SITKA Gear, a leader in high-performance hunting and outdoor apparel, announced a series of strategic changes to its sales team aimed at aligning talent with the company’s evolving business priorities. The adjustments include the addition of three new sales representatives and a significant territory expansion for a veteran team member, all designed to strengthen retail Read More…
Glacier Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: GBCI) announced Friday that it has received all necessary regulatory approvals for its planned acquisition of Bank of Idaho Holding Co. (OTCQX: BOID), clearing a major hurdle in the completion of the deal. The acquisition, which includes Bank of Idaho and its subsidiaries, is now scheduled to close on April 30, Read More…
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has taken a preliminary step toward potentially reversing boardroom restrictions imposed on Chevron and Exxon Mobil as part of their recent major acquisitions, signaling a shift from policies enacted under the Biden administration. The restrictions, which were key conditions for approving the oil giants’ multi-billion-dollar mergers, barred specific executives from Read More…
In a dramatic move to get ahead of looming U.S. tariffs, Apple has airlifted approximately 600 tons of iPhones—equivalent to around 1.5 million devices—from India to the United States, according to a report by Reuters. The unprecedented shipment is part of the tech giant’s effort to stabilize supply and avoid potential price hikes that could Read More…
For those of you who have never visited the former Glasgow Air Force Base in St. Marie, Montana, it is definitely an interesting site to see. It looks like something out of a movie. You will drive down a street and see abandoned home after abandoned home with brown, overgrown lawns and boarded up windows- Read More…
Vacant for most of the last decade, the old National Guard armory building in downtown Bozeman is beginning to show signs of life. Plans are moving forward to repurpose the building into an eight-story boutique hotel complete with event space and at least a pair of restaurants, said Cory Lawrence, CEO of local travel company Read More…
An obscure wireless industry deal from last year can help explain why T-Mobile and Sprint finally agreed to merge this week after years of flirting with a deal. Last May, Verizon signed a deal to buy acompany called Straight Path for more than $3 billion. If you remember the deal, it’s probably because AT&T and Read More…
The railroad’s planned investment will fund various initiatives, including a $1.4 million investment in the rail line between Butte-Silver Bow and near Lima to replace 10,000 crossties along our Montana Subdivision. UP also plans a $748,600 investment in the rail line between Moose Creek and Walkerville to replace curve rail along the railroad’s Montana Subdivision. Read More…
HELENA, Montana, April 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBMT), (the “Company,” “Eagle”), the holding company of Opportunity Bank of Montana, today reported net income was $573,000, or $0.11 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2018, compared to $763,000, or $0.20 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2017. Read More…
The app development side of Montana’s much-lauded tech sector will continue its upward trajectory, according to a newly released report. The sixth annual report, the State of the App Economy — aggregated by ACT The App Association, an industry organization that represents more than 5,000 app makers — details the growth of an almost $1 Read More…
The parent company of Herberger’s announced Thursday that going-out-of-business sales at Montana stores will start Friday. That includes the store at Rimrock Mall in Billings. The retailer moved into that spot and renovated the space three years ago after spending decades in a different wing of the mall. The announcement from corporate parent Bon Ton Read More…
Small-business hiring in March fell to the lowest point in over seven years, while hourly earnings grew steadily, a report from human resources firm Paychex said Tuesday. The Small Business Jobs Index decreased 0.12 percent from last month and 1.07 percent from a year earlier. Small-business wages continued to rise, reaching a 2.66 percent (69 Read More…
Kalispell Regional Healthcare is undergoing a transition in its leadership team as three top executives, the director of its digestive health institute and a contingent of its internal design team have either departed or announced plans to retire. In recent weeks, three prominent members of the Kalispell Regional staff who also serve on the hospital Read More…
In the outside, Meissenburg Designs still looks a lot like it did when it was the site of Martin’s Peat, located southeast of Bigfork. Loyd and Laura Meissenburg acquired the property in 2013, with most of the changes occurring inside to accommodate their growing design and fabrication company. The magnificent Swan Mountains rise above the Read More…
Belgrade’s much-beloved Chalet Market has been named the state’s Retailer of the Year by the Montana Department of Commerce. The store, which sells a variety of meats smoked, cured and packaged onsite, along with sandwiches, ice cream and a collection of products made in Montana, was honored at the annual Made in Montana Tradeshow late Read More…
CHEYENNE – The Cheyenne-Laramie County Joint Powers Board agreed Tuesday to fund half of a $250,000 grant meant to lure a mystery Denver manufacturer to the Swan Ranch rail park. The grant, split with economic development nonprofit Cheyenne LEADS, will be used to offset some of the company’s costs moving into LEADS’ “spec” building south Read More…
The Florida-based operator of supermarket chains Winn-Dixie and Bi-Lo announced Tuesday that it’s the latest grocery chain to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, after a New York-based chain, Tops Friendly Markets, filed earlier this month. While rumors of the filings have been swirling for months, the chains didn’t start officially filing in court until the Read More…
VAN NUYS (CBSLA) — An online prankster is targeting In-N-Out Burger and now the chain is taking legal action. When a man in a dark suit walked into an In-N-Out in Van Nuys and claimed to be their CEO, some believed him, but the manager wasn’t convinced. “Who are you?” the exchange started. “I’m actually Read More…
MISSOULA, Mont. — Missoula is getting two more breweries, one in downtown and one on the hip strip, bringing the city’s total to nine breweries, but the industry brings more to the community than just providing a unique blend of beer. On the corner of East Main Street and Pattee Street once sat a service Read More…
Lyft made a lot of progress in 2017, helped by strong market expansion within the U.S. and riding some very bad news from its primary rival, Uber. That’s helped it grow revenue to more than $1 billion as measured by GAAP standards for its fiscal 2017, with a particularly strong Q4 during which its revenue Read More…
President Donald Trump killed Broadcom’s proposed buyout of Qualcomm, citing national security concerns, according to a statement issued by the White House on Monday. “There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that Broadcom Limited, a limited company organized under the laws of Singapore (Broadcom)…through exercising control of Qualcomm Incorporated (Qualcomm), a Delaware corporation, Read More…
CUT BANK – Pardue Grain, Inc.’s $5.7-million project will include a food-grade processing line for pulse crops, which in Montana include chickpeas, peas and lentils. The upgraded facility should be open 12 miles west of Cut Bank in time for harvest and will add eight jobs to the economy, the Cut Bank Pioneer Press reported. Read More…
A Montana judge says a Nebraska-based insurance company is liable for a $43 million settlement between the state and people sickened by exposure to asbestos from a Libby vermiculite mine. National Indemnity Co. paid $16 million toward the 2009 settlement but later sued to recover the money. State District Judge Holly Brown said in ruling Read More…
Montana’s high-tech businesses want to demonstrate that they can play a meaningful role in growing the state’s economy by offering higher wages than other businesses in the state, adding more jobs, and generating quick revenue growth. That’s according to a report out today from the Montana High Tech Business Alliance. The organization, with assistance from Read More…
A local environmental nonprofit organization has filed an appeal with the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, seeking a reversal of the agency’s decision to grant a permit to a water-bottling plant in Creston. The Flathead Lakers announced the group would appeal the DNRC’s January decision to issue a water permit to the Montana Read More…
There’s currently around $200 billion of bitcoin floating around in people’s digital wallets. For many of their owners, those bitcoins have proved to be a valuable asset. They’re happy to leave them to rise in value and build up their wealth. For others though, those giant piles of coins are exactly what they’re supposed to Read More…
A South Korean official who guided Seoul’s regulatory clampdown on cryptocurrencies was found dead on Sunday, according to a government spokesman. Jung Ki-joon, 52, was head of economic policy at the Office for Government Policy Coordination. He helped coordinate efforts to create new legislation aimed at suppressing cryptocurrency speculation and illicit activity, the spokesman said. Read More…
The nation’s first manufacturer of cross-laminated timber plans to set up shop in Maine, with a goal of creating 100 jobs at a $22 million mill, officials said Friday. SmartLam, LLC of Montana still seeks a mill site, but has committed to building a factory in Maine within 18 months. Founded in 2012, the company Read More…
The Montana and Idaho Community Development Corporation recently received $65 million in New Market Tax Credits from part of the annual allotment distributed by the U.S. Treasury. The nonprofit organization with hubs in Missoula, Bozeman and Boise will sell the tax credits to investors, and use the cash they get in exchange to offer subsidies Read More…
The Front Brewing Company, a Great Falls brewery open since 2012, is in the process of being sold and changed. Jeremiah Johnson, the purchaser of The Front Brewing Company, said he and his wife are extremely fortunate. “I’m in the process of purchasing the Front Brewing Company from Linda Caricaburu and Brad Talcott here in Read More…
A mapping startup based in Missoula, Mont., which allows users to download sophisticated offline topographic maps outlining public and private lands and a number of other features geared towards hunting, fishing and camping, has pulled in its first major outside funding. onXmaps has closed a $20.3 million Series A round led by Summit Partners. Bessemer Read More…
Were it not for the stock market crash of the early 1970’s, James Stack might still be a mechanical engineer in Colorado. Stack graduated at the top of his engineering class at Montana State University in 1974 and went on to work as a project manager at IBM. Taking the advice of economists and Wall Read More…
WHITEFISH, Mont.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) today announced that its 2018 capital expenditure program in Montana will be approximately $135 million. This year’s plan in Montana remains focused on maintenance projects to ensure BNSF continues to operate a safe and reliable rail network. The largest component of this year’s capital plan in the state will Read More…
GTUIT, LLC, a Billings based company, announced that it has recovered more than one million barrels of natural gas liquids (NGLs) from oil producing wellsites that would have otherwise been combusted in a flare stack. GTUIT designed, built, and operated all the mobile associated natural gas processing units responsible for achieving the million barrel milestone. Read More…
Insurance giant Anthem has pledged to make a $1,000 retirement contribution to all of its 58,000 employees and recent retirees in response to Republicans’ tax cuts legislation. Anthem made the announcement Monday. READ THE FULL STORY.
In the early 1800s, French soldiers conquering and colonizing Algeria were given daily rations of absinthe because military leaders thought it would help their men combat malaria. When those soldiers returned home, they started demanding the drink at their local watering holes in France. Its rise to popularity was swift, but so was its fall. Read More…
GREAT FALLS – Patrick Chapman, chances are if you have shopped at Super 1 foods on 10th Ave in Great Falls you know who Patrick is. Before Super One Patrick worked with NorthWestern Energy as one of their secondary life skills program students. This program teaches young adults with special needs how to be independent, Read More…
The University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research’s 43rd annual economic outlook seminar will be held in Kalispell on Feb. 6, with this year’s program exploring the relationship between higher education and the state’s economy. The keynote speaker is Robert Nystuen, president of Glacier Bank and vice chair of the Montana University System Read More…
Negotiators were in Montreal, Canada for the sixth round of talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement this week and Montana wheat and barley farmers paid close attention to the ongoing talks. According to Michelle Erickson-Jones, president of the Montana Grain Growers Association, NAFTA has been one of the most important agreements overall Read More…
The resurgence of the oil industry can be traced back to what happened in Congress one day in December 2015. That’s when lawmakers ended the 40-year ban on U.S. oil exports. Crude pumped in Texas, Oklahoma and North Dakota could suddenly be shipped overseas. At the time, excess supply was wreaking havoc on the energy Read More…
A business coalition is asking a judge to stop state officials from imposing a fee on assets of Montana’s workers’ compensation fund to plug a budget gap. The suit filed Monday in state District Court in Lake County says employers pay into the fund to make sure injured workers get medical coverage and state officials Read More…
EVERGREEN – The Green Haus medical marijuana dispensary is a bright, airy space with wooden accents and friendly faces behind the counter, a dream owner Mike Eacker has spent at least a decade making come true. Each customer who walks in is greeted by name, and each tells stories of how medical cannabis has changed Read More…
Montana’s unemployment rate remained pretty much unchanged during the final month of the holiday season. State Senior Economist Barbara Wagner explains. “Montana’s unemployment rate is at 4.1% in December, that is the most recent month we have available,” said Wagner. “It is actually exactly even with the U.S. rate this month, which is a long Read More…
Apple on Wednesday made a slew of announcements about its investment in and contribution to the U.S. economy in part because of the new tax law. The headline from Apple is that it will make a $350 billion “contribution” to the U.S. economy. The company also promised to create 20,000 new jobs and open a Read More…