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
Stephanie Pike
Vice President
Occupation: Dental office front desk/business owner
Business: Sugar Puff Cotton Candy Co
Hometown: Middleton, ID
Hobbies: Crafting, beach, outdoors
Board Emphasis: VP west/vendor coordinator
Inspiration:
Why you’re passionate about SWIDBA:
Email: swidbavendors@gmail.com
Matt Vraspir
Secretary
Occupation:
Business:
Hometown: Star, Idaho
Hobbies: I enjoy piloting my drone, working out, taking photos, and traveling the world.
Board Emphasis: I am the Board Secretary, but I have held almost every role with the exception of treasurer. I love SWIDBA and plan on being with it for the long run.
Inspiration: The kids that I work with inspire me to be a better person. What inspires me most of all is when I see someone really go above and beyond for them.
Why you’re passionate about SWIDBA: I am passionate about SWIDBA because it’s an organization that I helped to create, and it rally fills an important fundraising gap in our community. I believe that Business, Commerce, and Charity are all connected, and work much better.
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
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.