Brodie Tyler, Author at Idaho's Best

The 2020 Idaho’s Best Awards Banquet in 2019

Brodie Tyler on December 17, 2019

Because everybody needs an excuse to pull out those fancy clothes now and then, the finalists of this year’s Idaho’s Best Awards got together Tuesday and Wednesday evening for fun, food, and to congratulate the winners. Only those with the quick-draw mouse-clicking skills of a seasoned eBay shopper were able to obtain these coveted seats! After last year’s event sold out in approximately 80 minutes, we doubled capacity by extending the Idaho’s Best Awards banquet to two nights, and it sold out even faster!

The Wyatt Earp of buying tickets online

We literally rolled out the red carpet for our Idaho VIPs, and you all were looking fly! Fine-looking gentlemen and dazzling ladies filled our tables to capacity, and then were treated to a delicious dinner (that amazing catering was through A Lively Chef] and entertainment. Jeff and Austin, of Open World Comedy, hosted the event and kept the room laughing throughout the night with their improv talent.

Many of the winners left with more than their Idaho’s Best award, as sponsors graciously provided door prizes that were won throughout the night.

Idaho’s Top Awards Contest Goes Statewide

New for 2020, we expanded beyond the Treasure Valley and went statewide. We’ve broken up the state into three regions. We’ve done our best to do it along natural geographic separations while trying to balance it out by population. Here are the three regions:

Eastern Idaho – Twin Falls, Pocatello, Idaho Falls, Rexburg, Ketchum, etc.

Panhandle – Lewiston, Moscow, Coeur d’Alene area, etc.

Treasure Valley – McCall, Boise area, Mountain Home, etc

See All of Your 2020 Idaho’s Best Winners Here

For any wondering why they may have done very well last year but didn’t quite make it to the top this year, it became very competitive with the inclusion of the rest of Idaho. We wanted to tip our hat to those who made the cut, because in our minds all of the finalists are winners. That’s why you’ll see several different types of winners represented in the results.

Statewide Winner – This is the most coveted honor recognizing Idaho’s best in a category.
Statewide Top 3 – The second highest level of recognition honoring the runners up to the Statewide Winner.
Regional Winner – The best of a region for a particular category.

How to Capitalize on Your Idaho’s Best Recognition

We jump the gun on 2020 just so that you can use your recognition of being Idaho’s Best for the whole year. All levels of winners receive digital resources that can be used to promote your new status and show off to your audience, building consumer confidence in your brand. We also have a few other tools that you can utilize for promotion.

Idaho’s Best Plaques
Proudly display your Idaho’s Best award with a high-quality 8″x10″ engraved plaque!

Idaho’s Best Magazine
Designed to be a coffee table type of publication that residents and businesses will hold on to and use as a reference guide, the magazine will give you and your company positive exposure throughout 2020.

Banner Ads
We get a ton of traffic, nearly all of it from right here in Idaho. Be seen where the voting happens!

RevenueJump Review Software
Our campaigns help you attract warm referrals, rockstar employees, and up to 600% more 5-star reviews.

The 2020 Idaho’s Best Ballots are in!

Brodie Tyler on November 1, 2019

Holy Schnikes! Ballots for Idaho’s Best of 2020 are in, and it looks to be a phenomenal success.

The businesses and attractions that were up for voting in their respective categories were nominated by Idaho residents in August and September. Those that received enough nominations earned their spots on the ballot.

Tens of thousands of votes were cast to show support for your favorite businesses and attractions in our community. We were overwhelmed with the enthusiastic response and can’t wait to share the finalists of each category.

What Happens Now

We want the Idaho’s Best Awards to be as fair as possible, so our team is working hard to calculate the results and verify the findings. We use a scoring system that relies on a combination of votes as well as reviews from services like Google and Yelp. We even include ratings from the Better Business Bureau in our scoring!

Count Ballots

Who had the most votes? While technology makes counting easy, we still need to verify the results. Previous contests allowed spamming or daily voting. For improved results, this year we’re only counting unique votes for each category.

Count Reviews

Idaho’s Best isn’t like most “Best of” contests, which simply count votes. We realize that the community has already been showing their support for the “best” by leaving reviews all year long, so we’re going to count those too! We’re counting every 5-star review published on Google and Yelp within the last 12 months.

Calculate Rating

While votes and reviews signify great work in the last year, overall ratings on Google and Yelp tell us how nominees have done long term. The mean rating from these platforms will be used in conjunction with 5-star reviews and votes to determine the winners.

Announce Finalists

The top nominees of each category will be publicly announced next week once we’ve verified our results. Finalists will also be notified by letter and email as soon as possible.

Announce Winners

Winners will be announced at the Idaho’s Best Awards Banquet, on December 3rd and 4th, 2019. Finalists will be invited to purchase tickets for the celebration. The banquet includes a red carpet entrance, a fancy dinner, photos, and other special prizes and opportunities.

Thank You

We’re grateful to everyone for the support and participation in the Idaho’s Best Awards. It’s been a lot of fun, and we’re already looking forward to next year’s contest!

The BBB is in Our Corner

Brodie Tyler on September 25, 2019

We are very pleased to announce our new partnership with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Who better to partner with than the non-profit organization that’s been looking out for consumers since 1912?

Behind the scenes, our team at Inbound Systems is constantly working to find the best ways to identify and recognize the top businesses and organizations in the Gem State. This often involves long hours, heated debates, and the occasional Greco-Roman wrestling match to settle an argument. 😉

Two Peas in a Pod

We want to ensure the best outcome possible for Idaho’s Best™, which is why an exclusive partnership with the BBB Northwest made sense. The Better Business Bureau’s mission to improve marketplace trust makes them a perfect partner for Idaho’s Best™.

After all, the Better Business Bureau is one of America’s most enduring customer protection organizations. For more than 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. BBB sets standards for ethical business behavior and monitors compliance. That’s why in the past year alone, people have turned to them more than 173 million times!

The BBB Rating System

The modern rating system utilizes a grading scale just like you used in school, going from an A+ down to an F, graded on 17 different factors. This rating represents a business’s overall trustworthiness and their good-faith efforts to address customer concerns.

If you’d like to see how your business stacks up, you can check your rating on the BBB page.

Formula for Winning

New for our 2020 contest, we will be incorporating BBB ratings into scoring. Winners are still determined mathematically by a combination of votes, reviews, and ratings, but standing within the BBB is now an important factor in online ratings. We believe that this will help ensure that only the best businesses can win Idaho’s Best™.

For example, those businesses that have very low BBB ratings, government actions or penalties, and a historical pattern of unresolved disputes will have a tough time proving they are the best in Idaho.

Still Free

The Idaho’s Best Awards is not a pay-to-play contest. While the BBB offers accreditation and operates through the funding of dues-paying members, accreditation will not be a factor in or influence the results of scoring. To learn more about what’s needed to win Idaho’s Best™, visit our page for the 2020 Contest Details.

For more information about the Better Business Bureau serving Idaho, visit their website or call (208) 342-4649. Our team is very excited about this new partnership and what it means for making the most popular “Best of” contest in Idaho even best-ier!

Idaho’s Best Nominations Are In!

Brodie Tyler on September 16, 2019

The nomination period for the 2020 Idaho’s Best Awards is over, and the response was incredible!

The community showed their support for their favorite businesses with a tsunami of nominations…We were blown away as they came in by the thousands!

But it’s not over yet!

Nominations are just the beginning. The companies with the most nominations in each category will move on to the voting round, where the community can choose the cream of the crop.

We will publish nominations when voting begins on October 14th. Voting will take place through October 31st. Voting is done online on this website. Anyone with a valid Idaho address and a mobile phone can vote for their favorite companies. To retain the most reliable results, participants are restricted to one vote per category.

What Makes Idaho’s Best Different

The Idaho’s Best contest is different because it’s not just about the votes. The community has been recommending their favorite businesses all year by leaving reviews on Google and Yelp.

That’s why Idaho’s Best factors in online reviews from the previous 12 calendar months, up to October 31, 2019. Your overall rating and the number of 5-star reviews your business has earned on Google and Yelp are factored in with the number of votes received during the contest.

Number of Votes + Number of 5-star Reviews + Average Rating = Score

The higher your rating and the more 5-star reviews you have, the better your chances of winning. That means that even if you didn’t get the most votes, you could still win by having a great online reputation. Alternatively, a business that doesn’t have as many reviews as they’d like still has a great chance of winning if they receive a lot of votes during the contest.

How do I know if my company was nominated?

If your business received enough support, we’ll be notifying you shortly about your nomination. This will include instructions for claiming your nomination, details about the contest, and resources to help you pick up more votes.

If you think you were likely one of the top ten nominees in your category, you can get a head start by contacting us to provide your business details and point of contact for the contest.

$500 Amazon Giveaway

Now that the nominations are in, we’ll find out the five winners of our $100 in Amazon gift cards. Winners will be announced and published on this website by 9/30/19.
GIVEAWAY DETAILS: By entering this giveaway, entrants agree to these terms. Companies nominated by entrants are subject to Idaho’s Best approval to ensure the category is relevant to the company. Limited to one entry and one winner’s prize per person. To be eligible to win, entrants must live within Idaho and be at least 18 years old. Acceptance of a prize for this giveaway constitutes your approval to use your name, photo, and city for promoting Idaho’s Best and announcing the winners on our website. A minimum of five unique and valid entrants are required, otherwise, the giveaway will be cancelled with no prizes awarded. Employees and family members of employees of Inbound Systems, Idaho’s Best, and RevenueJump are not eligible to win. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited.

Choosing Categories for Idaho’s Best

Brodie Tyler on September 9, 2019

We’ve only got a few more days until the nominations for the 2020 Idaho’s Best Awards are closed! So far, things are looking great, with nominations up 165% over last year’s awards. Just remember, the last day to nominate your favorite businesses and attractions for Idaho’s Best is September 13th, 2019.

We truly believe in our goal of recognizing the best businesses and organizations in our Idaho communities. But how do you identify the “best”? By what criteria does one measure? Is the best business the one with the most revenue, number of locations, or the best customer service?

There are many criteria that could be used to address this question. We decided the best metric to determine who is the best in Idaho is to ask the people that live here. While your personal reasons for thinking one particular business is the best might be different than someone else, you can both still nominate and vote for your favorite business.

We leave the “why” to you!

How do we decide on what categories to include?

The Idaho’s Best Awards wants to compare apples to apples, the same as any of your potential customers. As of this writing, we have 165 various categories nested within nine different groups. Most categories are very specific to an industry, such as “Best Plumber”. Some categories are more broad, like “Best Contractor”.

There is no feedback we receive that causes more debate than determining which categories to include. So how do we make those decisions?

Step #1: Make a Suggestion

Many of our changes begin as suggestions from those within their industries. Perhaps a user wants to nominate their brother’s auto towing company, only to find out that there wasn’t a category that fits them. They might then contact us to make their suggestion to include towing as a new category.

Step #2: Evaluate the Category Suggestion

We don’t mean to exclude anyone, so our first step is to evaluate the suggested category and see if there is a reason why it didn’t already exist. Perhaps it’s a specialized niche that’s already covered by an existing category, such as an attorney that specializes in DUI defense. They fit right within the “Criminal Defense Law Firm” and “Best Law Firm” categories. Other reasons a category might not already exist for various specialties are a lack of competition, an inability to evaluate reviews sufficiently, it creates confusion, or even a reason as simple as we overlooked it.

Yep, sometimes we make mistakes because aren’t experts in every industry. We’re happy to fix them if we can, we just ask for your help and your patience to do so.

Step #3: Is the Category Competitive?

I’ve personally enjoyed throwing axes and knives for over 20 years, so I’d be thrilled to include a niche category specifically for such a thing. But while there are a few places of business in Idaho that offer axe throwing activities and instruction, there are simply not enough to justify axe throwing as its own category (for now).

Our general rule of thumb is that there needs to be at least 10-20 quality competitors to be considered. When we say “quality”, each nominee should specialize in this area and would need to have their own Google My Business page, Facebook page, and website.

Step #4: Discussion and Vote

When we determine that a new category suggestion is 1) distinct from other categories and 2) has a sufficient number of qualified competitors, then the change is discussed and voted on by a panel of 3-5 judges. We try to be as fair as possible, and sometimes these debates have become heated because we want to offer the best experience possible.

If a majority of the panel approve the new category, it can then be added as its own entity under the appropriate group.

Do you know a category that would be great to include for Idaho’s Best? Let us know by emailing us at [email protected] or using our contact form.

Nominations Now Open!

Brodie Tyler on September 3, 2019

And we’re off!

Nominations for Idaho’s Best are now open! Here are a few important things to remember for this year’s contest:

Anyone with a valid Idaho address can nominate an eligible organization/place for any Idaho’s Best™ category.
For our 2020 contest, the nomination period is from September 3-13.
Nominations are subject to approval by Inbound Systems to ensure the category is relevant to the nominee.
Organizations/places that have the top nomination counts within a category (maximum 10 nominees) will advance to Stage 2.
IMPORTANT: Once your company has been nominated, be sure to claim it!

Check Out the New Logo for Idaho’s Best

Brodie Tyler on August 29, 2019

We loved the Best of Treasure Valley™ logo and didn’t want to venture too far off. So, we’re proud to present the shiny new logo for Idaho’s Best.

If you have a minute, please feel free to share it!

Goodbye Best of Treasure Valley… Kinda

Brodie Tyler on August 28, 2019

*Some details discussed in this article have changed. You can find updated details for the Idaho’s Best Awards here.

The title may come as a surprise, especially if you didn’t read my article about the Idaho Statesman from a couple of weeks ago.

We are currently in the process of retiring the name “Best of Treasure Valley™” (yes, we still own the trademark!) to avoid confusion with the Idaho Stateman’s unreliable contest of the same name.

Making Lemonade

I was honestly deflated after being on the receiving end of the Idaho Statesman’s antics. In truth, I was fully prepared to give it up and walk away.

However, after hearing your feedback on my Idaho Statesman article, I reversed course and was determined to make lemonade out of lemons.

The amount of support we received was unbelievable. You guys made it loud and clear… you loved how we ran Best of Treasure Valley™ and you want us to keep going. Several of you graciously offered alternative solutions to our dilemma, including new names we could use instead.

Even the single dissenting opinion we received was still supportive. He explained that although he preferred our method of running the contest, he was worried that too many of these awards could water down the value.

If you’re reading this my friend, don’t worry. All of us at Inbound Systems are determined to add more value to Idaho’s Best than offered by other awards contests, especially those those that take a year off from time to time! 🙂

To the Future!

The good news is, we’re not leaving you high and dry. Instead, we’re changing the name of our contest to… drum roll please… Idaho’s Best™!

We’re improving upon the successes of the Best of Treasure Valley™ and expanding it statewide.

Right on Time

Even with the name change, this year’s contest is on schedule!

The nomination period opens next week, so we’re busy updating our website and resources to reflect the new name. Stay tuned and check back often.

Going Regional

Not to worry. With Idaho’s Best™ we’re still keeping it local by dividing the state of Idaho into four regions:

Treasure Valley
Panhandle
Magic Valley
Eastern Idaho

Note that every business in Idaho will geographically fall into one of these regions.

Nominees will compete on a regional level. Then, the regional winners of each category will be compared to each other to determine who deserves the recognition for being the best statewide.

What’s Not Changing

Truly the Best

Our exclusive method utilized in determining Best of Treasure Valley™ companies is not changing.

We’re still using online reviews and rankings as well as votes to determine Idaho’s Best™.

We’re also still limiting the number of times a person can vote for their favorite company. New this year, voters will now need to confirm their registration before their vote is counted.

We believe the above will continue to set our contest apart from the other popularity contests you may be used to.

The Official Magazine

Last year our magazine garnered rave reviews across the board. It was distributed to affluent neighborhoods and local hotels. However, going statewide with our contest throws a twist in things!

So, we have plans to publish four unique magazines, one for each region. Within each issue, the statewide and regional winners and finalists will be announced in full-color. More details are forthcoming!

Our Celebration

The Awards Banquet we hosted last year was an incredible hit. If you didn’t hear, tickets sold out in just 80 minutes!

By going statewide, we anticipate the desire to attend the Awards Banquet to increase significantly.

So, yes, we will be hosting another one this year! And rest assured, we’re making it easier for twice as many finalists to attend.

Even so, if you’re a finalist, reserve your tickets as soon as they become available.

Thank You!

Putting on this contest is a monumental task. It takes a lot of money and working hours to get it off the ground.

That being said, our investment is only worth it because of you and your support.

So from all of us at Inbound Systems, THANK YOU!

We are as determined as ever to give you the value you deserve. We are as motivated as ever to making Idaho’s Best™ the gold standard of “best of” contests. We are as grateful as ever to have you on board with us.

Again, thank you.

Brodie Tyler

How the Idaho Statesman Screws Local Small Businesses

Brodie Tyler on August 14, 2019

We know. We’re one of them! It all started back in the Summer of 2018…

As a local marketing and publishing company (Inbound Systems), we took a look at the Treasure Valley’s “best of” contests and thought something was lacking. Each one was basically a popularity contest and not necessarily indicative of who local residents thought was truly the best.

So, if your competitors had more employees than you, good luck! It’s easier for them to get more votes, regardless of how well they take care of their customers or not.

Online reviews, on the other hand, are much more difficult to fake and manipulate. Sure, it still happens, but it’s just not as easy, right?

This is why we decided to start a “best of” contest that incorporated online reviews and legitimate votes to determine the Treasure Valley’s best companies.

The Best of Treasure Valley Name

We searched high and low for just the right name for our contest. From the start, we debated between Best of Treasure Valley and another name. We even registered both domain names just in case.

Our favorite was Best of Treasure Valley because it incorporated the entire Boise Metro area. However, the Idaho Statesman had run their own contest under that name for several years before. But since we were in the second-half of 2018, and they hadn’t run their contest yet, we wondered if they gave up on it.

To find out, we called the Idaho Statesman on the phone and asked! Sure enough, they had abandoned the Best of Treasure Valley name after their 2017 contest. It turns out that they had been losing money on their contest and were not going to do it again.

With their reassurance, we registered the business name. The State of Idaho even awarded us the trademark. The Best of Treasure Valley name was ours.

The Most Successful Best of Treasure Valley Contest Yet

From the get-go our Best of Treasure Valley contest was a hit. It garnered over 100,000 legitimate votes. It incorporated online reviews so that only the Treasure Valley’s best companies would rise to the top. In the eyes of local residents (and not just employees), it revealed the truly best companies offered by the Treasure Valley. The Awards Banquet was the hottest ticket in town and sold out in just 80 minutes. The first-class Best of Treasure Valley Magazine was distributed to more than just paper newspaper subscribers.

We could go on, but the credit should really go to the Treasure Valley community! We couldn’t have asked for better participation amongst local residents and businesses.

At the same time, we were confused as to why the Idaho Statesman abandoned such a worthwhile venture!

Not Everyone Was Happy

Sure, there were a handful of participants who preferred the Idaho Statesman’s contest over ours. It turns out, these companies tended to be vote manipulators, spamming our system with countless numbers of frivolous votes.

As an example, one contestant had votes coming in from the likes of Jeffrey Dahmer ([email protected]) and other despicable creeps. It turns out they had an in-house employee trying to spam our voting system. While the Idaho Statesman awarded these companies with wins in their contest, we disqualified them in ours.

Working with the Idaho Statesman

Rebecca Poynter, publisher for the Idaho Statesman, called me one day during our contest in November 2018. With her not-so-peachy personality, she wanted to ensure that we weren’t using language to imply that we were running their contest for them.

We complied with her requests, even in ways that seemed over-demanding on her part. But that’s okay, I thought. Boise is a small market and I didn’t want to step on any toes.

Our conversation then turned into how we can work together. In the end, we paid for an announcement in the Idaho Statesman print newspaper to be published immediately after we revealed our winners.

Quick Summary

I just want to quickly show where we are at this point…

The Idaho Statesman didn’t run a 2018 contest.
The Idaho Statesman told us they abandoned the Best of Treasure Valley name and contest.
We registered the Best of Treasure Valley name.
The State of Idaho awarded us the Best of Treasure Valley trademark.
The Idaho Statesman took our money to print our Best of Treasure Valley announcement in their paper.
Rebecca Poynter, the president of the Idaho Statesman personally approved our ad.

In a nutshell, we were upfront with the Statesman and they knew what was going on with our contest. Let’s see how they returned the favor.

Blatant Disregard

Fast forward to July 2019… Not to be confused with our contest, the Idaho Statesman started their own Best of Treasure Valley contest again.

No phone call.

No email.

No notice of any kind.

The least Rebecca could have done was given me a phone call like she did late last year. But should I really be surprised? She’s barely lived in Boise for a year and probably doesn’t understand our small-town atmosphere yet.

At best, the Statesman could have gone with the name “Reader’s Choice Awards” or something that doesn’t conflict with our contest. Now they’re calling their abandonment a “hiatus.”

Tell me Statesman, how does a hiatus not hurt your credibility?

How does this not cause confusion within our community?

How does this not screw us when we were so transparent and upfront with you?

How does it not screw the small businesses that were counting on your 2018 contest for promoting themselves?

Legal Options

Upon hearing of the disrespectful path taken by the Statesman, I immediately thought about our legal rights and how they were being infringed upon. After personally speaking with several specialized attorneys in this arena, it turns out I was right.

However, being right isn’t enough. Our attorneys also helped me to realize that we didn’t have enough money to fight the behemoth California corporation that owns the Idaho Statesman. (Our “local” paper isn’t even local any more!)

Even if we won in court, we would still lose overall. As much as I want to stick it to the Idaho Statesman based on principle, we’re not going to.

At the same time, it doesn’t make sense to have two Best of Treasure Valley contests. So Idaho Statesman, you win. The Best of Treasure Valley name is all yours.

An Olive Branch

If you can’t beat them, join them, right? I tried to do this too.

I emailed and called Rebecca Poynter several times over the last couple of weeks. My goal was to team up with the Idaho Statesman and package our successful contest for them to buy.

We’d show them how it really needs to be done. We’d show them how to offer better value to local businesses. We’d show them how to run a contest that rewards local residents and local companies with true winners. We’d show them how to host an awards banquet that would be the hottest ticket in town.

We’d show them how to do all the above, without losing money.

After all, we accomplished this our very first year while they failed at it even after several decades.

Eventually Rebecca did reply once with a curt response. Basically, she had everything figured out and wasn’t willing to admit that we could help them out.

This made me laugh out loud, actually. She doesn’t know what she doesn’t know!

Case In Point: Their 2019 contest nominees are chosen by Idaho Statesman staff rather than Treasure Valley residents. I’m confused… Is it the Best of Treasure Valley or Best of Idaho Statesman??

Case In Point #2: The Statesman calls their contest the “gold standard of area ‘Best of’ contests.” Again, I’m confused… How can you be the gold standard if you take a year off??

The Future is Still Being Written

If you’ve ever rebranded a company, you understand how difficult and time-consuming it is. That is the choice we’re up against now.

Do we move on? Or do we run the contest under a different name?

Well, we’re in the middle of researching all our possibilities and consulting our contestants from last year. Stay tuned, as we will be making an announcement very shortly.

Why Did I Write This Article?

I realize my explanation/rant/announcement isn’t going to sit well with all people, especially those over at the Idaho Statesman.

At the same time, I feel we were very disrespected by them. We were amicable, but our transparency wasn’t reciprocated in the least. So, the first reason was to reveal what the Idaho Statesman did. I felt I needed to share my thoughts and opinions of their self-serving actions.

Most importantly, we have a very active and inquisitive following! I knew we would receive a lot of questions about why we weren’t running the Best of Treasure Valley contest any longer. I simply wanted to pre-empt those questions as a courtesy to our followers.

Third, we have a bright future and I wanted to share our optimism about it. Whether or not that includes running the true gold standard of “Best of” contests here in the Treasure Valley, only time will tell.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your support!

Brodie Tyler

Rocket Express Car Wash is Green and Clean

Brodie Tyler on June 28, 2019

What’s the secret to a great car wash? My very first job was in a detail shop, so I thought I understood. After working with Rocket Express Car Wash owners Joe and Janet Russell, I’ve learned that the secret sauce isn’t magic soap or a spotless rinse — it’s people.

Don’t get me wrong; Rocket Express has all the special tools and toys that any auto aficionado could ever want. When you pull your car into that 240-foot conveyor, you’re about to be on the receiving end of the very best car-cleaning experience available anywhere. But what stood out the most was not the neon lights, free vacuums, or free mat-cleaning machines, it was the people.

The Rocket Express Commitment

In fact, when I first spoke with Joe Russell, I asked him what made Rocket Express unique. He said, “We compensate our people well above others and we attract and retain exceptional people.” This is what impressed me about the Rocket team. They are committed to their team and their customers, and their team and customers are committed to them.

When I visited the Rocket Express Car Wash, located at Fairview and Cloverdale, the sense of loyalty from the staff was palpable. These exceptional people work diligently to deliver a great experience to each customer in the hopes that they will become a Rocket Express ambassador.

Co-founder Janet Russell, a marketing guru, also wears the hats of COO, HR rep, and trainer. She expressed to me the importance of ecological responsibility in their operations.

Above the vacuum canopy sets is one of the largest solar panel arrays in the Treasure Valley, creating much of the Rocket’s energy needs. “Rocket Express also reclaims the majority of the water used in its car washes, uses only earth-friendly products, and continually invests to improve sustainability”, Janet Russell said.

In the end, you might choose Rocket Express Car Wash because of the value, its commitment to the community, or simply because you’ll get an exceptionally clean, shiny, and dry car in four minutes or less. It might even be because they won the Best of Treasure Valley. Those are all valid reasons, but what will keep you going back is the overall experience provided by the people.

The fifth Rocket Express Mega Car Wash, second in the Treasure Valley, is currently under construction at the northwest corner of the intersection of Chinden Blvd. and Linder Road in Meridian.