Governor Greg Gianforte joined Rivian officials and community leaders in Belgrade this week to celebrate the opening of the company’s new 20,000-square-foot service and demo center, marking Rivian as the first electric vehicle manufacturer to invest in Montana. “It’s great to welcome Rivian to Montana as the first electric vehicle manufacturer to invest in our Read More…
Gov. Greg Gianforte on Monday marked the opening of Eshylon Scientific’s new facility in Bozeman, cutting the ribbon on the semiconductor manufacturing solutions company’s relocation from California to Montana. The governor toured the site and highlighted the investment as part of Montana’s growing technology and semiconductor industry. “Montana is becoming a hub for entrepreneurship and Read More…
exbase, Inc., a Bozeman-based retail data management software company, announced Monday the formation of an Advisory Board to guide its next phase of strategic growth. The company also named retail supply chain veteran Jack Keating as the board’s first member. Texbase said the Advisory Board will be composed of executives with deep retail and supply Read More…
The Montana Department of Commerce announced Monday that a new loan participation program aimed at expanding access to capital for rural businesses will open for applications on Oct. 1, 2025. The Opportunities in Rural Economies (ORE) Loan Participation Program will partner with local lenders to provide low-interest loans for projects that support job creation, strengthen Read More…
MISSOULA – There’s a new fast food option coming to Missoula, and it’s setting up shop in a familiar building. Frugals is moving into the former Dairy Queen building on Brooks Street. It will mark the seventh location for the burger chain, which is focused in Washington, Idaho and Montana. The restaurant’s menu includes a Read More…
A Montana-based organization is helping jump start high-tech startups through a business pitch competition held in Missoula, Billings and Bozeman to encourage tech industry development and job opportunities. Early Stage Montana, a nonprofit coalition, is looking for entrepreneurs who need help planning and growing their businesses. Participants will pitch their business plans and products to Read More…
BILLINGS – Pitching a tent, enjoying the great outdoors, and gathering around a campfire: all things many people associate with Kampgrounds of America (KOA). Now, customers can also associate Toby O’Rourke as chief executive officer of the Billings-based company. Based in Billings, KOA just named Toby O’Rourke as the new CEO. O’Rourke has been the KOA president since March 2018 and Read More…
Over a century later, UPS continues to honor their safe drivers across the nation in what they call the Circle of Honor. As of last month, over 1400 drivers were added to the Circle, 3 of whom are from right here in Montana. In total, Montana has 569 full-time UPS drivers. Out of those drivers, Read More…
Development in Kalispell has gathered momentum in recent years, as many businesses and organizations anticipate the arrival of a new walking path cutting through downtown, replacing the existing train tracks. Since that ball got rolling, officials said, it has only picked up speed. Earlier this month, at the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce’s luncheon, it became Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — According to the U.S. Small Business Administration ninety-nine percent of businesses in Montana were considered small businesses in 2018. The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) helped open fifty-eight businesses across the country last year. Montana ranked number one in the country for the number of workers employed by small businesses in 2018 Read More…
A 120-unit apartment project near Gateway Community Center is the focus of a public hearing before the Kalispell City Council during its regular meeting tonight. Husky Partners, LLC, is asking for a conditional-use permit for five buildings with 24 units each, plus a clubhouse. The multifamily buildings will be three stories and 43 feet tall, Read More…
CORAM – A small-town distillery in Montana is being nationally recognized for their whiskey. A February article in Esquire magazine dubbed Wheatfish, a whiskey distilled by Glacier Distilling Company, the best in the state. The article, written by Aaron Goldfarb, recounts different distilleries across the country and features one whiskey in every state. Nicholas Lee has Read More…
One product would arm a school principal with a weapon that would provide less-than-lethal or lethal options when confronting a school shooter. One barrel of the “Protector’s Choice” would fire bean-bag rounds. One would fire live ammunition. A separate product would recycle Styrofoam to manufacture 4-foot-long Lego-style construction blocks that could enhance efforts far and Read More…
Helena, MT and Chicago, IL (WorkersCompensation.com) – Montana’s largest provider of workers’ compensation insurance, Montana State Fund (MSF), is partnering with Rising Medical Solutions (Rising), a national managed care company, to administer its medical bill repricing and provider payment program. After awarding its program to Rising, the partnership became operational in January of 2019. “Our Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — The accessibility of listening to and buying music online is certainly different from the days when fans lined up to buy Elvis Presley records. Brick and mortar record stores have closed all over the country. But in Missoula there’s one shop that’s weathering the changes and even opening channels to music in Read More…
Which home styles are sold in greatest (and least) quantities, across the Flathead? Does it vary by city? How many acres (or fractions thereof) come with which home styles, and does that vary by city? I was recently asked about the acreage which comes with home sales. This week, I’ve analyzed the 2018 single-family home Read More…
Over the last decade, some of Montana’s larger airports have added new flights or extended certain flight services. The increased traffic is even causing some airports to expand. Since Glacier Park International Airport director Rob Ratkowski started in 2004, the number of direct flights has gone from just four to 11. He thinks the area Read More…
Though pulse crops face challenges, their long-term outlook remains bright — which an upcoming conference will help to illustrate, a pulse grower leader said. “This will be chance (for attendees) to catch up on the new developments with pulse crops,” said Chris Westergard, the Northern Pulse Growers Association president and a Dagmar, Mont., farmer. The Read More…
Beer and bacon — those are the two essential ingredients for a new business venture launched by two women in Gallatin County. Business partners Melissa Pomeroy and Cat Thomas are using those unique ingredients to make soap. “Poking around on the internet, we both fell down a rabbit hole of where we discovered you Read More…
Billings, MONT-The Yellowstone Area Chamber of Commerce released their comprehensive Public Policy Guide that will direct lobbying efforts at the Legislature. The group recently hired a lobbyist, EJ Redding, to advocate on behalf of area business in Helena. According to Redding, “I believe in the Chambers mission and look forward to fighting alongside businesses for Read More…
What would the economy of the state of Montana look like if the eight largest hard rock mines – producing copper, palladium, gold, talc, cement and other products and materials – did not exist? That was a question posed in a recent study produced by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research. It addressed – Read More…
In a recent study conducted in Gardiner, Montana, by the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana, unsolicited comments from nearly 50 percent of residents exemplified issues in Montana’s affordable housing crisis. Those comments ranged from complaints about high rent to unreasonable housing prices. And while the state battles an affordable Read More…
Billings, MONT.-Today, local business owners announced the formation of the Yellowstone Area Chamber of Commerce. The group was formed in response to a growing belief among business owners that common-sense, pro-business solutions have become secondary policy goals. The group will educate and advocate for proven and business-centric policy prescriptions that create a positive environment for Read More…
HELENA, Mont., Jan. 02, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBMT), (the “Company,” “Eagle”), the holding company of Opportunity Bank of Montana, today announced that it completed, effective January 1, 2019, its previously announced acquisition of Big Muddy Bancorp, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, The State Bank of Townsend, Townsend, Montana Read More…
It’s good news that the administration has reached an agreement on an updated North American Free Trade Agreement. It means certainty for U.S. industry and agriculture, as well as the prosperity that comes from free trade. After all, international trade’s been an asset for farmers, businesses and consumers in Montana. The state’s exports have surged Read More…
Look out, roadtrippers: a new RV rental company is coming to town. Designed to cater to younger adults, Blacksford founder Jonathan Distad said he came to his business model for the company from a tech background, with customer service in mind. The idea for the company came to Distad when he was having Read More…
A new mixed-use building plan has emerged for a prime spot on Whitefish’s Central Avenue where the former Lakestream Fly Shop operated. That building, an older home that was converted to commercial use decades ago, will be moved off the premises, according to an application filed with the Whitefish Planning Department. Earlier this year Fresh Read More…
Helena – The Montana Chamber Foundation announces its second grant from the Gianforte Family Foundation to achieve its 10-year strategic plan, Envision 2026. The goals of that plan are to increase jobs, per capita income, and gross state product, through focusing on workforce, entrepreneurship, business basics and infrastructure. “We are grateful for the continued support Read More…
BILLINGS, MONTANA – The Montana Beef Council would like to invest up to $825,000 into programs of beef promotion, education, and producer communications in fiscal year 2019, which began Oct. 1. Programs approved could be funded through Montana’s 50 cent in-state portion of the $1 per head beef checkoff, after Montana producers provide affirmative consent Read More…
BUTTE – Bringing in Fall tourism dollars to the state is one of the focuses of a convention being held in Butte this week. The Montana Lodging and Hospitality Association is hosting discussions and guest speakers about a variety of topics important to the hospitality industry. Much of the event will be about attracting people to Montana to Read More…
A Bozeman tech park is vying to become the next headquarters for two major federal food and agriculture research offices. The move would make the city home to more than 600 new jobs. The Montana State University Innovation Campus hopes to sell the Trump administration on Bozeman as a base for the nation’s Economic Research Read More…
How do you marry two businesses? The process of passing a business from one generation to the next is a perplexing one. The experts say it takes planning. But what if the plans don’t work out? It’s almost like not having a plan at all. But, there’s this thing called serendipity and if you are Read More…
BILLINGS- Two new restaurants are setting up shop on the Rimrock Mall property, but mall officials are hoping for more. Blaze Pizza is opening this week at 316 24th St. on mall property in front of the main property. Next door will be Five on Black, a Missoula-based Brazilian grill chain, currently under construction and set to open Read More…
Eagle Jet Solutions has found a new nest in the Electric City. Construction has just begun for the new private hangar at the Great Falls International Airport and will be the largest private hangar in the state of Montana. The new aircraft hangar will have the ability to hold two 737 airplanes. A 737 aircraft Read More…
MISSOULA – Beer enthusiasts of all kinds gathered for the 10th annual Montana Brewers Fall Rendezvous over the weekend in Missoula as several dozen local craft brewers from large and small companies presented their finest. Judges from the local homebrewers association tasted and judged the best beers, and also hosted classes to show how different beers Read More…
Public officials in Missoula County, located in the U.S. state of Montana, have decided to look into new regulations around cryptocurrency mining rather than seek to ban the activity entirely. As previously reported, miners have been drawn to the region thanks to access to cheap electricity, but local concerns about power rate spikes and noise Read More…
WinCo Foods is making progress on an 84,000-square-foot grocery store in Helena. Construction crews started building the employee-owned chain this summer, but a spokesperson said an opening date still is to be determined. In addition to Helena, WinCo is building a store in Billings. The two locations will be the first WinCo stores in Montana. Read More…
MISSOULA – With the school year around the corner, a Montana start-up is working to get their invention in classrooms across Montana. They say the non-lethal product is more effective than pepper spray. Ben Gladwin, the assistant chief of the University of Montana Police department and education director for Reflex Protect, says the spray is Read More…
The Imerys talc mill in Three Forks is facing a union lockout if its members don’t accept a new contract from the mill’s French owners — a contract the union members have already rejected three times. The lockout would leave 32 union members and their families without paychecks or health care for an undetermined amount Read More…
Karen Alderman Harbert, President and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute will be the speaker at the annual Petroleum Industry Appreciation Day Luncheon on August 29. The event which is sponsored by the Montana Petroleum Association will be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Billings, and is open to Read More…
The newest member of the growing group of hotels in the Flathead Valley, TownePlace Suites by Marriott, opened its doors last week in Whitefish. The property had been under construction since last fall. The 81-room hotel on U.S. 93 South is focused on a specific set of clients: those who are staying five days or Read More…
Roger and Lisa Sammons are definitely overachievers. When the owners of Pardue Grain invited dignitaries, local business owners and customers, vendors and contractors to the “groundbreaking” of their new pulse crop processing facility, they forgot to mention the facility’s construction is well underway! Last Friday’s ceremony was merely a formality as the Sammons and their Read More…
Bias Brewing officially opened and features six beers brewed in house, cold brew coffee, and food from Food For The Soul 2. The brewery’s first beer menu features a variety of types of brews from stouts to pale ales. It offers 4-ounce taster sizes all the way up to small and large growlers. Bias also Read More…
LIVINGSTON – Livingston’s Printing For Less (PFL) held a ceremonial groundbreaking event Friday for its new 55,000-square-foot digital printing and fulfillment center. The company plans to add 100 new employees once the new center is complete. Just this past year it added 80 new positions at its Livingston location. “We’re obviously optimistic about our own Read More…