Blaine County School District hires new finance manager
The Blaine County School District has hired Bryan Fletcher to be its new finance manager.
“I am pleased to announce that Bryan Fletcher has accepted the position of finance manager with the Blaine County School District starting Sept. 13,” said Superintendent Dr. GwenCarol Holmes.
Fletcher has a B.S. in business administration and an MBA with an emphasis in finance. He most recently worked as a controller in the private sector. He has nine years of management experience working for General Electric; he taught university classes in accounting and finance; and served as the Kuna Joint School District chief financial and accounting officer for six years.
“His knowledge of Idaho school district finances will serve the district well,” Holmes said.
Val Seamons has served as interim finance manager after Mike Chatterton’s retirement on June 30. She will return to her position of accounting.
The salary for the finance manager is $95,000 in addition to benefits. The annual budget for the Blaine County School District is $53,617,194. The district is one of the largest employers in Blaine County.
NAMI-WRV golf tournament
The National Alliance for Mental Illness Wood River Valley affiliate will host a golf tournament on Friday, Sept. 16 to raise funds to expand educational programs and trainings. The event will be held at the Elkhorn Golf Club. It will include an 18-hole scramble, a dinner and a raffle.
Organized by the NAMI-WRV board of directors, the golf tournament is part of a campaign to raise funds to promote educational programs to provide cutting-edge support for individuals with mental illness, for family members, and to eliminate the stigma of mental illness.
“The NAMI-WRV affiliate is looking forward to working with the community on this fun event,” Tom Hanson, president of the local affiliate, said. “Thanks to the generosity of the many people and businesses that are participating, we are able to make a significant difference in our ability to provide educational programs and training.”
Major sponsors include Sun Valley Company, Atkinsons’ Market, POWER Engineers and Zenergy. Volunteers and members of the board of directors will sell raffle tickets for a chance to win a season ski pass from Sun Valley Company and a $500 gift card from Atkinsons’ Market. Other donations will be listed on the NAMI-WRV website.
Women and Leadership Conference returns to Boise
The fourth annual Women and Leadership Conference will be held Wednesday, Sept. 14, and Thursday, Sept. 15, at the Boise State University Student Union Jordan Ballroom. Hosted by the Andrus Center for Public Policy, the conference brings nationally known business, cultural and civic leaders to Boise State while offering skill-building workshops and networking opportunities.
Betty Ann Waters of The Innocence Project, EEOC commissioner Charlotte Burrows, and Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Amy Ziering are among the keynote speakers. There will also be an optional screening of Ziering’s Emmy Award-winning film, “The Hunting Ground.”
The annual Women and Leadership Conference registration is $195 and includes eight keynote sessions, two skill-building workshops, two breakfasts and lunches, two networking events and a reception.
“The Andrus Center is committed to gender equity in our boardrooms, our corporate suites, our professions, our elected offices, and other leadership positions throughout our country,” said Cecil D. Andrus, former Idaho governor and Andrus Center chairman. “Our Women and Leadership Conference is designed to empower the leaders of tomorrow by sharing the knowledge, insights and motivating forces driving today’s most successful women. We welcome women and men to attend the conference and be part of the discussion.”
Workshops will include topics such as “Leading with Integrity, Language and Leadership” and “WordPress Bootcamp.”
For more information and to secure a spot at this year’s conference, visit:
https://sps.boisestate.edu/andruscenter/events/andrus-conference/
Talk to be held on aging
Physician, author, entrepreneur, musician, teacher, farmer and internationally acclaimed longevity expert, Bill Thomas, M.D., will present “Aging: Life’s Most Dangerous Game” at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13 at Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood in Ketchum. Thomas will explore the terrain of human aging as St. Luke’s Wood River Foundation’s featured health and wellbeing speaker. The event is free.
For more information or to RSVP, contact Kristin McMahon at (208) 727-8419 or mcmahonk@slhs.org.
Uber to launch
Uber will launch its services in Camas, Custer and Blaine counties beginning 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2 during the Wagon Days celebrations. The launch will take place in Ketchum Town Square with swag giveaways, food and drink.
Uber will also be a major sponsor at the Wagon Days Parade Saturday, Sept. 3, with a wagon and team. It will offer free rides throughout Labor Day weekend.
New riders of Uber – who don’t already have an account – can use the promotional code RIDESUNVALLEY to receive $20 FREE off your first ride.
SOLARIZE BLAINE DRIVES INVESTMENT IN LOCAL ECONOMY
In Blaine County, solar energy is a major economic boon due to abundant sunshine and dramatic price declines of over 70 percent in the past 10 years. With the same solar potential as North Florida, Blaine County is capitalizing on this opportunity with 36 solar installations on homes and businesses through Solarize Blaine, the nonprofit program that closed out its 20-week campaign on Aug. 19. These installations have generated almost $1 million in new local investment and will add 247 kilowatts of clean energy capacity to the grid in Blaine County, a 500 percent increase over 2015 levels.
Launched by the Sun Valley Institute for Resilience in March 2016, the program used a bulk-purchasing model to reduce the cost of a solar system by over $3,000 for the average homeowner.
To celebrate the success of the program and unveil what’s next, the Institute will host a happy-hour celebration event on Friday, Sept. 30 from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Sawtooth Brewery, at 631 Warm Springs Road in Ketchum. This event is open to the public.
“Solarize Blaine has radically accelerated our community’s transition to clean energy,” said Katie Bray, the program’s director. “In 20 weeks we brought online five times as much solar electricity as what was added in all of 2015, and we drove about $900,000 of investment into our local economy.”
Solarize is a national program supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. The program has been implemented in more than 250 communities around the nation, but Solarize Blaine was the first program in Idaho.
The Solarize Blaine program received 225 requests for solar evaluations from homeowners, businesses, and nonprofits throughout the Wood River Valley. New installations are expected to continue popping up through the spring of 2017. The program’s guaranteed reduced prices have ended, but those who are interested in solar energy may still sign up to get a free solar site assessment for their home, business, or nonprofit at www.solarizeblaine.org