Future of economic development discussed in Havre

Representatives of a number of local businesses gathered Tuesday at Bear Paw Development to discuss the effectiveness of the state’s existing economic development program and programs, incentives or initiatives may be needed in the future.

Bear Paw Development Executive Director Paul Tuss said the NextGen Economics meeting is part of a push to look to the future.

“It’s a statewide initiative to really focus on what does the next generation of economic development programs look like,” he said. “What are the hurdles we have in economic development and what is the vitality?”

He added that Bear Paw Development, as part of the Montana Economic Developers Association and the Montanan Chamber of Commerce, helped put together this initiative, alongside TIP Strategies, an economic strategy firm based out of Austin, Texas. He said TIP Strategy consultants are meeting with different business leaders, community leaders and non-profit organizations to flesh out different funding opportunities and gather a better understanding of Montana’s needs. He added that they are not only looking at the needs in different communities but are also looking at what has been working and what initiatives should move forward.

TIP Strategies Consultant and Project Manager Elizabeth Scott, said that she and a number of other TIP consultants have been traveling around the state, speaking to different leaders from different regions of Montana to gather a complete overview of the needs in the state. She added that they are looking at things such as small businesses, agriculture and tourism, which are large economic factors across the state. 

“We are in the very beginning planning phases right now,” she said.

Scott said that TIP’s first trip to Montana for this project was to Helena, where they spoke with representatives of the state, as well as made a trip to Bozeman and Great Falls to gather information. She added that while in Great Falls she also attended a Montana Association of Counties meeting, where she spoke to a number of county commissioners about what they are seeing in their areas.

A significant portion of the project is to look at case studies both from within and outside of the state and see what would be the best fit for Montana, she said. She added that this part of the process they are only gathering information and collecting data, and are noticing trends.

“There has been a tremendous amount of consistency,” Scott said.

She added that she cannot comment on any findings because project is in it’s beginning phases of discovery, but what she has heard from the commissioners and state officials has been similar to the concerns of business owners and other community members.

The project is to give more opportunities for communities across the state, but also support the programs in the state that are working, she said. She added that this is only phase one of the project, the discovery phase, and, at the end of May, before the legislative session, they should have final recommendations. She said that TIP will also be looking into Phase Three, which will be the implementation of what they have recommended.

Lewis Heating and A/C co-owner Shaylee Lewis said that one of the issues she is seeing is with getting qualified and skilled employees. She added that this is a problem many other businesses are struggling with and regarding HVAC, the state does not have a program to encourage skilled workers. 

Lewis Heating has seven employees, she said, and it could employ more if there were more qualified applicants. She added that at the moment the majority of their employees are being grown out of Lewis Heating, whch works with Montana State University-Northern’s apprenticeship program to train employees.

Having more employees is critical, she said. For example this past winter, Lewis Heating was booked out 10 to 12 weeks for an installation. 

“You never want to be booked out that far,” she said.

She added that even this past month they are still booked out about four weeks. She said this is a problem when it is really cold and people need heat.

Anne Boothe, who owns a small freelance consulting business, said she has had contracts with Triangle Communication, which has invested heavily in fiber optic lines for rural communities in the area. She said that many people do not realize that rural communities such as Malta, Harlem and Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, have fiber lines and strong service. 

“When you hear that maybe we are not technology-connected, it’s not necessarily the line in the ground,” she said.

She said that, in other states, the states have a broadband program, but Montana does not, and it desperately needs one. She added that it doesn’t necessarily need to be money-driven but needs to be communication-driven so people know what is out there.

“I just think there is a huge disservice,” Boothe said.

The state needs more overall communication between agencies and communities, she said. In rural northern Montana, different communities have chambers of commerce to help support businesses, she said, but the chambers do not communicate with each other. 

In a number of counties more younger people are taking over businesses, but without communication and leadership training entrepreneurs have little assistance with their business, she said.

Montana Cooperative Development Center Executive Director Tracy McIntyre said another large concern for many different communities is infrastructure, especially in rural communities. She said the state also is experiencing some of the negative effects from the loss of the timber industry.

The timber industry used to pay a large amount of taxes, which would fund schools, roads and a variety of other things, not only in western Montana, but across the state, she said. With the loss of the industry the state has a significant decrease in tax revenue that can be dispersed to counties, cities and other state agencies.

Another issue, McIntyre said, is that the state invests in infrastructure for larger areas, such as Bozeman and Missoula, which already have a large budget for infrastructure, while forgetting about rural communities. She added that the state needs to focus efforts in rural communities and rural infrastructure because they are also an important part of the state. 

The state is very diverse and rural western Montana is not the same as rural northern or eastern Montana, she said. She added that there is no cookie-cutter solution to the problems the state is facing, but a solution needs to be found.

Tuss said that he was very pleased with the conversations people had while at the meeting and agrees that statewide the state needs to promote economic diversification, job creation and invest in infrastructure.

“It didn’t matter what sector you came from, whether it was the non-profit sector, the for-profit sector, government or business; the truth is we all live in this community, we all live in this region and we all want the very best for our kids and our grandkids and we want the very best for our communities,” he said.