Idaho’s Magic Valley: Miracle or Magic Trick?

“Our whole focus is to be America’s most diverse food basket,” said Rogers, president of SIEDO, which has played a big part in luring companies to open up plants and offices in the region.

Can southern Idaho become to food what Silicon Valley became for the tech industry?

Start checking where your food is packaged. If Jan Rogers and others in southern Idaho get their way, there will come a time when you can’t make it through a day without consuming something that was brought to you by the Magic Valley.

Over the last year, this relatively rural region of 200,000 residents has attracted seven food manufacturers, including big names like Chobani and Cliff Bar, that are investing a combined $773 million and creating 5,000 jobs, according to the Southern Idaho Economic Development Organization (SIEDO). It’s being dubbed the "Magic Valley miracle" and those involved hope that the region can become for food production what the Silicon Valley has been for the tech industry.

by Liz Farmer

Full Story: http://www.governing.com/news/headlines/gov-idaho-magic-valley.html