Monday, September 28, 2009

Energy corridor location key to economic development


Realtors sell by using an old adage – location, location, location.

Idaho National Laboratory's Steven Aumeier emphasized the same principle at the Bannock Development Corporation's recent Eighteenth Annual Economic Symposium.

"Bannock County, Idaho, is nestled within one of the richest energy corridors in the world and near the nation's premier nuclear energy research laboratory," he told the group, which gathered Aug. 17 at Idaho State University.

Idaho's U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, state Department of Commerce Director Don Dietrich and several others also delivered updates on the region's economic development and its many partners. INL, along with Bannock County and the city of Pocatello, is a legacy investor in BDC and joined several others in sponsoring the annual event.

Aumeier, INL's director of Energy Systems and Technologies, showed a map of the energy-rich Western corridor, which stretches from the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan down through Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Colorado.

"Fortunately, Bannock and Idaho are situated within an area with a strong entrepreneurial culture and among key energy transmission lines for electricity and gas," he said. "This is a great opportunity and challenge."

He also outlined the need for pursuing the "Smart Energy Approach" and solving the "grand challenge of our generation" in responsibly producing and using energy.

Read the full article by by Keith Arterburn, INL Communications & Public Affairs by clicking here.

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