2 local businesses featured on two different episodes of popular PBS series
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IDAHO FALLS – Kevin and Renae Oswald are the third generation owners of Oswald Service and Repair, a car maintenance and repair shop in Idaho Falls.
They are celebrating their 80th year of business in Idaho Falls, and by sheer happenstance, they are celebrating that milestone in a big way.
“Startup,” a series on PBS featuring stories of small businesses across the country, will showcase the Oswalds’ story on an upcoming episode.
“We feel honored to be able to represent east Idaho. ‘Startup’ was amazing to work with,” Renae tells EastIdahoNews.com.
Gary Bredow, the series’ host, sat down with the Oswalds for a taped interview in May to learn their story and what’s kept them in business for 80 years. The episode will air this Sunday, Nov. 24 at 11:30 a.m. on digital channel 10.4. Or, if you’re a Sparklight (previously Cable ONE) customer, you can see it on channel 046.
Idaho Public Television will pick it up during the first quarter of 2020. Watch the trailer for the episode in the video player above.
RELATED | Two local businesses to be featured on PBS series
DIVINIA Water
DIVINIA Water, a local bottled water supplier, was also featured on the show Oct. 31.
Renae had recently interviewed the owners of DIVINIA Water on her podcast “East Idaho Entrepreneurs,” (which she started as a promotional tool for Oswald’s Service and Repair a year ago in September) when the “Startup” crew reached out to her. She recommended them as another local business for the show to highlight.
“It was really nice to be able to tell our story, and do it on something as ubiquitous, well-known and credible as PBS,” DIVINIA co-founder Kiersten Sedlmayr says. “It was a beneficial experience in a lot of ways.”
DIVINIA Water is a specially-branded bottled water company in Idaho Falls. It’s purified and distilled differently than any other bottled water company on the market today, Sedlmayr says.
“My father wanted to make sure we had clean water. My mom was a water snob and he invented an (entirely) new way to distill water,” says Sedlmayr. “It energizes the water molecules, so it allows for faster and more efficient uptake of hydration.”
The company got its start in Arizona about 16 years ago, but the company grew to what it is today in Idaho Falls. The episode was filmed in May and it focuses on how and why DIVINIA ended up incorporating in eastern Idaho.
See the episode with DIVINIA Water above.
Many people have seen the episode and the community response has been very positive, she says. She really wants Mayor Rebecca Casper to see it if she hasn’t already.
“I think she’ll be proud of how we’ve represented our little town here,” Sedlmayr says. “She’s put a lot of emphasis on commerce and business development and I think this is another avenue that we can say Idaho Falls is a great place to live and grow a business.”
Oswald Service and Repair is at 725 Yellowstone Avenue in Idaho Falls. Its hours of operation are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. DIVINIA Water is at 149 Chestnut Street. Its hours of operation are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Visit the show website to learn more.