Olympic hopefuls: 2010 Winter Games offer opportunity

Here’s the kind of article that I’ll collect for you in this forum.  How do we participate in the Olympic Games of 2010?

Friday, May 14, 2004

Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) – by Greg Lamm Staff writer

http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2004/05/17/story1.html?page=1

When you run a company that provides a product called Honey Bucket for construction sites and special events you get used to the smart-aleck remarks. But Steve Barger takes special pride in his work, especially in the job his company did providing and sanitizing nearly 3,000 portable potties and mobile restrooms for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah.

“When you are in the portable restroom business, people may snicker, say you have a nasty job,” said Barger. “Well, we were a supplier to the Olympic Games. Were you?”

The article goes on to note:

Idaho got a $55 million economic boost from the 2002 games in Utah, with much of it centered on Boise and southern Idaho. And that doesn’t include Boise-based Washington Group International’s work on the $1.6 billion interstate improvement project near Salt Lake City.

Idaho benefited from increased tourism, and Sun Valley and other Idaho ski resorts staged training centers for some teams. But Idaho businesses also profited, including the Fleetwood Homes factory in Nampa, which got a $1.5 million contract to build modular units for cross-country skiers, units that became low-income housing after the Olympics.

Smaller companies also scored, including an Idaho ski cap maker, who saw 25 percent of her gross revenue in 2002 come from designing and making hats for corporate sponsors.

It was an amazing experience and Barger said his company plan is to submit a similar proposal for the B.C. Winter Games. “It would be a natural for us,” he said.