First feather in Gilliam's new cap

Boeing isn't moving to Coeur d'Alene Airport, Microsoft is quite comfortable with its corporate headquarters in Redmond, and even on a much smaller scale, there's no indication that Coeur d'Alene Mines will ever come home.

There's your glass half empty.

Here's your glass half full: We're making progress. In its initial iteration under Jobs Plus President Gynii Gilliam, progress is called Transamerican Auto Parts.

This week, Gilliam announced Transamerican's commitment to convert parts of the old Jacklin Seed Warehouse in Post Falls into a 75,000-square-foot warehouse expected to be operational by July 1. That aggressive plan, possible only because of Jacklin Land Company's commitment to the substantial remodel, will be followed by a 10,000-square-foot retail outlet in the same location that will serve as a Jeep and truck accessory superstore. It's expected to open by Sept. 1.

Transamerican is in the process of hiring 21 to 32 people right now for its warehouse operations. For more information on that, go to https://labor.idaho.gov/idahoworks/es/jobsearch and type "Post Falls" into the box asking for a city, zip code or county.

While these aren't six-figure, super-benefitted positions, a cursory search by The Press showed Transamerican jobs paying in the $11 to $15 per hour range, full time. With our region's relatively low cost of living, those aren't bad wages.

Kootenai County simply needs all the jobs it can get. Some we saw for Transamerican require only a GED educationally. There's something to be said for providing decent jobs with a good company to a hard-working and significant sector of our population.

The Transamerican announcement happens to be the first for Jobs Plus's new boss, Ms. Gilliam, who started work here in March. Even though this isn't colossal news on the economic development front, it is definitely a feather in Gilliam's cap, the first of what we predict will become a full headdress before too long.

We join Patty Shea, chair of the Jobs Plus board, in welcoming Transamerican to our fantastic community. We also echo her tribute to teamwork: These new jobs wouldn't be happening without the great efforts from Transamerican, the City of Post Falls, Jacklin Land Co., the Idaho Department of Labor and Jobs Plus.

We're ready for the next announcement whenever you are, Patty and Gynii.

Adler Second Amendment

talk now on cdapress.com

For those who missed it, The Press has posted a link to Dr. David Adler's lecture last month in Coeur d'Alene on the Second Amendment - Fundamentals and Myths. Go to cdapress.com to watch it:

http://bit.ly/1eSAusc