HAYDEN - Michael King, a member of the Hayden Chamber of Commerce's board of directors, knows that you need a good chamber of commerce when economic times are challenging.

Now is such a time.

So King has been working hard to come up with ideas to help the chamber get beyond its debts by raising money and get back on track helping local businesses.

"We're on the right track now," said King, 42. "When we sit down in board meetings, the discussions are very pure towards the objective of working with the businesses in the Hayden area. And there's a strong commitment in that community to create a business-friendly environment."

He said anyone trying to raise funds right now knows it's not easy.

"So you have to be very creative in how you're raising money for things," King said.

Creative is what he has been lately, and for his efforts he earned the chamber's 2010 President's Award.

He was honored, in part, because of his recent contributions, such as the idea to create a "Haydenopoly" board game and sell it to raise money. Those funds go to pay off debt remaining from the chamber's 2004 "Thunder Over the Prairie" air show.

Paying off the debt is helping restore public trust and allows the chamber to do its work more effectively.

"We couldn't continue to be a chamber of commerce and have this debt hanging over our heads and not be doing anything about it," King said.

Haydenopoly plays a lot like the popular board game with a similar name, but instead of Park Place and Boardwalk there are the names of Hayden businesses on the board. Businesses paid to have their names on the board.

"We couldn't go out and spend any money to raise money," King said. "It had to be completely self funding."

The Haydenopoly fundraiser has worked well, said Nancy Lowery, president of the executive board for the chamber. The chamber began selling the games in December.

"Michael has been such a force behind the chamber," said Lowery. "He has brought back a pride and enthusiasm."

Lowery said that as a leader "you're only as effective as the people standing behind you."

As president, she has been inspired working with King.

Lowery said King has been a big part of the chamber getting past the air show episode.

"It was on its last legs after the air show," Lowery said.

King, a financial consultant for D.A. Davidson in Coeur d'Alene, isn't done yet. His next idea is a dodgeball tournament.

"I'm sure you can get a couple rival teams from local banks here to come out and throw balls at each other," King said.

The plan is to have the dodgeball tournament at a Hayden elementary school sometime this fall, probably late in September.

"We want to create a system of money-raising efforts that we can implement year after year," King said. "It has to be something new, and something that will benefit the community, but also pay back the debt."

The fundraisers must have the right mix of fun and value to be successful.

King is quick to point out he's not working on the projects all by himself. The chamber works as a team to pull off the fundraisers.

"It's an outstanding board, and everyone on there makes incredible contributions and brings energy and creativity," King said.

King and his wife, Sande, who live in Coeur d'Alene, have twin 2-year-old sons, Matthew and Caleb.

King's parents, Joe and Deanna King, bought a home on Lake Coeur d'Alene in 1973. Their roots here have allowed him to maintain a constant connection, even while he was living in Arizona. His sister and brother-in-law, Susan and Andres Burger, live in Hayden.

In addition to King's work for the Hayden chamber and for D.A. Davidson, he teaches classes at North Idaho College on living and retiring overseas, in locations from Croatia to Panama, he said. He has a blog on the subject: http://liveanywhere.wordpress.com/

He's a member of the Coeur d'Alene Commodores and of the Rotary Club of Coeur d'Alene.

In his limited spare time he likes to read history.

He'll have even less free time in July.

"My wife and I have a daughter on the way," he said. "We also have two dogs and two cats. They were our kids before our kids."