Cascade Courier - Your trusted local news source since 1910

Here is our Top 19 for this week celebrating work and successes to grow and strengthen the Great Falls regional economy -- Montana's Golden Triangle. And, sharing business resources and skill-building opportunities to empower your success.

1) Congratulations to the 2023 Fire Within Award winners! This year we are recognizing 26 outstanding female entrepreneurs with the Inspire and Aspire Awards. Check out the list of winners on our website and be sure to follow us on social media for daily winner profiles. Register today for Fire Within; sponsored by Alluvion Health.

2) Major improvements to the critical Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System are underway thanks to over $50 million in recent federal funds; see Lewistown News.

3) Congratulations to Janet Duffy and Todd Neighbor on launching a Companion Insurance Agency! The agency will be located in Great Falls at 1703 2nd Ave North.

4) Wallet Hub ranked Montana as having the 8th lowest overall tax burden amongst the 50 states, and this was before the current legislative session which has lowered the top income tax rate. See the ranking here.

5) Congratulations to Great Falls photographer Megan Niklasen on winning first prize in the national Picture Wild Montana photo contest! See her amazing photo on GreatFallsTribune.

6) The Havre Chamber of Commerce is hosting a hiring event on April 26th from 3-6 PM at the Holiday Village Mall in Havre. Employers seeking employees can register here. If your business needs assistance with workforce issues please reach out to Tony at Tony@GrowGreatFalls.org or 406-870-2644.

7) Save the Date for our Talent Attraction Reception - The 2023 Great Falls Livability magazine is hot off the press! We will release the newest edition at a Talent Attraction reception on May 10 at Independence Bank in Great Falls from 4:30-6:30 PM. At the reception we will have team members to help recruiters produce short videos to use in recruitment efforts. This is an opportunity to tell your company's story and highlight some open positions to be featured on social media in our talent attraction campaigns. Contact Lyndsay@GrowGreatFalls.org or at (406) 590-1539 to learn more about our talent attraction tools and resources.

8) Average nonresident tourist spending in Montana averaged $4.48 billion each year in 2019 and 2021, according to a new Nonresident Travel Spending report from the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana. However, only 10.1% of the spending occurred in Central Montana where we have much room for growing our tourism industry. Cascade County has the 6th largest nonresident tourist spending, estimated at $256 million/year. This is a major part of our economy, creating jobs and tax base and supporting many small businesses that we enjoy and rely on.

9) If you're in the North Central Montana counties of Blaine, Cascade, Choteau, Fergus, Glacier, Hill, Judith Basin, Lewis and Clark, Liberty, Meagher, Pondera, Teton, and Toole we need your input! We want to help entrepreneurs start businesses, help existing businesses grow, and attract more market opportunities for food, ag, bio-processing, and farm-derived renewable energy producers! Please take a few minutes to fill out our survey here so we can begin building our strategy. We’d like to have responses in by April 9, but late responses will be accepted!

10) I had the great opportunity to participate in the National Main Streets conference this week with a powerful team of Downtown Great Falls partners, including the Business Improvement District, City of Great Falls, Downtown Great Falls Association, and TheElectric. Learned some exciting ideas to support downtown revitalization and talked with several consulting firms about our upcoming downtown market assessment and economic vitality strategy project.

11) BeeHive Homes in Great Falls has opened a new memory care home called the Huckleberry Home. The Memory Care service is to help elders with illnesses like Alzheimer's, dementia, and other degenerative ailments that affect memory. BeeHive Homes is hiring staff to care for the additional residents. Learn more in our Announcement of the Week.

12) Jake was in Big Sky, MT this week connecting with housing developers as part of the Urban Land Institute Tour Big Sky event. Workforce housing remains a top priority for businesses hiring in Great Falls. If you have a housing project you would like to move forward, please reach out to Jake Clark at Jake@GrowGreatFalls.org.

13) The Great Falls Downtown Building/Business census we are conducting is just about finished. Our volunteer students from the University of Providence are wrapping up and compiling the data. We’re excited to see how the Downtown has grown through the last 10 years and utilize this data to continue to grow our Downtown. If you have questions about the census, please contact Christian at 406.836.0136 or CLeinhauser@GrowGreatFalls.org.

14) USDA opened a new round of Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants and loans. Rural small businesses and agricultural producers can use the funds to make energy-efficiency improvements to lower operating costs or to install renewable energy systems. Quarterly competitions will be held through September 30th. See MATR.net for more info. USDA’s Value-Added Producer Grants program is also open. This program helps independent producers, agricultural producer groups, farmer and rancher cooperatives, and majority-controlled producer businesses to start or expand processing operations or marketing of processed ag products. Applications are due May 11. Contact Katesha Campbell if you would like help with applying; Katesha@GrowGreatFalls.org or 1-406-788-0860.

15) Jake and Brett are headed to Las Vegas in May for the International Council of Shopping Center (ICSC) annual conference: A gathering of dealmakers and industry experts, who are driving innovation and evolution in the marketplaces industry. If you have brands you'd like to see in Great Falls please reach out to Jake Clark at Jake@GrowGreatFalls.org and add to our target list for the conference.

16) Investing in Economic Development is an investment in community impact. Nobody understands that more than our INVESTORS and public partners. They are leading the change and providing us the support we need so that we can continue to help grow our region and bring more high wage opportunities to our residents. Learn more about them HERE. Recent investments include: Community Division: K&K Trucking, Inc. and Cappis Consulting & Tax, LLC. Without them, we couldn’t keep doing what we do. If you want to have a positive impact on the community and lead the change, contact Investment Director Jenn Gallmeier at 406-781-9499 or Jenn@GrowGreatFalls.org.

17) GFDA supports the Great Falls Library Mill Levy going for a vote in the special election on June 6. The library is an important component of the health and vitality of the Great Falls community. We encourage you to spread the word and vote in favor of the levy on June 6. For more information and to join the effort, visit VoteYesGreatFallsLibrary.org.

18) We have three great career opportunities to join the GFDA team as an Executive Assistant, Business Development Officer or Small Business Adviser. Download all three of our current career opportunities.

19) Continued to participate in the Montana legislative session, testifying in support of the Montana Department of Commerce and in defense of tax increment financing this week. Thank you to area business leaders for your testimony!

Have a fantastic week!

Brett

Brett Doney

President & CEO