Business Improvement District Board
The Downtown Missoula Business Improvement District Board of Directors consists of property owners within the district. These owners must seek election and approval to the board by the Mayor of Missoula and fellow BID board members. BID Board of Director tenures are three years.
The Downtown Missoula Partnership is grateful to the BID board members for their dedication to this organization, with multiple members having served on the board since its inception in 2005.
Downtown Missoula Business Improvement District Board Members
Charlie Beaton is the founder and CEO of Big Dipper Ice Cream, established in 1995 on Missoula’s Hip Strip. Since its founding, Big Dipper has grown into a widely recognized Montana brand, with multiple retail locations, university kiosks, a mobile truck, and franchises in Helena, Billings, and Great Falls. The company also supplies ice cream to Yellowstone, Glacier, and Death Valley National Parks.
A Helena native, Beaton holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Montana. He serves as president of the Missoula Downtown Business Improvement District and is a board member of both the Downtown Missoula Partnership and the Missoula Economic Partnership.
Charlie, along with his wife Barbie, has two daughters, both graduates of Gonzaga University in Spokane.
Scott Stearns was born in Missoula and graduated from the University of Notre Dame. After receiving his law degree from The University of Montana School of Law, he worked in the Missoula County Attorney’s Office as a Deputy County Attorney and also served in the Montana National Guard as an Infantry Officer. He practiced law with Dorsey & Whitney in Minneapolis before moving back to Missoula in 2003 to join the Boone Karlberg law firm. In addition to serving on the Board for the Missoula Business Improvement District, Scott served as a Board Member on the Montana Board of Public Education, the Board of Trustees for Community Medical Center (past chairman), and the Board of Directors for the United Way of Missoula County (past president).
Director, City of Missoula Housing & Economic Development
City Representative
Carma Gilligan has owned the property corner at Red's Bar and Masala for many years. She has volunteered at the Missoula Police Department and St. Patrick's Hospital since 1998. She is involved with the Missoula Red Hatters and several other organizations.
Karen Sippy was appointed to the Downtown BID Board in 2020. She and her husband Brian are vested in Downtown Missoula with new construction at 120 N. Higgins, the former site of RH McKay Art Company and, most recently, the Uptown Diner. The new building opened in January 2020 and houses Radius Gallery, Art Vault and the innovative alley art program, Allez! Karen & Brian then invested in and remodeled the property next door at 124 N. Higgins, where Radius Clayworks opened in the spring of 2023.
An extraordinary community volunteer, Sippy serves on the Grant Creek Trails Association Board, the State of Montana Arboretum Committee, the North Riverside Parks and Trails Implementation Team, and the Downtown SAM (Safety, Access & Mobility) Working Group. She also founded Trees for Missoula and served as its volunteer Executive Director until recently.
Karen and Brian have lived in Missoula since 2003.
Chris McClead serves as the Chief Mission Officer for St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, St. Joseph Medical Center in
Polson and the Providence Medical Group in Montana. Chris is a member of the St. Francis Xavier Parish Council
and has served on multiple boards including but not limited to Goodwill Industries, various clinics, and public health
boards. A lifelong learner, Chris earned graduate degrees from Viterbo University in Wisconsin and St. John's University
in Minnesota.
Luke Jackson grew up in Missoula and co-founded Loci Architecture + Design in 2019 in Missoula's Cultural District. He
grew up in Missoula and has been working in Downtown Missoula for over 20 years, and recently completed a major
renovation to Loci's office building on East Broadway.
Luke earned his BA in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and his Master in Architecture from the
University of Oregon, and worked in New York City before returning to Missoula. Recent notable projects in Missoula
include Sussex Flats, a Montana AIA Design Award recipient; The Revelry, a Missoula Historic Preservation Award
recipient for adaptive re-use; a new Montana Food Bank Network building; and most recently, the Partners Hope
Foundation Hope House. He enjoys working on complex projects of all types.
As a downtown business owner/operator, Luke is vested in the health and well-being of Downtown Missoula. He is an
experienced board member, having also served on the Missoula County Board of Adjustments and the Montana Food
Bank Network Board.
