Ben Quintana

DAVIDSON Hello Idaho! And welcome to the Idaho Leader Podcast, this is your host, Ben Davidson.
The Idaho Leader Podcast is the place to meet and learn from Idaho’s best. You’ll be inspired and entertained as Idaho’s most interesting and influential business professionals share success stories, challenges, networking ideas and career tips.
Listen to a different interview each week by subscribing at idaholeader.com. Now, let’s get to the show.
With us is Ben Quintana, city council member for Boise, Idaho, and we are excited to have you here. Ben, from where in Idaho are you joining us today?

QUINTANA I am joining you from…my office is here at St. Luke’s Health System in Boise, Idaho.

DAVIDSON As you know, Ben is a volunteer, a civic leader in the Boise area. He joined the Boise City Council in 2001; he is a voracious reader. He and I have some of the same favorites, including Simon Sinek, that we’ll talk about a little later on. He has a communications degree from Boise State University and a masters from George Fox University, and he is very involved in economic development and I can’t wait to hear some stories, how you’ve worked in the high-tech sector and some of the good things you’ve done for Idaho.
So, please tell us a little bit more you?

QUINTANA Sure, thanks Ben. I have actually only been on the council for three (3) years, so it is 2011 is when I joined. So, I have elected twice now. The first time around was 2011 when I was elected to serve a two-year seat. The way it worked out, it was partially vacated so I took the two-year seat and then had to run for re-election in 2013.
Was re-elected, and now I am on the four-year term. I called the rest of as “half,” so I’m honored to be serving the citizens of the Boise in this role. I have lived in Idaho since 3rd grade; my dad was in the Air Force, so we got stationed out as Mountain Home Air Force Space, ended up growing up in Mountain Home, so I have been in Idaho for most of my life.
After high school, graduating there, went up to Boise State, so I’ve been in Boise since ‘96. Love the Blue, I bleed blue and I always will. Had a great experience going to Boise State and that’s kind of where I started my passion for Boise. After graduating there, I ended up going over to the Boise Metric Chamber of Commerce where I got to really get capped in and hooked into the community, and really understand everything that was happening here, and see the vision for what could be—and that’s where I really fell in love with this city.
During that time, met my wife…when she moved to Boise not too long ago, in fact, she kind of was a boomerang-a, she was born at St. Luke’s Health System, got…em grew up here after like 2nd grade, and then came back actually to get her MBA at Boise State. So, had a chance to meet her, and em…we have two dogs—those are our kids right now. So, we don’t have children, but those are our dog-kids, and our families are both in this area.

DAVIDSON So, let’s dive right in. Please start off with some words to live by, and inspire you to greatness.

QUINTANA Well, words to live by…I think there is a couple key quotes that I live by, I think I have even put some on Facebook and others that have been in other presentations.
Gandhi has two of my favorite quotes. The first one, which I think most people are familiar with is, “be the change you wish to see.” It’s about starting with your yourself, and that’s what I…when I read that quote for the first time, it really hit me hard. And it was about, if I want to see change in the world, I need to start with myself.
Now, the second one which kind of, has led me down this career path is, “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” That has built in that servant-leadership mentality and that’s kind of what led me to public service and also working in, not only business but non-profit careers.
The other one that I love is just thinking about leadership as a whole, and leadership as an act. Leadership as a choice, it’s not a position or a rank. It’s something that you are entrusted to do through followers by them volunteering basically to serve or to follow you as you serve their needs. So, I love that whole mindset about what leadership really means.
And the third part is my own personal philosophy and motto that I’ve kind of adopted is “to lead forward by giving back.” And that’s really something that kind of takes those tow other pieces and weaves it into my entire career and what I want to do to leave an impact, not only in my community but possible, the world.

DAVIDSON Before we go further, let’s take a moment to thank our sponsor—The Idaho Small Business Development Center (SBDC). If you are looking to grow your small business and there is a lot to think about and expert advice can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. I found free expert advice at the SBDC to help me build my business; the friendly staff got excited about my idea and made introductions that allowed my business to take off so much faster than it would have otherwise. I’m a believer in Idaho SBDC, now back to the show.

I was reading on your website about a lot of the causes that you are dedicated to helping with, like Big Brother’s and Big Sister’s, YMCA, Boise State Responsible Business Initiative, can you tell just a quick story or two about some of that volunteer work?

QUINTANA Sure, giving back and serving is something that I…I didn’t always do, I kind of grew up while having em…a little bit of exposure to that with church and giving back to your local community, but didn’t really get as involved when I was in high school or in college, but once I got at Boise Chamber and started working there, I started seeing all the opportunity that was around and part of my job was to actually lead other volunteers, and so by kind of doing that work, it started to open my eyes to how much need there was in the community and how every single person could make a difference, and you needed to pick something and give back to it.
So, I started looking at how I could contribute, and I started seeing things in organizations that were advancing Boise forward. Helping has moved forward as a community and that’s where I started picking strategically who I wanted to help contribute to, and how I would serve and what would be the best fit for what I was passionate about. It’s really working as a community to solve social challenges and work together to make our entire community succeed.

DAVIDSON I can tell that that’s going to be a theme throughout the interview, which is great service and advancing business together. Let’s start off talking about a challenge or an obstacle, we all face those, sometimes we even have failures that teach us important lessons.

QUINTANA Great! Well, I started to learn that everything kind of boils down to relationships, trust and really, communication. That’s where I’ve kind of led…my educational background has been focused on—communication, organizational leadership, and those things—and I’m a student of leadership. One of the hardest things for me, I guess, was the challenge of learning or experiencing what it’s like to know that almost every decision you make when you become a leader, people are going to challenge. A lot of people may follow, but there is also going to be a lot of people who don’t believe what you believe, and even with city council, they have been specific times and it’s almost every single Tuesday when we meet—where it’s a park improvement, where some neighbors want to see the park enhanced, volleyball courts added, tennis courts added, where others come and fight against it because it’s taking away their open space, where they feel that it may bring in too many more people to that area.
Then you have examples like Uber, where there is new technologies emerging and entering marketplaces and communities and having to make decisions on what you want versus what the community needs—and how do you balance that approach. So, that challenge of having thick enough skin and having that intestinal fortitude if you will, to make tough decisions knowing that no matter hat you do, someone will not be happy with your decision, even though others will. You have to make sure that you are making the right decisions for all involved, and stick to what you believe in and those you serve believe in. So, those are the challenges I faced every single week, but you are also making a huge difference to those who believe what you believe.

DAVIDSON So, in order to help all those leaders that are listening to this podcast, have you found a technique to face opposition?

QUINTANA My technique is one of three things that I read that people really remember at the end of life. And one of those three things was when they people toward the end of their life, they say: What do you wish you could have done more or what did you learn that you would do differently if you got to live over again? And they say, “I would reflect more,” and I think that self-knowing, self-leadership of knowing who you are, what your values are, what you believe in…that becomes the foundation of who you are and can be your bedrock when you are making decisions because you have to make decisions with good conscience but considering the impact of that decisions on others.

DAVIDSON Let’s talk about a success story. What is one thing that has brought you the most success in your career and how did that unfold?

QUINTANA So, it kind of goes back to what I was saying a second ago, one of the biggest things that I still just absolutely love because it’s continued on, about 8 years ago, I led the effort to start up the Boise Young Professional’s Program, with really the mission to attract development within a talented workforce for the future of Boise. And when I look back at how I was able to do that, it was through relationships and building those connections with others who believed what I believed to build a team of people who could come together and take an idea and a vision, and turn it into reality.
And today, 8 years later, the organization is still around, has a thousand members with 400 different companies represented of those thousand young professionals.

DAVIDSON I remember when I first joined the Young Professional’s Network, how much help that was to talk with people, who had similar challenges. For I was fresh out of college, had just taken a job as a Territory Sales Rep, was driving across all of Idaho in a white Chevy Astro van full of prepaid cell phones, this was back in day, and those were brand new.

QUINTANA Nice.

DAVIDSON And I go into stores and ask a shop owner to sell those for me…buy ‘em at wholesale and then resell them and it was for a brand new tech startup unheard of, and I remember that my million-dollar sales quota that would be with me night and day, and never take holidays. And I had a bottle of antacid right next to my computer, and I would drink from it liberally throughout the day as needed and I just remembered how much a network helped to be able to talk to others and then be able to pick up the phone and make the cold calls, and find ways to introduce them and help each other out. So, I’m a big fan of the Young Professional Networks.

QUINTANA Well, that’s great because I have a different but similar experience and story on that is most of college, I worked in retail wireless communication sale. So, I sold for Airtouch before it became Horizon, I was there with Voicestream before it became T-Mobile, did a lot of that, from the mall to the retail stores, from the Qwest which used to be CenturyLink I believe now, but used to be Qwest. AT&T…to all those carriers. So, that’s one of the ways I kind of went through school was being able to sell cellphones but in a retail environment, not on the outside sales, so a million-dollar quota, that’s impressive, Ben. Nice work!

DAVIDSON Stressful, but it sure taught you a lot about people. It’s so fun that we have that in common.
Tell us one thing that’s got you really excited.

QUINTANA One of the things that I wanted to bring to this role was to make sure to be an advocate for economic development, economic vitality and business growth, especially for start-ups and building the entrepreneurial ecosystem in our area, and I get to help sponsor…I am sponsoring the Boise Competes Project, which is an idea I have been looking out for a while now, and doing kind of a refresh on our economic indicators and understanding how we are competing and how we could be more competitive so we are partnering with several different key stakeholders in the area.
We have a great economic development director who is spearheading the effort. Eh…we have a very supportive council and mayor who are helping out with this, but sponsoring that…leading that effort and being a part of the revitalization of our economic development plan and strategy is one of the things I’m most excited about.
The other one, which also leads to economic development is I am one of the…I am the co-leader for our strategic leadership team for the Vista Neighborhood Project, and that is a part of our overall energize our neighborhood’s program and the focus on this is really to take key indicators on study or community and partner with neighbors and stakeholders from Boise State to United Way to Albertsons to Wells Fargo to anybody else that’s really invested in the community to look at ways where we can improve the livability of neighborhoods within Boise, because after all, if we are going to be a city that is known as the most livable in the country—which is our vision—we have to make sure that every neighborhood is livable.
Two really cool exciting programs, both have to do with economic development, and really seeing the future of economic development by working on Pre-K initiatives, neighborhood initiatives, so we can package and promote and help other neighborhoods across the city succeed.

DAVIDSON Very nice. Now, let’s talk about networking stories. I know we both love networking and please tell us any networking blunders or missteps that you’d recommend the Idaho Leader Community avoid or the best networking advice you’ve ever heard.
Tell us a networking story if you would, and explain to us how we can effectively network here in Idaho.

QUINTANA Great! So, two parts are now…one is what not to do and the other one is what to do. So, I’ll start with the what not to do. For the what not to do, it is about not showing up to get something and I didn’t understand that concept early in my career, it was all about asking for something from someone else. Whether it was a sale or it was a contact or it was time, whatever that may have been, that was not the best approach for building relationships cos it was one-sided, it was focused on me and I learned that from several people that I would meet with because you get the responses from them where it wasn’t very positive and in fact, I had a couple people even say like, “I don’t have the time for this or you know, I don’t want to buy anything, so you know, I don’t have time for that.”
And I started thinking about it going well, “That wasn’t even the approach I was trying to take, I just wanted to get to know you,” but the way I was approaching these things was a “I am here to get something from you,” and quickly I learned to shift and realize the importance of mutually beneficial relationships and that’s where the thing is…that I learned what to do. And the “to do” is you need to show up to give first. It’s about serving others, meeting their needs, and getting to know them. And by doing that, good things naturally will occur in your life but you shouldn’t make that the outcome of what you are doing—that’s a natural occurrence or a natural outcome that comes out of you doing the right thing, helping to connect other people…helping to understand them and their needs, and the fine ways where you can partner together to solve problems for not only them, but also for you.
And so, I started shifting my mindset to a give-first mentality and how I could help others, and that one change is what led me to understand that value-building mutually beneficial relationships that served me in my career, where I never expect anything from anyone, but one day I feel good things will happen and someone will meet my needs because I’m out there meeting their needs.
So, that was the biggest approach I leaned about, how to effectively network, build connections, shifting from “get” to “give.”

DAVIDSON Yeah, I love that. I think em…when I turned the corner really, in networking, was when I changed my mindset like you said, from “get” to “give,” and to where it is no longer an event but networking is more of a mindset where you enjoy meeting people, you see people as having an incredible amount of value, and having a natural curiosity for that, so I think that’s great.
I was em…reading an article, it was interview with you. When right after you got elected and em…I thought it was really interesting how the reporter asked you how social media played an impact in your campaign, and how you said that there were 75 to a 100 people that changed their profile pictures to you and your campaign on their Facebook pages, and that you went door-to-door and even made 6,000 phone calls in the final 4 days of the campaign canvassing neighborhoods. Could you tell us a little bit about how that came about and what that…how that reflects your networking philosophy?

QUINTANA Oh no, that’s…that’s a great question and great callout. I had people ask me about that piece and they said “How did you get all of those endorsements? How did you get people to follow you? How did you do that so quickly?” Because to them, it seemed like all of that just naturally happened in just a short timeframe, but it’s all about, “you reap what you sow,” and that’s how relationships work.
You are planting seeds and you are giving first and you are serving others and building trust and then, one day when you do need something or you are trying to make a difference for the community and you are trying to serve a goal. When you go back to these people and start communicating what you are trying to do, those people are attracted back to you because they understand what you are there for, they trust you, they know you, and they have that foundation.
So, that’s how I was able to get those things to happen so quickly because I had built those relationships and I was very fortunate that I had that long-term view early on when I started building relationships with others. So, that’s what I learned the most…it was if I had to call 75 people tomorrow and say, “I just want you to change your profile photo to my campaign image,” — most people would reject that. But when it goes out to your friends and saying, “Hey everybody, you know what I stand for, you know what I’m here to do. I am asking for your help to help spread the word so I can get elected to help serve our community. Would you please post this on your site for the next 48 hours…72 hours whatever it is, to help spread the word through your networks?
People are much more willing to share in that way because they already have that established—trust with you. And that’s one of those lessons going back to building those mutually beneficial relationships, and giving first. You just never know when that opportunity is going to come, so there is no way that would have happened to make that many calls, to have that many people change their profile photos, to retweet and to post and do those things if they didn’t know me and didn’t understand what I believed.

DAVIDSON Yeah. Have you always been a natural charismatic and…let me just kind of frame the question as well because one of my favorite books is called “The Charisma Myth,” by Olivia Fox Cabane, and in it she really outlines the different aspects of body language and vocal intonation that send charismatic signals to people, because it’s so innate in who we are that we don’t even realize it, but there is a lot of things that someone who’s not naturally charismatic can do to appear more so and to feel more at ease in a networking-type situation and so that’s a book I would highly recommend to anyone who’s listening—The Charisma Myth.
Em…but so yeah, back to the question: Have you always been naturally charismatic?

QUINTANA I think charisma comes from confidence and passion in what you are talking about. So, there are a lot of things that I would probably talk about where someone would say, “Men! Ben is definitely not charismatic,” and then there are topics that I talk about, and they are like, “Wow! He really likes this topic, he is very charismatic.”
So, it depends on what it is that I’m speaking about and I learned first about charisma, and I started to learn that there was a negative aspect and some people saw the negative side of that, where I had first saw the positive, cos I am a…I am a naturally optimistic person and I see glasses half full, not half empty almost in every case, so almost to a fault. So, that’s one of the things I’m always looking at, because when I learned about what charismatic leadership looked like, it was when I was first studying Transformational Leadership when I was getting my masters in organizational leadership, and learning about how…that’s one of the skills that people have that can draw people to them and also have influence, but it comes from passion in what your topic is, and that’s where I started learning about that going, I don’t think I’m always charismatic, it’s just that I’m charismatic when its something I have passion about, I am confident about and I am competent about.

DAVIDSON Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. Em…next question: What is a good habit or ritual or practice that you use that brings you success?

QUINTANA Eh…it’s that long-term view. It’s progress not perfection. It is incremental improvements in getting better every single day because you are never going to be perfect and you are going to make everybody happy and you are never going to find the finish line. Life is this long journey where you are taking inch by inch…or you are making inch by inch improvements toward a goal and I have learned that that long-term view of the tortoise and the hare kind of story is really what I need to focus on and that has served me well through my life of having that long-term perspective.

DAVIDSON Yep, I like it. What is your favorite place in Idaho to visit?

QUINTANA Em…my favorite place in Idaho, which I really hoped to visit tomorrow, on Saturday, is the Boise Foothills; I think that’s my favorite place, probably in Idaho especially in Boise is coming down the trails especially from the top of Shane’s Loop my mountain bike and kind of flying down the trails and seeing downtown Boise kind of in that little bowl—it’s one of the best views in town. There is other spots along Table Rock and others where you can actually see downtown Boise and you can also see trails in the Foothills, even highly technical trails, but see it downtown. There is probably no other place in the U.S where you have technical trails and so many trails, a hundred and fifty (150) miles of trails next to a city of our size.
So, being in the Foothills and looking down on our city while I’m riding is one of my favorite places to be in Boise and in Idaho.

DAVIDSON Yeah, that image really symbolizes Idaho to me, that you can be in the wild, in nature, and yet also be in one of the technological hubs of the nation, so it’s great. Thank you!

QUINTANA Sure, that’s really unique. And not everybody can just go fishing on a lunch break or go skiing and play golf in the same day or go mountain biking and doing all these things right after work. It’s…we have a really unique situation here and we are very fortunate, and I have learned that after I have travelled. There is other great places all over the world and all over the U.S but we have something really special here.

DAVIDSON Yep, quality of life like none other. Absolutely!
What is a favorite book, app or internet resource that you’d recommend to the Idaho Leader Podcast Community?

QUINTANA Well, they go head-and-hand on that one. Em…my favorite, I guess video first, is this…is the 18-minute version of the book and that video is Simon Sinek’s TED Talk that’s really short-term, I guess “Start with Why.” It’s how leaders inspire action. It’s the best video I think I have ever seen on leadership and communication.
That one 18-minute video I think now, is the second most-watched TED talk of all time and there are, I don’t know, maybe a few thousand TED Talks and people from all over the world, experts in every field that have spoken and this one was kind of poor quality when you watch it, but it was just a natural development when Simon Sinek spoke on the topic of “Starting with Why.” I love that video, I have seen a dozen of times, the book that goes with it is called Start with Why, that tells more stories and examples about how you can communicate what you believe, so you will attract others to believe what you believe, and starting with that why measures.
So, bar none, that 18-minute video combined with that book is where I would start for anybody.

DAVIDSON Yeah, that’s an incredible book, one that has definitely inspired me as well. I worked for one of the largest credit unions in Idaho, in HR. And I hire a lot of people and that’s definitely something that we believe is “hire for the heart and train the head.” Em, you definitely…

QUINTANA Well, I love that!

DAVIDSON Yep, definitely follow Simon Sinek start with why, if someone believes in the same passion you do, then anything’s possible.

QUINTANA Hire the heart, train the head?

DAVIDSON Yep.

QUINTANA That’s great, I love that.

DAVIDSON Em…so next is a tricky, hypothetical scenario that I’d like you to work through for us. Em…imagine that you were to wake up tomorrow in a city in Idaho, just like Boise, but you knew no one. You retain all your skills and experience, but are a stranger to anyone. What would you do to get connected to the Idaho Business Community, and grow your career within the next 30 days.

QUINTANA Well, if you want to get connected to the Idaho…the business community in anywhere you are at, I learned this after working for the Chamber of Commerce for 7 to almost 8 years, you join your Chamber or you show up to Chamber events and you look for things that fit what you’re interested in. So, if it’s a Young Professional Network, or a Entrepreneurial Club or if it’s a business group, the Idaho Business for Education, whatever group really connects to what your interested in, find it as fast as you can, go to as many meetings as you can and meet as many people as you can, and show up to give first. If you show up to give, show up to learn, show up to get involved, people will help open doors faster than you can imagine. And Boise is one of those places where it’s easy to connect if you show up with the right reasons and you can build your network very quickly here, and make a difference almost immediately and I found that that’s unique for us, compared to other places that you go, but I’ve also heard those stories and experienced the same thing in other cities.
Look for things where you have common interest, get involved, give back, listen, learn, connect with others and help connect the dots and give value, and you will find value in every single situation.

DAVIDSON Yeah, that is really true. One of the things I love to write about is how to build your network—on my blog @ idaholeader.com. I have one blog post that’s dedicated to how to do that through social media and one of the examples is by using LinkedIn to connect to somebody, and ask them about their career. Ask them for advice cos people love to do that. It’s surprising how many students will send me a LinkedIn request, which I immediately accept and then they’ll ask me for career advice and they are surprised that I reply within 24 hours, that I am happy to give them my phone number and take a call, and that’s helped me grow a network of about 2,600 LinkedIn connections, doesn’t take that much of my time but it gives back and it’s so meaningful. And it’s something that I find a lot of enjoyment in.

QUINTANA And that’s a great example. Everybody can get involved in something; you just got to find out what you are passionate about and if you are not sure, try a bunch of things, see what you are interested in or either…and learn from other people and ask to connect with others, and most people are willing to share as long as you are willing to give and listen, so I think that’s a great example.

DAVIDSON Exactly! One of the things that I think job-seekers really need to do is be passionate about the career that they are applying for. I do a lot of job interviews and one thing that I would definitely recommend to students and job-seekers is to do your homework, learn about the industry, learn about what kind of work the position’s doing and be passionate about that. That means so much to me, and I love to talk shop obviously about leadership development just like you, about em…financial services and customer service, so thanks for sharing that.

QUINTANA It makes a big difference, absolutely, cos it’s…you know, it’s about fit and it’s about culture and companies want to hire people who fit and will em…really meld well with the culture, and that’s a key piece. And it kind of goes back to what you were saying about how to hire, you know, hiring for the heart, and that’s a big piece that I think really fits well and I’m wondering what’s going to happen with Gen Y, all the millennials coming in because you hear how much studies have been done and how much research has been done…about how that they are connected to causes and they want to be a part of something greater than themselves, and they want to give back earlier than some other generations have. It will be interesting to see if they gravitate toward the companies who have strong missions and visions, and how those companies will hire and attract and retain that talent based on the purpose of what the company exists to do. So, I looked forward to learning more about that, and just continuing to have conversations with young professionals and talent from every generation, really, as to how that really is going to change as generations change.

DAVIDSON Yes, absolutely. In Idaho, we are a hardworking and a grateful people, can you please tell us about something that you are particularly grateful for right now?

QUINTANA Oh, it’s kind of those foundational Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs kind of thing for me, it’s health and family. I just…I am so fortunate to have a great family and a support network, em…that believes in me and supports what I try to do, and em…is always there to, you know, allow me to pick their brain and learn from ‘em. And the other part is the health aspect, I mean I work in healthcare, being in St. Luke’s Health System, helping to develop leaders who will transform healthcare, we get to serve people and our goal is to improve the health of people in our communities, and I get to see a lot of people who are not healthy. And you hear the stats and you see the numbers, and we have a health epidemic on our hands and the fact that I’m healthy and I have family, what else do you need—those are the two most important things, and I am so grateful for both.

DAVIDSON Yep, well, I want to thank you for telling your story and sharing so freely with the Idaho Leader Podcast Community, em…please give us some parting advice and then share with us how we can connect with you and keep the dialogue going?

QUINTANA Well, great! Well, I guess parting advice is just if you are listening to this podcast, you are interested in learning from others and you want to listen and learn about new ideas, and I am trying to think if it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who said one…I guess said in the past that every person you meet is an expert in some way or is a superior to you in some way. So, think about that quote about how you can learn from every single person that you meet, that you listen to, every book you read, everyone was something that they are more experienced in than you are. We all bring different things to the table, so ask questions, be curious, get to know others and understand those perspectives and you do that by listening to podcasts just like this.
So Ben, I applaud you for going out and reaching out, and asking people questions so you can share experiences and lessons learned of what to do and what not to do so others can learn as well. So, I will just say, continue to ask those questions, meet people, stay interested and curious, and give first; and find a way to make those connections meaningful to you and the person that you are meeting with.

DAVIDSON Well thank you Ben, that has truly been inspirational for me. Em…is there anyone who you could recommend to our podcast community for future guest on the show?

QUINTANA As far as Idaho and leadership and giving back, there is a couple people that come to mind, that I think would be really helpful to hear from, em…one would be Bob Lokken, I think he would be fantastic—the CEO of WhiteCloud Analytics, just on bringing that entrepreneurial mindset and having multiple success stories with what he’s done. Another one is a community leader that I think has left a legacy for others to follow, and hopefully to emulate and really take our community to the next level and that’s the CEO of the Treasure Valley YMCA, or actually, the YMCA here in the region, and that is Jim Everett. He just announced his retirement, so to learn from someone like him em…as he is departing his leadership post, here is someone who’s really served for a couple decades, and is one of the best people in our community.
Now, the third is somebody who’s had a tremendous impact in a short amount of time, showing and proving that you can make a difference in Boise and have a significant impact if you have a vision and you can pull people together to get things done, and that’s Tommy Ahlquist. He was the guy that was really behind making sure that the 8th and Main building downtown, the New Zion’s Bank building, em…became a reality on a vacant lot that was really vacant for about 30 years, he came and built that building, and now it’s the tallest building in Idaho and it’s really helped to revitalize downtown. And now, is even doing more, helping out with the multi-modal center that’s going across the street, building around the convention center, and helping to expand their movement half downtown Boise State presence with their Computer Science department. ClearWater Analytics is going to be located in that spot too. We got a lot of really cool companies that are now being headquartered in Boise, and he is helping to lead that effort through development.
So, those are three that I think would be fascinating to learn from, because they’ve had such an impact in our Valley, especially in Boise, but now really all of Idaho.

DAVIDSON Excellent! Well, thank you Ben for your example of giving first, and helping Idaho develop and grow. I appreciate that. We salute you for your service, we wish you all the best, and thank you for your time today.

QUINTANA Thank you Ben. Great to talk with you.