Daniel Loeb’s hedge fund Third Point has walked away from its activist campaign against CoStar Group, selling its entire position in the real estate data company after concluding that its original investment thesis no longer held, according to a letter to investors. Third Point had signaled in January that it would pursue a board challenge Read More…
A federal judge on Friday extended an emergency order keeping Nexstar Media Group and Tegna operating as separate companies for another week, as he weighs whether to issue a longer preliminary injunction that could halt the $6.2 billion merger while an antitrust lawsuit works its way through the courts. U.S. District Judge Troy Nunley of Read More…
Hi-Country Snack Foods, a nearly 50-year-old Montana jerky maker and one of the largest employers in the small mountain community of Lincoln, has paused production — a development that raises new concerns about the company’s future and the economic health of the town it has long anchored. The production halt comes less than a year Read More…
Shareholders of both NorthWestern Energy and Black Hills Corp. have voted to approve a proposed all-stock merger that would combine the two regional utilities into a new company called Bright Horizon Energy Corporation, the companies announced Thursday. The votes were cast at special shareholder meetings held earlier in the day and mark a major step 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…
Wikileaks today published a trove of documents, allegedly taken from the CIA, that detail the government’s efforts to hack popular devices like iPhones, Android phones, and Samsung smart TVs. But Apple is pushing back against claims that the CIA’s hoarded vulnerabilities for its devices were effective. The documents, if they are indeed legitimate, include charts that Read More…
Norwegian startup Gobi raised $500,000 at a $15 million valuation to take on Snapchat with its “Stories” communication tool. The platform enables users to create public and private groups where users can share photos and videos that stay around for three days before vanishing into digital pixel-dust. “We originally created a Snapchat group for our college,” says Kristoffer Lande, Read More…
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Thursday that he does not believe carbon dioxide is a “primary contributor” to climate change. “I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact. So no, I would not Read More…
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has awarded the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce with one of its top honors, recognizing the local organization for its effective structure and positive impact on the Flathead Valley. The Kalispell chamber received a five-star accreditation for its sound policies, effective procedures and positive impact on the community. The chamber advocates Read More…
A pair of local nonprofits plan to buy the 270-acre Bohart Ranch Cross Country Ski Center to create a 500-acre recreational area adjacent to Bridger Bowl, the groups announced Friday. Crosscut Mountain Sports Center, in partnership with the Bridger Biathlon Club, will finalize the sale of the Bridger Canyon ranch by early June, before setting Read More…
High tech companies brought in more than $1 billion dollars in revenue in 2016 and the industry is growing seven times faster than the rest of the Montana economy. A University of Montana Bureau of of Business Economic Research (BBER) study showed $1.09 billion in revenue last year, up from $867 million in 2015. Companies in Read More…
For a state that has the highest ratio of entrepreneurs, Montana does not rank well in how it treats those entrepreneurs, and the impacts of those policies are far reaching for every citizen. Montana ranks 32nd in the 21st annual ranking of all states by the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (SBE), regarding policies which Read More…
On a recent Wednesday night, Montana State University channeled its inner Silicon Valley. A group of startup businesses gathered to present their various ventures — from a rideshare app to a bioengineered toothpick — in front of a crowd in the atrium of Jabs Hall. The startups, six in total, represented the first cohort of Read More…
Talen Energy is pushing Montana lawmakers for a tax break worth millions to keep two units of the coal-fired Colstrip power plant open, with one Republican leader saying Tuesday the units could close within the year without some form of assistance. House Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, said the $10 million coal severance tax reduction proposed Read More…
Local taco connoisseur Marley McKenna is hoping to feed Four Corners’ growing appetite with a new Taco del Sol shop off Huffine Lane. The restaurant, which will join McKenna’s Main Street location, is set to open in April. From Bozeman Daily Chronicle
There has been a sudden surge in job openings in the Bakken – particularly for hydraulic fracturing and completion crews – as companies ramp up to put more wells on line in the first half of 2017, reports Oil Patch Hotline. Pay scales are running between $16 and $30 an hour. The number of job Read More…
About 77,000 visitors to Montana used Airbnb accommodations last year spending more than $10 million. Bozeman led all of Montana cities in 2016 in Airbnb use with 13,000 guests spending $1.9 million for their accommodations, according to an Airbnb press release issued Wednesday. From KTVQ