It's a businessman's dream.

The 28 acres John Kearns purchased by Highway 95 is ideal for a new venture, he said. It's fronted by a major thoroughfare. There are industrial uses nearby. A frontage road was just completed to improve access.

And now he's pursuing a zone change from rural to light industrial, to allow for commercial development.

"I purchased it with the idea of eventually utilizing the land for a higher and better use," Kearns said. "I felt that this piece of land was in the path of progress."

What are his current plans for the golden acres?

Nothing.

The zone change, the Coeur d'Alene businessman admitted, is more for the dream of a new venture than an actualized plan.

Although he had high hopes when he purchased the property in 2007, he is now holding off.

Better to wait and let the property just sit, he said, until the economy bounces back.

Even if it takes a while.

Which he strongly suspects it will.

"Maybe several years down the road," said Kearns, who owns developed properties in Washington and North Idaho. "When there's a little revitalization, in terms of the economy."

It's a common symptom of a floundering economy: Caution in business ventures.

Whether it's prevalent across Kootenai County, though, is tricky to say.

There are certainly businessmen like Kearns nationwide holding on tight to their assets and opting against expansion and development, said Alivia Body, regional economist with the Idaho Department of Labor.

"Businesses are just waiting to hold off to see not only what the economy does, but what Congress does," Body said. "What policies are going to be incurred on businesses. So people are a lot more reluctant."

Many in the county are also reluctant to hire full-time employees, she added, which could do more harm than good for the economy.

"A lot of companies are using temporary agencies, employment service agencies to get by," she noted. "You know that businesses do have the backing for hiring, but they just aren't. They're not just particularly confident in the market."

But that business strategy isn't seen across the board in the county, said Steve Griffitts, president and CEO of Jobs Plus economic development corporation.

Many companies are using the downturn to expand at a lesser price, Griffitts said. He pointed to local companies like Ground Force Manufacturing, Empire Airlines, Sunshine Minting and L.A. Aluminum Casting Co. that are all growing and adding more employees.

"Overall it appears like we're still behind in job growth, but there are so many positive factors going on in our economy," he said.

Ron Nilson, CEO of Ground Force Manufacturing, agreed that lower construction prices are definitely fueling the company's construction of a new facility.

"The building we're building would have cost us a million dollars more five years ago," Nilson said. "And one year from now, it could be a million dollars more."

But Ground Force, undergoing a $6.5 million expansion that includes renovating an existing building and building the new facility, also just has a philosophy of taking risks to follow a long-term plan, Nilson said.

Even when the company lost 40 percent of its business in 2009, it still focused on beefing up its exports, he said, and increasing its product line.

Now the company has experienced its biggest growth ever this year, he added.

"Sometimes the risks you take are the right risks, and sometimes the risks you take are not the right thing to do," he said. "Still, you're in control. When you let what's happening in this country drive us, maybe we're not doing the calculations of what we need to do."

Sunshine Minting, Inc. has increased its employees from 75 to 275 over the last three years, said Tom Power, CEO and president.

That's partially because of the rise in precious metal prices, he said, but also because of the company's strategy to diversify so it is prepared when the market changes.

"What we're doing now is, 'Here we are today, what if 40 percent of our business went away next year?'" Power said.

Expansion can be a big help to the local tourism-based economy, he said. Especially since manufacturing companies provide year-round wages.

"The key to it all is strategy," Power said. "So whichever way the market turns, you can capitalize and leverage your growth, skills and success."