For all the talk about the technology industries in Boise, what I see as Idaho’s biggest advantage doesn’t seem to get enough press.
I think the biggest advantage Idaho has is that people want to live here. Good, smart people all over the country who know about all the lifestyle advantages Idaho has to offer would jump at the opportunity to move to Idaho — if only there was a job for them here.
This is a pattern I’ve noticed while living out of state, and while living here. When I would mention Idaho to other engineers I worked with, frequently the response is a great deal of excitement. Some of the best technical people in the country are also very interested in the world around them. They are into cycling, skiing, boating, hiking, camping and all sorts of things we take for granted here. Many of them have families, and would love to get out of big cities and live in a ‘family friendly’ area like this.
So while we may not have a huge supply of technology workers here to entice a large tech company, I wish the state would do more to promote the lifestyle benefits of Idaho (and specifically the Treasure Valley) to companies they are trying to attract. The modern business environment is one increasingly employee focused, and a company located here can and should use these natural resources as a recruiting tool. Back in the dotcom era I helped recruit college kids, and they were interested in more than just the job they’d be working on and how much they would make. They wanted to know about the culture of the city they would move to. They wanted to know what the crime stats were. I wasn’t trying to recruit them to Boise, but my job would have been much easier if I had.
My point is that promoting Idaho in general is good for the tech sector also. Promoting tourism in Idaho should have a secondary effect of bringing more interest in technology companies moving here.
I’d be really interested to hear the experiences of companies who are in Idaho recruiting technology professionals. Do you feel that ‘Idaho’ one of Idaho’s biggest tech advantages?
Update: Check out Ken Dey’s first post over at TechBoise, I think it’s relevant…
