University officials countered that most jobs have included Idaho-based subcontractors and that church officials have an obligation to work with firms in which they have developed trust. The school is one of seven four-year universities in Idaho, including two other private institutions.

While the economic boom has definitely been ignited in Rexburg by BYU-I, Alban said other areas of the state are also experiencing new job growth and a population influx. The state ranks second in the nation this year in percentage growth of real gross state product, according to Commerce and Labor Director Roger Madsen. "This continued, consistent growth is a good indicator of Idaho's entrepreneurial climate and our quality work force. It also indicates how much our economy is changing and the need to change with it."

Nowhere is that more true than in Rexburg. Boyle said he talks regularly with businesspeople looking to either expand or set up shop in town. For instance, earlier this month, a businessman from England was finalizing plans to open a new business along the city's major retail corridor and "has some other investments he wants to make." A California farmer has also come recently to the area, and purchased an old farm implements building that will be renovated.

A software company recently gave notice that it will be locating in Rexburg, Boyle said, starting with 25-30 employees and looking to expand to nearly 120 in the next couple of years. "They are interested in locating near the university. We've helped them with some financing and they're doing some things that should help the business grow even larger."

As yet another indicator of growth in Rexburg, the local hospital is seeking approval for a $42 million expansion, Boyle said. While many new residents are moving in from outside the area, "the hospital CEO told me a few months ago that last year, they had 1,300 babies born there."

Many of those births were presumably to married student families, whose commitment to a four-year program has re-energized local businesses who not only hire some BYU-I graduates but train and depend on student workers to keep their operations growing. They include ARTCO, one of the largest wedding invitation printers in the country, and AMET, a computerized welding corporation that does specialized work for nuclear sites as well as Boeing, the U.S. Navy and NASA. Though it started small, the specialized work AMET does allowed quick expansion, and it considered leaving the area. But BYU-I's engineering students now are an integral component of the workforce, Boyle said. "That's a big company for a little community like this."

The stability associated with a four-year program at BYU-I and its large married student population boosts the economy in other ways, Boyle said.

"When it was Ricks College, it seemed like two weeks after the students hit town they were broke. People who started businesses to entertain them thought it was going to be a great place but found the students didn't have the money to spend on entertainment. Now it's a lot different. You have more students, and they are working and earning their own money," rather than depending solely on their parents, he said. Alban said another factor that should continue to promote growth in Rexburg is the new LDS temple now under construction adjacent to the BYU-I campus at the corner of Seventh South and Second East. LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley announced in December 2003 that the faith's 129th temple would be built in Rexburg, and church officials broke ground for the building last summer. Since then, construction crews from Salt Lake City-based Jacobsen Construction have poured the foundation and put up some of the building's walls.

"I think you will see people moving closer to Rexburg as they get older and want to attend the temple. I don't know how we'll track that, but it's just an extra benefit," Alban said.

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E-mail: carrie@desnews.com