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…
Italy’s competition authority on Monday fined Apple €10 million for misleading consumers about the water-resistance of its iPhones. Apple advertised several iPhone models as resistant to water for up to 30 minutes, even a few meters under water, but it didn’t make clear that this is only true under specific conditions (pure water in a laboratory), which Read More…
On March 9, less than a year after Gov. Steve Bullock signed House Bill 725 legalizing sports betting in Montana, the first betting terminals were placed inside bars and casinos across the state. Two days later, the NBA suspended the remainder of the professional basketball season. A day after that, the NHL and MLS suspended Read More…
A local Helena photographer celebrated five years in business. Kevin League hosted a grand opening of his new, permanent gallery this weekend in Downtown Helena to celebrate the anniversary. For League, having a full-time space to display his work is the first within his five years in business. League has numerous awards for his work Read More…
Comcast is adding a data cap for some of its home-internet plans starting in January. The telecommunications giant recently confirmed it’s introducing a limit of 1.2 TB on Xfinity Internet plans in 14 states and the District of Colombia. If customers that don’t have unlimited plans go over that cap, they must pay $10 for Read More…
The U.S. Supreme Court turned away a bid by Walmart Inc. to start selling liquor at its Texas stores, leaving intact for now a state law that bars such retail sales by publicly-owned companies. The rebuff, which came without comment, sends Walmart’s challenge back to a federal trial court, where the world’s largest retailer will Read More…
As COVID cases surge across the US, Waffle House CEO Walt Ehmer does not want to shut down indoor dining. And, he really does not want the government to force him to do so. “A lockdown is going to put a lot of people out of work,” Ehmer told Business Insider. “It’s really not about Read More…
GREAT FALLS — Blackfeet Tribe business owners can now apply for grants to help them make up for some of the money they’ve lost this year due to the pandemic. Application are being accepted through December 11. As of Tuesday, about two dozen businesses had submitted applications. The committee overseeing the grant was still in Read More…
HELENA – The Montana Chamber Foundation announced today its plans to host The Prospects, a statewide high school business plan and pitch competition. As a part of Envision 2026, the Montana Chamber of Commerce’s ten-year strategic plan, the organization is working to build an opportunity for business growth and prosperity by improving Montana’s talent pipeline Read More…
Fox News viewers appear to be deserting the network in droves as they tune into Newsmax TV. Nielsen data confirms the trend in the post-election period last week. During Wednesday through Friday last week, Newsmax TV led Fox Business and CNBC in all key day parts. Newsmax is also seeing a terrific surge across its media Read More…
McDonald’s chief executives joined Walmart’s CEO in calling for another stimulus package. “We need a stimulus measure, I think that is very clear,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said in an interview with CNBC on Tuesday. Kempczinski called for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice president-elect Kamala Harris to address the coronavirus pandemic and climate change, as well Read More…
The New York Times Co. for the first time Wednesday reported higher revenues from its digital business than its print operations, a “watershed moment” in the newspaper’s nearly 170-year history, according to CEO Mark Thompson. “And we don’t think it’s likely we’re going to go back from this moment,” Thompson said on CNBC’s “Power Lunch.” The Times reported Read More…
New changes are coming to one of downtown Kalispell’s oldest historic buildings. Originally opened in 1912, the Kalispell Grand Hotel is now under new ownership. Noelle and John Barr of Houston, Texas, took ownership of the downtown landmark after it spent more than 30 years under the care of Janet and Butch Clark. “We’ve got Read More…
FRAMINGHAM — A Framingham development company is co-redeveloping a Montana mall and bringing the first Whole Foods Market to the western state. Framingham-based Grossman Development Group, LLC, is partnering with Boston Realty Advisors/The Broadway Company and the ownership of the Gallatin Valley Mall in Bozeman, Montana, to redevelop the shopping center that serves a five-county trade Read More…
First Interstate BancSystem (FIBK) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.76 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.68 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.79 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of 11.76%. A quarter ago, it was expected Read More…
HOUSTON, Texas — Just in time for the holiday, Amazon is doing a mega-seasonal hiring event, which includes new jobs available in Houston. According to a release, the company is adding 100,000 new seasonal jobs across the U.S. and Canada, to complement its regular full- and part-time positions. Some 2,800 of those positions are in Read More…
As the unpredictable nature of the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect every industry differently, sawlog prices in Montana are reaching record levels, said F.H. Stoltze Land and Resource Manager Paul McKenzie. “The product demand has increased dramatically in general forest products,” he said. According to the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research Read More…
Graphics chip giant Nvidia mopped up the floor with its competition in a benchmark set of tests released Wednesday afternoon, demonstrating better performance on a host of artificial intelligence tasks. The benchmark, called MLPerf, announced by the MLPerf organization, an industry consortium that administers the tests, showed Nvidia getting better speed on a variety of Read More…
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to subpoena Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to testify about allegations of anti-conservative bias, ratcheting up GOP pressure on the social media companies’ content policies before the November elections. How the vote went down: The Judiciary Committee voted 12-0 to authorize the subpoenas, with all Read More…
MISSOULA — Over the past 20 years, Montana’s registered apprenticeship program has sent more than 3,300 workers into good-paying jobs, with another 2,400 on the way, according to a new report. On Wednesday, Gov. Steve Bullock summarized the findings of a Department of Labor and Industry report on Montana’s Registered Apprenticeship program and praised the role that Read More…
North Dakota’s oil output soared 14% in August as more wells shut down earlier in the spring because of the coronavirus crisis came back online. “It is nice to note that we are back on the road again to healthy production,” Lynn Helms, director of North Dakota’s Mineral Resources Department, told reporters Friday. Still, Helms Read More…
Southwest Airlines has asked its unionized workers to take pay cuts in an effort to stave off layoffs and furloughs during the coronavirus pandemic. Southwest CEO Gary Kelly made the request in a Monday message to employees after rival carriers American and United started furloughing more than 32,000 workers last week following the expiration of a $25 Read More…
Jill Justin had to think fast when the coronavirus pandemic hit. As the owner of Jill Justin Dance Alliance in Middlesex County, New Jersey, she went from having close to 500 students taking classes seven days a week to shutting her studio doors. After taking some time to regroup and change her business model, Justin started offering Read More…
BOZEMAN — Manufacturing companies around Montana will offer virtual and in-person tours of their operations throughout October as part of a national effort that kicks off with National Manufacturing Day on Thursday, Oct. 1. The Montana Manufacturing Extension Center at Montana State University is encouraging Montana manufacturers to host the tours and is available to Read More…
New York (CNN)One of Berkshire Hathaway’s largest units, BNSF Railway, just named Kathryn Farmer as its first female CEO. This appointment makes Farmer the first woman in America to lead a major railroad operator, the company announced Monday. Farmer is taking the place of Carl Ice, who has worked at Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) for 42 years. Farmer has been Read More…
Montana State Fund (MSF) will be paying a $20 million dollar dividend back to policyholders in mid-November. This is the 22nd consecutive year the MSF Board of Directors has declared a dividend. They’ve returned a total of $306 million to policyholders since 1999, $165 million since 2015 alone. “It tells us we’re making progress in Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — A western Montana company made the cut in an international competition to come up with U.S. Air Force security solutions. Adelos, Inc. is a subsidiary of S&K Technologies, Inc. and owned by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes. We showed you their groundbreaking technology two years ago when they proposed alternative security solutions Read More…
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, Mont. — Whether working on her family’s farm as a kid in Connecticut or leading trail crews in the backcountry after college, Sarah Calhoun always struggled to find comfortable work clothes. The work pants she found were designed for men, not women. So she decided to design her own line of pants. Today, Read More…
F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber, builder Pat Clark and other investors last week announced a joint venture to create a new mass timber production facility to build large format, cross-laminated timber panels in Columbia Falls. New new company, called Stoltze Timber, eventually will be located across the road from the Stoltze plant west of Columbia Read More…
Nearly $138 million has been sent to small businesses through the Montana Business Stabilization Grant program since the program launched in May. For a lot of recipients, the program has been a much needed lifeline that has kept their business from going under. “We have been extremely grateful for it,” said Brianne Harrington, owner of Read More…
As the stock market and some companies thrive, many small business owners continue to struggle six months into the coronavirus pandemic. CNN’s Vanessa Yurkevich reports. WATCH FULL STORY
BUTTE – Just as Butte’s tourism season was getting started, coronavirus dealt the hotel industry a vicious economic blow. “Who knew? Who knew that we would ever come across something like this?,” said Maria Pochervina, director of the Tourism Business Improvement District. READ FULL STORY
The Census Bureau released new phase two data from its Small Business Pulse survey last week, showing some of the sectors most impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. What they found: Hiring and rehiring have slowed and businesses now broadly say they expect recovery from the pandemic to take much longer than previously thought. 44% of respondents expect recovery will take Read More…
Elon Musk’s personal wealth is soaring along with Tesla’s stock. The CEO’s net worth increased by nearly $8 billion on Monday as Tesla’s stock price jumped 11% and closed at an all-time high. Musk’s net worth is now $84.8 billion, making him the world’s fourth-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Musk overtook Bernard Arnault, the French billionaire and Read More…
Billings AMC theaters will reopen at the end of August after being closed for almost six months. Nationwide AMC Theaters will begin to reopen on Aug. 20, with retro ticket prices of 15 cents per movie. The company said it expects to open doors to more than 100 cinemas, about a sixth of its Read More…
Kimpton Hotels and Resorts newest hotel, the Kimpton Armory Hotel in Bozeman, Montana, will debut August 18, becoming the brand’s first property in Montana. Located in a landmark National Guard Armory building joined by a new tower in Bozeman’s downtown, the hotel blend “Montana’s rugged beauty and the storied history of the building” with modern amenities. This Read More…
The Hagadone Media Group has launched a new grant program offering up to $1 million in matching advertising funds to assist locally owned businesses that have been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. Grants will be awarded in amounts up to $10,000 per month and can be used toward print or digital advertising in local Hagadone Read More…
St. Vincent Healthcare officials announced Wednesday the hospital was recognized as one of the top 100 hospitals in the nation by IBM Watson Health. The Billings hospital is the only of its kind in Montana to receive this distinction. This is the second year in a row for the recognition. St. Vincent is also the Read More…
Christopher Vanderpool works shifts as a “health ambassador” at a Walmart in Fayetteville, N.C., For $11 an hour, he stands in the parking lot asking customers to put on masks before entering the store. Many abide by the rule. Others, the 18-year-old said, “will say ‘No, I am not wearing that garbage,’ or some expletive.” Read More…
It’s a device that looks like a blend between a beverage cart and a robot, but it is meant to help continue the fight against coronavirus. On Wednesday, JetBlue has become the first airline in the country to use new cutting-edge UV light technology in its cleaning efforts as a means to fight the coronavirus. Read More…
Oil production from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota fell to a 7-year low of 827,000 barrels per day in May (Figure 1). That is a drop of almost 550,000 barrels per day (-40%) since March. Most of the decrease in output is because more than 2,800 wells were shut in over the last Read More…