Tough times for most of us mean good times for some businesses. Ask Alan
Armstrong, chief auctioneer for Armstrong Auctions in Nampa.

The 46-year-old ex-Marine started Armstrong Auctions with his wife, Dee Dee,
in 1992. They and their son, Alan Jr., conduct 60 to 80 auctions a year,
often for homeowners and businesses that are liquidating.

“Wherever our pickup is, that’s where our office is,” Alan Armstrong says.

Winters are slow seasons, but lately they’ve been getting more calls from
people leaving Idaho to find work elsewhere. Armstrong just signed deals to
auction the homes and many of the belongings of one family moving to Alaska
and another to Hawaii. He said both were pushed into joblessness by the real estate slump.

“We feel we’re going to have a pretty busy spring and early summer,” he told
me.