Biz Buzz: He started baking for fun and now he delivers fresh bagels to customers

Do you want to know what’s happening in the eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.

BIZ BRIEF

RIGBY

Local man hoping to open bagel restaurant in Rexburg soon

RIGBY – A Rigby man is sharing his love of bagels with the community and he’s hoping to open a brick-and-mortar business in Rexburg soon.

Ryan Bestor started making bagels out of his home about three months ago and delivering them to customers.

“We have a registered business at the house (called Teton Bagel),” Bestor tells EastIdahoNews.com. “I’m making about 100 bagels a day and if I don’t have anybody to buy them, then I just go out … and give them away to people so they can try them out.”

Dozens of customers have tried his bagels and he’s received some positive feedback.

“Holy mackerel those are good!” one customer texted Bestor. “Absolutely wonderful!”

The everything bagel is the most popular flavor, Bestor says, which includes sesame and poppyseeds, garlic, onion, salt and sunflower oil. Garlic and cheese are other popular flavors.

Bestor is currently working towards opening a physical location in Rexburg. He’s currently raising capital to make his dream a reality. In the last week, he’s raised $3,000 on Mainvest.com, a crowd-funding investment firm that caters to Main Street brick-and-mortar stores.

In order to open a store, Bestor needs to raise a minimum of $30,000 by April 28.

“Once I’ve hit 10% of my funding, which I’ve done … Mainvest sees it as an investment that will work out. Now they’re going to devote more of their resources. I’ve done my part to raise 10% and now they’re going to help me raise the other 90%,” says Bestor.

Bestor says Teton Bagel will be a bakery restaurant serving a variety of bagel dishes for breakfast and lunch. The menu on his website includes items such as sandwiches, burgers and even hot dogs.

The concept is geared towards college students and Bestor envisions it being a place where people come to enjoy a bagel while they study or hang out with friends and family.

The idea for Teton Bagel stems, in part, from his mom.

“My mom was a culinary arts teacher and had made a cookbook,” says Bestor. “I took her bread recipe and some bagel recipes I found and put them together. I ended up making some really good bagels.”

Bestor and his wife, Dalton, moved to Rigby a couple of years ago after Ryan’s business in Phoenix, Arizona shut down.

“I made a risky investment with the company and it ended up not working out. We lost everything we had. We had to sell a couple cars and ended up moving to Idaho to live with my brother,” he says.

His wife was pursuing a master’s degree and working full-time and he decided to start baking while he looked for a job.

He eventually got a job with a local farmer and they moved into an old farmhouse.

“I decided to continue baking and cooking,” Bestor says. “We’d go to a Thanksgiving or Christmas party and I brought bread. People loved it and said I should sell it. I handed out bagels to a bunch of friends and figured out that Rexburg didn’t have a bagel restaurant. Now here we are.”

An exact location for his restaurant is yet to be determined. Meanwhile, Bestor has been busy launching a website and perfecting his bagel recipes and he’s excited to deliver to more customers and move forward with this project.

“This is something my mom grew up doing. Her life was baking and cooking. Now I’ve finally been able to tap into that and find the joy in it as well,” he says. “It’s something I never would have expected myself doing but I am really happy to share it with others.”

To place an order or learn more, visit his website. You can also call him directly at (706) 531-8331. If you’re interested in making an investment, click here.

BIZ BITS

New perks available to small businesses through Paycheck Protection Program

POCATELLO – The Biden Administration announced Monday that several modifications to the Paycheck Protection Program are being rolled out in order to help the country’s smallest businesses. According to the Small Business Administration, the changes include a 14-day period, beginning Wednesday, during which businesses with fewer than 20 employees can apply for PPP relief. Another big change is that sole proprietors, independent contractors and self-employed individuals can base their loan calculations on gross income, rather than net income. Businesses affected by the Coronavirus pandemic could be eligible to receive a low-interest-rate loan under this program. PPP loans may be eligible for full or partial forgiveness if the money is used for qualifying costs and depending on the specific rules of the program. Learn more details here. Additional PPP information and resources are available online.

Tour the world’s first nuclear power plant with new app

ARCO – Visitors can now virtually tour the world’s first nuclear power plant, Experimental Breeder Reactor-I any time of year from wherever they are using TravelStorys. TravelStorys is a free app you download on your device. Once the app is loaded, you will have more than 150 on-demand tours at your fingertips. You’ll learn about the EBR-I museum, the history of the area and the mission of Idaho National Laboratory. Search for “Idaho National Laboratory” to find INL/EBR-I tour. Then, you can either click through the stops and listen to a professionally narrated tour from anywhere in the world, or drive U.S. 20 between Arco and Idaho Falls and listen to the tour while you’re on the road. The narrations are triggered by GPS locations. You can also virtually tour from your computer. The museum is typically open for in-person tours from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day. Check the website for updates.

Local potato plant donated over 5 million servings of product in 2020

IDAHO FALLS – In 2020, Idahoan Foods donated more than 5.2 million servings of its potato products to hunger relief organizations across the country, amounting to a retail value of more than $800,000. The company’s donations were particularly important last year as the COVID-19 outbreak created an unprecedented need for organizations combatting food insecurity. Idahoan Foods will continue to provide donations to organizations locally and across the country this year, setting an intention to surpass its 2020 giving totals in 2021. Locally, Idahoan Food’s charitable giving has benefitted organizations such as the Idaho Food Bank, the largest distributor of free food assistance in Idaho, and the Idaho Falls Community Food Basket. Idahoan Foods also partnered with the City of Idaho Falls over the summer to distribute thousands of packages of Buttery Homestyle Mashed Potatoes and 10,000 anti-microbial, cloth face covers to city residents outside of the company’s headquarters at 900 Pier View Drive in Snake River Landing.

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