Tirehouse II

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Housed in a converted garage in the north end of Idaho's capital is a small construction and development company with dreams big enough to house the world.

The company, PMA of Idaho, is one that was really pulled up by its bootstraps. Partners Sheryl Logan, J. Scott Fenwick, and Kenny Olson started with a few hundred dollars, some credit cards, and a lot of positive thinking. The trio began by purchasing older run-down homes (which nobody else seemed to want) and finding new creative possibilities. They did the remodeling themselves, and then rented some and sold others for profit. But when the real-estate market changed in Boise, older homes were no longer available at competitive prices, and that forced the founders to move into construction and property development. The idea of the solar subdivision was born.

Says Logan, "The biggest hurdle in the remodeling/new-building game or any small business for that matter, is finding lenders who are willing to cooperate with your building plans. Having the banks tell us `no' just made us more determined to find an answer." So the company asked family, friends, and outside investors to participate in their development projects. Sometimes they used finance companies who specialized in high return and little risk.

This determination, coupled with the group's growing concern for the planet, led to PMA's most recent quest to create energy efficient and friendly homes. As Kenny Olson put it, "The amount of waste that occurs each day in our collective lives-feeding our need for energy and for what we consume—is appalling. If we don't do something soon, our kids won't have anything left. We must learn to reduce, reuse, and recycle:'

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