12 CapitalPress.com Dr. Jimz supplements just what a crop needs By BRENNA WIEGAND For the Capital Press Not everybody fulfills a lifelong ambition but Jim Zamzow of Boise, Idaho, has done just that. Develop- ing a chain of 12 garden centers in the Boise area and his own line of soil supplements does not compare with the satisfaction of fulfilling his decades-long goal of devel- oping what he calls the world’s most perfect fertilizer. “Jim has learned from the best,” Dr. JimZ Direc- tor of Marketing Lars Knutsen said. “This guy is not guessing about anything. There have been several test batches over the years, and he believes that Chicken Soup for the Soil is perfect. In the two years since com- ing to market it has accumulated nearly 30,000 custom- ers, a number we expect will quadruple this year.” Chicken Soup for the Soil is not just any fertilizer, he said. “It looks like a liquid but seen under a microscope it’s actually made of microscopic nutrient clusters that start moving around,” Knutsen said. “They are col- loidal, so they bind to the soil’s organic matter, are non-leaching and over time accumulate in the soil.” Friday, February 5, 2021 Pacific Building Systems sells directly to farmers By BRENNA WIEGAND For the Capital Press The Columbus Day Storm of 1962 was the driving force behind Pacific Building Systems, which is still going strong after nearly six decades. “My grandfather, Fletcher Prince, and three of his friends wanted to help out local farmers with rebuilding,” Nick Prince said. “They started a repair business — Truss-T Structures — and would go out and fix or rebuild their barns and other structures. “They figured it would take a couple years and then they’d have to go find other jobs,” Prince said, “but they started getting new projects and it took off from there.” Still based in Woodburn, Ore., Pacific Building Systems is a third-generation busi- ness owned by Prince, Sandy Trahan and Kailong Luo, the head engineer. In the early 1980s the business stopped doing onsite construction to focus on manufacturing. Employing a crew of about 50, PBS is Brenna Wiegand/For the Capital Press Owners Nick Prince, left, and Sandy Trahan at Pacific Building Systems in Woodburn, Ore. The third-generation business got its start in the wake of the 1962 Columbus Day Storm. now spread over 7 acres. Over the past 60 years the company has manufactured more than 10,000 metal and steel structures for the industrial, commercial, agricultural, aviation, government and community sectors. “Our family-owned, full-service facility includes design, drafting and engineering as well as fabrication and shipping and a com- prehensive components department,” Trahan said. “We are able to do some complex things according to each customer’s specific needs.” As in generations past, independence, flexibility and easy access are among the things that set PBS apart. “We sell direct to the farmer and help him where he needs it, start to finish — and that is an advantage to our customer base and to us,” Trahan said. “Another thing that makes us unique and that we are very proud of is having in-house Certified Weld Inspectors,” Trahan said. “This requires us to have the CWIs on site to teach our guys and to inspect the welds and make sure that we were running a top- tier program. “This includes all of the materials we bring in and our drafting and engineering services,” he added. “It requires us to record everything we do and takes a lot of work, time, energy and money, but it keeps us accountable to our customers and to each other.” Equilus Capital Partners offers REITs By BRENNA WIEGAND For the Capital Press S226437-1 Joel Frank formed Equilus Capital Partners in 2015 after being advised by a previous employer that the company was going to be sold. As a financial adviser, Frank had observed in the portfolios he managed that, historically, REITs (real estate investment trusts) outper- formed the stock and bond markets. He is now in partnership with Paul Bondo in the Wenatchee, Wash.-based Equilus Capital Partners. “Joel’s vision for the company was to grow a multi-generation legacy from a sustainable model where all the players thrive,” said Rhonda Frank, his wife and vice president of marketing and business development. Equilus Capital Partners, a private capital equity firm, analyzes and procures income-pro- ducing real estate ventures throughout the Pacific Northwest. Property is held in a REIT, and the underlying assets are owned entirely by the investors. Investors receive their share of 90% of the income produced in quarterly dividends. Tax deductions from expenses and other tax benefits are also passed on to investors. “Our clients have worked hard to build their nest eggs,” Rhonda Frank said. “Our team is dedicated to preserving our clients’ wealth and providing tax-advantaged growth and sta- bility through income-generating real estate opportunities.” S226611-1