Radio Boise Founder Jeff Abrams Stepping Down

KRBX community lauds Abrams’ significant contributions to community media in Southwest Idaho

After a decade and a half building community radio in Southwest Idaho, Radio Boise founder Jeff Abrams, 50, will resign March 1 to work on other projects and spend more time in his beloved Long Valley.

“The constellation of factors that have led me to this choice have been in rough alignment for a while,” Abrams recently stated in a letter to Radio Boise staff and volunteers. “But ultimately, while there is no ‘perfect’ time to leave the organization that has given me everything, I sense the horizon line is beginning to reveal the glow of a new morning — for me and the station.”

The Radio Boise Board of Directors has initiated an international search for a general manager to replace Abrams and is currently reviewing resumes. The job is posted at radioboise.us/radio-boise-jobs. The new GM will have the opportunity to serve a rapidly growing listener base in our dynamic region, to lead a smart, focused staff and to oversee an energetic suite of weekly radio shows hosted by committed, rigorous, independent programmers. The new general manager will also benefit from a three-year strategic plan, a sustainable financial position and a strong mandate to establish a compelling and fearless, community-driven news broadcast.

A Decade in the Making

In the early 2000s, Abrams and a core group of radio enthusiasts began discussing strategies for bringing community radio back to Boise. At the time, Boise was among the largest cities in the country without a noncommercial, community station. Over the past decade, Abrams, along with hundreds of dedicated volunteers, programmers and supporters, built Radio Boise into the crucible of culture that it is today.

“We want to thank Jeff for the amazing work he has done to facilitate the birth of Radio Boise and cultivate the culture of the station we experience today,” said KRBX Board President Dave Krick.
Abrams left his former job as a fish biologist for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game a dozen years ago, established the station as a nonprofit in 2003, launched the web stream in 2005, finally received a Federal Communications Commission construction permit in 2008 and initiated the terrestrial signal at KRBX 89.9 FM in April 2011. Three years later, Radio Boise is broadcasting on 89.9 FM and 93.5 FM (downtown), serving a half-million people in Southwest Idaho, and employing six paid staffers. The station has grown its annual budget to $200,000 and serves as a dynamic hub for local music, cultural and public affairs programming.

“Radio Boise has been a major catalyst of change in my life, thanks to all your hard work, Jeff,” said DJ Jesse “Psycache” Bolin, host of Glitch in the System (Thursday, 9-11 p.m.). “It was my first ‘foot-in-the-door’ to actively participating in the creation of community, having only been a consumer before. Thank you for your tireless commitment to a vision of free radio for Boise and Beyond! You’re a true hero!”

Abrams will remain on the Radio Boise Board of Directors and will continue to advise the station and other community radio efforts across the state.

About Radio Boise

Radio Boise (KRBX, 89.9FM/93.5 FM) is a noncommercial, community radio station located in Boise, Idaho and serving a wide area of Southwest Idaho with locally programmed music, public affairs and community events. Radio Boise engages the community by providing a democratic form of accessible media, a public space for local musicians and radio enthusiasts to gather and a forum for issues-oriented, locally focused radio programming. The studio is located in the Alaska Building at 1020 W. Main Street, Suite 50 in downtown Boise.

Contacts

• General Manager Jeff Abrams, jabrams@radioboise.org, (208) 258-2072
• KRBX Board President Dave Krick, dmkrick@mac.com, (208) 861-0219

More information

• https://radioboise.org
• http://twitter.com/radioboise
• http://facebook.com/radioboise

Photo by Steve Smith