Analytics company to stay in Sandpoint

SANDPOINT - The good news is Kochava, the local but internationally-recognized mobile analytics company, is growing - very fast. The bad news is it's moving.

But that's actually good news too, because the move will only take the company and its employees two blocks west to the Sandpoint Center, also known as the Columbia Bank building, 414 Church St.

"We're thrilled to remain in the downtown," Jeremy Grimm, director of publisher development and de facto spokesman for the change, said Friday. "We enjoy the proximity of services and are thrilled to remain part of the community."

The 3-year-old company's growth has been astronomic, Grimm said. Year-over-year transactional volume has increased a whopping 400 percent.

That growth has also lead to a proportional increase in employees - and tighter working conditions. Kochava had 36 employees when Grimm was hired at the beginning of this year. He was No. 37. The company now has about 50 employees; they're anticipating 20 more by the end of the year, he said.

The company occupies three floors at its current location on the 200 block of First Avenue. Its new, 9,000-square-foot office on the third floor of the Sandpoint Center will put everyone on one floor with an open floor plan, according to Grimm. The move will provide "a much different environment."

"Charles likes to do all-hands-on-deck meetings with employees," Grimm said of the company's president and CEO.

Grimm, most recently the director of planning and economic development for the city of Sandpoint (as such, was given the job of finding Kochava's new office space), couldn't help but put a "historical" spin on Kochava's impact in the community.

As he spoke during a phone interview, Grimm noted he was sitting near several former Coldwater Creek employees who had been absorbed by Kochava after the retail clothing company went bankrupt last year.

Now the company is setting up shop in the same space previously occupied by Panhandle State Bank, which was recently acquired by Columbia Bank. That merger left the Sandpoint Center space vacant.

Kochava employees, who mainly work on software development, will continue to support the local economy year-round, buying coffee, knickknacks and gifts, or eating in local restaurants.

"Its year-round activity helps vitalize the downtown," Grimm said, especially during the winter when tourism is at an ebb.

"It's great to keep things moving along," Grimm said of the new space. "I don't know what we would have done if that space wasn't available."

According to Grimm, Kochava will be making the move on a nine-month lease with a six-month option beginning the weekend of April 11. It will reboot its operations at its new location the following Monday.