NorthWestern Energy has announced agreements to supply significant amounts of electricity to two proposed data centers in Montana, with combined power demands set to exceed the capacity of the state’s newest gas-fired power plant. The development raises questions about Montana’s energy infrastructure and its ability to meet growing demand while maintaining reliable service. The larger Read More…
Montana’s unemployment rate remained at 3.2% in November, continuing an unprecedented stretch of low unemployment that has persisted for 41 consecutive months, with rates at or below 3.4%. The state’s historic run surpasses the previous record set in 2006-2007 when unemployment rates stayed at or below 3.4% for 15 months. In November alone, Montana added Read More…
Frontier Asset Management, an independent asset management firm, has officially launched its suite of actively managed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). These ETFs are designed to enhance Frontier’s multi-asset Active ETF Strategies, with the goal of providing attractive risk-adjusted returns for investors. The Frontier ETF suite consists of six actively Read More…
(The Center Square) – Methane emissions from the largest oil- and natural gas-producing basins fell 44% between 2011 and 2013, according to newly published data from the Environmental Protection Agency. According to the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, methane emissions dropped in seven oil- and natural gas-producing basins by up to 87% from 2019-2023. The Read More…
(HELENA) Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Montana announced Monday that Dr. Monica Berner will be its next president. “I am humbled and excited to build on our past successes and celebrate innovation as we continue to navigate the ever-changing health care environment,” Berner said in a press release. “We are dedicated to making the health care system Read More…
Inter-Mountain Bancorp, Inc., the Bozeman-based holding company for First Security Bank, has entered into an agreement to join the Glacier Bancorp family of banks. Pending Board and regulatory approval, First Security will officially be under the Glacier Bancorp umbrella in early 2018. The new relationship will eventually lead to First Security Bank’s Golden Triangle locations Read More…
COLUMBIA FALLS — The prominent hotel and convention center. The lineup of renovated and emerging storefronts and apartment buildings populating almost half of Nucleus Avenue. Even the aerial photo of the “Gateway to Glacier” placed front and center on the city government’s website. All courtesy of Mick Ruis. It’s impossible to walk through Columbia Falls Read More…
Sears Holdings Corp. drew down the remaining $60 million on a $200 million loan, signaling that the struggling department-store chain is quickly running through cash. The retailer set up a revised loan on Oct. 4 and borrowed an initial $100 million, according to a filing on Monday. It tapped an additional $40 million on Oct. Read More…
BOZEMAN, Mont. – In a four to one decision, the Bozeman City Commission voted Wednesday night to approve a controversial apartment complex project slated for downtown. It was the second vote on the Black Olive project. Dozens of people crowded into City Hall to have their voice heard. Many were disappointed when the vote came Read More…
Kathy Boelter, Billings, founder and President of Arrow Solutions Group, was recently accepted into the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, a very coveted award for small business owners who demonstrate dynamic leadership in business. The program, a co-investment between Goldman Sachs and Bloomberg Philanthropies, focuses on job creation and economic development. It offers participants Read More…
BILLINGS – Making hand crafted spirits is a labor of love for Casey McGowan, who opened Trailhead Spirits in January 2013. “We are a true production distillery where we make all the products that we sell,” said McGowan. “We ferment, we distill, we bottle, we do everything on site here.” When McGowan says everything is Read More…
The Supreme Court on Monday accepted a second important case on digital privacy, agreeing to hear a dispute between the federal government and Microsoft about emails stored overseas. The justices increasingly have been called upon to settle legal battles between law enforcement and technology companies, and to interpret laws written before the technology revolution that Read More…
As a fifth generation Montana farmer and rancher, Colter DeVries, was one of the first in his family to attend college. DeVries studied finance and business at Montana State University (MSU) in Bozeman, Montana. It was here that he started working for a commodities trading platform and took an interest in marketing. “It’s always been Read More…
MISSOULA – Courtesy MT Chamber of Commerce Facebook, the Montana Chamber of Commerce, the University of Montana School of Business Administration, and the Montana High Tech Business Alliance will host a Boost Your Business seminar in Missoula, Montana. The seminar is free to the public and all businesses are welcome to attend. The seminar aims Read More…
A Canadian livestock production and animal nutrition corporation is seeking to build Montana’s largest slaughterhouse and meat processing facility near Great Falls. According to the Great Falls Tribune, Friesen Foods has filed a Special Use Permit (SUP) with the Cascade County Planning Division for the proposed “Madison Food Park” complex, which could employ 3,000 people. Read More…
General Electric announced Monday that Jeffrey Immelt retired as director and chairman of the company’s board of directors, about two months earlier than expected. In June, GE said Immelt would retire from the board at the end of December. The board elected John L. Flannery, who became CEO of the company in June, to the Read More…
The economics of unit trains and improving technology are making possible the building of a new mega fertilizer plant by Town & Country Supply Association near Lockwood. Construction began in February and is expected to be completed in December. It will be operational just in time to serve the needs of farmers for the 2018 Read More…
There were recurring themes during a Kalispell Chamber of Commerce panel discussion about manufacturing last week. Freight costs are a continuous challenge; good employees are hard to find so if you have them, do what you can to keep them. And paperwork can make or break a small manufacturer. The Chamber discussion kicked off a Read More…
BUTTE – REC Silicon in Butte announced Wednesday it is laying off 30 employees at its facility just south of Butte. The layoffs were made for efficiency improvements and cost-cutting initiatives, according to a news release issued by the company Wednesday morning. READ THE FULL STORY.
These are good times for AI entrepreneurs. Recent analysis of venture data shows that funding for artificial intelligence startups continues its upward trend in 2017, with investment hitting new highs. (For deep dives into aggregate Q2 venture performance, head here for the world, and here for just the U.S.) Venture, corporate and seed investors have put an estimated $3.6 Read More…
Playground Ventures — the VC fund co-founded by Android inventor and former Google exec Andy Rubin that sits alongside an eponymous incubator/startup studio and is making some big bets in areas like artificial intelligence and new generations of hardware– is raising more money. A Form D filed with the SEC notes that Playground Ventures is Read More…
Apple is getting closer to the $1 trillion mark. Shares of the iPhone maker hit another all-time high Wednesday. At $163.89, they are just $30 a share away from making Apple the first U.S. company to cross the $1 trillion threshold in terms of market capitalization. That would put Apple’s size slightly less than the Read More…
Expedia’s chief financial officer will be promoted to CEO, the company said on Wednesday. Mark Okerstrom will take over for Dara Khosrowshahi as president and CEO of the travel tech conglomerate. Khosrowshahi was recently named CEO of Uber. His job begins on Tuesday but Khosrowshahi will remain on Expedia’s board. (Expedia owns CarRentals.com.) READ THE Read More…
A former Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. electrical planner has published a comprehensive online history of the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. plant. From the geology, chemistry, and history of Earth’s aluminum, to the aluminum boom from the 1960s to the 1990s, Richard Hanners’ history tells the whole story, including the rise and fall of Anaconda Aluminum Read More…
Advocates see great potential in Montana’s growing solar power industry, but a Public Service Commission decision has changed the landscape. Up the North Fork of the Flathead — one of the wildest valleys remaining in the lower 48 states — the Polebridge Mercantile acts as a tiny haven of modernity, offering visitors baked goods, cold Read More…
HELENA – The state Public Service Commission voted 4-1 Thursday to approve the license of Lyft Inc., making it the second app-based ride-sharing company in Montana. A similar license was granted to Uber in December 2015 after changes to state law earlier that year paved the way for such companies to operate in Montana. “The Read More…
(HELENA) Pizza Ranch plans to open in Helena later this year. Construction is underway on a new building that will house the restaurant. The 9,300-square foot building is on North Sanders Street, near Buffalo Wild Wings. READ THE FULL STORY
Hidden away from a smoky summer day, head cheese maker Allison Dembek looks over sheep milk cheeses aging in a cheese cave on the Tucker Family Farm, nestled between Victor and Hamilton. “Cheese making is beautiful in its science. This perfect match of exact scientific precision and also for the finish, it’s creative and it’s Read More…
HELENA – While U.S. Senate Republicans’ plan to repeal “Obamacare” has been criticized for potentially undercutting coverage for thousands of low-income Montanans, at least one group is firmly behind it: The state’s primary lobby for small businesses. “What we’re looking for is a health-care system that is affordable, flexible and predictable,” says Riley Johnson, state Read More…
Economics professor Gregg Davis wasn’t always interested in economics, though his interest in natural resources began at an early age. In high school, Davis got a job working in a landscape nursery and fell in love with working in nature. “I loved working with living things,” he said. A Columbus, Ohio native, Davis was the Read More…
Missoula tech firm Submittable announced a $5 Million Series A investment led Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, True Ventures. Submittable is a cloud-based submission platform that was founded in 2010. The company now has more than 35 employees. “We are positioned as the matching and reviewing platform for any organization looking for work or any Read More…
When Keith and Katie Poe contemplated the best way to make a living that allowed them to raise their family on Katie’s great-grandfather’s homestead in Trego, sausage became their savior. The Poes are in the fourth summer of taking their Saucy Dogs food truck on the road. The popular food trailer is a staple at Read More…
She had heard about T-shirt screen printing as a kind of “get rich quick” scheme and figured it was a way to move on from waitressing gigs. Plus it would let the Savannah School of Art and Design grad get her creative juices flowing again. So Tatum Johnson bought a screen printing book and Read More…
CASCADE – Tucked in an old poker room in the back of the Driftwood Bar in Cascade, Amy Eisenzimer (formerly Parker) mixes just five ingredients to make a drink with a kick: Parker’s Hangover Tonic. “I do recommend this to customers that are hungover…a little hair of the dog always helps,” said Eisenzimer. Parker’s Hangover Tonic is Read More…
The Better in Butte Local Crowd is seeking proposals from businesses, organizations, and individuals who need funding to get their projects off the ground. Butte was selected in 2016 to be a Local Crowd crowdfunding demonstration site as part of a research project funded by USDA. Crowdfunding is the practice of sourcing small contributions from Read More…
Patrick and John Collison have come a long way from the quiet village outside of Limerick, Ireland where they grew up. With little around except “mooing cows,” the brothers turned to coding to occupy themselves. To access the internet, their parents had to buy a special satellite. In 2011 the Collisons founded Stripe, an online Read More…
An electric utility company is closing two coal-fired power plants by next year, citing economic conditions. Dayton Power & Light, a subsidiary of utility giant AES Corp., announced on Monday the closure of the J.M. Stuart and Killen generating stations, following a monthslong review of the plants. They are the latest in a string of Read More…
A pair of new streets are under construction in North Bozeman as part of a 20-acre commercial development slated for the vacant field off 19th Avenue south of Target. Located south of City Brew coffee across Cattail Street, the Opportunity Subdivision will contain six lots, five of which will be available for shops and businesses. Read More…
The Flathead Valley’s best and brightest young professionals will be honored in June at the inaugural 20 Under 40 celebration and event. The Daily Inter Lake will be presenting these honors in June along with the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce and the Flathead Area Young Professionals group. “The Flathead Valley is full of talented young Read More…
A Missoula company is fed to the “sharks.” TOMIS takes home the winning prize at the Montana made “Shark-Tank” business plan competition. Tourism is one of Montana’s leading industry. In 2016, non-resident visitors spent $3.5 billion. According to one Missoula company, more of that money could go directly into the pockets of local tourism businesses if they Read More…
The U.S. 93 bypass, Glacier Rail Park and the reconstruction of Going-to-the-Sun Road have one thing in common. All three projects were once included on the community wish lists that shaped the Flathead Valley’s comprehensive economic development strategy in years past. Every five years, Montana West Economic Development embarks on a regional improvement plan, but Read More…
Christopher Gregory is one of the principals of Fortis Group, a newly formed business brokerage firm. Fortis Group operates out of Bozeman offices with its parent company Compass Advisors. Both businesses assist in the sale of businesses, with Fortis specializing in the sale of smaller market businesses, of which Montana is largely comprised. How Read More…
Flathead County’s unemployment rate posted at 6.7 percent in January, increasing from 5.9 percent in December, the state Department of Labor and Industry said Monday. The county has a current workforce of 42,248 people. The jobless rate in other Northwest Montana counties also increased over the same month. Lincoln County had a 10.5 percent unemployment Read More…
NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) – I spend a lot of time at Fox 5 covering startups. One of the biggest compliments you can pay a startup is to call it a disrupter, changing not just local business, but entire industries across the country and even around the world. Former TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus says we haven’t had such Read More…