John Thomas Ahlquist III (born January 25, 1968) is an American businessman, commercial real-estate developer, and retired physician from Idaho. He is the CEO of the development firm, Ball Ventures Ahlquist (BVA) and founder and medical director of MN Solutions. Prior to that, he was the COO of the Gardner Company where he helped develop projects like the Eighth & Main building and City Center Plaza in downtown Boise. He was a candidate for the Republican Party nomination for Governor of Idaho in the 2018 Idaho gubernatorial election.
Photo of Ahlquist receiving the Eagle Scout award.
Ahlquist was born on January 25, 1968,[1] in Hunter, Utah, (now West Valley City, Utah)[2] and grew up on a small family farm.[3] Both of Ahlquist's grandfathers worked for Kennecott Copper. His father, Tom, worked as a journeyman electrician when he was young and later as a construction manager for large commercial projects.[2] His mother, Sandra, has owned her own preschool for nearly forty years.[4] At the age of thirteen, Ahlquist earned his Eagle Scout Award,[5] and then drew national attention by becoming one of only a few Scouts in the history of the Boy Scouts of America program to earn all 121 merit badges. Ahlquist was honored with a commendation from then-Utah Governor, Scott M. Matheson.[6]
Ahlquist attended Cyprus High School in Magna, Utah where he participated in athletics and student government. He earned several awards for academic excellence and leadership and graduated in 1986.[7] After high school, Ahlquist moved to Rexburg, Idaho to attend Ricks College (now Brigham Young University–Idaho)[2] where he played basketball and studied pre-med.[8][9]
After a year at Ricks College, he left to serve as an LDS missionary in Brazil. Upon his return in 1989, he enrolled in the University of Utah, where he managed the Pediatric Intensive Care Research Laboratory at the university while attending school. He graduated from the University of Utah with a BA degree in biology and a minor in chemistry in 1992. Ahlquist continued to study medicine at the University of Utah, graduating as a Doctor of Medicine in 1996.[2][10]
Medical career
Ahlquist completed an emergency medicine residency at the University of Arizona in 1999. While there, he served as the chief resident and earned the award for Resident of the Year. He is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine.[2][11] After residency, Ahlquist began working as an attending physician in Boise, Idaho for St. Luke's Health System and has worked in emergency rooms across the state of Idaho for over 15 years. He was the head of the Emergency Department at St. Luke's Meridian Medical Center in Meridian, Idaho and worked the night shift there for six years.[2] Ahlquist retired from full-time work as an emergency room physician in 2014.[12]
In 2001, Ahlquist co-founded a public access defibrillator service company called Stat Pads. The company sells defibrillators and offers training to medical personnel. In his role as a developer, Ahlquist has also helped build numerous health care-related facilities in and around Boise, including The Portico and Unity Health Center in Meridian[2] and several ongoing projects with the Saltzer Health, a Nampa-based health system.[13] Ahlquist acquired Saltzer Health through his Ball Ventures Ahlquist (BVA) development company in January 2019.[14]
In 2019 started PIVOT Health, a primary care clinic targeting wellness and healthy lifestyle changes.[16]
In response to pandemic, Ahlquist founded CTCI to assist Idahoans with COVID Testing and vaccinations.[17] Ahlquist founded MN in 2020.[18]
Developer career
In 2006, Ahlquist founded Ahlquist Development and began developing commercial real estate.[19] After developing several smaller buildings, Ahlquist Development partnered with Gardner Company.[20][21] Their first major joint development was The Portico at Meridian, a 7-building, 328,000 square-foot, mixed-use project in Meridian, Idaho. In 2005 and 2006, Ahlquist convinced 18 residents to sell their properties on the land that would become The Portico. Multiple joint venture projects followed in the Treasure Valley area including St. Luke's Medical Plaza in Nampa and Eagle Island Crossing in Eagle.[2][22]
In 2010, Ahlquist Development merged with Gardner Company and the new entity retained the Gardner Company name.[19] Ahlquist became COO of the company at the time of the merger.[23] One of the most prominent projects Ahlquist worked on as COO of the Gardner Company was the property on Eighth & Main in Boise. Known colloquially as the "Boise Hole" because it had sat vacant for 25 years, the property was purchased by the Gardner Company in July 2011.[24] The 18-story Eighth & Main office tower (also known as the Zions Bank building after its primary tenant) broke ground in 2012 and was completed in 2014, becoming the tallest building in Idaho.[2][19][25]
In 2013, the Gardner Company purchased the U.S. Bank building, Idaho's second-tallest building. On the property around the tower, Ahlquist and the company helped develop the 400,000 square-foot City Center Plaza.[19][26] The facility was completed in 2016 and included an underground transit center, new retail, an expanded convention center, Boise State University Computer Science Department, and the corporate headquarters for Clearwater Analytics.[27] As COO of the Gardner Company, Ahlquist has led the development of numerous other properties in the Treasure Valley area, including the West Valley Medical Complex in Caldwell,[28] Library Square in Nampa,[29] Mace River Ranch in Eagle,[30] and the ongoing Pioneer Crossing development in Downtown Boise.[31]
In 2016, Ahlquist led the formation of a new division of Gardner Company in collaboration with the Brighton Corporation focusing on a continuum of care for seniors through independent living, assisted living, and skilled nursing facilities all tied into local health systems called Veranda Senior Living. Veranda currently has two locations in Meridian and Boise.[32]
In June 2018, Ahlquist left his post as COO of the Gardner Company to head a new joint venture with Ball Ventures called Ball Ventures Ahlquist LLC (BVA).[19] In September of that year, Ahlquist announced plans for a 90,000 square-foot medical office complex in Meridian called Central Valley Plaza. The development will also feature retail space.[33] In addition to Central Valley Plaza, BVA was working on Ten Mile Crossing in Meridian and Pioneer Crossing, both of which were bought by BVA from Gardner.[34] In January 2019, Ahlquist led BVA's acquisition of the Saltzer Medical Group, a Nampa-based health system. BVA changed the group's name to Saltzer Health shortly thereafter.[35] BVA is planning to include Saltzer Health locations in its Ten Mile Crossing, Central Valley Plaza, and other developments.[13] Other projects that Ahlquist is working on as CEO of BVA include Eagle View Landing in Meridian[36] and an as yet unnamed development off of Interstate 84 in Caldwell.[37]
New BVA Projects include: Eagle View Landing, TopGolf, 4th and Idaho, North Ranch, 8th and Main, Pioneer Crossing, Ten Mile.[38]
Political career
Ahlquist was a finalist for the Idaho State Department of Education Board opening in July 2014 when Milford Terrell announced that he was stepping down early from his term.[39] David Hill, formerly with Idaho National Laboratory, received the appointment.[40] He was a founder of Idaho 2020, a bipartisan think tank aimed at bringing together business leaders from around Idaho to focus on challenges facing the state.[41] In 2015, the group studied the state's level of investment in infrastructure and developed suggestions for leaders and lawmakers. In January 2016, Ahlquist delivered a speech detailing the data collected at the Idaho Chamber Alliance and also presented the information to the Idaho state legislature.[42]
On March 1, 2017, Ahlquist announced his candidacy for the 2018 Idaho gubernatorial election in an event at the Zions Bank tower he helped develop. He also announced that he would be embarking on a 97-city campaign tour of the state,[45] which he started later that week[46] and finished in May 2017.[47] His three main platforms were fixing Idaho's health care gap, economic development, and education.[48] On September 5, 2017, he added a plank that called for ethics reform and term limits for various offices in the state.[49] Throughout the race, Ahlquist was considered one of three Republican front-runners alongside Idaho Lieutenant Governor Brad Little and U.S. Representative Raúl Labrador.[50] In October 2017, he received an official endorsement from Mitt Romney.[51] He later received endorsements from conservative commentators, Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens.[52] On May 15, 2018, Ahlquist earned 26.2% of the vote in the Idaho Republican Party primary election, falling behind Raúl Labrador (32.6%) and the eventual governor Brad Little (37.3%).[53]
Meridian is a city located in Ada County, Idaho, United States. The population was 117,635 at the 2020 census, making it the 2nd most populous city in the county and Idaho after Boise, the state capital. Meridian is considered the state's fastest-growing city and among the fastest-growing cities in the United States.
The Boise, Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is an area that encompasses Ada, Boise, Canyon, Gem, and Owyhee counties in southwestern Idaho, anchored by the cities of Boise and Nampa. It is the main component of the wider Boise–Mountain Home–Ontario, ID–OR Combined Statistical Area, which adds Elmore and Payette counties in Idaho and Malheur County, Oregon. It is the state's largest officially designated metropolitan area and includes Idaho's three largest cities: Boise, Nampa, and Meridian. Nearly 40 percent of Idaho's total population lives in the area.
The West Ada School District #2, long known as the Meridian School District, is a school district based in Meridian, Idaho. In addition to Meridian, the district operates public schools in Eagle, Star and western Boise. It is the largest school district in Idaho.
Intermountain Health is a United States not-for-profit healthcare system with 385 clinics and 33 hospitals in the Intermountain West. The company's headquarters are in Salt Lake City, Utah. Colorado-based SCL Health and Intermountain Health merged in 2022. The combined system employs more than 64,000 people.
Boise Towne Square is a mall in the western United States, located in Boise, Idaho. The largest retail complex in the state, it opened in 1988 after more than 20 years of planning, and features 150 stores, with Macy's, JCPenney, Kohl's and Dillard's as anchor stores. The mall also includes the first Apple Store in Idaho. Boise Towne Square is owned by the Chicago-based Brookfield Properties and is located near the junction of Interstate 84 and Interstate 184.
Thomas Luna is an American politician who served as Idaho superintendent of public instruction from 2006 to 2014. Luna was the chair of Idaho Republican Party from June 2020 to July 2022.
Southwestern Idaho is a geographical term for the area along the U.S. state of Idaho's borders with Oregon and Nevada. It includes the populous areas of the Boise metropolitan area and the Treasure Valley.
Interstate 84 (I-84) in the U.S. state of Idaho is a major Interstate Highway that traverses the state from the Oregon state line in the northwest to Utah state line in the southeast. It primarily follows the Snake River across a plain that includes the cities of Boise, Mountain Home, and Twin Falls. The highway is one of the busiest in Idaho and is designated as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway.
College of Western Idaho (CWI) is a public community college in Southwest Idaho with its primary campus locations in Boise and Nampa. CWI also offers classes at several community locations throughout the Treasure Valley. It is one of four comprehensive community colleges in Idaho and is governed by a five-member board of trustees elected at large by voters in Ada and Canyon counties.
State Highway 55 (SH-55) is an Idaho highway from Marsing to New Meadows, connecting with US-95 at both ends.
Nampa Gateway Center is a lifestyle center located in Nampa, Idaho, United States. The center is owned by Gardner Company and is anchored by Crunch Fitness, DEFY Trampoline Parks, House of Design Robotics, JCPenney, Shoe Carnival, and WinCo Foods.
Bradley Jay Little is an American politician serving as the 33rd governor of Idaho since January 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Idaho from 2009 to 2019 and as an Idaho state senator from 2001 to 2009.
Valley Regional Transit is a public agency which is the main provider of mass transit service in metropolitan Boise, Idaho. It operates 19 fixed-route services, mostly in Ada County, as well as two on-demand services in Canyon County and the city of Eagle.
Raúl Rafael Labrador is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the 33rd attorney general of Idaho since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. representative for Idaho's 1st congressional district from 2011 to 2019 and chaired the Idaho Republican Party from 2019 to 2020. Prior to this, Labrador represented the 14B district in the Idaho House of Representatives from 2006 to 2010.
Add The Words, Idaho is an LGBTQ activist group and political action committee (PAC) in the United States, extant since 2010, which advocates adding the words "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" to the state's human rights act; this group grew out of several others which had been advocating the same. After ten years, however, Add The Words activists have been unable to achieve any statewide protections for LGBTQ Idahoans. An associated all-volunteer direct action group, Add The 4 Words Idaho, under the leadership of former state senator Nicole LeFavour, undertook a series of civil disobedience protests beginning on February 3, 2014, at the Idaho Capitol.
The 2018 Idaho gubernatorial election took place on November 6 to elect the next governor of Idaho. Incumbent Republican governor Butch Otter chose not to run for a fourth term, and the state's primaries were held on May 15.
The 2022 Idaho gubernatorial election was held on November 8 to elect the next governor of Idaho. Incumbent Brad Little, first elected in 2018, was re-elected for a second term, the eighth consecutive win by a Republican.
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