Montana West Economic Development is assisting the property holder of the Gateway Community Center in Kalispell by assigning an employee to serve as interim property manager to help “set the direction for sustainability” at the nonprofit campus. Kim Morisaki, MWED’s director of business development and marketing, began on Feb. 3 and will serve the role Read More…
BILLINGS — Economists with the University of Montana touted Billings’ economic health during a Tuesday luncheon at the Northern Hotel. Patrick Barkey, the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research director, said Billings has had good construction activity, a healthy real estate sector and financial institutions that are doing well. “Billings is the Read More…
Berkadia secured $30.3 million in financing for Talus Apartments, a 288-unit garden-style multifamily community in Great Falls, MT. Seattle-based Investors Capital Group, LLC, was the borrower. The 10-year Freddie Mac loan features a full-leverage loan with partial-term interest-only. Located at 2100 26th St. S, the community was constructed in two phases from 2015 to 2018. Read More…
Two decades ago, four Montana hospitals tried something new. They bankrolled a company to compete with the most powerful insurer in the state. The hospitals wanted to challenge what they described as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana’s “dominating presence.” So they founded insurer New West Health Services in 1998 to cover hospital employees and Read More…
Montana West Economic Development is assisting the property holder of the Gateway Community Center in Kalispell by assigning an employee to serve as interim property manager to help “set the direction for sustainability” at the nonprofit campus. Kim Morisaki, MWED’s director of business development and marketing, began on Feb. 3 and will serve the role Read More…
BILLINGS — Economists with the University of Montana touted Billings’ economic health during a Tuesday luncheon at the Northern Hotel. Patrick Barkey, the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research director, said Billings has had good construction activity, a healthy real estate sector and financial institutions that are doing well. “Billings is the Read More…
Berkadia secured $30.3 million in financing for Talus Apartments, a 288-unit garden-style multifamily community in Great Falls, MT. Seattle-based Investors Capital Group, LLC, was the borrower. The 10-year Freddie Mac loan features a full-leverage loan with partial-term interest-only. Located at 2100 26th St. S, the community was constructed in two phases from 2015 to 2018. Read More…
Two decades ago, four Montana hospitals tried something new. They bankrolled a company to compete with the most powerful insurer in the state. The hospitals wanted to challenge what they described as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana’s “dominating presence.” So they founded insurer New West Health Services in 1998 to cover hospital employees and Read More…
SHELBY, Mont., Jan. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The Port of Northern Montana has recently confirmed that it has a significant amount of low-cost renewable electrical power available at its Data Center Development Park in Shelby. In particular, as a result of a cooperative arrangement with NaturEner USA, there is approximately 10 megawatts (MW) of renewable electrical power currently available at the Shelby Data Center Read More…
BUTTE – United Airlines estimates it would need $1 million in guaranteed revenue over two years from Butte before it would consider adding a second flight from Bert-Mooney Airport to Denver. This more than the $380,000 Butte’s Tourism Business Improvement District, or TBID, was asked to raise. TBID officials are planning to send a survey Read More…
JCPenney announced Friday that the retailer is planning to close its location at Southgate Mall. The department store is expected to close in April 2020. In a press release sent Friday afternoon, Washington Prime Group, the owner of Southgate Mall said prior to the JCPenney closing announcement they executed an agreement to gain control of Read More…
BELGRADE, Mont. – Montanans are ready for takeoff to the country music capital Nashville, Tenn. for the state’s first direct flight to Music City, USA. Montana’s busiest airport, Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport, is getting ready for a new direct flight to Nashville through Allegiant Airlines. You can start booking flights now for nonstop service, with Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Governor Steve Bullock and the U.S.D.A Rural Development State Director Charles Robinson will help celebrate the completion of Montana Craft Malt, a facility that will produce thousands of tons of malt from Montana-grown barley. The facility, inspired by a market analysis report and a variety of grant and technical assistance programs through the Read More…
BILLINGS, Mont. – The Billings Logan International Airport will offer two additional flights from Billings to Portland, Oregon and Dallas, Texas in 2020. The airport announced American Airlines is adding a second flight from Dallas to Billings, beginning April 7, 2020. The flight will arrive at 8:41 p.m. and depart at 6:30 a.m. the following morning. American Read More…
BOZEMAN — Montana’s ban on flavored vaping products has been in effect for about a week and already some people have found a way to get around it. “Having customers having access to a safe product, you know, that’s the goal,” said Freedom Vapes co-owner Ron Marshall. After one day of a 120-day temporary ban Read More…
Kevin Washington, a minority owner of CryptoWatt, the cryptocurrency mining plant in Butte, says he’s “the biggest victim, by a mile” of the plant’s majority owner, Matthew Goettsche, who has been indicted in connection with an alleged $722 million Ponzi scheme. In a telephone interview Saturday, Washington said he is trying “at all costs” Read More…
Montanans earning the minimum wage will see the rate increase to $8.65 per hour beginning January 1, 2020. The 2019 minimum wage in Montana is $8.50 per hour. Currently, 29 states and D.C. have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. A press release from the Governor’s office says that an Read More…
To celebrate his graduation, Nicholas Balcken will likely raise a glass — of Blackfoot River Brewing Company beer. On Friday, Balcken became the first participant in the Montana Registered Apprenticeship Program to receive a Professional Brewer Certificate. With this credential, the Blackfoot River Brewing Co. employee said, “I hope to be able to develop better beers and improve my Read More…
HELENA — A third-generation rancher from Helena, Montana won the Montana Farm Bureau Young Farmer and Rancher Discussion Meet back in November. The prize was a brand new Polaris Ranger and an all-expense paid trip to compete in the national competition in Austin, Texas coming up in January. Rocky Forseth says, “We can take a Read More…
RONAN – The first hemp-processing license in the State of Montana was issued to a Ronan business in November from the Montana Department of Agriculture. Green Ridge Biosolutions moved into a 15,000 square-foot building at 63298 U.S. Highway 93, located near the Ronan arch, in September. Sam Belanger, chief operations officer, said he looks forward Read More…
An agreement between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the federal government over long-disputed water rights took a major step forward Thursday when Montana Sen. Steve Daines said he plans to introduce a bill that would implement a new settlement framework. “Today is a really important step. We’ve reached a historic compromise on a Read More…
BILLINGS — Montana clothing company All Season All Terrain (ASAT) Outdoors is suing New York-based fashion company Supreme for copyright infringement after Supreme sold clothing printed with a copyrighted camouflage design, according to court documents. Stevensville based ASAT Outdoors filed the suit on Nov. 11 in New York District Court. The Montana company claims to Read More…
Find the story at the Montana Free Press website right here.
HALL, Mont. — About 20-years-ago a rancher near Hall decided to semi-retire. But Ed James got bored. So he and his wife Sue, decided to start a new business. Now, the couple’s value added, family-owned company has clients all over the country. For our Montana Moment, we visited Sugar Loaf Wool Carding Mill. The mill stands in Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. — The first caregiver organization signed up for the Montana Apprenticeship Program Thursday. The program will provide 14 caregivers with dementia training at First Choice Home Health in Bozeman, where they say most of their patients are suffering from some form of dementia. In 2017, there were 287 deaths caused by dementia and Alzheimer’s Read More…
The annual FFA National Convention is usually both an enjoyable and educational experience for the nearly 70,000 young agriculturalists who attend. But for one Montana State University student, the 2019 convention was life changing. Mamie Hertel is a sophomore financial engineering major, a multidisciplinary program in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics in the Read More…
A private-equity-backed firm is investing in Washington state water and hopes to create a massive water market that spans much of the state. Find the story here.
HELENA, Mont. – Three Small Business Development Centers are expanding access to services and outreach to rural areas by hiring additional staff to better serve small business owners and entrepreneurs across Montana. The Great Falls SBDC, based at the Great Falls Development Authority (GFDA), has hired a rural business adviser – a new position created to make business Read More…
Soon residents in the Mining City will have the opportunity to rub shoulders with representatives from companies like Slack and WeWork as around 200 entrepreneurs and other professionals descend upon Butte next week for the annual Innovate Montana Symposium. The event runs Oct. 14-16 and marks the fourth run of the symposium, which is Read More…
HELENA — Bidding is open for seven alcohol licenses in Montana, including Bozeman and Belgrade. According to a press release from the Montana Department of Revenue, on-premises beer licenses are available in Helena, Bozeman, Hamilton, Belgrade, and Polson. All-beverage floater licenses are available in Bozeman and Missoula. A “floater” license allows the applicant to purchase, Read More…
BUTTE, Mont. — A Montana mine company has laid off dozens of workers, but could hire again as it aims to prevent acid rock drainage. The Montana Standard reported that Golden Sunlight laid off 28 out of its 49 remaining workers Monday following a 2015 layoff after stopping open pit mining. Company officials say Toronto, Canada-based Read More…
Hawaii, Montana and Maine are the three states whose economies depend most on outdoor recreational activities such as hiking, water sports, hunting and skiing. The outdoor recreational industry accounted for 5.4% of Hawaii’s gross domestic product in 2017, the largest share of all U.S. states. The Aloha State was followed by Montana and Maine, where Read More…
Apparently, over the last ten years, telemarketer jobs in Montana have declined by 94%. So why am I still getting so many annoying phone calls? Probably thanks to robocalls, or just less people doing more work. A new study from Commercial Cafe discovered the most quickly declining jobs in every state in the US. For Montana, that Read More…
Longtime county employee Tim Harmon recently joined the staff of the Majestic Valley Arena as the general manager and facility director. He will start work Oct. 1. For the past 17 years, Harmon served as the maintenance supervisor for the Flathead County Fairgrounds. The addition of Harmon to the staff will allow arena owners, Bob Read More…
BILLINGS — Outdoor retailer REI is building a new store at the corner of Shiloh Road and King Avenue West Billings West End, city building officials said Tuesday. The company plans to build a 23,457 square-foot retail building on the northwest corner of the intersection, according to a permit filed with the city. Kent, Wash-based Read More…
Montage International, the hotel and resort management company behind the brand, Montage Hotels & Resorts, will open a resort with a hotel and residences in Big Sky, Montana. Currently under construction, Montage Big Sky will be the first ultra-luxury five-star resort in the entire state. Located at Spanish Peaks Mountain Club, a private ski and golf course community set on more Read More…
BUTTE – Montana often ranks high for workplace injuries. “Montana for years has been an inherently unsafe place to work. We injure more employees in Montana than almost any other state year after year after year,” said Mark Rosenleaf with Montana State Fund. For the past three years Montana State Fund has been giving away Read More…
The edge of downtown Bozeman will get another new hotel. The Bozeman City Commission unanimously approved plans Monday for Bozeman Residence Inn, a four-story, 104-room hotel just off East Main Street. The building will go on roughly 1.74 acres at 815 E. Main St., just behind Jackpot Casino and with Town Pump to the west. Read More…
A pair of new winter wheat varieties soon to be released by Montana State University breeders are designed to help address two issues that plague wheat farmers across the state, sawflies and stripe rust fungus, while improving crop yields. The Bobcat and Flathead varieties will be released this fall from the Montana Foundation Seed Program, Read More…
The Montana State University Pesticide Education Program, with assistance from the Montana Department of Agriculture, is offering a pest management tour for pesticide applicators at eight locations across southwestern Montana from Oct. 7 to Oct. 10. Speakers will present on a variety of topics, including managing rodents; invasive grass management; weeds and wildfire; crop insect Read More…
Under the Big Sky, the Emmy Award-Winning storytelling series from the Montana Television Network, has received a $40,000 grant from the Greater Montana Foundation to continue to bring stories about life in Montana to audiences. The series premiered in February 2017 and recently finished production on its seventh episode. The quarterly program combines cinematic visuals Read More…
(Missoula, Mont.)—Moore Information Group, formerly Moore Information, has not only launched a new name and logo, but a new web presence as well. The national public opinion research and strategic analysis firm — with offices in Portland, OR, Missoula, MT, Denver CO and Washington, DC — is known for its strong track record of accurate Read More…
Spring wheat production in Montana is forecast at 85.00 million bushels, up 6 percent from the July 1 forecast but down 11 percent from the 95.88 million bushels produced last year, the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service reported. Estimated acreage for harvest, at 2.50 million acres, is down 320,000 acres from the 2.82 million acres Read More…
The Montana Renewable Energy Association hosted the 9th Annual Montana Clean Energy Fair at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds on Saturday. The event brought hundreds from around the region to participate in workshops and demonstrations on topics including renewable energy policy, solar electricity and solar heating, batteries and energy storage, and more. “This is our big Read More…