Queen to lead Sandpoint BID

SANDPOINT — The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce recently welcomed Kim Queen to the chamber as the new Business Improvement District manager.

Queen started in the position Oct. 16 after leaving Sandpoint’s oldest non-profit, the Pend Oreille Arts Council, as its executive director of seven years. Her non-profit expertise is more than 15 years deep and she brings extensive management experience as well as an insider’s look to the BID manager position.

“As a BID member with POAC, paying the assessment tax, I was never sure what the benefit was,” Queen said. “Granted, I didn’t educate myself or take an active role in the process. I simply paid the bill and went on with business.”

Born in Portland, Ore., she attended high school and college in Vancouver, Wash. After college and before she moved to the Sandpoint area, Queen held the position of fund development manager at the First Place School in Seattle for six-and-half years and worked at the Northwest AIDS Foundation for one-and-a-half years.

Queen moved to the area to become POAC’s executive director and has since fallen in love and made this her home.

“I want to work with BID folks and figure out what improvements can be made and how the new Sandpoint BID organization can benefit you and the community,” she said. “It is my goal to get to know the concerns of all our BID members and I will have an open door policy.”

Since taking the position in mid-October, Queen and the chamber staff undertook a strategic planning process to help guide the newly-formed Sandpoint BID organization under the chamber’s umbrella. The first weeks on the job also have included meetings with various groups including the city of Sandpoint, Tourism Sandpoint, SURA and Sandpoint Shopping District, as well as planning the community’s holiday celebration, “Home for the Holidays.”

Information: Kim Queen, (208) 263-2161 or kim@sandpointchamber.com