Do you want to know what’s happening in the eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.
BIZ BUZZ
THORNTON
New strip in Thornton houses 27 commercial tenants
REXBURG – Dozens of new businesses are housed in a new commercial strip off U.S. Highway 20 in Thornton.
Twenty-seven tenants are located inside four buildings east of the Thornton exit along 5000 South in Madison County. The 40-acre lot divided between the north and south sides of the road makes up the Thunderbird Business Park.
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Trellis Development owns the strip. CEO Bron Leatham tells EastIdahoNews.com some of the tenants have been in other locations for decades, and others are new businesses.
“We have some businesses that have been here between 20 and 45 years. Probably eight or 10 were created in the last 24 months,” Leatham says.
Among the tenants are Mills Concrete, Cedarpoint Trucking, The Yoga Studio, an artificial grass cleaning and maintenance company called TurfSpa, and Vorp Energy, which develops outdoor security systems and other products for a variety of industries. Others include Heaven’s Best Carpet Cleaning and Citius Composites, a manufacturing company that makes a variety of things, including the frames for the backpacks used by Navy Seals.
Syphon Sound
Syphon Sound, which launched on the north end of Rexburg in 2012, is one of the more unique businesses. It makes headphones for helmets.
CEO Kyle Rawson explains more about the customers they serve.
“Half our customers are on-road motorcyclists. The other half are split between various off-road vehicles, like snowmobiles, dirt bikes and ATVs,” Rawson says.
Rawson describes the product as an “insanely thin” speaker — about 9 mm thick — that is attached with velcro to the ear holes of the helmet.
“It’s so comfortable that you can’t even feel it in your helmet,” says Rawson. “The sound quality is incredible. It’s waterproof and crash-resistant. It’s a durable, solid product so you can listen to music comfortably and ride your dirt bike or snowmobile as rough as you want.”
While attending Brigham Young University-Idaho in 2012, Rawson said he was introduced to some new speaker technology from a man in Taiwan. Snowboarding had become a frequent hobby for Rawson, and he was given a sample of the product to try out on the slopes.
He eventually pivoted to power sports and quickly learned the speaker was even better on a snowmobile.
Rawson says the man who showed him the technology was uncertain about marketing the product, and Rawson decided to give it a try.
“I wasn’t really planning on starting a business, but … I thought I could write a business plan and maybe win some money in a business competition,” says Rawson. “That’s what I did. Through that process, I decided this might really be worthwhile to start.”
After enduring “about 10 years of pain and suffering” selling the product, it’s now a profitable venture that serves customers worldwide.
The Thornton location is the company’s new headquarters. The Rexburg office inside Teton River Business Center will be shut down.
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Rawson and his team are working on a new product that will launch later this year. His goal is to be “the audio brand for motor sports” and hopes to see the business continue to grow.
‘An ideal spot’
Leatham, the Trellis Development CEO, grew up in Thornton and has fond memories riding his bike to the Thornton store as a kid to buy candy. The school he attended, Lyman Elementary — which no longer exists — was nearby. Its mascot was a thunderbird, from which the business park gets its name.
That personal connection prompted him to build a commercial venture on this site. Construction got underway about a year ago.
Leatham says it’s an ideal spot to run a business because it’s right off the highway in between Rigby and Rexburg.
“To have a freeway exit that’s near a city like Rexburg that’s growing — it’s an ideal spot for surface-related businesses, little startups, guys that need flexible space as affordable as they can get it,” Leatham says. “This provides a really good option (to business owners).”
Two additional buildings for this development were recently completed with more to come. Leatham says another 12 buildings will be added over the next four years, for a total of 18 buildings.
He plans to eventually have a gas station on the corner right off the exit. He’s excited to attract new tenants and to give people a reason to stop in Thornton.
“We think it’s a great incubator for young, growing businesses, or as a home to established (shops),” says Leatham.
“It’s becoming a hub for (nearly) everything you need,” Scott Page, the chief operating officer for Trellis Development, adds.
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