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After a three and a half year hiatus due to the pandemic, PEP is excited to announce that our annual Economic Summit is back! This immensely popular event was re-initiated in 2023 and held all day on May 11, at the University of Idaho Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center. Watch for a "save the date" announcement coming for the 2024 event, for the month of September.

Led by PEP, three qualifying zip codes were applied for consideration as Opportunity Zones, targeting downtown Priest River, Hope, and downtown Sandpoint. If approved, these zones would be privy to tax incentives and more. In the end, the Sandpoint downtown zone was accepted.

Since the establishment of Property Tax Exemptions and lowering of the capital limit to a $500,000 threshold, PEP has worked directly with the county to navigate applications. Companies now under 63-602NN include: Litehouse, DAHER, Tamarack, Pape Machinery and Cryptorock, among others.

Through this project, Litehouse exemplified its dedication to the community and Bonner County, undertaking their $6.2 million expansion in February of 2018. The 26,000-square-foot addition includes a new cooler, shipping and receiving center, loading docks, updated employee break rooms and facilities, and a 4,000-square-foot wastewater treatment facility.