EASTERN IDAHO - Key Persons
Abigail, a native of Seattle, has resided in Southeast Idaho for the past four years and thoroughly enjoys it.
She recently completed her BS in Business Marketing at BYU-Idaho in July 2022. In her free time, Abigail enjoys hiking, knitting, graphic design, and baking. She's thrilled to be part of Team REDI and to contribute to the economic development of Eastern Idaho, a region she's grown so fond of.
Job Titles:
- EX - OFFICIO REPRESENTATIVE
- Executive Board
- Vice President of University Resources at Brigham Young University - Idaho
Brett A. Cook is Vice President of University Resources at Brigham Young University-Idaho. A graduate of the University of Utah in Business Management and has worked in higher education over 29 years. Experienced in operations, business management, and Executive leadership he has served over the years as Board Members and Committee Chairs with the Mountain States College Bookstore Association, Independent College Bookstore Association, and National Association of College Stores over the years.
Husband and father of three, born in Rexburg, and a life-long resident of Eastern Idaho he works to provide a path for those gaining their education and moving into their careers.
Dr. Marc Skinner recently rejoined the University of Idaho in 2024 where he serves as CEO for the University of Idaho-Idaho Falls center, a role he held previously.
From 2018 to 2023 he served as chair of the Department of Communication at Brigham Young University-Idaho, one of the university's largest academic programs currently serving 1,500 majors and 330 minors. The department experienced explosive growth, particularly through innovative online offerings with more than 2,200 students from around the world enrolled in online communication courses.
During his previous leadership as CEO of the University of Idaho-Idaho Falls Campus (2015-2018) Marc provided vision and leadership to increase visibility and influence for the university in Southeast Idaho, including strengthening community relationships, providing outreach to business and other entities, and continued collaboration with the Idaho National Laboratory. During his leadership student enrollment at the Idaho Falls Center increased by more than 30% and the number of research grant proposals and related funded proposals increased by more than 50%. Marc led the collaborative writing and adoption of the memorandum of agreement for joint admissions and joint enrollment between the University of Idaho and the College of Eastern Idaho (the first of its kind in Idaho).
Marc has enjoyed more than 25 years of experience in higher education leadership including roles faculty member, associate dean of Inter-disciplinary studies, director of inter-university relations, and work in fund-raising and development.
A native of northern Idaho, Skinner grew up in Moscow, Idaho. His wife, Alisa Limburg Skinner, is from Pullman, Washington. Both graduates of the University of Idaho, Marc and Alisa are parents of five children. Together they enjoy the beautiful outdoors, college basketball, Lake Coeur d'Alene and anything involving their family, especially their six (soon to be seven) grandchildren.
Job Titles:
- President
- Ex - Officio Board Representative
- Executive Board
- President of College
Dr. Rick Aman was selected as the inaugural President of College of Eastern Idaho, Idaho Falls in December 2017 after an extensive nationwide search. CEI was created with a citizen's vote in Bonneville County in May 2017. Prior to CEI, Aman was the President of Eastern Idaho Technical College since July 2015.
Aman has a long career in educational leadership. Prior to leading College of Eastern Idaho, Aman served for a year as the interim Vice President of Student Services for Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. He also served as Vice President of Instruction and Student Affairs at the College of Western Idaho in Boise from 2008-2012. At the time, CWI was newly formed through the creation of a community college taxing district in the Treasure Valley in 2007. Aman was responsible for the startup of CWI in the areas of instruction, curriculum development, and student affairs.
Aman was recently appointed to the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE) Commission and serves on the Executive Commission as a representative from Idaho. He serves on a variety of local non-profit boards and is a member of many civic organizations.
Aman has a doctorate in Community College Leadership from Oregon State University, an MBA in Management from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California, and a Bachelor of Science in Education from Western Oregon University.
The Amans were originally from Oregon. He was commissioned as an Air Force Officer after college graduation and spent four years on active duty flying several types of aircraft. He and his wife left active duty moving back to the Portland area where he was an Air Force Reserve Instructor Pilot flying C-130 aircraft in a combat search and rescue role out of Portland International. He retired as a lieutenant colonel with 21 years of service and 5,000 flight hours. Dr. Aman's community college administration career began in 1992 at Portland Community College with 16 years of teaching and administrative responsibilities at various campus locations around Portland. Aman and his wife, Linda, have been married for 40 years and have two grown sons living in the Portland area.
Job Titles:
- Commissioner
- Executive Board
Job Titles:
- Representative
- Executive Board
- REDI Board Representative
Marty Blair began his new position as the Vice President for Research at Idaho State University on June 30, 2022. Prior to coming to ISU, Marty was the executive director at the University of Montana's Rural Institute for Inclusive Communities, a position that he has held since 2013. In that role, he was responsible for developing community-focused interdisciplinary research partnerships, overseeing strategic planning, and managing a multi-million-dollar budget across more than 50 programs. Martin also led the efforts to secure nearly $60 million in external funds for the organization.
Blair began his career as a special education teacher. Following that experience, he spent the next two decades at Utah's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, the Center for Persons with Disabilities, the Utah Assistive Technology Program, Utah's Interagency Outreach Training Initiative, the National Center on Disability and Access to Education, and the Center for Technical Assistance for Excellence in Special Education. In the various positions he held during that time, he was well regarded for his trusting and collaborative relationships with colleagues from a variety of disciplines.
Blair holds a bachelor's degree in special education, a master's degree in secondary education, and a doctorate in education and disability policy from Utah State University. He also earned certifications from the National Leadership Institute at the University of Delaware and CITI: Social and Behavioral Research. He is an international policy research consultant, member of the "Together We Grow" consortium, and on the executive committee of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities Board of Directors. He has authored more than 100 publications.
Job Titles:
- Mayor
- Executive Board
- REDI Board Representative
Mayor Jerry L. Merrill was born in Blackfoot Idaho the eighth child born to Clifford and Rowena Murdock Merrill. He grew up on a small farm in Moreland, Idaho just west of Blackfoot. He graduated from Snake River High School in 1975. After attending Ricks College for one year he left to serve an LDS mission in Japan. After returning from his mission, he spent one semester at BYU in Provo. That's where Marianne Patrick was attending school. After winning her heart, he came back to Ricks College to enroll in the Landscape Horticulture Program. He and Marianne were married in April 1979. They are the parents of four children. He completed his degree at Ricks College and had an opportunity to take over some landscape jobs that a former employer needed completed. From that work Jerry ended up starting his own landscaping business, now known as Merrill Quality Landscapes, Inc. From owning and running his business Jerry has gained a great understanding of budgeting, working hard, staying on the job until it is completed, communicating with employees and customers, as well as looking at both sides of an issue and finding common ground to build on. Jerry has been involved in serving in the community for close to 40 years. He has been a member of the Kiwanis Service Club serving as President twice, Lt Governor for the SE Idaho District and serving over 20 years as a board member. He has been involved in Professional Associations serving as a board member and President of the Idaho Nursery Association. In 2011, Jerry was elected to the Rexburg City Council. He has served as the liaison to the Parks and Recreation Committee and the Madison School Board. He has been a member of the Board of Urban Renewal, Traffic and Safety Committee and the Budget Oversight Committee. Jerry loves the youth of our community. He served as Scoutmaster for 9 years and is the owner and driver of the Bobcat Spirit Bus. Jerry was elected Mayor of Rexburg in November of 2015. He took office in January of 2016. He meets regularly with city department heads and enjoys a close working relationship with them. He also supports and works with several community entities. As mayor, he serves on the boards of The Rexburg Area Chamber of Commerce, Regional Economic Development of Idaho, Eastern Idaho Community Action Partnership and Targhee Regional Public Transit Authority. Jerry's passion is serving others to help make their lives better.
Job Titles:
- Mayor
- Executive Board
- REDI Board Representative
Sean Coletti was raised in Northern Utah and Eastern Idaho. He graduated from Rigby High School and attended Ricks College prior to serving as a missionary in Seoul, Korea for two years. Afterward, he continued his education at Brigham Young University, where he received his Bachelors Degree in Political Science, and University of Connecticut Law School, all while serving in the Army National Guard as a counterintelligence agent and Korean linguist. After school, Sean worked as a law clerk in Twin Falls and then American Samoa. Professionally, he has worked as an attorney at a local law firm since 2007, which is also when he and his family moved to Ammon. He currently serves as the Mayor of Ammon, after having served on the City Council for two terms. Sean currently also serves on various community and state boards, including the Idaho Health Facilities Authority, the Eastern Idaho Regional Wastewater Authority, the Idaho Innovation Center, Bonneville Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Regional Development Alliance, Regional Economic Development for Idaho, and the Idaho Special Assistant United States Attorney Executive Committee. He previously served as Chairman of the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce and also Chairman of the Upper Snake River Valley Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. Sean is married to Ammon native Jessi Grigg Coletti, and they have two sons, Jaydn and Sterling. They love spending time together as a family, whether indoors or outdoors-traveling, exploring, playing sports and games, or just having fun. Sean and Jessi also enjoy performing music together, as Sean is a singer and Jessi is an accomplished pianist. Their son, Jaydn, is a pianist and composer, and Sterling is a budding artist.
Job Titles:
- Representative
- Executive Board
- REDI Board Representative
- Senior Vice President and Eastern Idaho / Wyoming Region President for Zions Bank
Merri Johnson is senior vice president and Eastern Idaho/Wyoming region president for Zions Bank. Merri is responsible for the profitability, growth, strategic direction, community involvement and operations of 15 Zions Bank branches in Idaho, Wyoming and Northern Utah.
She has more than 40 years of banking experience and is a graduate of the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking and the Wharton Leadership Program.
She was recognized as a Woman of the Year and Excellence in Finance honoree by the Idaho Business Review. Merri is a past president of Kiwanis and has served as a volunteer mentor for the Caribou County Correctional Facility.
Job Titles:
- Vice Chair
- Chief Marketing Officer at Idaho Central Credit Union
- Executive Board
- REDI Board Representative
Michael Watson is the Chief Marketing Officer at Idaho Central Credit Union, one of the fastest growing credit unions in the nation. He oversees the overall marketing operations of ICCU including planning, budget administration, team management, development of marketing materials and building the ICCU brand.
Michael earned a bachelor's degree from Idaho State University with a double major in Marketing and Business Management. He is a long-time resident of Pocatello and enjoys spending time in the Idaho outdoors. He currently also serves on the Pocatello D.A.R.E. board.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Blackfoot Urban Renewal Agency
- Executive Board
- REDI Board Chairman
R. Scott Reese is the Emergency Management Director for Bingham County. He is a graduate of Blackfoot High and attended Idaho State University studying political science.
Scott was elected as Blackfoot's youngest mayor, at age 28, and was the first to serve three consecutive terms. Scott worked at the family business until he became the first full time mayor.
Scott serves as Chairman of the Blackfoot Urban Renewal Agency and served as Chairman of the Bingham Economic Development Corporation. He was on the Blackfoot Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, served as the Bingham County Republican Party Chairman, was on the Board of Directors for the Association of Idaho Cities, and served on the Blackfoot School Board. He served six years as Chairman of the Idaho Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve.
Job Titles:
- Representative
- Executive Board
- REDI Board Representative
A seasoned international manager, Sean Luangrath has worked at Fortune 100 companies, on multiple continents and for both early and late-stage startups. Sean is the CEO at Inergy, an award-winning cleantech startup with the mission to provide the world with affordable solar power. Inergy designs and manufactures the world most portable energy storage solutions. The company's "bottom up" consumer approach to cleantech products makes renewable power available to everyone, everywhere, especially in the developing world.
Having been a refugee from the Vietnam War, Sean is proud to be part of a company that's trying to "give back" and make a difference in the lives of the 1.1 billion people in the world living without electricity. To Inergy, making a difference is as simple as providing a solar-powered battery bank to charge cell phones for those living off-grid so they can keep in touch with family members or as basic as powering lights at night so they can study and work after dark.
Before joining Inergy, Sean held senior leadership positions in several high-tech startups including Global Director at Aerohive Networks, an enterprise wifi hardware and software startup that went IPO in 2014, Founder of a mobile application start-up in China that provided translation services throughout the country and Vice President and General Manager at MeLLmo, an enterprise software startup that was acquired by SAP.
Prior to his "startup adventures," Luangrath was an executive in the China Retail Operations group for Apple and also worked extensively in Apple's global iPhone Sales organization in Silicon Valley. Early in his career, he held leadership positions in finance, strategy and sales operations at HP, PeopleSoft, Oracle and LeapFrog.
Sean has a Bachelor of Science Degree in International Finance from Brigham Young University, and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University.
Married with three sons and a dog, Sean spends most of his free time with his family enjoying the outdoors or exploring the world.
Job Titles:
- Mayor
- Executive Board
- REDI Board Representative
Stacy Pascoe was elected as Mayor of the City of Shelley in 2013. He previously served as city councilman for two of his four year term before becoming Mayor. Mayor Pascoe is a native of Shelley and graduated from Shelley High School. After graduation, he went into the sheet metal trade while attending night school. He later went on to work for SMC and started to develop businesses and property. Stacy is currently involved in starting up businesses and developing real estate. He is actively involved with the Shelley Kiwanis. He is married to Candi Johnson. They have four children and several grandchildren.
Job Titles:
- CEO of REDI
- CEO of the Regional Economic Development
- Contact CEO
Teresa McKnight is the CEO of the Regional Economic Development for Eastern Idaho (REDI). McKnight is an entrepreneurial driven executive with more than 25-years' experience working with research parks, technology commercialization, business incubation, government relations, business and economic development. She has a strong background building public-public and public-private partnerships, consulting on strategic economic development and philanthropy initiatives, and moving new ideas to market. She is passionate about building long-lasting relationships between business, industry, university, government and community.
As CEO of REDI, Ms. McKnight works closely with community partners to promote economic development through expansion of existing business, attraction of new business, and promoting entrepreneurship and talent development in the region.
Contact CEO Teresa McKnight at tmcknight@rediconnects or by phone at (208) 522-2014 to learn more about REDI's Investor Levels and Benefits and how you can get involved in fostering Eastern Idaho's economic success!