ABOUT SW Idaho Business Alliance
We help lift your business to new heights.
Meet Our Team
Mike Olsen
President and Founder
Occupation: Photographer and Home Improvement
Business: Mike Olsen Photography LLC and MQI Home Improvement LLC
Hometown: Bellingham, WA
Hobbies: Photography, Shooting Sports, Motorcycles
Board Emphasis: Strategic planning, membership, team cohesion, and results analysis
Inspiration: Opportunities to help others succeed.
Why I’m passionate about SWIDBA: SWIDBA is a platform used to support businesses, communities, and non-profits to grow and succeed. Through our various activities, we can see the results of our strategic plan. Each success motivates me to grow our organization and do everything we can to continue to contribute to those successes.
Email: mike.olsen@swidba.org, mike@mikeolsenphotography.com, mqi.olsen@outlook.com
Matt Vraspir
Vice President
Occupation:
Business:
Hometown: Star, Idaho
Hobbies: I enjoy piloting my drone and volunteering my time for others. My biggest hobby is sailing on cruise ships, and my second biggest hobby is advocating for living kidney donation!
Board Emphasis: I have held several positions in the SW Idaho Business Alliance for nearly 6 years, but I am currently the vice president and work directly with our new members.
Inspiration: I am most inspired by random acts of kindness and the strength folks show when they get knocked down.
Why you’re passionate about SWIDBA: As it relates to our organizations, I am most passionate about helping provide a platform upon which smaller organizations and brick and mortars have a chance to succeed.
Email: matthewvraspir@yahoo.com
Ernest Woods
Promotion and Advocacy
Occupation: Publisher – former Global Submarine Pilot & Technician
Business: Spirt Media – aka Star Spirit Magazine
Hometown: McCall, Idaho
Hobbies: Work, writing, playing piano/guitar, and small farm.
Board Emphasis: Promotion and advocacy
Inspiration: Everyday people doing something awesome in the community.
Why you’re passionate about SWIDBA: I believe small business is the backbone of America’s success. SWIDBA is an excellent resource for small businesses to promote themselves, increase exposure, and help local charities.
Email: starspirit83669@gmail.com
Rod Gates
Community Liaison
Occupation: Business Owner
Business: Aegis Gun Care
Hometown: Craig Colorado
Hobbies: Golf
Board Emphasis: Brick and Mortar Businesses
Inspiration: Inspired by others, past experiences, and how they became successful.
Why you’re passionate about SWIDBA: I want to help other small businesses not reinvent the wheel.
Email: rod.gates@aigisguncare.com
Nina
Event/Vendor Coordinator
Occupation: Credit representative for a large utility and small business owner
Business: Full of Shine Designs
Hometown: Eagle, ID
Hobbies: Camping, gardening, reading, being outside with my dogs and horses
Board Emphasis: Event/Vendor Coordinator
Inspiration: As cliche as it is, I’ve met some really amazing people since starting my business and the stories they tell about their lives leaves me in awe.
Why you’re passionate about SWIDBA: That we truly do care about the little guys and try our best to support small businesses.
Email: fullofshinedesigns@gmail.com
Ben Bergloff
Board Member
Occupation: Business Owner
Business: Epic Exterior Services
Hometown: Meridian, ID
Hobbies: Dirt biking, boating, water sports, backpacking, camping, spending time at our cabin, traveling
Board Emphasis: Member
Inspiration: Helping young business owners succeed in life. I also love seeing young business owners build companies. Also, seeing happy customers makes my life a whole lot better!
Why you’re passionate about SWIDBA: Helping others and small businesses grow and become successful
Email: ben@epicexteriorservices.com
Our Values
Through loyalty to our focused charter, “Connecting the community through business collaborations and charitable outreach,” the SW Idaho Business Alliance seeks to achieve its mission of promoting and enhancing commerce, strengthening our communities and relationships, and supporting and sponsoring charitable endeavors. We have confidence in our effort that these critical objectives will lead toward systemic change and actions that benefit Commerce, Community, and Charity, which will foster the economic development and improvement of lifestyle in the SW region of Idaho.
Essential to all our activities are:
Nurturing strong, self-reliant business organizations and charitable establishments with extended capacity for success
Building robust communities through collaboration to provide a foundation for positive change, enhancement, and cohesion
Developing leadership to build upon the needs and values of people and to inspire the aspirations and potential of others
Encouraging responsible citizen participation to help foster social unity
Promoting the social and economic and charitable empowerment of all individuals and communities to preserve fundamental democratic principles, while respecting diversity to maintain a sustainable business, community, and charitable environment
Our Code of Ethics
Respect and courtesy for the business entities we partner with, communities we work in, and charities we support. We believe in integrity and ethics in our actions, responsibility, and accountability for our decisions and their consequences, and finally, transparency in our operations. We’re committed to acting honestly, truthfully and with integrity in all our transactions and dealings. Avoiding conflicts of interest. Appropriately handling actual or apparent conflicts of interest in our relationships. Treating our members fairly. Treating every individual with dignity, courtesy, and respect. Being a good corporate organization and complying with both the spirit and the letter of the law. Acting responsibly toward the communities in which we work and for the benefit of the business organizations, communities, and charities that we serve. Being responsible, transparent and accountable for all our actions.