Social-media company sheds in-house AI video unit as it looks to rein in the rising costs of developing generative-AI models and immersive gaming products Snap Inc. is carving out its generative-AI video team into a new, independent company called Dotmo, the latest move by the social-media giant to manage the soaring costs of building artificial-intelligence Read More…
Elon Musk’s SpaceX priced its initial public offering Thursday, raising $75 billion and cementing the rocket maker’s place among the world’s most valuable companies in what stands as the largest IPO in U.S. history. On Friday, Wall Street delivered its verdict: investors wanted in. The offering valued SpaceX at approximately $1.77 trillion at its IPO Read More…
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — Gov. Greg Gianforte announced that Janicki Industries selected Great Falls as the site of an $800 million manufacturing campus expected to create more than 1,000 jobs in its first five years and ultimately employ more than 2,000 people once fully built out. John Janicki, president of the company, made the announcement Read More…
The Las Vegas Strip is facing a wave of consolidation unlike anything seen in a generation, with two major casino takeover deals announced in the span of days that could fundamentally reshape the American gaming industry. Media mogul Barry Diller’s holding company People Incorporated — formerly known as IAC — submitted a non-binding proposal Monday Read More…
Guests lined up to board Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.’s Freedom of the Seas on Sunday, marking the first cruise from a U.S. port since the pandemic suspended operations 15 months ago. Passengers filed into PortMiami with suitcases in tow, a sight last seen in the world’s largest cruise port in March 2020. Freedom of the Read More…
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban has claimed he was “hit” by a cryptocurrency token market crash on Wednesday. The token, known as the IRON Titanium Token or TITAN, fell from over $60 on June 16 to a fraction over zero on Thursday morning, CoinGecko data shows. The token is linked to Iron Finance, a group that Read More…
Lumber prices are finally going down after reaching a record high in May. Projections for July show lumber delivery prices are expected to be about 40% lower than the May record. After topping out on May 7, prices for lumber then dropped 22% by the end of May, according to the NASDAQ commodities exchange. READ FULL STORY
Billings, MT – Ultra Graphics has been recognized by the annual Printing News Top 100 Small Commercial Printers rankings as one of highest grossing small commercial print firms in the country. For sales-year 2020, Ultra Graphics ranked #1 in Montana and #31 in the country. “I’m extremely proud of our team and grateful to our Read More…
Biogen on Tuesday faced tough questions from Wall Street analysts over the $56,000 annual cost of its newly approved Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm – a price tag executives are calling “fair” and “responsible.” Shares of Biogen surged 38% on Monday after the FDA announced it approved the company’s drug, scientifically known as aducanumab. It is the first medication cleared by Read More…
The era of supersonic commercial flights came to an end when the Concorde completed its last trip between New York and London in 2003, but the allure of ultrafast air travel never quite died out. President Biden mused about supersonic flights when discussing his infrastructure plan in April. And on Thursday, United Airlines said it was ordering 15 Read More…
Roby Burch didn’t intend to develop a grill and start a company selling them. He just wanted to drink some beers with friends, eat good food and have a grill he could take on outdoor excursions. When Burch, 26, couldn’t find a grill he wanted — something that was portable and versatile — Read More…
BILLINGS – Montanans across the state are ready to get out after a year of staying in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s why travel experts and those with camping giant KOA say travel for this Memorial Day holiday weekend will break records. “People are booking and booking often,” said Billings-based KOA Director of Public Read More…
Snowflake, the cloud data analytics vendor that held the biggest U.S. software IPO ever last year, has become the latest tech company to jettison California. In its earnings press release on Wednesday, Snowflake’s dateline showed up as “No-Headquarters/BOZEMAN, Mont.” As recently as May 3, when the company announced the date of its first-quarter earnings report, that same line said “SAN MATEO, Read More…
The key to filling all the lots at Glacier Rail Park can be summarized in just one word: plastics. That’s not just enigmatic advice from the 1967 film “The Graduate” — it’s also the linchpin for the completion of a major piece in the revitalization of the city of Kalispell. Glacier Rail Park opened in Read More…
The blockbuster WarnerMedia-Discovery deal is especially good news for HBO Max, billionaire media mogul John Malone told CNBC’s David Faber. In an interview that aired Monday, Malone said his previous reservations about HBO Max’s ability to be a dominant player in the crowded digital-streaming landscape will be addressed once the AT&T-owned service is under the same roof as Discovery. READ FULL Read More…
French fashion tycoon Bernard Arnault is the world’s richest person this Monday morning, with an estimated net worth of $186.3 billion—putting him $300 million above Jeff Bezos, who is worth $186 billion, and Elon Musk, worth $147.3 billion. Arnault’s fortune has jumped from $76 billion in March 2020 to $186.3 on Monday, a massive rise of over $110 billion Read More…
Amazon is reportedly in discussions with MGM about purchasing the movie studio. According to Variety, the deal could be worth a reported $7 to $10 billion. The Information reported that MGM’s extensive library includes James Bond movies, the “Rocky” franchise, “The Terminator,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and “Survivor.” READ FULL STORY
Three years ago, AT&T Inc. executives were in a federal courthouse fighting the Justice Department to defend their takeover of Time Warner Inc., a more than $80 billion foray into the entertainment business. AT&T won the court battle, but lost in the marketplace. Now, at the behest of Chief Executive John Stankey, the telecom giant Read More…
Coca-Cola is saying goodbye to its energy line just over a year after it launched. Coca-Cola Energy will be discontinued in North America due to petering sales, CNN reported. “An important component to this strategy is the consistent and constant evaluation of what’s performing and what’s not,” the company said in a statement to the outlet. Read More…
DUTTON — Farm-to-fashion is the passion of Kate Stephens, who at 16 years old launched the future of her family business as a fourth-generation farmer. After running combines with her dad at 15, Kate was inspired by the history of her family’s farm that dates back to 1912 to bridge the gap between farmers and Read More…
Montana’s high-tech companies overcame and even benefited from the dynamics of a pandemic economy in 2020, generating more than $2.9 billion in revenues and growing at rates up to seven times faster than the statewide economy, according to a survey conducted by the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research. The study found Read More…
MISSOULA — Bug lovers of all ages have reason to celebrate. The construction of the Rocky Mountain Gardens & Exploration Center is set to begin later this month at the Missoula County Fairgrounds. “It’s been a long road, it’s been a bumpy road at times, but we are here. And we are so incredibly thrilled Read More…
President Joe Biden is asking for $80 billion to help the IRS crack down on tax avoidance from wealthy Americans and big corporations. The proposal seeks a boost in enforcement staffing, technology and additional bank reporting, measures that may generate an estimated $700 billion in tax revenue over the next decade. However, some financial experts say the Read More…
Warren Buffett is seeing inflation among Berkshire Hathaway’s collection of businesses as the economic recovery from the Covid pandemic kicks into high gear. “We are seeing very substantial inflation,” the Berkshire chairman and CEO said at the conglomerate’s annual shareholder meeting Saturday. “It’s very interesting. We are raising prices. People are raising prices to us and it’s being accepted.” Read More…
Small businesses and nonprofit groups hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic now are eligible for additional support under a $5 billion Small Business Administration program The new round of Economic Injury Disaster Loan assistance, known as Supplemental Targeted Advances, is available for up to 1 million small businesses and nonprofits with no more than 10 employees. Here’s Read More…
Chicken-lovers are going to have to wing it through the Great Poultry Crisis of 2021. America’s biggest fast-food companies reported earnings this week, and executives from KFC to Wingstop stressed a dire situation — there’s simply not enough chicken to go around. A meat-processing slowdown caused by pandemic safety measures along with a surge in Read More…
Texas’ main power grid struggled to keep up with the demand for electricity Tuesday, prompting the operator to ask Texans to conserve power nearly two months after catastrophic power outages left millions without electricity for days. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said it does not expect customer power outages like those caused in February’s Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. – One small business owner is being awarded a $10,000 grant for going above and beyond to support her local community. Nici Holt Cline is the founder of Dig This Chick, an online marketplace and community that encourages people to get outside with their families, get dirt under their fingernails and can foods. She Read More…
Verizon Media Group, the media division within Verizon, has 3 million people that pay for subscriptions across its portfolio of Yahoo-related products, like Yahoo Fantasy, Yahoo Finance and others, executives tell Axios. Why it matters: Moving forward, the goal will be to rebrand most of its media franchises as Yahoo products, and to focus on selling Read More…
It wasn’t the first time a Montana coal mine had gone bankrupt, but Decker Coal’s reason for calling it quits had never been stated so plainly. There are no longer customers lined up at Decker’s door for Montana coal. Detroit-based energy company DTE no longer needed the 2.5 million tons of coal it Read More…
Since Bill Moseley started his software company, GL Solutions, in 1997 in Bend, Oregon, he’s watched the small city’s population grow rapidly while the housing inventory failed to grow with it. As masses of people flocked to the small mountain town, Moseley struggled to recruit employees because they couldn’t find a place to live. In Read More…
Montana Orthopedics in Butte has joined SCL Health’s primary and specialty care clinics throughout Montana. Montana Orthopedics, Advantage Physical Therapy and OrthoNow will all become part of the SCL Health Medical Group — a network of hundreds of primary and specialty care providers across the state. The new partnership gives SCL Health patients access to Read More…
LAS VEGAS—Inside a strip mall here, blackjack students practiced flipping cards onto tables empty of gamblers. Nearby, a few people leaned over a craps table, the thrill of the game replaced by quiet study as the dice rolled. At CEG Dealer School, an academy for would-be casino dealers, the pipeline of workers aiming to join Read More…
MISSOULA — The rumble of titanic machinery can be heard throughout the pressroom of the Missoulian each night as the press churns out thousands of copies of the newspaper along the conveyor belt. But on March 28, the Missoulian press will run for the final time and those sounds will be silenced, the newspaper reported. The Read More…
MONTANA – The Montana Department of Commerce today announced that the Prospera Business Network will join the Montana Small Business Development Center Network. The local business and community development nonprofit will continue to serve Gallatin and Park counties in its new capacity. The Montana Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network, headquartered at the Montana Department Read More…
In 2020, the U.S. lost 4,400 farms and ranches totally 2,019,000 when compared to 2019. A year-over-year trend that has occurred for decades. Those figures come from the latest Farms and Land in Farms Highlights report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The losses were heaviest in the nation’s largest farming regions, namely California and Read More…
GREAT FALLS — Since the launch of the Jeremiah Johnson Brewing Company almost three years ago, business has been steadily on the rise. The company with a constant eye on efficiency decided now was as good a time as ever to expand. “We started realizing, hey, we’re not able to make enough beer for what orders are Read More…
Boeing CEO David Calhoun declined a salary and performance bonus for most of last year but still received stock benefits that pushed the estimated value of his compensation to more than $21 million, according to a regulatory filing Friday. The aerospace giant struggled last year with the continuing fallout from two deadly crashes involving its Read More…
Miles City, MT – Stockman Bank is pleased to announce Jim Drummond as the newest member of its Board of Directors, effective January 1, 2021. Jim brings more than 43 years of banking and agricultural and commercial lending expertise. He worked for Stockman Bank from 2003 to 2017, serving as the Stockman Bank Gallatin Read More…
A guitar manufacturer is planning a major expansion at its factory in Bozeman amid increasing demand for guitars during the COVID-19 pandemic. James “JC” Curleigh, president and CEO of Gibson Brands, Inc., said at a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday that last spring’s COVID-19 shutdown initially brought about “more questions than answers” for the company. Read More…
Camping World Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CWH) (“Camping World”), America’s Recreation Dealer, today announced expansion plans in Delaware, Nebraska and Montana. The company owns or is in the process of acquiring land in these three states to support the continued march towards a national recreational dealer platform. “We continue to fill in the missing pieces towards Read More…
Hertz‘s unsecured creditors are proposing a restructuring of the car-rental firm that clashes with the company’s plan to exit from bankruptcy via a sale to two investment funds, Bloomberg reported Thursday. As part of the planned shakeup, the lenders want to convert their holdings in the bankrupt firm into shares of the reorganized company which could be taken Read More…
BELGRADE, Mont. – Acela Truck Company went from building fire trucks, to mobile morgue units and now custom-built trailers to help in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in the country. David Ronsen, president of Acela, said the truck manufacturer is a combination of two older truck companies in the Gallatin Valley but started under their Read More…
CHICAGO & LAS VEGAS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Accel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: ACEL) (“Accel”), a leading distributed gaming operator in the U.S., today announced further expansion into new geographical markets by entering into an agreement to acquire Century Gaming, Inc. (“Century”), one of the leading distributed gaming operators in the Western United States, in a cash and stock transaction Read More…