Monday of this week was a sad day. Another Idaho company closed its doors, this time a little closer to home.
Rewind the clock to 1995. My wife (then girlfriend) and I arrived in Idaho for me to interview with an up and coming PC manufacturer. We did some research (remember – this was well before the Internet was pervasive) and arrived in Nampa bright and early one morning. Initially we wondered what we were in for: tumbleweeds blew across Karcher road (literally) as we sat in front of this tin shed in what seemed the middle of nowhere. I interviewed, she waited. A few days letter we got an offer. A good offer. We packed up and moved to Nampa (we were from out of the area). Young and inexperienced, we were elated to start a new life here. We bought a house, we bought a couple of (used) cars. We loved the area. We were on our way.
Fast forward to this past Monday – the fun is over.
I got a call from my (former) boss around 9 AM telling me that the company is closing and today is the last day of operations (keep in mind – most of us were on vacation). The top level execs were still there, but the vast majority of the rest were out.
Before anyone thinks I’m crying “poor me” I’m not. But the reality is that we, like so many others, will probably have to leave the area now. That’s a shame. There are enough vacant homes here, enough empty store fronts, enough of an exodus. Enough………….
