GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Spectrum is expanding its fiber broadband network in Cascade County, bringing service to more than 1,200 additional homes and small businesses in previously unserved or underserved areas, including Ulm and Vaughn. Gov. Greg Gianforte joined Spectrum this week to mark the expansion, which is part of the company’s broader rural broadband Read More…
A new educational resource, Money for Montanans, answers common questions about the state’s registered agent industry and its role in funding public infrastructure. Montana’s vast land mass requires significant annual investment to maintain its roads, but only about 11.5% of that funding currently comes from state-generated sources, with the remainder coming through federal funds. The Read More…
Montana’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.2% in August, remaining below the national rate and placing the state among the 15 lowest unemployment rates in the country. The national unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.1% in August, according to federal labor data. Total employment in Montana, including payroll, agricultural and self-employed workers, increased by 482 Read More…
Big Sky Broadcasting has filed to acquire two Missoula-area radio stations in a transaction that would expand the company’s media portfolio into broadcast radio. The company is acquiring KMSO (102.5 FM) and KHDV (107.9 FM) from Sheila Callahan & Friends, Inc. Both stations are currently off the air. According to the transaction filing, the deal Read More…
A pair of local businesses were honored as part of the 23rd Annual Family Business Day hosted by Montana State University’s Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship. Bozeman baked goods company Elliotts of Montana and retailer Wild West Shirt Company were among the six businesses awarded at Friday’s event. Busted Knuckle Brewery in Glasgow, Read More…
Conferences, especially in the technology sector, are great opportunities for people of similar interests to meet up and interact. On Sept. 22, Malta held its Hi-Line Technology Roundup. The free conference focused on the use of communication technologies in a rural environment, with topics relating to remote work, software for ranchers and technological advances in Read More…
While University of Montana students will start getting around campus through electric power this fall, Missoula’s main transit agency also has electric buses on its shopping list. “We’re aggressively going after federal grant opportunities as they arise and looking at how we can move in that direction,” Mountain Line General Manager Corey Aldridge said, The Read More…
More than half of the minimum wage workers in Montana are older than 25 and more than 60 percent are women. The Montana Department of Labor and Industry announced on Thursday the new minimum wage for a group it calls an important part of the workforce. The minimum wage will increase to $8.15 an hour starting Read More…
Burger Dive’s “I’m Your Huckleberry” is the People’s Choice at the the Zoofari burger competition at ZooMontana on Friday night. The very first Zoofari brought burgers, brews and bands for a big party and fund raiser. The Montana Beef Council sponsored the competition. Callaghan Enterprises, Grille 406 out of Bozeman, Stacked, a Montana Grill and Read More…
The Montana Supreme Court has upheld the state’s Public Service Commission’s decision to deny a $1.4 million rate increase requested by NorthWestern Energy. An outage at a plant in January 2012 forced the company to buy power from third parties, but the PSC had ruled that even with the outage, NorthWestern Energy was allowed to collect $8.3 Read More…
2 new lifts are almost done at Big Sky Resort, and one of them finally has a name. Workers are still laying the steel on the upper terminal of the new “powder seeker” lift. The grade work is already done on the new high tech, heated and covered seat lift. Overall work on the 2 new Read More…
Billings-based GTUIT, LLC has earned the 203rd position on Inc. magazine’s 2016 Inc. 500 list of fastest-growing private American companies with a three- year revenue growth rate of 1,894%. For 35 years, Inc. has tracked the fastest-growing private companies which have included firms like Microsoft, Under Armor, Oracle and Yeti Cooler. GTUIT stands out because Read More…
Six businesses will receive Montana Family Business Program awards at the 2016 Montana State University Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship State Farm Insurance Family Business Day, set for Friday, Oct. 7, at the Best Western Plus GranTree Inn in Bozeman. The 2016 Family Business Day award winners are: Elliotts of Montana of Bozeman Read More…
Agriculture in Montana looks to be back on the right track after last year’s rough market and drought-ridden growing season, the state reported, and local farmers are finding more success in their harvests than last year. “We’ve experienced more volatility in the past five years than we have in the past several decades,” Mountain West Read More…
If you have listened to Montana gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte speak on his economic plans, one key area regarding jobs is to bring the state’s kids home with high paying jobs in the technology sector. Gianforte and his wife founded and grew RightNow Technologies in Bozeman before selling the business to the multi-national corporation Oracle. Read More…
MISSOULA — More than 11 million out-of-state travelers come to Montana every year, yet it is only one of five states in the country with no statewide sales tax. Proponents of a sales tax say it’s a giant missed opportunity to generate revenue from those tourists. Detractors say it would disproportionately hurt lower-income residents. A Read More…
The Treasure State will soon be able to eat one of the Peach State’s most beloved treasures, and it’s not a peach. Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A Inc. will open its first restaurant in Montana at 35 Treeline Road in Kalispell. The company said more details on our first location and the local owner will be available soon. It’s Chick-fil-A Read More…
If there’s one thing many Montanans can agree on it’s a love for beer. And if Anaconda resident Luke Carlson gets his way, Anaconda could get its own brewery as early as late December. “If everything goes smoothly, we’re kind of pushing for Christmas time,” said Carlson, who recently applied for funding from the city’s Read More…
BONNER — When Steve Nelson and Mike Boehme bought the former Stimson lumber mill site in Bonner in 2011, they saw potential in the blighted, polluted industrial area. Recently, the duo gave a tour to showcase the business activity going on there. Today, 10 separate businesses employing roughly 250 people occupy the 170-acre site, including Read More…
After a decade-long partnership with Bozeman advertising agency MercuryCSC, Montana’s Office of Tourism and Business Development recently awarded the state’s $7 million annual marketing contract to a company based in Wisconsin. The department awarded the contract to Milwaukee agency Hoffman York at the beginning of August using a point system it says is objective to Read More…
THREE FORKS, MONT. — Wheat Montana recently reformulated its Healthyloaf line of bread using only non-G.M.O. ingredients. The company worked with vendors to assure that all ingredients are non-G.M.O., and plans to submit all items for non-GMO Project verification. The Healthyloaf line of better-for-you sliced bread has been a top-seller for Wheat Montana since its Read More…
Anyone who’s built a career knows there are plenty of challenges along the way. The Young Professional Summit in Great Falls over the weekend is helping young professionals get their foot in the door when it comes to establishing themselves, and their careers in Montana. This is the first year of the Summit, which featured a variety of events Read More…
HELENA – The Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development says the “Get Lost in Montana” campaign has run its course, and now a new company will take over marketing the Treasure State. The state began a competitive selection process in April of this year. Eleven bids were submitted from companies in places like Montana, Read More…
The City Council has signed off, and construction is set to begin at First Interstate Bank’s new branch office on South Haynes Avenue in Miles City. The 7,000-square-foot, single-story structure will replace the existing branch at 1115 Main St. that the bank has called home for the past 30 years. Branch President Jeff Rodenbaugh said Read More…
The Montana Land Board has approved trading two historic Helena buildings for a warehouse property near the Helena airport. The state will trade the Old Liquor Warehouse on Front Street and the Armory on Last Chance Gulch to the D & M Development, LLC for a warehouse on A Street. The Old Liquor Warehouse is currently Read More…
At the AlphaGraphics Annual Conference in New Orleans, AlphaGraphics of Billings owners Jake Eaton and Dustin Frost were presented with the AlphaGraphics 2015 Top 10 Sales Award, recognizing the locally owned center’s annual sales volume as 10th highest among the nearly 300 AlphaGraphics business centers worldwide. AlphaGraphics of Billings, a full service print communications company, Read More…
By the end of September, Bozeman will have an entirely new projection for how the city’s economy will grow and change over the coming years. The city, led by Economic Development Director Brit Fontenot, is currently in the process of updating its economic development plan for the first time since 2009. Most of the legwork Read More…