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…
HELENA – Gov. Steve Bullock reports that Montana’s unemployment rate has remained steady for most of 2017, saying workers and families are heading into the holidays with a strong economy driving growth in local communities across the state. Gov. Bullock’s office says the unemployment rate was 4.0% for the month of November while the U.S. Read More…
MISSOULA,Mont. – Stockman Bank is asking the Missoula City Council to approve a new bank on the corner of Brooks Street and Dore Lane. The request comes from Mike Tuss, a principal at CTA Architects, on behalf of William Coffee, the CEO of Stockman Bank, as the bank looks to construct a nearly 49,000-square-foot building. Read More…
Whitefish Ford VW and Kalispell Ford of Evergreen have united and relocated to a brand new 54,000-square-foot facility in North Kalispell that officially opens today. The Kalispell Ford dealership has a larger capacity than both the old ones combined and features 26 service bays, said Milt Aus, who was the general manager at Kalispell Ford Read More…
CVS is confirming that it’s buying Aetna for $69 billion in a deal that will help the drugstore chain reach deeper into customer health care and protect a key client. CVS Health Corp. released a statement Sunday saying it will pay cash and stock for Aetna Inc. The mammoth acquisition pairs a company that runs Read More…
Pulse crops such as peas, dry beans, lentils, and chick peas play a huge role in healthy diets around the world. Pulse crops are also a powerful and versatile crop for Montana farmers who can use them to improve soil health and generate income from local and global markets. According to Circle’s Jerry Schillinger, president Read More…
BILLINGS – A Billings business with deep downtown roots will be celebrating its 80th anniversary Friday night, during the Holiday ArtWalk and the annual Christmas Stroll. The celebration will run from 5 to 9 p.m. at Montague’s Jewelers, 2810 Second Ave. N., presided over by Chris Montague, who returned the third-generation store to downtown Billings after Read More…
When you’re running a small business, you fight for every customer, client and sale. That’s why it’s frustrating whenever something unexpected throws a wrench in the works. One of those unexpected wrenches for many small businesses is online reviews. Positive reviews can springboard your business toward success, while negative reviews can seriously poison the well. Read More…
Montana has an estimated 37,400 women-owned businesses, employing 35,000 and attributing to roughly $4,771,100,000 according to the seventh annual State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, commissioned by American Express OPEN. The report analyzes data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Business Owners and factoring in relative changes in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Montana is ranked Read More…
GTUIT, a Billings-based manufacturer of mobile gas treatment systems, will participate in the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference taking place in Abu Dhabi Nation Exhibition Center, November 13-16. The company will be showcased by Caterpillar in its exhibit as technology “that keeps our customers connected to their assets, contributing to their overall success.” Read More…
BUTTE, Mont. – Black Friday may be the busiest shopping day of the year, but small businesses have their eye on another big day. Butte shops are busy preparing for their own rush on Small Business Saturday. This year they’ve come up with some new ways to lure customers in. The Butte mall was packed Read More…
The Montana Scene opened its fifth location on Nov. 3 at 219 S. Main St. in downtown Kalispell. The Montana Scene’s other locations are in Bigfork, Whitefish, Missoula and Bozeman. Only open for three years, the family-owned business has seen tremendous growth. The mission of the The Montana Scene is to share their passion and 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…