson-Long, Teya Vitu

Newsroom AssistantErika Sather-Smith

Advertising DirectorCindy Suffa

Account ExecutivesHeather McMillan, Rocky Cook

Administrative Assistant/Public Notices/ReprintsLaura Butler

Graphic DesignerBradley Redmond

Accomplished Under 40 PhotographerPete Grady

Accomplished Under 40 WritersSharon Fisher, Stephanie Schaerr Hansen,

Chris Langrill, Elizabeth Kasper, Brad Talbutt, Ken Levy, Shannon Paterson

Email staff by [email protected]

P.O. Box 8866 • Boise, ID 83707Located at 855 W. Broad Street,

Suite 103 • Boise, ID 83702phone: 208-336-3768 • fax: 208-336-5534

[email protected]

SPONSORS

Emily Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Jeffrey Banks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Isaac Barrett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Chris Batt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Jason Billester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Monica Bitrick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Nikeela Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Steve Brandes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Brad Brockbank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Tobe Brockner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Tracy Anne Crites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Jill Deakins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Molly Deckart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Raina Delema . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18David Estrada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Julie M . Fogerson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Sandee Gehrke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Julie K . Gunther . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Jared Hight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Courtney Kirchner-Brumbach . . . . . . . . 26Danae Klimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Bryant J . Kuechle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Jeremy Ladle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Ty D . Leuthold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Kennedy K . Luvai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Mckinsey Miller Lyon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Christopher P . Mathias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Timothy R . Morgan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36Lauren Necochea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Kelly Parker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Jeremy Presley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Skye Root . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Courtney Santillan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Bryan Stith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Michelle Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Emily Walton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44Elijah Watkins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Chantayn Winner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Brian C . Wonderlich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Ben Zamzow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Table of Contents

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From the Editor

This year, our Accomplished Under 40 program is celebrating its sweet-16 year .And, how sweet it is .More than 200 people were nominated for the award . Ninety completed the application

process . Thirty-six selection committee members, all former honorees, divvied up and reviewed the applications, with each applicant reviewed by four separate judges . Scores were tallied and then averaged and the top 40 are those whose names you see – and whose stories you read – in these pages .

These men and women have achieved more than a modicum of success prior to notching a scant 40 years on the planet . As business professionals, they are driving our economies . But they are doing much more than that – they are helping make our communities thrive, they are giving their all and then some, giving back to those in less fortunate circumstances, and lending a hand to pull their peers up and to cheer them on .

In these pages you will read their stories and will find out firsthand about the banker who was also a professional natural figure competitor (Chantayn Winner), and the lawyer who founded a mediation center and also happens to be one of the winningest horserace jockeys in the nation (Nikeela Black) . You will find out about a hops-growing farmer, now a bank vice president, whose hobby is brewing beer (Chris Batt) . You will read a story about a man who has already achieved two dreams: becoming a pilot and owning his own business (Jeremy Presley) .

In these pages are those stories and 36 more . Read them and you will see – and agree – why the people they describe are this year’s 40 men and women Accomplished Under 40 .

Sincerely,

Jeanne Huff

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Presenting Sponsor

The College of Business and Economics at Boise State University is proud to be the presenting sponsor for the 2015 Accomplished Under 40 awards. Congratulations to the relevant, impactful and forward-thinking indi-viduals who are being honored. These important members of our community have demonstrated a passion for creating the next way of thinking, for starting important new businesses, for helping others, and for, as many who have come before them, growing and improving our community.

It is important to point out that these members of our community aren’t even middle age yet. To be accom-

plished at this age is quite remarkable. Given these recipients’ steep professional trajectories, I hold great hope for their accomplishments OVER 40!

We have high regard for these honorees who have provided us with the inspiration that comes from seeing the

remarkable impact an individual can have on business, people and the community. In the College of Business and Economics, we aspire to be a place where innovation, hard work, forward think-

ing and passion come together to create an environment where future accomplished under 40 individuals will learn, grow and thrive.

Kenneth J. PetersenDeanCollege of Business and EconomicsBoise State University

Wells Fargo employs 2,200 team members and serves 255,000 households in the Idaho Region. Wells Fargo was founded in 1852 and offers commu-nity-based financial services. In 2014, Wells Fargo ranked No. 22 on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies, donated $281.2 million nationwide, and Idaho team members gave 20,000 volunteer hours.

— 4 —

Emily Baker

By Sharon FisherSpecial to Idaho Business Review

Emily Baker returned home in 2013, and since then she’s taken Idaho by storm.

Baker had left Idaho in 2000, where she was working for the state Treasurer’s office, to go to Washington, D.C. to work on the inaugural committee for President-elect George W. Bush. In the process, she heard that Missis-sippi Governor Haley Barbour was looking for someone for his firm, Barbour Griffith and Rogers. “I talked to him the day I was flying out to D.C., and got hired,” she recalls. “I called Treasurer [Ron] Crane and told him, ‘I know I said I’d be back at the end of the month, but I don’t think I will.’”

She ended up staying in Washington for seven years, moving in 2004 to the Department of Commerce. During that time, Baker also married Mike Baker, and in 2005 moved to New York for his job. There, she served with the U.S. General Services Administration for the Northeast & Caribbean region until 2009, when she formed a boutique government affairs firm, Baker Pinkerton LLC.

By then, Baker was ready to come back home and leave New York City behind. “Both Mike and I hit a point

where we didn’t need to be in New York every day,” she says. “The quality of life for ourselves and our three boys was much better. We hit that point, made that decision, and had our house on the market in a week.”

Now, Baker is the first woman partner at Gallatin Public Affairs, where she manages the Boise office, in addition to client work. “Most of mine is federal – larger clients with projects out of state” in areas such as energy and sustainability, she says.

In addition to her job, Baker serves as the vice chair-man of the Idaho chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council – a nod to her original interest in architecture. She was also appointed by Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter to the Governor’s Commission on Service & Volunteer-ism, Serve Idaho, in 2013.

In her spare time, Baker “chases three little boys around,” she says. “Enjoying life with them takes a fair amount of time.” They also participate in typical family activities such as the zoo, the Discovery Center, and the Idaho Botanical Garden, as well as camping and hiking. “It’s easy to fill up weekends and evenings with great ac-tivities.”

Age: 37Title: Managing

partnerCompany: Gallatin

Public AffairsFavorite “Mad Men”

character: “Roger Sterling . Really, it’s his panache . He has a great sense of style . I like his sense of humor as well .”

— 5 —

Jeffrey Banks

By Shannon PatersonSpecial to Idaho Business Review

Jeff Banks is one of those rare people whose last name reflects his career. But in his case, it also represents his passion.

When he’s not on the job at Northwest Bank, he can often be found on a riverbank, ready to push off into the rapids on a custom-designed, stand-up paddleboard, or SUP. His love of rivers runs deep.

“I remember in high school, learning about where our families came from and their coats of arms, and I found out that my family did not even have a coat of arms be-cause they were peasants that lived along the river banks,” he says. “I don’t know if (that passion) is running all the way back through my bloodlines to where my ancestors came from, but I could never live without water and with-out the rivers.”

Banks’ philosophy is that life is too short to not spend time doing what you love, and since he loves what he does for a living, he says he really hasn’t worked a day in his life.

“I get to help provide solutions for (people) to achieve what they’re trying to achieve,” he says. “We’re out with peo-ple and we’re learning about their dreams and trying to find a way together to help those dreams along and accomplish them. There are not very many careers where you can do that.”

Outside of the office, Banks has seen his own dreams come to fruition. In 2009, he co-founded Glide Paddlesports – a $3 million company that makes and sells paddleboards all

over the world. While he’s not involved in the day-to-day op-erations like he was during the first few years of the business, he is still a part owner.

Banks has served as a board member and director for Kel-ly’s Whitewater Park, co-founded the Payette River Games, which brought 30,000 athletes and spectators to Cascade in 2014, is involved with the Whitewater Race in Ogden, Utah and is director of the Utah Whitewater Film Festival.

His retirement dream is to run a river guide service that focuses on corporate retreats. He also has a book idea – “a kayaker’s view of business.”

“There are a lot of lessons that could be related to run-ning rapids,” he says, “having focus, having a plan, having a backup plan and not focusing on obstacles.”

Banks says his parents made him who he is today, teaching him the value of education, hard work and important values.

“Those lessons are always doing what’s right for other peo-ple, caring about people, trying to serve and bring value to them,” says Banks. “I think that always opens up opportuni-ties in business.”

Age: 39Title: Senior vice president/

commercial banking managerCompany: Northwest BankCity: BoiseFavorite 1960s historical figure:

“Martin Luther King – one of the great leaders of the civil rights movement . He was forward thinking . He knew that deep down people strive to improve the world and themselves . Doesn’t get any better than his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech .”

— 6 —

Isaac Barrett

By Jeanne HuffIdaho Business Review

Isaac Barrett cut his techie teeth playing video games such as StarCraft and Command & Conquer, of which both use real time and strategy. “My brother and I loved games,” he says. “We’d try hacking them to make them do what we wanted. We liked strategy games, and trying to think of ways to do things and accomplish tasks.”

Fast-forward to today. Barrett has gone from video games to become the software architect of the Idaho Unemploy-ment System and in 2012 he co-founded the software devel-opment company, Netacent, which has not only successfully implemented multiple large scale projects, it is also working towards building a national scale software.

“We wanted to build software to solve problems. Cur-rently, we are in the process of building a stand-alone Inter-state Connection Network system,” Barrett says.

It is very complex and hard work, but that’s nothing new for Barrett. He has been working nonstop since the age of 15 when he got his first job. “It was at Papa Murphy’s,” Barrett says. “The owner walked up to me and asked if I wanted a job. He hired me in the parking lot.”

That owner’s name is Doug Miller and that was his first store. Today he owns Papa Murphy’s pizza stores throughout Idaho. Barrett credits Miller with teaching him the value of working hard. “He would always correct me and say that it is not only about working hard, but working smart,” Barrett

says. “I’ve taken that and applied it to all areas of my life by constantly questioning my hard work in an effort to maxi-mize its effectiveness.”

Barrett says he also owes part of his success to those who helped mentor him in chess – he was a speed chess and tour-nament chess player in high school, and volunteers in scho-lastic chess, Kindergarten to 12th grade. He says it develops “strong analytical skill that are needed in many professions.”

So far, Barrett says his biggest accomplishment is in ar-chitecting the unemployment software for Idaho, and he hopes the future will take it to a national scale. “My pas-sion has helped lead to an Idaho/Iowa consortium, where we will be taking this vision to the next level to create a multi-state system. It is my long-term goal to export this success to every other state in the nation. This success saves Idaho tax payers millions of dollars every year and has the potential to save the nation hundreds of millions through reduced implementation, training, maintenance and overpayment costs.”

Barrett, who has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Informa-tion Systems and holds an MBA, is also a ballroom dancer. “That’s how I met my wife, we were a ballroom dance team at Boise State.” Their favorite dance? “The Bolero.” Barrett and his wife, Emily, also are parents to 11-month-old daugh-ter Olivia.

Age: 29Title: Vice president,

software architectCompany: Netacent Inc .City: BoiseFavorite 1960s

historical figure: “Neil Armstrong . His drive led him to push the boundaries of the status quo, leading to the accomplishment of great things .”

— 7 —

Chris Batt


Chris Batt grew up on a farm in Wilder. “My family grew hops,” he says. He learned the value of hard work from his parents, relatives and friends. When asked if he had chores to do, Batt smiles. “Every spring break, every summer – we worked,” he says. “It kept me out of trou-ble I guess.”

Batt attended the University of Idaho, graduating in 2000, and then got his MBA in 2004 at Boise State University. He then was hired on as a management trainee at Idaho Independent Bank and has risen through the ranks from trainee to loan analyst, commercial lender, branch manager and assistant vice president.

Batt says he wouldn’t change a thing. He has seen his share of changes in the industry, he says, and notes that sometimes change is not easy, “but with great leaders and constant com-munication, it always makes the path to change easier and less challenging.”

Batt says it has even inspired him to be a leader and a men-tor and through his participation in the Leadership Caldwell program, he has “learned from others what a true leader should be.”

“Great leaders at the bank and in the community have in-spired me to lead by example and to show integrity in all I do.”

“I love being a relationship banker and helping custom-ers realize their dreams,” he says, adding, “the relationships I have made while working in the Treasure Valley are very important to me. I have developed friendships with farmers, with executives and other hard-working individuals. As their banker and advisor, the goal is to serve them to the best of my ability and (that) is my highest priority.

“There are many titles that one can dream of and try to achieve, but to serve and help and inspire others is the ulti-mate goal,” Batt says.

He and his wife, Deitra, have two children: Ava, 7; and Huston, 3. He jokes they are “my punishment for being a crazy kid. Right now, soccer is our thing – we’ll get our free-dom back in the summer.”

Batt, who grew up on a hop farm, brings back that time through a hobby. “I brew my own beer,” he says. “That’s my No. 1 pastime.” He brews it with his brother and a couple of friends. His brother grows the hops in his backyard from the family’s hop roots from his childhood. “Once a year we do a strong ale and we call it “Old Farm,” Batt says.

He says his biggest accomplishment so far is in achieving his position as assistant vice president at the bank. And, he says his biggest challenge is “raising my kids right. That’ll never end.”

He says, in looking at what he can contribute, “I want to leave this world a better place because I lived a good life and inspired others. I want to raise good children who know that life is good and happiness can be achieved by hard work, a great attitude and remembering those people who helped you along the way.”

Age: 38Title: Assistant vice president and

branch managerCompany: Idaho Independent BankCity: CaldwellFavorite 1960s historical figure:

“Full disclosure: I do not like the ‘60s .”

— 8 —

Jason Billester

by Stephanie Schaerr HansenSpecial to Idaho Business Review

For Jason Billester, the measure of success has nothing to do with money or status, but with the affect he’s able to have on other people. As vice president of development for Boise Rescue Mission Ministries, he’s dedicated his career to getting people off the street and into homes and jobs, and he’s made a huge impact on the Boise community through his efforts.

Billester’s day-to-day role is to raise money and food for the organization’s shelters and soup kitchens, give tours of the facilities, interact with donors and educate the public about the organization’s mission. But the lives he touches directly through the organization bring him the most satisfaction.

One particular story sticks out in Billester’s mind. He says he got a call one day from the manager of a 24-hour Wal-Mart store, about a young man, around 18 years old, who had been living in the store for the past three days. He had been sleeping in the back of the store, washing himself in the bathroom and eating at the in-store McDonalds with pocket change. Touched, Billester went to the store and spoke with the young man, who told him he’d been kicked out of the house for drinking too much, and he had nowhere else to go. After finding him a place at the River of Life Men’s Shel-ter and taking him to Ross Dress for Less to buy some new clothes, Billester called the same Wal-Mart store and found the young man a job pushing carts from the parking lot. And that started him on the path out of homelessness.

Several years later, long after the man had left the shelter, Billester heard that he had joined the Army, started a family, and was now gainfully employed and doing well.

“That’s what motivates me,” he says. “I live to see lives change in our community.”

But changing lives wasn’t always Billester’s main motive. After graduating from Idaho State University, he moved to Boise to start a life as a high-earning pharmaceutical sales-man. He says his main goal was to make as much money as possible, but then he happened into a job with the Boise Res-cue Mission Ministries, and found his calling.

“I was taught to improve the quality of life in my commu-nity no matter what, but when I was out on my own making money, I pretty much limited that to recycling,” he says. “What I’ve learned and seen is that there are a lot of ways to help people, and that’s what’s really important.”

In addition to his work advocating for Boise’s homeless population, Billester has also served as a volunteer in several other organizations. Most notably, he taught courses on ad-diction recovery to inmates at the Idaho State Correctional Institute.

When he’s not serving the public at large, Billester enjoys cycling — he once biked from Pocatello to West Yellowstone and back. But he says his favorite thing above all is spending time with his wife Melissa and son, Joshua, 4.

Age: 37Title: Vice president of

developmentCompany: Boise

Rescue Mission Ministries

City: BoiseFavorite 1960’s

historical figure: “Billy Graham, because he loved with this unrelenting boldness and touched a lot of people . He was a man of influence who shaped thinking worldwide .”

— 9 —

Monica Bitrick

by Stephanie Schaerr HansenSpecial to Idaho Business Review

Young business owner Monica Bitrick has her work cut out for her.

As CEO of her company, Bitrick Consulting Group, she’s responsible for business development, leadership, and hands-on service to the clients who come to her for expertise in HR and operations management.

As a leader, she’s not afraid of getting in the weeds with the rest of her five-person staff to solve problems for Idaho’s business owners.

“I truly believe that some of the best leaders in a company are on the ground working alongside everybody else and working with clients as well,” she says. “ I get to do anything and everything to help their business be successful.”

Breaking out on her own is one of the proudest moments of Bitrick’s career. She spent months saving money, con-tinuing to work full time while she built her business so she didn’t need to take out any loans. After leaving her old job completely in December 2013, she dove head first into building the fledgling company that today boasts some of the most successful companies in the region among its clients.

While her booming business demands lots of time and energy, Bitrick also co-founded Square One Networking last August, which aims to connect passionate business people in southeast Idaho through networking events and monthly meetings.

But Bitrick’s success hasn’t always come easy. She worked full-time while attending Boise State University full-time, and lost her brother to suicide in 2001 during her college years. She says she nearly gave up on school, and was almost kicked out for poor performance in the wake of her personal tragedy.

Despite the difficulties she faced, Bitrick powered through the heartache and finished her degree. From there, she quickly moved up the ranks as an HR professional, from a senior benefits specialist at Workscape, to a staffing specialist at Man-power Staffing, to her role as director of Human Resources and Workers’ Compensation at Advantage Employer Solutions.

Bitrick has also spent countless hours volunteering for initiatives she’s passionate about. She currently serves as trea-surer for the Suicide Prevention Action Network of Idaho, and she also spent several years serving in the Military Affairs Committee (her husband is an Air Force veteran). She uses her expertise in Human Resources to write articles for several publications, and she was a featured presenter at TEDxAm-mon, where she spoke about personal branding.

For Bitrick, her own personal brand is a mix of tenacity, hard work and perfectionism. Just don’t call her brave.

“One of the things I heard when we started this business is: ‘Oh, you’re so brave,’” she says. “I was like, what is so brave about this? I don’t want to look back and regret not taking the chance.”

Age: 34Title #1: CEO, Bitrick

Consulting Group Title #2: Managing

partner, Square One Networking

City: Idaho FallsFavorite “Mad Men”

character: “Peggy Olsen . She’s fearless, innovative and caustic, and she looks at herself as the only person who can help her succeed in life . If I’m not going to do the right things to succeed in life, nobody else is going to do that for me .”

photo by Josh Petersen

— 10 —

Nikeela Black

By Elizabeth KasperSpecial to Idaho Business Review

Nikeela Black freely admits that were she to take a personal-ity test, the most likely descriptor for herself would be “com-petitive.”

“I’m a little competitive, to say the least,” she says with a laugh.

That ambitious drive might explain why Black finished 2014 as both the leading thoroughbred jockey and the leading quarter horse jockey of the Les Bois Park meet, as well as tak-ing home the most purse money ever won at the meet.

Professionally, however, Black’s goal byword is “mediation.”While Black spends a significant amount of time at the race-

course, her other passion is the law. As the youngest attorney at Arkoosh Law Offices in Greenleaf, she deals with family law as well as criminal and estate planning matters, but she most enjoys her work with the Idaho Mediation Center, which she founded in 2013.

“I like negotiating,” Black says. “I don’t think most family cases should go to trial. (Our method) is a much more amica-ble process.”

Black says she embraces the challenge of helping families decide what their lives will look like following dramatic life events. She helps clients to iron out property agreements, cus-tody arrangements and wills, among other things.

Interestingly, Black got her first legal job from a conversa-tion she had on a horse. A friend stopped by while she was rid-ing one day and asked if she was looking for work. She ended up working for the man’s wife for a year as a legal assistant.

Growing up in Washington, Black loved horses from day

one. Her mother showed them in local events, and her enthu-siasm was contagious.

“I have pictures of her holding me up on her horses before I could walk,” she says.

Black followed Mom’s footsteps and showed horses as well. Then, when she was a teenager, she read Joanna Campbell’s “Thoroughbred” novels and fell in love with racing. She was galloping by age 16 and earned her jockey’s license at 18.

Today, when Black isn’t in the office, she’s likely at the track. During racing season, she starts at 6 a.m. six days out of the week, mainly on her favorite thoroughbred, Floating Feather. It’s a lot of work, but she feels lucky to be doing it. A debilitating accident in 2013 could have put her out of the ring for good.

“The horse I was riding got spooked, and she bolted and threw me off,” Black says.

Black came to with a broken nose and a separated shoulder. Her top teeth had also been knocked out and her bottom front teeth had been sheared off. But being the top competitor she is, she was back in the saddle – literally – four days later. The following year, in 2014, Black set a goal to earn 60 wins, and she did it. She also had the highest win percentage of any jockey in North America for the third straight year.

“I am not sure how I’m going to be able to top that this sea-son, but I am going to try,” Black says.

Black’s personal philosophy is simple: “Work hard, stay humble.”

“I want to live my life to the absolute fullest,” she says, “and I want to help others do the same.”

Age: 29Titles: Attorney,

Arkoosh Law Offices, PLLC; Founder, Idaho Mediation Center; Jockey

City: GreenleafFavorite 1960s

historical figure: “Nelson Mandela . He was a great leader who was not afraid to stand up for what he believed was right .”

— 11 —

Congratulations Jason Billester!

On being selected one of Idaho Business Review’s 2015 Accomplished Under 40.

Thank you for your faithful service to the homeless and hurting men, women and children of the

Treasure Valley.

Restoring Faith, Hope & Family � BoiseRM.orgPO Box 1494, Boise ID 83701 � 208.343.2389

Chris BattWe commend Chris and all of the 2015 Accomplished Under 40 honorees for their dedication, hard work, and invaluable contributions to our community. May your future efforts be equally successful and rewarding.

Congratulates

208.454.3731620 South Kimball Avenue, Caldwell, ID 83605| TheIdahoBank.com

Assistant Vice President & Caldwell Branch Manager

— 12 —

Steve Brandes

By Chris LangrillSpecial to Idaho Business Review

It’s no surprise that Steve Brandes is a big fan of the team concept.

After all, he has built a successful career in the world of sports.

But when Brandes talks about teams, he isn’t just address-ing the staff of the Idaho Stampede, the NBA Development League franchise of which he is president and general manager.

No, Brandes says he is part of several teams that make his life fulfilling.

“I’ve been very lucky to be on the board of the Idaho Non-profit Center,” Brandes says. “We recently wrapped up Idaho Gives. The guys and gals that are a part of that did a magnif-icent job, raising over $1 million in one day that got kicked back to the community.

“So being a part of that team is truly a blessing.” Another important team to Brandes? That would be his

family, which includes his wife, Nina, their daughter, Eliana (3 years old), and their 1-year-old son, Mark.

“Honestly, having children is one of my biggest achieve-ments,” Brandes says. “Every day you come home to a young daughter and a young son, and they brighten your day. It’s amazing to be able to shape these kids and bring a smile to their faces.”

Before having children, Brandes focused on his career. He began as an entry-level account executive with the

Stampede. Four years later, at age 28, he was named the pres-ident and GM of the franchise.

Brandes is now in his 14th season with this team. “It has been exciting to see this young man grow over the

years,” says Bill Ilett, the former managing investor of the Stampede and the man primarily responsible for bringing professional basketball to the Treasure Valley in 1997. “His integrity and leadership have been recognized not only by our team, but the entire NBA organization.”

Next season will be a transitional one for the Stampede. The franchise, which has long been owned by a local group fronted by Ilett, was sold in the offseason to the Utah Jazz.

“The fact that the Utah Jazz made (Brandes) their first se-lection upon buying the team says it all,” says John Brunelle, the executive director of the Capital City Development Cor-poration and a former president of the Stampede. “They iden-tified Steve as the person they want to run this enterprise.”

Says Brandes: “Being a part of the Utah Jazz directly is a phenomenal opportunity. … I’m looking forward to putting a lot of resources into the Stampede and taking it to the next level. The team just keeps getting bigger.”

But no matter how big that team gets, Brandes wants ev-eryone to be a part of its success. And the wisdom of legend-ary coach John Wooden will continue to guide him.

“It takes 10 hands to make a basket,” Brandes says.

Age: 38Title: President and

general managerCompany: Idaho

StampedeCity: BoiseFavorite 1960s

historical figure: “John Wooden’s books are one of the most important influences in my life . His coaching philosophies are pertinent to success in life and business . ‘Make each day your masterpiece’ is one of his quotes that I live by . Life is a gift that we often overlook, and it happens to be short . We need to enjoy every day and always live each day to its fullest .”

— 13 —

Brad Brockbank


Brad Brockbank took a route he thought would lead him to becoming an attorney. He graduated high school and then got his bachelor’s degree at the University of Utah. But after a couple of steps into the door at Zions Bank, Brock-bank has never looked back.

“I joined Zions Bank in 2003 in the Retail Loan Center in Salt Lake City,” he says. “I started out as a processor in the loan department and worked my way up.” In 2005, Brockbank moved to Idaho Falls “and built one of the most profitable portfolios for our team, growing the client base from 45 clients to 225.” Brockbank says it was a challeng-ing experience because “I had no business development experience, so I did a lot of cold calling and networking at community and chamber of commerce events.”

He moved to Boise in 2009 and was promoted to Ex-ecutive Banking team lead in 2010, overseeing the entire Executive Banking portfolio in Idaho and three relationship managers. Under his leadership, the team has since grown to nine relationship managers, consumer loan balances have doubled, “and our deposit balances outstanding have grown by 63 percent,” Brockbank says.

After a brief stint as Utah Team Lead in 2013, Brockbank returned to Boise and was promoted to Area Manager in 2014. “In this role, I manage hiring, training and coaching

of Executive Banking relationship managers, sales develop-ment and goal setting,” he says.

Brockbank says his success can, in part, be attributed to his ability “to carve out a niche by tailoring loans and service packages to fit (my clients’) needs.” One example: When a Boise development project stalled due to lack of financing, “I reached out to them with information on our home finance products and services. In one year, Zions Bank underwrote eight loans and helped jumpstart the project. Today, the development is almost at capacity.”

Brockbank, married to his wife, Julie, who he calls “my hero in a lot of respects,” for almost 13 years, hopes to one day go into politics for one very special reason. Their son Lukas, 11, has autism, and, as he gets older, Brockbank wants “to be able to be an advocate for him and others like him. I want to create solutions.”

His personal philosophy is: “Nothing happens by chance. It happens through hard work.” He and his family now make their home in Star partly because it reminds Brock-bank of his childhood home in Lehi, Utah. Among other community work, he serves on the boards of Birthright and the Idaho Diaper Bank.

One thing his closest friends may not know about him: He once was in a funk dance group.

Age: 35Title: Vice president

and area manager, executive banking

Company: Zions BankCity: BoiseFavorite 1960s

historical figure: “Walt Disney . I admire him for his lifetime of work to provide family entertainment . I can relate to him because he was driven to make the world a better place for his and other kids . Because of him, my family has created many great memories at his parks and with his movies .”

— 14 —

Tobe Brockner


When Tobe Brockner was in grade school, like a lot of young boys, he traded baseball cards. But not the usual way – Brockner, exhibiting a propensity for making his own way even at that young age, took a different path. “I set up a bro-kerage to trade cards,” he says. It was just the beginning of what has become his life’s journey. “My dad and grandfather owned finance companies. It was inevitable I would go into business for myself. I’m probably functionally unemploy-able,” Brockner says. “I’ve never worked for anyone in my adult life.”

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in international business from Boise State University in 2002, “and kind of hit the ground running from there,” Brockner says.

Since then, as an entrepreneur, he has owned a number of companies and led hundreds of employees. He never is lacking for new ideas – “ideas are like rabbits, once you get a couple of them, pretty soon you’ve got a couple dozen” – and admits to a collection of notebooks filled with them. But, Brockner says, “ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s the execution of them that matters. I have to be very selective in what I pursue.”

Brockner named his company for a notion promoted by Ayn Rand of trading value for value. “I believe in giving peo-ple, in business and in life, as much or more in value than I ever receive,” he says. He also believes and lives by The Plati-

num Rule – “treat others they way they want to be treated.”Brockner says he’s never given much credence to the no-

tion that “you can either be a good person or you can make money and you can’t do both. For me, helping others and giving back – and making money – I don’t think it has to be an either, or … you can do both and find a balance there.”

Two of his initiatives – The Young Entrepreneur’s Work-shop and Passport to Boise were created “to serve our com-munity,” he says. “Both of these programs attempt to teach young kids the value of community, hard work, entrepre-neurship, leadership and more by involving them in various local businesses from around the Valley.” In 2014, more than 200 participated in the workshops, seminars and other activi-ties presented by more than 50 businesses.

Brockner is also the author of two books: Mastermind Group Blueprint, aimed at entrepreneurs; and Kid Capitalist, a book that teaches kids how to become an entrepreneur and also some life’s lessons along the way. The latter came about after Brockner had an enlightening conversation with his son about what he wanted to be when he grew up (hint: it wasn’t an entrepreneur). So, Brockner wrote the North American Book award-winning book mostly for his two children – Beau, 11; and Scarlett, 9. And if you’re wondering about their names: “‘Gone with the Wind’ is my favorite book in the whole world,” Brockner says with a smile.

Age: 38Title: Founder,

creative director, Company: V-Squared

CreativeCity: EagleFavorite “Mad

Men” character: Don Draper . “He knew exactly what he wanted . In one episode, a long-haired hippie asked him: ‘How do you sleep at night?’ He answered: ‘On a bed made out of money .’”

— 15 —

Tracy Anne Crites


Tracy Crites and her husband, Jason, were fairly con-fident that they had a solid idea for a new business in Boise.

They visited outdoors consignment shops in commu-nities with similar demographics, and they developed their business plan over the span of a few years.

Still, it took a bit of a leap of faith when they opened the Outdoor Exchange in the Linen District in October of 2012.

“You never know exactly how it’s going to play out,” Crites says. “The nature of consignment is you hope that people bring you things. Once the word got out, the response was truly overwhelming. People started bringing in gear, literally by the truckloads. So it was pretty exciting to see it coming together and to know, ‘OK, I think this is going to work. I think we can do this.’”

Indeed, the Crites expanded the shop in 2014 and Tracy remains fully immersed in the business as it nears its third year of operation. She manages the store’s finances, staff and inventory, develops vendor and community relationships and oversees marketing strategies.

It turns out that Boise really was a good fit. “When we did our research we found that most outdoor

retailers did 60 to 80 percent of their business in the months of October through January,” Crites says. “But we’ve been truly lucky that we really are a four-season shop. It’s awe-some.”

Prior to opening the Outdoor Exchange Crites worked as an account executive at the Office Pavilion and as an account executive at Office Environment Company.

“It really helped build my confidence in talking to people and educating them,” she says. “My experience at those two businesses was really helpful.”

Crites’ already busy life got even more so when she had a son in the fall of 2013. It didn’t take long, however, before Charlie was a fixture in the store.

“When Charlie was 2 weeks old, I took him down to the shop, and he would be in the front pack or the backpack, and he pretty much lived there with me for the first year,” Crites says. “It was a challenge, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Crites says it’s critical that she stay informed about the lat-est gear and trends in the outdoor industry.

It’s been fun to use different types of equipment as a family Crites says. “I got into Nordic skiing when I was pregnant, and now I pull (Charlie) behind me in a little chariot with a ski attachment.”

“Tracy has been a terrific ambassador for our city and out-door enthusiasts,” says Michael Bouton of the Bogus Basin Ski Club.

Age: 33Title: Managing memberCompany: Outdoor Exchange LLCCity: BoiseFavorite “Mad Men” character:

“I have not watched many ‘Mad Men’ episodes, but of the ones I have seen, Peggy Olson is my favorite character because she is opinionated, successful and earned her place in the office culture by working hard and proving herself and her ideas . A major struggle at that time!”

— 16 —

Jill Deakins


During her career at United Heritage Financial Group, Jill Deakins has become integral to the company in a very short amount of time.

After graduating magna cum laude from Northwest Nazarene University with a mathematics degree, Deakins was hired at United Heritage as an investment analysis. She was quickly promoted to her current position of manager and P&C actuary after earning her designation as a Fellow in the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS). She is one of only two professionals in Idaho to hold that designation.

“I really enjoy that I’m able to contribute something unique to the company, providing analysis that we maybe otherwise wouldn’t have, and helping manage-ment make more informed decisions going forward,” says Deakins.

She finds her work to be very fulfilling. But it is also the kind of job that allows Deakins to leave work at the office, giving her freedom to volunteer her time for a myriad of different causes, both in the U.S. and abroad. She has mentored young refugee girls through the Girls to Women organization, coached young basketball play-ers in Upward Sports, helped out at the Meridian Food Bank, and served missions on humanitarian projects in

South Africa, Venezuela and Guatemala through the Boise First Community Center.

“I just feel like what I have to offer now is my time and resources to other people who don’t naturally have those opportunities,” says Deakins. “I want to help create those opportunities for them to pursue their goals and dreams.”

Deakins’ work ethic stems in part from her childhood. As the daughter of a school principal and a teacher, her family spent every summer running a commercial fishing business in Alaska. She and her extended family lived on the same street, so they lived, worked and played to-gether for months at a time.

“When there’s fish, you work,” says Deakins. “It was good in that (we learned the importance of ) sticking with it, even when it gets hard. You just keep going until the job’s done.”

That lesson has served her well, helping fuel her rigor-ous studies, strong work ethic and passionate volunteer-ism.

“I had such a supportive environment growing up. I was born into good circumstances,” says Deakins. “When I look at my life and where I’m at, I just feel like God has really blessed me.”

Age: 33Title: Manager/P&C

actuaryCompany: United

Heritage Financial Group

City: MeridianFavorite 1960s

historical figure: “Neil Armstrong, because of his courage in attempting what had never been done before. His first steps on the moon inspired the world to dream big and achieve the seemingly impossible .”

— 17 —

Molly Deckart


When Molly Deckart was helping work on a bill for the 2008 Idaho Legislature to provide incentives for the film industry, she learned two things about Idaho filmmakers. First, everyone shared the frustration of finding ways to screen their work. Second, “They have all made a horror film,” she says.

The Idaho Horror Film Festival, now in its second year, is intended to address both of those needs – and in the process, call attention to Idaho’s burgeoning film commu-nity and get more state support for it. The incentives bill, which had been due to expire, is now extended to 2020, though it still doesn’t have any funding.

“Idaho Horror developed with the intention to spark a larger community conversation on why film is good for Idaho’s economy,” she says. “What we want to do is get a healthy film commission going, provide education to Idaho’s emerging filmmakers, and create an infrastructure. The incentives bill is more of a lure to people making film outside Idaho. First, how do I help connect the dots and create more of a supportive infrastructure for Idaho film-makers? And then you can have the discussion of how to get larger films made in Idaho.”

Deckart’s own background is in the fine arts, par-ticularly painting. From there she helped found the Parkside School due to her interest in early childhood education, where she still serves on the board. After that, she moved on to political fundraising, particu-larly through events, for Boise legislative candidates. “I wanted to be more engaged in my community from a political standpoint because I felt we could do better,” she says. “I put money where my mouth is supporting candidates that I liked, and it just grew.” It was through that experience that she learned about the film incen-tives bill.

In addition, Deckart is on the board for the Friends of the MK Nature Center, as well as the PTA of the school her three children attend.

For now, Deckart is hoping the film festival will con-tinue to succeed, noting that it drew 5,000 people over its inaugural three-day event and that this year it has re-ceived nonprofit status, meaning it’s eligible for grants. “There really hasn’t been a film festival that made it past the five-year mark,” she laments. “The Sun Valley Film Festival will do it, but Sun Valley is not in Boise.”

Age: 35Title: Festival directorCompany: Idaho

Horror Film FestivalFavorite “Mad Men”

character: Don Draper . “Because you don’t know whether to love him or hate him .”

— 18 —

Raina Delema


When Raina Delema began her college education, a professor told her she wasn’t meant to graduate and should probably pursue a different path.

So she got up and walked out of the room. By the end of that day, Delema had a new advisor

and major. She eventually earned a bachelor’s degree in Justice Studies from Lewis-Clark State College, as well as her MBA from the University of Phoenix –milestones she considers as two of her biggest personal accomplish-ments, after watching her own parents struggle to further their own education. Her father did not graduate high school, but earned his GED; her mother juggled parent-hood and college classes.

“I remember going to classes with her when I was little. She got her college degree working full time, raising three children. They had to do these things for their education, and I saw how hard they both worked,” says Delema.

With her experience in the banking industry, Delema now finds herself in a teaching role, helping kindergarten and first grade students understand the importance of financial literacy through her work with Junior Achieve-ment of Idaho. She says seeing their faces light up as they learn is always the highlight of her day.

“I am extremely appreciative to be on the Treasure Val-

ley Board of Directors for JA,” says Delema. “I can help to insure that we are reaching as many children as pos-sible and giving them an excellent foundation towards a successful future.”

Delema is also involved in community and civic work throughout Nampa, serving as a member of the Nampa Chamber Ambassador team, and a volunteer for various events such as Rake Up/Brush Up Nampa.

All that passion and drive stems from Delema’s up-bringing. Her father died when she was 15, leaving her mother alone to raise her children and one grandchild. But in spite of her grief, Delema’s mother continued to inspire.

“She radiates strength,” says Delema. “She taught, and still reminds me, that even though I may be 5 feet tall, I can still be the tallest presence in the room.”

Delema hopes to one day sail around the world, even though she’s never been on a sailboat. But she’s read plenty of books on the topic and has a friend who grew up sailing.

“I’m so excited,” she says. “My friend does a sailing race every summer on Lake Superior, and she asked me to come and be a part of her crew this year. It’s just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Age: 34Title: Branch manager

IICompany: Washington

Trust BankCity: NampaFavorite 1960s

historical figure: “Willie ‘Say Hey”’Mays! He was a phenomenal athlete who played for the San Francisco Giants (my favorite team) during the 60’s . Leo Durocher said it best: ‘If somebody came up and hit .450, stole 100 bases and performed a miracle in the field every day, I’d still look you in the eye and say Willie was better .’”

LEADER

RAINA DELEMA: ACCOMPLISHED UNDER 40

We would like to congratulate Raina Delema on being recognized as Accomplished Under 40. Her commitment to

clients, co-workers, and the community make her a strong leader, and a valuable member of our team.

Congratulations Raina!

BOISE / COEUR D’ALENE / POCATELLO / RENO / Call 208.344.6000 or visit HawleyTroxell.com

T H E H A W L E Y T R O X E L L W A Y

ACCOMPLISHEDAND

INSPIRING

Congratulations to the honorees selected for the 2015 “Accomplished Under 40” award. It is a pleasure to honor these leaders who have achieved success before the age of 40.

Hawley Troxell is Idaho’s premier, full service business law firm. Our customized approach, The Hawley Troxell Way, uses a team of attorneys or one-to-one counsel to meet your specific legal needs. And, best of all, our nationally renowned legal service comes with a local address.

— 20 —

David Estrada


Newly married David Estrada was serving in the Navy when the Sept. 11 terror attacks occurred. “I had just been married for two months when the attacks happened,” he says, “and we were immediately deployed to the 5th Fleet to support Army Special Forces for an undetermined amount of time.” He was able to get home that Christmas but “I was married for a full year before I got to spend an entire month at home.” Estrada acted as the Information Warfare Commander for Kitty Hawk Battle Group as part of Op-eration Enduring Freedom, and received three commen-dations, including the Navy Achievement Medal twice. “I am proud to have served my country during that time of crisis,” he says.

And, in addition, Estrada received advanced electronics training and traveled the world – and the GI bill came in handy when he decided to return to college. His first foray into secondary education had not gone smoothly – he missed an admissions deadline, his NROTC scholarship didn’t work out as planned, financial aid was a mystery and he couldn’t settle on a major. The second time worked like a charm and Estrada got his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, all in electrical engineering.

Since 2013, Estrada has been assistant professor of Ma-terials Science and Engineering at Boise State University.

“I am dedicated to scientific discovery of new technologies which will help solve global engineering challenges, while developing the next generation of scholars along the way,” Estrada says. Over the years he has accumulated a slew of awards, including being named a NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium Scholar, Micron Technology Foundation Graduate Fellow, and most recently, selected to the Boise State Mobile Learning Scholars Cohort. He is author of 800 citations, 24 peer-reviewed journal publications, and 55 refereed conference proceedings and abstracts, and has presented 27 talks and panels.

In addition, Estrada got to meet President Obama when he stopped by BSU’s New Product Development Lab last January. “Meeting the president was a great opportunity to bring international attention to the work my graduate stu-dents and I are doing,” Estrada says. “Not many Idahoans had the chance to meet him so I feel fortunate that I was selected to highlight the innovative research going on in our Materials Science department.”

Estrada says he is “married to my best friend and have an amazing son, Isaac,” 9, who is a “dedicated soccer player.” The family enjoys hiking fishing, camping and riding bikes along the Greenbelt, and when asked if he has any guilty pleasures, Estrada doesn’t miss a beat: “Microbrews.”

Age: 38Title: Assistant professorCompany: Boise State

UniversityCity: BoiseFavorite 1960s historical

figure: “Dr . John Bardeen . He had invented the transistor with William Shockley and Walter Brattain while at Bell Labs in the late 40’s . He received the Nobel Prize for that work in 1956 after moving to the University of Illinois . He won a second Nobel Prize in Physics for his theories on superconductivity . His work has transformed the world and his dedication to scientific discovery and family is a refreshing reminder of how science should be done .”

— 21 —

Materials science professor and Accomplished Under 40 honoree David Estrada discussed research and innovation with President Obama during his visit to Boise State.

EMILY BAKER

ISAAC BARRETT

CHRISTOPHER BATT

MONICA BITRICK

TOBE BROCKNER

TRACY CRITES

MOLLY DECKART

DAVID ESTRADA

JARED HIGHT

COURTNEY KIRCHNER

DANAE KLIMES

CHRISTOPHER MATHIAS

TIMOTHY MORGAN

JEREMY PRESLEY

MICHELLE WALL

EMILY WALTON

CHANTAYN WINNER

BENJAMIN ZAMZOW

Boise State alumni arebeing recognized with an

under 40AWARD in 2015

ACCOMPLISHED

18CONGRATULATIONS BRONCOS!

— 22 —

Julie M. Fogerson


Julie Fogerson likes to live life as if it was a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book. The multiple-choice, multiple-endings books, where “you’re the star of the story,” were popular when she was a young reader, and she loved reading them. And ever since she cracked open that first one, and imagined choosing where she might go, she has not once thought she couldn’t get there.

Born in Richland, Wash., she spent most of her childhood in Ontario, Ore., except for one year in Boise when Fogerson was in the eighth grade. Moving to the big city, even for one year, was an eye-opening experience. “The world cracked open,” she says. Her high school years were spent in Pocatello, but she set her choose-your-own-adventure sights on a dif-ferent locale for college: Hawaii Pacific University. “I did my homework on the beach,” she says.

Armed with a bachelor’s degree in communications, Foger-son spent the next 10+ years in public relations, in Washington and then New York. She promoted Microsoft, sometimes a hard sell that “primed me to be scrappy.” She left agency PR “to broaden my experience with contract work, and landed immediately at an engineering firm where I had no logical business being.” But she made every experience work and with each one she moved forward, she says.

Then, Fogerson, who “strives to experience as much of the world as possible,” decided she would like to experience life in Antarctica. After “a highly competitive application process and

one of my more grueling interviews,” she landed a contract job with the National Science Foundation managing office opera-tions for a vehicle maintenance facility. “Earning the chance to live and work in Antarctica was tremendous,” she says, adding that while she was there, she was able to complete a significant portion of her master’s degree online “while at the bottom of the world.” As if that were not fantastical enough, Fogerson also had “the unexpected opportunity to front a band at Ices-tock, Antarctica’s outdoor concert over New Year’s, with a piece of that performance airing on New Zealand radio,” she says.

These days, Fogerson sings a different tune: the praises of Wells Fargo, her employer since 2013.

In her role, she manages communications for Wells Fargo in Idaho, Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon across all lines of business and all publications. That is: 92 retail banking locations and about 2,200 team members mapping to around 80 lines of business. It is “one of my proudest achievements to date, personally and professionally,” she says.

Fogerson, who loves to travel, uses her journeys to enrich and learn. After meeting a group from Russia, she was inspired to learn the language. Determined to overcome a lifelong fear, she went to South Africa to “jump in a cage with a great white shark circling outside.”

While Fogerson has so far lived up to “choosing her own adventure,” she is happiest spending time with her family: hus-band Adam Chitwood, and stepson, Taylor Chitwood, 13.

Age: 36Title: Assistant

vice president, Idaho regional communications

Company: Wells FargoCity: BoiseFavorite “Mad Men”

character: “I love Don (Draper) – but I would never marry him .”

— 23 —

Sandee Gehrke


Sandee Gehrke was always interested in health care, so when she began her college career at Idaho State University she thought she might want to become a physical therapist.

“My mother said it would probably be smart if I shadowed one,” Gehrke recalls. “So I ended up shadowing a physical therapist, and I passed out twice. It wasn’t like there was blood or anything. I just had an aversion to it.”

Gehrke’s passion for physical therapy diminished after that, but her interest in the health care industry didn’t.

“I took a little bit of a different turn, and did the business side of health care, rather than the actual patient care side,” Gehrke says.

After negotiating that detour, Gehrke’s career path has been right on track. And she went down that path in a hurry.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree at Idaho State she earned an MBA in health care from the University of Colo-rado.

At the age of 29, Gehrke became the chief operating officer of the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls.

“It was an amazing experience,” she says. “It’s a large-sized hospital for a small town. The most satisfying part of that job was that I knew almost every employee in the hospital.”

And the hospital grew considerably during her four years in Idaho Falls. She oversaw the construction of a $20

million internal women’s center renovation and a 26-bed, 25,000-square-foot NICU expansion.

In 2013, Becker’s Hospital Review named her a Rising Star, one of the nation’s top 25 health care leaders under 40 years old.

Gehrke had achieved phenomenal success at a young age. And yet, she refused to become complacent.

“I was comfortable, so it was time for a move from a pro-fessional standpoint,” Gehrke says. “I needed to continue to grow.”

So when a position opened at St. Luke’s in early 2014, she jumped at the opportunity to become the system’s vice president of operations improvement. Among her many roles, she is the program director and member of the exec-utive committee for St. Luke’s Downtown Improvement Program, which could result in a $365 million, seven-year expansion.

“There’s a lot of different opportunities for me here at St. Luke’s.”

Enough opportunities that she feels like it will be some time again before she feels too comfortable – unless it’s on one of her vacations with her husband, Josh.

“We like to scuba dive, and we like to pick places where we get a chance to be in the water.”


operationsCompany: St . Luke’s

Health SystemCity: MeridianFavorite 1960s

historical figure: “I wouldn’t say I have a favorite historical figure. But in terms of influence over my career and profession, I’d have to cite Lyndon B . Johnson and the creation of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid . The groundwork laid out by his leadership has and will continue to shape how we structure and deliver health care in the United States .”

— 24 —

Julie K. Gunther


From junior high school on, Julie Gunther knew what she wanted to be: a fighter pilot. She graduated from Boise High School and applied to the Air Force Academy. Then, the family went on a vacation to the East Coast and Gun-ther got an up-close look at Harvard. “I thought Harvard was gorgeous,” she says. Long story short, Gunther did get accepted into the Air Force Academy, but after finding out it was unlikely she would ever get to fly, and knowing there were no female fighter pilots at that time, she switched her sights to Harvard.

She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and landed a job working for a software startup company.

But after Gunther experienced an unpleasant routine exam at the doctor’s office she had a heart-to-heart with her then-boyfriend, now-husband, and decided to change course again. “He said to me: ‘You complain about phy-sicians all the time. You think you can do better – put up or shut up.’ I always had an innate desire to help people,” Gunther says. “And I thought, I’m always going to work a lot, I might as well be doing something for the social good.”

Gunther went back to school and became a medical doctor. She moved back to Boise and began working as a family physician at St. Luke’s and worked there for about five years.

She loved her work, but something was wrong.“It has been my long-standing passion to restore the

integrity to the medical profession through diligent, compassionate, reliable, consistent, lifelong health care,” Gunther says. “I simply love being a physician. I love getting to know people, working through ups and downs and dealing with the messy, sometimes humorous reality of being a human being. However, after five years in an employed-based practice, I found it was harder and harder

to do the good work I had trained to do. I had to find another way.”

And she did. Gunther founded sparkMD, “Southwest Idaho’s first direct primary care practice,” she says. For a monthly fee, Gunther’s patients can be seen by her as needed on an outpatient basis. But, she is quick to point out, it is not for catastrophic care; it is for the more routine maintenance that prevents life-threatening disease. “Three years ago, I didn’t see much of a future for me or my pro-fession in terms of sustainability for primary care. I am now completely rejuvenated, as are my patients. We’re excited to connect again. To see each other as real people. And to begin to make progress down this road known as health-care.”

Gunther and her husband, Jeremy, who, she says, “is the reason all of this is possible,” have two daughters, Grace, 9; and Sophie, 7. Gunther shared a recent conversation with one of her daughters: “She said: ‘Mommy, daddy is the glue that holds us together.’ I said, ‘sweetie, if daddy is the glue, we’re the glitter.’”

Age: 39Titles: Medical doctor, founderCompany: sparkMDCity: BoiseFavorite 1960s historical figure:

“Ms . Rosa Parks . Her actions, in one small moment in time, catalyzed a tremendous change . Kind of like a spark . In the right place at the right time, sparks start really big fires. Janis Joplin is another, for the same reasons, really .”

— 25 —

Jared Hight

By Chris Langrill Special to Idaho Business Review

Jared Hight recently went camping with his family at Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park.

That doesn’t sound like too big of a deal. But for Hight, it was a small miracle.

Hight works about 40 hours a week in his position with Pets Best Insurance Services. In addition to that, Hight is pursuing a law degree, which demands about 50 hours of his time each week.

Oh, and Hight is also a husband and father of two young children.

So free time comes at a premium. “Sometimes, I’ll put in a lot of time late at night

during the week so we can do something on the week-ends,” Hight says.

During the week, however, he is a busy man. He joined Pets Best as a claims manager when the

company was founded in early 2007. Since then, Pets Best has grown from a small company with six employees to the fourth-largest pet insurance brand in the United States with over 50 Idaho employees. The company in-sures more than 63,000 pets in all 50 states, and it brings in revenues of more than $33 million annually.

Along the way, Hight has risen from claims manager to claims and compliance director to his current role as vice

president of claims. Jack L. Stephens, the founder of Pets Best, says he val-

ues the role that Hight has played in the growth of his company.

“Over the last 10 years of our association, it has been a pleasure to watch him grow professionally despite the additional workload of law school, while maintaining a balance in his personal life with his family,” Stephens wrote in recommending Hight for this award.

Hight’s original career plan didn’t include juggling so many responsibilities. Years ago, he applied to Idaho’s law school.

“While I was waiting for the application to go through, I was offered this job,” Hight says. “So I landed this job, and then put (law school) off for a year, then another year. Now, I’m on the older end of the typical law stu-dent, but the wait was worth it.”

And now, he also says he has his eyes on the finish line. He hopes to have that law degree in hand by next year.

“The first year or two were very exciting, but now I just want it to be done,” Hight says. “I have a 3-year-old (daughter) and a 6-year-old (son), and they’ve been grow-ing up through this whole adventure. I’m looking forward to spending more time with them, that’s for sure.”

Age: 38Title: Vice president of

claimsCompany: Pets Best

Insurance Services LLCCity: BoiseFavorite 1960s historical

figure: “I would say John F . Kennedy . He had tremendous vision and (wanted) the country to accomplish something that was thought impossible with landing a man on the moon by the end of the decade . That kind of courage and optimism hasn’t often been repeated by our leaders . Like Babe Ruth pointing to the bleachers, sometimes you just have to put yourself out there in order to force yourself – and others – to achieve greatness .”

— 26 —

Courtney Kirchner-Brumbach

By Chris Langrill Special to Idaho Business Review

It’s easy to be wowed by what Courtney Kirchner-Brum-bach has accomplished.

She compiled a 3.96 GPA while earning her bachelor’s de-gree at Boise State University then followed that with a 3.97 GPA while working toward her master’s at BSU in public administration.

Kirchner-Brumbach has been a strategic planning assistant for the Idaho Department of Agriculture and assistant direc-tor of government affairs at Boise State, where she lobbied the legislature on issues impacting higher education.

Since joining St. Luke’s, Kirchner-Brumbach has worked as an administration fellow where some of her responsibilities included scripting and developing presentations for St Luke’s CEO Dr. David Pate.

In July 2012, she was named director of governance and since then has led the restructuring of St. Luke’s to a regional governance and operating model. She also is responsible for planning and executing the annual St. Luke’s Health System Summit.

So, yes, Kirchner-Brumbach has accomplished much in ed-ucation and business.

And one might assume she has never had to roll up her sleeves and do some dirty work.

Guess again. “I was 18 years old when I became a firefighter,” Kirch-

ner-Brumbach says. “There was only one other woman on our crew, and I felt like I had so much to prove that I had to work not only as hard as the guys, but harder than the guys to

prove that I deserved a spot on that crew.”Along the way, Kirchner-Brumbach learned some life les-

sons while fighting fires in Oregon. “I look back, and I realize that I can feel comfortable not

having to prove things,” she says. “From a broader perspec-tive … there were a couple of hairy situations that I was in, and it fortified me – I’ve always been really good under pres-sure – and it solidified my ability to execute when it’s really necessary and to stay calm regardless of what’s happening around me.”

That ability was a major reason she decided to join St. Luke’s.

“I’m always looking for new challenges and new problems to solve,” Kirchner-Brumbach says. “And quite frankly, that was the main reason I moved from education to health care.”

While education had its issues, “I looked at health care, and the problems with health care are so much bigger. I was drawn to that, that there was a bigger problem that I could make significant change in.”

And Kirchner-Brumbach believes the health care industry needs to be prepared for significant change.

Steve Skaggs, a system administrator at St. Luke’s, says Kirchner-Brumbach can help lead the health system in a new direction.

“She focuses and expends 100 percent of her energy to the cause,” Skaggs says.

Says Kirchner-Brumbach, “I have a fire in my belly. There’s much to be done.”

Age: 32Title: Director of

governanceCompany: St . Luke’s

Health SystemCity: BoiseFavorite 1960s

historical figure: “My dad has kind of been my mentor, and I’ve learned a lot about business from him . I started working for him when I was 13 years old … and I learned so much about how to treat people with respect and (to) be ethical .”

— 27 —

Danae Klimes

By Ken LevySpecial to the Idaho Business Review

Danae Klimes says in her line of work, good relationships are everything.

“I love being a commercial lender because I get to help my customers realize their dreams,” she says.

“I get to work with a variety of people inside and outside the bank,” she says, adding that, because her dad was a vet-erinarian and she grew up with animals on a farm, she espe-cially relates to those in agriculture.

“I get to be out in the field with the ag customers, ship-ping lambs, working cows, going on farm inspections and digging potatoes.”

With a bachelor’s degree of Business Administration from Boise State University in hand, Klimes went into banking right out of college snagging a spot in the manage-ment-training program at First Security Bank, and never looked back.

She moved to Twin Falls in 2000 and joined Zions Bank as a relationship manager in 2007 where she continued blaz-ing trails. In 2014, she not only exceeded her loan produc-tion from the previous year, she also doubled her lending. And, as of the first quarter of 2015, “I have already exceeded my loan production goal for the year,” she says.

“My parents raised me to believe that I could do anything I wanted and that it didn’t matter if I was a girl or a boy,” Klimes says. She was named one of the “Most Powerful

Women in Banking” in the 2013 and 2014 American Bank-ers Magazine.

Klimes says the best compliment she ever received was when a customer told a competitor “they would never leave me because anytime they called me they felt like they were my only customer.”

In addition, Klimes is passionate about giving back to her community. She’s active with the Twin Falls Optimist Club where she has served on the board of directors as secretary/treasurer, president and past president. In the organization’s Coats for Kids program she helped provide more than 800 winter coats for local children and was also involved in the toy drive “Christmas in the Nighttime Sky,” as well as another coat and toy drive for local deployed military per-sonnel. Klimes is also active in the Chamber of Commerce, served on the board of directors of the Trailing of the Sheep Festival in 2013, and serves as a coach and volunteer with the Kimberly Youth Association.

Klimes and her husband, Kelly, have a small herd of cattle, and recently bought a farm “where we can teach our boys Riley, 10, and Nolan, 7, the value of a strong work ethic,” she says. “My roots are here in the Magic Valley, and my major goal in life is to provide for my family, and enjoy life.”

As for her job, “My goal is to be the best banker my cli-ents have ever had or will ever have.”


commercial relationship manager

Company: Zions BankCity: Twin FallsFavorite 1960s

historical figure: “JFK . He was forward thinking, charismatic and brought the country together . I often wonder how/if the U .S . would be different if he had not been assassinated . “

— 28 —

Bryant J. Kuechle


Bryant Kuechle says he’s “always leaned on the creative side” of things. In addition to drawing and painting, at the age of 10 he began writing a series of books called “My Big Adventure.” He created a comic book line based on his own superheroes, and another based on a play-doh-like character he’d seen on Saturday Night Live — Mr. Bill. “I thought he was really funny,” Kuechle says.

He has held jobs ranging from a U.S. Forest Service Fire-fighter to a bartender in Riggins. He’s roamed all over Idaho, and went on trips to New Orleans, Chicago, Memphis and Nashville. “I wanted to experience things before I settled my-self down,” Kuechle says. “I read too much Jack Kerouac.”

Then, with a degree in journalism in sight, Kuechle began notching steps in his career, first as a reporter at the Uni-versity of Idaho’s Argonaut, then for the Lewiston Morning Tribune. Next, he shifted focus to public and media relations, and got his master’s from the Edward R. Murrow College of Communications at Washington State University, where he taught classes at the same time he was taking them, in a teaching assistantship that covered his tuition.

After graduation, Kuechle’s first “real” job was as the public and media relations director for the Continental Basketball Association, which was then the developmental league for the National Basketball Association. He next worked as the Idaho Transportation Department District No. 3 Commu-

nications Specialist, where his career morphed into public involvement and engagement.

The Langdon Group came a calling in 2005. He was hired on as its second employee, but the company had a vision and since then, he has been promoted to his current position. Under his shared leadership the company now boasts 13 em-ployees, and has four offices in two states. He has worked on more than 30 projects, bringing public, private and govern-ment folks together, sometimes on projects where all sides are seemingly at permanent crossroads.

Kuechle also brings his creative talents to work. He helped create an online tool for ITD that identifies the need for public involvement, potential stakeholders, outreach ideas and budget estimate guidelines. “This simple online tool has literally taken away the confusion of public involvement,” says Sonna Lynn Fernandez, project manager for ITD. When ITD looks for innovation, “we now look to Bryant and his team,” she says.”

Kuechle and his wife, Darcy, have two children, his “most noteworthy accomplishments,” Toby, 4; and Judith, 11 months. He has consecutively run the Race to Robie Creek eight times and says his “guilty pleasure” is planning trips and vacations down to the itinerary and sightseeing details even though they may never transpire.

“I just enjoy figuring out what’s out there.”

Age: 39Title: Senior Project

Manager, Northwest Project Manager

Company: The Langdon Group Inc .

City: BoiseFavorite 1960s

historical figure: Hunter S . Thompson . “He had the courage to look at the world through a different lens and report on that . He had a critical eye for the politics of the day and could report from the perspective of the counter culture with humor and levity .”

— 29 —

Jeremy Ladle


When Jeremy Ladle was just a kid, growing up in The Woodlands, a planned community just north of Hous-ton, he decided what he wanted to be when he grew up through the magic of television – and by watching TV’s courtroom lawyers.

With no lawyers in the family or circle of friends to tap into for advice, Ladle made his way to law school by mastering the art of debate and was a top-notch debater four years in high school then four in college.

But when he finally made his way to law school, Ladle found he wasn’t as fond of courtroom litigation as he had once thought. “Most who knew me were surprised that I chose the business and transactional side,” Ladle says. “I like being able to put deals together. It’s just fun to be a part of that and you’re really trying to help people.”

Coming to that decision was natural, he says, because it falls in with his solutions-oriented philosophy. “You’re reg-ularly faced with challenges and opportunities,” Ladle says. “You’ve got to overcome the challenges and position yourself to take advantage of the opportunities.”

After graduating from the University of Idaho College of Law, Ladle worked as an attorney at Givens Pursley in Boise for five and a half years. Then, at the age of 33, he decided he wanted to do something different. He took an in-house legal position at Potandon Produce in Idaho Falls, a company with more than $350 million in annual revenues – and then he really went to work.

“I decided to enhance my business acumen by getting an MBA,” he says. And so, while working full-time as Potan-don’s general counsel, and as a married father of three (four by the time he finished), Ladle not only completed an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business – a top 20 business school – he also got a master’s degree in agricul-

tural economics from Purdue. “Obtaining those degrees was a transformative experience,” he says.

Ladle compares it, in part, to being on a roller coaster. “You get on a roller coaster, hold on, strap in and go. You hold on tight and you get through it and you get off on the other end. And it’s not easy sometimes along the way.”

Ladle credits his parents with teaching him the value of hard work and the importance of getting a good education. He remembers one instance when his whole family lent him a hand. “I was about 14 or 15 and I wanted to get a job because I really wanted to go to debate camp,” Ladle says. He got a job at a local fireworks stand. And even though his father was working a full-time job, “my dad and my whole family helped me operate the fireworks stand.”

Ladle says he hopes to pass that along. “At each step, I have been supported by friends and family

members who have made considerable sacrifices on my be-half. I’ve had a lot of support and hope I can provide that to others.”

Age: 38Title: General counselCompany: Potandon Produce LLCCity: Idaho FallsFavorite 1960s historical figure:

“One person I admire is Clarence Earl Gideon . He was not a model citizen, but he is “Gideon” from the landmark case Gideon v . Wainwright, 372 U .S . 335 (1963), which established that states are required to provide counsel in serious criminal cases to represent defendants that cannot afford to hire their own attorneys .”

photo by Josh Petersen

— 30 —

Ty D. Leuthold


Ty D. Leuthold has been in the car business since the age of 16 when he got a job detailing for a dealership in Spo-kane. When he moved back to Boise at age 17, he first got a detailing job at Dennis Dillon and worked his way up into the sales department. In 2003, he started working at Larry H. Miller in Caldwell in sales. “I had a desk there,” he says. Today, he is general manager of Larry H. Miller Subaru. He was ranked No. 1 general manager out of 55 dealerships in the Larry H. Miller organization in 2014. That same year Automotive News named his dealership a “Best Dealership to Work For.” And, in 2015, another award: “Subaru Dealer of the Year” for outstanding customer satisfaction.

Leuthold credits his success, in part, to the hard work ethic he got from his dad while growing up on a ranch about 10 miles outside of Midvale.

“I worked on a ranch in the summer times, and dad was a builder,” he says. “It was a lot of hard work but I credit that to where I am today. Working for my dad, he was the toughest employer I ever had. But he taught me a good work ethic.”

It was that hard work ethic, Leuthold says, that the Miller organization took note of. “It was just a matter of working hard, that’s the beautiful thing about this organization. Hon-esty, integrity – they recognized that and appreciated that, as did I,” he says. “To make a difference in the community, to do things ethically, that’s why I’m still here today.”

Leuthold says the award of which he is most proud is the “Best Dealership to Work For.” “This was truly special be-cause Automotive News searches the entire United States and Canada to make the top list of 101 best dealerships, in which LHM Subaru ranked No. 19 overall.”

Leuthold says the most important part of his job is to em-power his employees “to do great things for our customers. There are no egos at our dealership.”

Leuthold has been known to toss a football with cowork-ers, play basketball or even initiate a Nerf dart war to bring a little fun to work. He also treats his employees. “One Sunday I reserved Tamarack Golf Course for the entire dealership and their spouses. And this year I’m taking them whitewater rafting in July.”

Under Leuthold’s watch, the dealership also gives back to the community, participating in events such as the Boise Rescue Mission’s annual coat drive, and a company-wide day of service. “We pick a new charity each year and go to work for the day,” Leuthold says. “We’ve painted houses, cleaned up parks – this year it’s the Boise Bicycle Project, putting to-gether and fixing up kids’ bikes.”

Leuthold says his favorite food is pepperoni pizza, and his favorite way to unwind is woodworking. Recently, he built a miniature house with a loft, a kitchen and a covered porch for his daughters.

Age: 32Title: General

managerCompany: Larry H .

Miller SubaruCity: BoiseFavorite “Mad Men”

character: “Don Draper . He makes things happen .”

— 31 —UH CEO Magazine Half Page 0514.indd 1 5/1/14 4:50 PM

lhmauto.com

on being named to Idaho Business Review ’s 2015 Accompl ished Under 40.

CONGRATULATIONS

TY LEUTHOLD

15-AGF-2006 AGF May15 Ty Leuthold 40 Under Ad_b2_det.indd 1 5/14/15 2:34 PM

— 32 —

Kennedy K. Luvai


Kennedy Luvai was named a shareholder of the Boise office of the law firm of Parsons, Behle and Latimer in early 2015.

“Over the many cases and trials that we have liti-gated together, he has developed outstanding skills as an attorney and counselor at law. Earlier this year, our firm recognized Kennedy’s accomplishments by wel-coming him as a shareholder,” John Zarian, PBL managing partner, writes in his letter of recommendation for this award.

As a registered patent attorney at the firm, Luvai focuses his practice primarily on high-stakes intellectual property litigation, representing local, regional and national clients on issues relating to patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and right of publicity. He is a member of the Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Utah state bars.

Zarian says Luvai has volunteered many hours to the diversity section of the Idaho State Bar along with many professional organizations and his church. Luvai was elected chair of the intellectual property law section of the National Bar Association, “the nation’s oldest and largest association of predominantly African-American lawyers,” Zarian says.

Luvai is an active leader in “Love the Law!” The program seeks to expand opportunities in the legal profession for ra-cial and ethnic minorities and low-income individuals. He is also a primary contributor to the program’s fundraising efforts.

Former Accomplished Under 40 award recipient Evans Baiya says that, like Luvai, she grew up in east Africa and moved to the U.S. for educational opportunities.

“That Mr. Luvai has achieved the level of success that he has in such a relatively short time is a testament to hard work, creativity, and dedication,” she writes in a letter of rec-ommendation.

“Mr. Luvai has been, and continues to be, a respected thought leader in intellectual property matters in Idaho,” Baiya says. “Besides authoring several articles and making multiple presentations on intellectual property topics, Mr. Luvai serves as an adjunct faculty member at the Concordia University School of Law.”

Luvai has his major life goals firmly in mind.“At a personal level, and drawing from the example of my

own father, one of my most important goals is to blaze a trail for my own three sons so that they can become who they envision themselves to be, much as my father did for me,” Luvai says.

“As an attorney, my goal has remained the same through-out my career from the first day I (was) sworn in as a mem-ber of the first state bar I joined, namely, to not only do right by my clients but also be of service to the profession and the community… I have taken that goal to heart and continue to look for ways to give back to a profession and community that has given much to me in the form of op-portunities.”

Luvai is married to Jen, and the couple’s three boys are: Kaelen, 7; Aidan, 5; and Finley, 4 months.

Age: 37Title: Attorney at law and

shareholderCompany: Parsons Behle &

Latimer PLCCity: BoiseFavorite 1960s historical figure:

“I think I will go with the record-breaking soccer great Pele (real name Edison Arantes do Nascimento) of Brazil . Besides his electrifying play and knack for scoring unbelievably spectacular goals during his prime, Pele has continued to be a worldwide ambassador for the game in retirement .”

— 33 —

CONGRATULATIONSBrian Wonderlich embodies Holland & Hart’s values of integrity, excellence, teamwork, client service, and commitment to community. We salute him and all of the 2015 Accomplished Under 40.

CONGRATULATIONS

Brian Wonderlich 208.383.3995 [email protected] W. Main Street, Suite 1750Boise, ID 83702

AccomplishedUnder 40

At Gallatin, we help clients navigate the intersection of government, business, politics and the media. We help businesses win.

Congratulations to Mckinsey and Emily on

their achievements and to all of the outstanding

“Accomplished Under 40” 2015 honorees.

Mckinsey Lyon, Partner Emily Baker, Managing Partner

gallatinpublicaffairs.com

Chris BattIdaho Independent BankBS Human Resources Management, 2000BS Production/Operations Management, 2000

Nikeela BlackArkoosh Law Offices PLLC/ Idaho Mediation Center LLCJD 2011

Bryant J. KuechleThe Langdon Group Inc.BS Journalism & Mass Communications, 1998

IDAHO BUSINESS REVIEW'S

ACCOMPLISHED UNDER 40Jeremy LadlePotandon Produce LLCJD, 2004

Bryan StithEngineering Consultants Inc.BS Human Resources Management, 2000

Brian C. WonderlichHolland & Hart LLPBS Political Science, 2002JD Law, 2007

CONGRATULATIONS to our

ALUMNI HONOREES

— 34 —

Mckinsey Miller Lyon


Mckinsey Lyon got into her career by accident. She’d been living in Oakland, Calif., after attending Santa Clara University and working on an Americorps VISTA project. “It got to a point where I was in my mid-20s and I didn’t know what to do,” she admits. She came back home to Idaho for a while and waited tables. In the process, she volunteered at a campaign event for the library, and while there, talked to some-one about her interests. She soon got a phone call from Paul Woods, asking her to help him on his 2006 campaign for Ada County commissioner.

“He was one of the first people I encountered profes-sionally who just had faith in me and knew I could do it and we did,” Lyon says. “It was an awesome experi-ence. It was a big learning curve, and a big challenge, but it really whet my appetite for politics and for understanding how policy and media and business all play together.”

Lyon joined Gallatin soon after the campaign, where her campaign experience has come in handy lobby-ing state government to help companies manage big

issues that need public and elected official buy-in and support. For example, for the past two years she has led the effort to pass and manage Your Health Idaho, the Idaho health exchange that’s part of the Affordable Care Act. “How do we make it work here, how do we keep it alive in a politically difficult environment, and how do we get Idahoans to use the exchange,” she ex-plains.

Other projects Lyon has worked on during her eight-year tenure at Gallatin include the Streamlined Sales Tax initiative, wind farms, and mining.

In addition to her job, Lyon is the mother of two children. “A lot of my time is spent with them,” she says. “Like most young working moms, I really strug-gle with finding that balance.” She also volunteers with a couple of boards, such as the Idaho Taxpayers Association, Idaho Kids Count, and Idaho Legislative Advisors.

And will Lyon run for office herself? “I like being behind the scenes, the ‘man behind the curtain,’” she says.

Age: 34Title: PartnerCompany: Gallatin

Public AffairsFavorite “Mad Men”

character: Peggy . “I really like that her job seems to be more than a job . It’s something that she loves and she knows she can do despite all these things from the outside not giving her the recognition she deserves . She has the confidence and she’s not going to let anyone get away with telling her otherwise . ‘I have an office and my name is on the door,’ she says . It’s hard for young women in the workplace even now .”

— 35 —

Christopher P. Mathias

By Brad Talbutt Special to Idaho Business Review

The story of Chris Mathias’ rise is as improbable as any tale ever told by the “rags to riches” author, Horatio Alger. Mathias was born premature to a substance abuser, and left him when he was 3. He grew up in a small town, often on the receiving end of public assistance and racial prejudice. To cope, the young Mathias tried to make himself un-obtrusive. “I tried not to do well enough to attract attention, or poorly enough to fail,” he says.

A couple of weeks after turning 18, while work-ing at McDonalds, Mathias graduated near the bottom of his high school class seemingly “bound to a wasted adulthood.”

“I watched as the top of my class gathered their honors and I knew in my heart I could have been one of them,” he says. He realized then that there were rules and strategies for success, and that he could learn them. He quit flipping burgers and joined the Coast Guard where he knew he could find the skills he needed.

Mathias credits the military for his discipline, focus, diligence, empathy, trustworthiness and perseverance. During a progressively successful military career he earned a Captain’s Commenda-tion, Top Secret Clearance, Two Antarctic Service Medals, and an Arctic Service Medal.

The military also allowed Mathias to pursue his formerly squandered education. He was elected Boise State University Student Body President in his sophomore year. After earning his bachelor’s de-gree, he worked in the U.S. Senate, and earned two doctorates: his Juris Doctor from Vermont Law School 2007, and his doctorate in law and public policy from Northeastern University in 2012.

In school he focused intensely on his studies, and learned to be motivated to embrace chal-lenge. “It is on the other side of a challenge that true accomplishment lives,” he says.

Jeremiah Shinn, assistant vice president at BSU, praised Mathias in a letter recommending him for this award. “During the time Chris and I worked together at Boise State University, I was always impressed by his ability to identify core issues, to solve problems and to engage col-leagues in potentially contentious conversations in a manner that was consistently professional, respectful and solution oriented. In an environ-ment where priorities are often in conflict and where it is easy to criticize policies, protocols and the people who manage them, Chris not only survived, but thrived.”

Today, Mathias hangs his hat at the Idaho State Board of Education, the policy-making board providing general oversight and governance for public K-20 education. He has been the chief academic officer there since 2014. “As chief ac-ademic officer, I am responsible for academic oversight,” Mathias says. “I provide vision, lead-ership, planning, and management for the devel-opment and implementation of Idaho’s system of postsecondary academic programs and degrees.”

Mathias, who is married and has children, says he has two major goals. “My first is to raise strong, independent children who are loving and thoughtful. Second, I want to continue having equally rewarding professional and personal lives. In the short term, at least, this means continuing to serve the public in challenging roles.”

Age: 37 Title: Chief academic officer Company: Idaho State Board of

Education City: Boise Favorite 1960s historical figure:

“Disregarding the fact he was a chronic adulterer, I’d have to say Sam Cooke simply because I like listening to his singing voice .”

— 36 —

Timothy R. Morgan


Make the mistake of asking Tim Morgan about emulsified asphalt, then watch his eyes brighten as he jumps out of his seat and rummages through a collection of brochures and white-papers, giddy as a 6-year old who’s been asked to bring out his Legos.

Morgan owns his nerdiness, and his zeal for asphalt viscos-ity that has saved hundreds of thousands of Ada County tax-payer dollars.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in engineering from Boise State University, Morgan moved from one construction project to the next, first as an engineering inspector with Boise, then helping design and build roads and bridges for a series of cities and private firms in Arkansas and Oregon.

He came home to Idaho and started building again as an Ada County Highway District project manager in 2009. But Mor-gan’s rise to become the youngest member ever of the ACHD executive team, and to be the first professional engineer to lead the ACHD Maintenance Division wouldn’t have happened without one small hitch. He was passed over for a promotion.

“At the time, I was very frustrated and upset that I didn’t get it,” Morgan says.

While stewing about the slight, Morgan also heard about a problem a maintenance crew was having making grades align in an intersection project. He fell asleep wondering about it, and awoke early the next day with the solution. So he grabbed

some tools and headed to the worksite. Being outside on a job-site again was a revelation.

“It was one of those Boise mornings when the sun burns off the morning haze and the birds are out and the breeze from the river is cool,” he remembers. It wasn’t long before a job in the maintenance division opened up, and he jumped at it. If he’d gotten the promotion he’d have never gotten the chance.

Among his contributions to the $50 million maintenance operation is a tailored maintenance plan for each road – chip seal, slurry seal, micro seal, or reclamation. In the past, for instance, ACHD had no way to predict how long it would take its orange clad crews to apply chip seal, that steaming stew of asphalt and gravel that slows a road’s deterioration. It’s an important question since the process costs about a dollar a minute. Because of Morgan’s work, which has been adopted nationwide, ACHD not only uses much less material, but knows that chip sealing will take exactly 47 days this year.

“His techniques increase the life span and replaces the one-size-fits-all approach ACHD has been using for many years, and has the additional benefit of saving us millions of dollars in added maintenance costs,” says Paul R. Daigle, ACHD chief of staff.

“Looking back at it now, if I’d gotten that job ... I would have never made the jump to maintenance and operations, which I now know is my passion,” Morgan says.

Age: 37Title: Deputy director,

maintenance division

Company: Ada County Highway District

City: Garden City Favorite 1960s

historical figure: “As an infrastructure guy, I would say Dwight Eisenhower, for the interstate system among his many other accomplishments . The Eisenhower Interstate System has been known as the greatest public works project in history .”

— 37 —

Lauren Necochea


Lauren Necochea likes research. And it’s lucky for Idaho that she does.

As the director of both Idaho Voices for Children and the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy, run by the nonprofit Jannus Inc., Necochea spends her days gathering data and creating analyses that will help policymakers and the general public make edu-cated decisions for the state of Idaho.

“We believe in making smart investments with our public dollars to ensure a positive future,” she says.

Necochea grew up in Boise, but her education and career have taken her all around the world. She studied economic challenges in Ecuador as an undergraduate student, and after graduation, traveled to Peru to assist in the evaluation of a microfinance program that gave small loans to local business owners. While in Peru, she met her future husband, and the two next went to New Haven, Conn., where he finished medical school at Yale University and she worked for an organization called Innovations for Poverty Action. Soon thereafter, Necochea earned her own post-graduate degree in public affairs from Princeton University.

Necochea then worked in Philadelphia as a policy fellow for the Princeton University Center on Health and Wellbeing and the Rob-ert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Maryland, addressing children’s safety and health hazards for the Baltimore City Health Department in 2011. Having had her first child by this point, Necochea was ready to “come home,” and the couple happily relocated to Boise.

“My parents still live in the house I grew up in, and we bought a house three blocks away,” Necochea says. “We’re pretty firmly rooted in Boise (now).”

Back in Idaho, Necochea went to work as the director of Idaho KIDS COUNT, which was a one-person, part-time operation. In her four-year tenure, Necochea has merged the group with Idaho Voices for Children, which promotes uni-fied policy agendas focusing on children and their needs. The Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy is now under the same umbrella as well, which helps “untack and clarify” what policy decisions will mean for Idahoans.

In this time, Necochea has also launched or helped to launch the Idaho Afterschool Network, Idaho Reads!, the Part-nership for Idaho’s Future and Close the Gap Idaho.

“Financially, everybody’s fighting for their piece of the pie, and the pie’s shrinking,” she says. “We bring all these advo-cates together and give them tools and information to help them look at the whole picture.”

Outside her career, Necochea says caring for her two daugh-ters is her most significant personal accomplishment. She jok-ingly says her family is the only hobby she has time for, but is grateful to be part of it.

“If I accomplish nothing else in life, I hope to see (my daughters) grow up to learn the pleasures of hard work, gen-erosity and serving others,” she says. “What I lack in hobbies I make up for in an amazing family.”

Though Necochea’s list of accomplishments is impressive by any standard, she is quick to turn the praise around to others.

“When you experience success, look around you,” she says. “Appreciate the people, institutions, community and other fac-tors that made your success possible.”

Age: 35Title: DirectorCompanies: Idaho

Voices for Children and the Idaho Center for Fiscal Policy

Favorite “Mad Men” character: “Peggy . She went from being the assistant to doing the copy and ads . I liked watching her progression as a woman in an era when women’s ideas and intellectual work was often not appreciated .”

— 38 —

Kelly Parker


Growing up with the diversity of Pullman, Wash., where college students from across the country intermingle with refugees from around the world, Kelly Parker developed a style that might be regarded as unusual for an up and coming banking executive.

“Exposure to diversity in all areas encourages contin-uous learning and practicing respectfulness in a broad range of what might otherwise be scary situations,” Parker says. “This allows me to have exposure to situ-ations where I can candidly explore conflicting view-points while challenging myself to remain respectful and kind.”

Parker’s resume and experience put her on track to be-come an analyst, actuary or accountant. Mike Mooney, pres-ident of Bank of the Cascades, says Parker’s career path was leading in a straight line to the top ranks of manage-ment. “Kelly quickly progressed through multiple positions at the bank to become branch manager. In every role at our company, Kelly earned respect and credibility through her team work and collaborative approach,” Mooney says.

Parker’s openness eventually led to an offer from the United Way after she volunteered for the organization and was named “Loaned Executive of the Year.” For two years she worked as relationship and development man-ager, facilitating relationships and transitioning the team to a year-round relationship management model.

And in 2014, she joined Create Common Good, a non-profit that uses food to change lives by providing work-skills training to chronically underemployed adults. The agency operates a three-acre farm on the east side of Boise, and runs a commercial kitchen on Federal Way. Participants receive training in the culinary arts.

As director of sales and community engagement, Parker has built a website and other communications strategies, and

she’s overseen a doubling of revenue in the last 14 months. Sales of food products now account for 40 percent of the agency’s revenue, and Parker’s goal is to reach 80 percent by 2020.

“She has quickly and credibly established a sales system and approach at Create Common Good to attack the market and bring unique service provider value that daily changes lives within the walls of our production kitchen, and builds a growing sustainable revenue base for the long-term viability of the organization,” says Tara Russell, CEO and founder of Create Common Good.

As for the switch from banking to the nonprofit world, Parker is both practical and philosophic. She says her finance experience has opened doors for her and given her a founda-tion that gives her credibility, but the nonprofit work is mak-ing her a well-rounded leader.

“People are exponentially more important than mate-rial possessions or accomplishments,” she says. “I strongly believe if I invest in others, I will find a greater sense of ful-fillment and success will ultimately follow.”

Age: 34 Title: Director, sales and

community engagement Company: Create Common Good City: Boise Favorite 1960s historical figure:

“Jackie Kennedy . She was compelling and fashionable, quietly powerful and classically stylish with a bit of ‘cool .’”

— 39 —

Jeremy Presley

By Ken LevySpecial to Idaho Business Review

Jeremy Presley had always dreamed of becoming a pilot and owning his own business. By age 35, he had accom-plished both.

That success includes moving up from marketing assis-tant at Materials Testing and Inspection in 2001 to mar-keting coordinator in 2003. By 2005, he was director of business development.

In that position he helped MTI gain recognition as the Small Business of the Year by the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce in 2006.

“Through publicity and face-to-face relations with the diverse potential client base, I was able to be an integral part of the team, helping MTI increase its revenue by al-most $3 million during this time,” he says.

He also had a “once in a lifetime” second job for eight years as an officer and pilot in the U.S. Air Force and Idaho Air National Guard. He was a C-130 pilot before being selected to fly the A-10C for the 190th Fighter Squadron.

After his stint in the Air Force, he was named MTI’s op-erations manager in 2012.

One of his favorite accomplishments was to correct the direction of one of the largest groups in the company.

“I stepped in to help a struggling manager who lost the respect and control of his departments,” he said. “I had to wade through issues with disgruntled employees and restore morale and company culture to four departments that were on the verge of a mass exodus by its people.”

In a letter recommending Presley for this award, MTI President and General Manager David Cram wrote: “He was instrumental in helping the firm dramatically increase revenues, and becoming the leader in the region for con-struction testing and inspection services. His drive, deter-mination, and competitive spirit provided the inspiration to motivate people, and help us achieve our goals.”

When Presley’s firm had reached $8 million in revenue last year, he was offered fractional ownership.

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” he says. “By age 35, I was blessed to have fulfilled my second dream by be-coming a business owner, which was both a personal and professional accomplishment. Although there were other accomplishments along the way, becoming a vested owner has been my crowning professional accomplishment.”

Presley believes he has “too many unexplained accom-plishments and opportunities in his life to feel I could have orchestrated them myself.”

He credits his faith in God first and foremost for helping to shape and mold him. He also credits his mother with teaching him that if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing not only right but also better than expected.

“The drive that my mother imparted and the opportu-nities I have received are what has led to any success that I have had,” he said.

He said his wife, Candi, has been a steadying and en-couraging influence and helped get him through the toughest parts of pilot training.

Age: 37Title: Principal/

vice president, operations manager and construction services manager

Company: Materials Testing and Inspection

City: BoiseFavorite 1960s

historical figure: “It would have to be Martin Luther King, Jr . I tend to agree with most of his ideas and feel that we lost a great person when he died .”

— 40 —

Skye Root


For Skye Root, who grew up in an Eastern Oregon log-ging and cattle ranching family, working in agriculture, or “Ag,” as those familiar with the work call it, was never a question. “I always knew I wanted to be in Ag,” he says. “I knew Ag was going to be in my future – it gets in your blood.”

As a young boy, Root says his life was centered around chores – “we had to feed the animals year-round; the day school let out until it started again, it was work. Big time. Riding horses and herding cows.” He rode horses in the pouring rain and worked cattle on rugged mountainsides at 10, not knowing that grazing allotments and severe drought would one day be of concern.

Today, as an agricultural asset manager for an educational pension fund, Westchester Group, a Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement and Equities Fund, Root is responsible for all row crop assets in the West-ern United States. “It’s a great job,” he says, “and I’m able to use my background. I spend half my time on my computer and the other half out rubbing the dirt.”

Root has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Brigham Young University and two master’s degrees from Oregon State University, one in business administration and entre-preneurship and the other in public policy with a water em-phasis.

Root has been working in Ag ever since, first as associate at Westwater Research LLC, and, since 2012, at his current position. He also is an adjunct professor of economics at the College of Western Idaho and a farm management instruc-tor for the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural

Appraisers. He has served on a number of local, state and na-tional boards of directors, is a volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America at the local, district and council levels, and is a volunteer with the BYU Management Society.

Root has a pilot’s license and says flying planes is one of his favorite hobbies. He also enjoys running in triathlons with his wife, Becca. They have four children: Bryce, 7; Brandon, 6; Marion, 4; and Makenna, 1½.

A childhood memory that still haunts Root also is what drives him today. He remembers sitting in a charred canvas tent, listening to frustrated and exhausted ranchers and fire fighters, confused forest administrators, and one hesitant congressman. There was a massive wildfire, and everyone wanted answers. “The anger, anxiety, and intensity that I felt in the tent that day were catalysts for transforming my un-derstanding of my place in the world,” Root says. “I strive to model being a good steward of the land, water and other nat-ural resources.” And, “I might one day aspire to be that poor, hesitant congressman.”

Age: 31Title: Vice presidentCompany: Westchester GroupCity: BoiseFavorite 1960s historical figure:

“Martin Luther King . I think I stand for a lot of what he stood for – treating people with decency, understanding and love .”

— 41 —

Courtney Santillan


Who doesn’t dream of making children’s wishes come true? But Courtney Santillan took it more se-riously than most of us.

For more than 10 years, Santillan has been a “wish granter” for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. “You’re the contact between the organization and the child,” she explains. “You’re responsible for making the wish come true.” Depending on what the wish is, that could mean planning it, soliciting donations, scheduling a big unveiling, and planning a party if the wish includes a trip.

In Mountain Home, Santillan coordinated redo-ing one child’s bedroom by working with interior designers, while in another wish, she helped a teen-ager fix up his car. “He said he wanted his car like ‘Pimp My Ride,’ with neon green, sparkly pink, a black interior, new tires, and a new muffler,” she re-calls. “It was a lot of work, but it was fun.”

When she’s not making wishes come true, Santil-lan oversees the noncredit health programs at CWI. That is, rather than degree-seeking students, she has day-to-day oversight of the various certification programs such as medical assistant, nurse assistant,

pharmacy technician, phlebotomy, paramedics, and so on. “People come to us to get a certificate,” she says. “Our mission is to get people to work.” Consequently, she’s constantly meeting with repre-sentatives in the medical industry to create classes to meet their needs. “We’re always developing new classes or coming up with new ideas and custom classes,” she says.

Before CWI, Santillan worked at the Children’s Specialty Center at St. Luke’s, where she saw several of her “wish kids” coming in for appointments. She also served as executive director for the Idaho Fed-eration of Families for Children’s Mental Health, and was appointed by Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter to the Idaho Council on Children’s Mental Health and the Idaho State Mental Health Planning Council.

In her spare time, Santillan runs – and not just around the block either. She’s run several marathons and “lots of half marathons,” she says. She’s also an “art mom” at her sons’ school. “How hard is first- and second-grade art?” she asks. “But it is kind of hard.”

Age: 39Title: Director,

Health Programs and Workforce Development

Company: College of Western Idaho

Favorite 1960s historical figure: “Mary Ann from the TV show ‘Gilligan’s Island .’ She’s the one I most identify with . She’s simple, kind of modest, relaxed, honest . She’s the one who took the whole thing in stride – it is what it is . That’s kind of my personality .”

— 42 —

Bryan Stith


Success for Bryan Stith, in sports, business, and life, is a byproduct of preparation, effort, and will. It’s a lesson he learned from his father, Les, and it served him well when faced with his first big set-back. Stith was a standout ath-lete in high school, playing football and basketball. It was the hockey rink where he really shined and he was on a path to a major-college career. But in his junior year Stith suffered a series of concussions that forced him to give up the sport.

Stith credits his father’s insistence that he play more than one sport for preparing him to pivot successfully. In his se-nior year he joined the track and field team and a year later was competing at the collegiate level. “Being multi-talented gave me the opportunity to walk onto the University of Idaho track team,” Stith says.

Stith has honed his practice of preparation, effort, and will into tools he uses as director of business management at Engineering Consultants Inc., the firm his father founded, and as the head track and field coach at Capital High School where he’s built a program that consistently wins state cham-pionships and turns raw talents into finely tuned collegiate athletes.

Under Stith’s direction, Engineering Consultants’ annual revenue has grown from $1.5 million to $2.7 million. He credits the company’s success to his father’s philosophy,

which taught him to persevere through hard times and to put the wellbeing of his employees ahead of the company’s.

Over his 14-year tenure at Capital high and at the YMCA, Stith has coached over 2,000 student athletes in the Treasure Valley. More than 30 of his student athletes devel-oped into Idaho State Track and Field Champions and over 50 became USA Track and Field All-American Athletes. Sixty percent of Stith’s student athletes continue on to college.

In his role as head coach, Stith exemplifies the very traits that have made him so accomplished in the business world at such a young age: passion, leadership and character.

“Bryan’s leadership is without question the best we have in our coaching staff,” says Capital High Athletic Admin-istrator, Steve Sosnowski. “He understands the nuances of leadership and it is reflected in how he runs his program, how he uses his staff, and how he is able to lead our students to achieve above and beyond even their own expectations.”

The challenge for Stith now is to maintain what he’s built while enjoying the summit. He’s had more state cham-pions in the triple jump than anyone ever, coached one of the first women to ever jump over 40 feet, and the best male triple jumper in Idaho history.

“I’ve been to the mountain top,” he says. “Now I get to enjoy coaching the kids and do what I’ve learned to do.”

Age: 37 Title: Director

of business management

Company: Engineering Consultants Inc .

City: Boise Favorite 1960s

historical figure: “Bill Bowerman was head coach at the University of Oregon and started making shoes in the ‘60s in the track shed . In 1972 he, along with Phil Knight, was one of the founders of Nike .”

— 43 —

Michelle Wall


Michelle Wall didn’t have to sacrifice being the best mom she could be by taking on the job of her dreams.

Wall, COO of Icon Credit Union, Boise, says her highest goal was to be “surrounded (by) many children and have the joy of being a stay-at-home mom.”

When she joined Icon, then known as Idahy, in 1999, “I thought I would work for a year or two, get married and start having kids and that would be it.”

But she continued to move up there. Five years after mar-rying Nate Wall, and while expecting their first child, Mi-chelle learned an accounting supervisor job was opening up at Icon.

“I thought that would be a dream job for me,” she says.So did the vice president of the department, who offered

her the job.“It wasn’t what I planned or expected, but it was right and

I knew it. I also knew thatI didn’t have to sacrifice being a good mom for a job. I

realized I could do both and also be good at both,” Wall says. “That decision to go back to work began the shift of my thinking that this ‘job’ was turning into a career, and I loved the idea of it.”

So did her colleagues, including Connie Miller, Icon’s pres-ident and CEO, whom Wall names as her mentor.

“(Wall) is a natural leader who attracts and desires quality

in everything she touches,” Miller says, in a letter of rec-ommendation for this award. “She has earned every step of her growth and career advancement along the way by her diligence with hard work ethics and staying true to what is important in life, and always willing to share her success with others.”

That sharing of success with others extends to her civic engagements as well. Kelly Wong, first vice chair of the board of directors of the Girl Scouts of Silver Sage Council, says Wall “was instrumental in helping our (strategic learning) committee understand the financial data we were analyzing. Beyond that though, Michelle brought an air of positivity to the committee. She is willing to jump in with gusto to any-thing being asked, even when it’s outside her comfort zone.”

Besides GSSS, Wall also serves as a classroom mentor with Junior Achievement of Idaho.

“I love seeing the looks on the kids’ faces when they expe-rience that light bulb moment when they realize that they can be an entrepreneur or be successful in business, and that financial information isn’t scary,” she says.

The Walls have two children, Owen, 9 and Audrey, 7. “My life goal and personal philosophy is to do my very

best to be of service to those around me,” Wall says, “while maintaining the important balance of being the best wife, mother and credit union professional I can be.”

Age: 36Title: Chief operating

officerCompany: Icon Credit

UnionCity: BoiseFavorite 1960s

historical figure: “Martin Luther King, Jr . changed the world with his dream of standing up for equal rights through non-violence and general Christian love for all people . Every individual person matters, no matter what their color, religion, circumstance, and he believed and lived that actively . “

— 44 —

Emily Walton


Emily Walton has a simple answer for how she does so much – a full-time job, a trustee for the Col-lege of Western Idaho, chair of the Boise State Pub-lic Radio advisory board, and on the board of the Central Bench Neighborhood Association: “I don’t watch TV,” she answers.

Well, there’s more to it than that. “I really try to cut out fluff stuff, figure out what has to be done, and move on,” Walton explains. “Needless meet-ings, needless projects – I just don’t do them.”

That said, Walton always seems to manage to find time to do the things she considers important, like making sure the first gay couples to get married in Ada County had a party. “Part of the reason for having the party was selfish,” she admits. “I wanted to be there to see that. That was the impetus for me. I didn’t want to be too awkward standing there staring at people. I thought it would be nice to have coffee and cake. And it just sort of blossomed. I’m really proud of the work we did that day to make sure those couples felt very welcome and celebrated, as any couple should.”

In her new position, Walton works to improve gun safety at the state level as the representative for sev-eral Western states, including Idaho, to the national organization. “We definitely respect and support the Second Amendment,” she declares. “We do think there are some reasonable things that we should be doing as a country,” such as no guns in schools or on campus, and that concealed carry should require a per-mit. “Those have been common sense in America for a long time, and we have pretty good polling that the public agrees with us.”

Walton was recently elected, over both the incum-

bent and a well-respected Idaho legislator, to the board of the College of Western Idaho. “I was a non-tradi-tional student – I wasn’t educated before college,” she explains. “So I identify a lot with some of the students we have at CWI. Take remedial math. I was just in one (of those classes) three years ago. So it’s really interesting to go from being in remedial math, and then jumping several layers of strata to be on a board to be deciding what kind of remedial programs we want, and how to make them better, because I’ve been there.”

Walton’s also known for going above and beyond, such as when she became the commencement speaker for Boise State University’s class of 2012, when she received a cum laude degree in linguistics. “They had an application process,” she explains. “There were four ways you could get a recommendation, and I got all four. That probably helped.”

Age: 36Title: State legislative affairs

managerCompany: Everytown for Gun

SafetyFavorite “Mad Men” character:

“Don Draper . He’s powerful and sexy . He came from a very difficult background and I relate to that . He was determined to make some stuff happen.”

— 45 —

Elijah Watkins


Litigation attorney Elijah Watkins of Stoel Rives focuses on complex commercial litigation, from product liability and antitrust matters to intellectual property defense and securities litigation.

On a recent arbitration for a telematics firm – one of the largest in the nation – Watkins said the arbitrator had ruled entirely against that firm. But Watkins’ team convinced the arbitrator to change his mind and cut the judgment in half, saving the client more than $1 million.

Beyond his work with clients, he offers much of his time to help individuals with limited resources deal with their legal needs. One pro bono client, a nonprofit South American housing developer, donated $25,000 in his name to the Mof-fitt Cancer Center in recognition of his services.

Mark Rasich, a partner in Stoel Rives’ Salt Lake City of-fice, said in a letter of recommendation that Watkins’ skills and character “extend beyond the billable hour. He regularly volunteers and spends hundreds of hours assisting other, less fortunate members of the Idaho community with pro bono matters ranging from serving as counsel to guardian ad litems to representing the inmates at the Idaho State Correctional Institute.”

Bishop Rick Hansen of the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat-ter-day Saints wrote that Watkins is a very active member of the congregation, including volunteering as a Boy Scout leader.

“I have enjoyed listening to Elijah when it is his turn to teach the congregation about the importance of reaching out to others and thinking outside of ourselves,” Hansen says. “He is a wonderful example of a professional that is constantly serv-ing those around him and making his community better.”

“As the youngest son of a single mother of five, I’m keenly aware of what it means to go without,” Watkins says. “Most of the food in my childhood home came by way of donations from my church. Seeing my mother’s tireless efforts to support her family, never turning down a job as a cleaning lady or thrift-store worker, has always motivated me to provide fully for my family.”

Watkins says his childhood desire to improve his financial lot attracted him to law. After excelling in high school and college debate up to the national level, his desire to solve problems “became more than just a pecuniary interest. I was thrilled when I got into law school on scholarship, the first in my fam-ily to attend any type of graduate program.”

After working in an international law firm in Chicago and enjoying that work, Watkins realized there is more to life than making money.

“We moved to Boise and have never looked back. The work is still as challenging, intellectually stimulating, and gratifying as ever, except now I get to participate to a greater degree in the community and in the life of my family,” he said.

Age: 34Title: AttorneyCompany: Stoel Rives

LLPCity: BoiseFavorite 1960s

historical figure: “Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, or Johnny Cash . Muhammad Ali and Pele are up there on the list as well . That said, one would be hard pressed not to pick Martin Luther King, Jr . for obvious reasons .”

— 46 —

Chantayn Winner


The story of Chantayn Winner, she herself says, has become something she never expected.

When she was only eight months old, Winner’s father passed away. Her devastated mother faced myriad struggles as a single parent, and Winner attended a different school every year until the fifth grade, when she and her mother settled in Nampa. Wanting to “break the cycle,” Winner graduated high school and became the first in her family to attend college.

“Based on family history and national statistics, my story should not be of accomplishments,” Winner says. “Thankfully, my story is different.”

When Winner was 19 and attending school, the job she worked to support herself fell through and, to keep a roof over her head, she took a break from classes to work full-time as a bank teller. She never thought it would be the beginning of a career she’d grow to love.

“It wasn’t a career I ever expected, but I really enjoyed it,” Winner says. “I enjoyed the customer service side and building those relationships.”

Winner worked at Farmers & Merchants State Bank, now Bank of the Cascades, starting at the teller window and work-ing her way up to officer. She also went back to school and completed her degree from Boise State University. Today, as the cash management and business development officer at D.L. Evans Bank, Winner balances managing business devel-opment within the branch with civic outreach to support local businesses and nonprofits.

Both through her work and as an individual, Winner strives

to share her experience and time with those around her. She has worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the Idaho Food Bank, to name a few.

“Giving back to my community comes naturally to me,” she says. “To be able to give of my time and talent, to donate and to bring awareness to a cause is a must.”

Another important aspect of Winner’s life is health and fitness, and that passion took an unexpected turn, as well. Growing up in the outskirts of Nampa, she would often ask her mother to stop the car so she could run home. When she turned 30, she competed in her first figure competition, a sport similar to bodybuilding that focuses on muscle defini-tion. The next year, she earned her Pro Card, signifying her as a professional natural - meaning she doesn’t use drugs - figure competitor.

“I love the discipline it takes, striving for something like that,” Winner says. “Like with running a race, you compete against yourself. My prize is inside; I commit myself to something and I know I succeed, and it doesn’t matter if I’m in first place.”

These days, with two children as well as work keeping her busy, Winner has turned her athletic efforts to running. She takes her 2-year-old daughter along on her runs and says those moments are her “mental release.”

Winner is proud to cite as one of her inspirations her father, though he couldn’t be present as she grew up.

“My mom always said he’d give the shirt off his back to any-one,” Winner says. “I never want to disappoint him. (I hope) he’s looking down and knowing his baby girl is doing well.”

Age: 38Title: Cash

management and business development officer

Company: D .L . Evans Bank

Favorite 1960s historical figure: “Marilyn Monroe . She took really tough circumstances and created her own destiny in a male-dominated arena .”

— 47 —

Brian C. Wonderlich


Brian Wonderlich is truly the embodiment of the phrase, “You can take the boy out of Idaho, but you can’t take the Idaho out of the boy.”

Wonderlich grew up outside of Star on his parents’ horse ranch, where his father was a veterinarian. He proudly adds that the farm is directly across the Boise River from the land his great-grandparents bought in 1931 after immigrating from the Basque Country.

“It probably wasn’t the most lucrative job my father could have pursued … but it allowed them to be ever-pres-ent in their kids’ lives,” Wonderlich says. “And family was always at the center of our lives.”

Wonderlich played baseball during his childhood and had “delusions” of going pro, but he ended up earning a political science degree from the University of Idaho.

“Believe it or not,” he says jokingly, “employers weren’t knocking down my door with that degree.”

After college, a cousin in Washington, D.C., offered to let Wonderlich live in his basement, so the recent grad ventured east to work on Capitol Hill, where he interned for Idaho Senator Larry Craig. And though he was far from home, his roots followed him.

“I grew up on a little farm and went to Moscow for school, so this was the first time I’d really lived ‘in town,’” Wonderlich says. “And even though I was in D.C., there were people from Idaho who’d moved there. I ended up with a great support network of Idaho friends.”

As fate would have it, one member of that group, Megan Mooney, would later become his wife. The two started dating while both worked for Craig, and they decided to move back to Idaho in 2004.

“They say if you stay two years in D.C., you’ve stayed 10,” Wonderlich says, laughing. “I knew I wanted to come home.”

Wonderlich decided to attend law school and enrolled at his alma mater, the University of Idaho. After graduating in 2007, he worked as a clerk for Stephen S. Trott of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and then for the Idaho Attorney General’s office in the civil litigation division. In 2010, he found a home with Holland & Hart in Boise, where he works today as a senior associate attorney.

Though tackling high-stakes cases for the company excites him, Wonderlich speaks eagerly of the pro bono work he does. He recently represented a client who was seeking public documents and needed help convincing the county to surren-der them.

“These are people who really need help in difficult situa-tions and can’t afford an attorney,” he said. “In this case, it was a situation where our client was right and the documents should have been disclosed. They had to fight tooth and nail, and it was great to be part of a company that encourages that kind of work.”

As successful as his law career has been, Wonderlich says he’s first and foremost a family man. He and his wife, who is also an attorney, have a son, Hank, who is almost two years old and whom Wonderlich describes as the “best part” of his life.

“My most significant accomplishment will always be raising a family with my wonderful – and patient – wife,” he says.

And right here is where he wants to do it.“Idaho is home, and the place I was meant to be,” he says

simply.

Age: 36Title: Senior associate attorneyCompany: Holland & Hart LLPFavorite 1960s historical figure:

“Ronald Reagan, who was elected governor of California in 1967 .”

— 48 —

Ben Zamzow


Learn. Earn. Return. Those three simple words are Ben Zamzow’s motto. So far, they have served him ex-ceptionally well.

At only 32, Zamzow has the kind of resumé you might expect from someone twice his age. As a commercial real estate broker with Thornton Oliver Keller, he’s been a top producer for the past three years. He’s one of only 25 peo-ple in the nation to hold both the Certified Commercial Investment Member and Senior Certified Leasing Specialist designations. He has also explored, studied and volunteered in more than 35 countries, including China, India, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Israel and Turkey.

And that’s just the short list of his accomplishments. Last year, Zamzow’s high transaction volume of more

than 60 deals, totaling over $25 million dollars, earned him a second place ranking among 22 other brokers in his firm. In 2012 and 2013, he placed second and third, respectively. For Zamzow, the key to success is getting out of bed by 5 a.m. and hitting the ground running. He is sure to keep up on emails and return phone calls, because he wants his cli-ents to know he’s got their backs.

“I think if you want a loyal client for life, you talk them out of a deal and they’ll be back for more because they know that you’ve truly got their interests at heart,” says Zamzow.

But his work ethic is perhaps most apparent when you consider the circumstances under which he earned his MBA. He attended Boise State University after regular business hours, under a full-ride scholarship, while retain-ing his top producer status – all during the throes of the recession. He got through by putting in long hours, staying organized and using technology to his advantage.

“(We’re really) a generation that embraces and leverages technology,” says Zamzow. “I think we can do more in a day than our parents or their parents could have done in a week. Back then you had to go down to the city office to pick up a title report or plat map. Now you click a button and it’s right in front of you.”

Zamzow feels he has fulfilled both the learn and earn por-tions of his motto and is now looking to “return.” Someday he hopes that will mean a transition to teaching in public education.

Achieving that dream would bring his life’s motto – Learn, Earn, Return – full circle.

Age: 32Title: Commercial real estate

brokerCompany: Thornton Oliver Keller

Commercial Real EstateCity: BoiseFavorite 1960s historical figure:

“John Wayne . A larger than life figure that embodies both cowboy culture (independence, simplicity, strength) and Hollywood success (fortune, entrepreneurship, the American Dream) . I think everyone can look back on Mr . Wayne with respect because we are all chasing one, the other, or a combination of the two . ‘Courage is being scared to death … and saddling up anyway .’ (John Wayne)”

CONGRATULATIONS TO

CHANTAYN WINNER!

For being recognized as one of the Idaho Business Review’s Accomplished Under 40 honorees!

Chantayn WinnerCash Management/Business Development OfficerTreasure Valley Area208-331-1399

Congratulations!

2,808 - 3,522 SF. Lease Rate: $14.95/SF

BEN ZAMZOWRETAIL BROKERAGE

2015ACCOMPLISHED UNDER 40 HONOREE

250 S. 5th St. • 208.378.4600 • tokcommercial.com

One of Thornton Oliver Keller’s Top Producers 2012 - 2014

Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM)

Senior Certified Leasing Specialist (SCLS)

Nearly 10 years of commercial brokerage experience

382 transactions worth over $100 million

Don’t miss this event!

July 23, 2015 • 5:30 – 8:30

Sponsored by

Courtyard by Marriott in MeridianVisit http://idahobusinessreview.com/

events/tp/ for more information

When someone comes along who has the courage and vision to turn dreams into reality, the future looks brighter for everyone.

Julie Fogerson, winner of the Accomplished Under 40 award, we thank you.

Achieving great things for our community

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