People should attend economic outlook seminar

People in the Havre area have the chance to find out the latest news on the state economy and should try to make it if they can.

University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research will be in Havre March 16 presenting its Economic Outlook Seminar for the year.

The seminar, the 47th held by the bureau, travels the state making presentations on various issues including this year an overview of three of the biggest issues on people’s minds right now.

The seminar typically looks at potential impacts of recent events as well, so the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its potential economic impact could very well be addressed.

The seminar kicked off in Billings Feb. 1 and the Havre stop next week is its final presentation.

The theme of the seminar is “Where is Housing Headed? How Will Today’s Imbalances be Resolved?”

The seminar includes a roundtable discussion on the issue.

“Housing prices accelerated sharply across many Montana markets in 2021, as very low mortgage rates and increased appetite for housing in the wake of the pandemic hit markets with limited supply,” BBER Executive Director Patrick Barkey said in a press release. “Housing prices rose by 30 percent in Bozeman, 21.3 percent in Missoula, 13.1 percent in Billings and 12.3 percent in Great Falls.”

Barkey said in the release that inflation and workers also are major topics of the seminar.

“The labor market is healing, but older workers in particular have been reluctant to return,” Barkey said. “Montana employers are going to continue to struggle to find workers.”

The keynote speaker is attorney Abigail St. Lawrence, an attorney and lobbyist who has spent nearly two decades working on water rights, land use, and housing and development projects.

People attending the seminar, which costs $90 to cover expenses to present the seminar, $25 for Montana University System faculty, students and staff, includes lunch, a copy of the 2022 Montana Economic Report, a book of the PowerPoint presentations used in the seminar and a one-year subscription to BBER’s award-winning magazine, Montana Business Quarterly,

Continuing education credits also are available.

Presenters from BBER including Barkey and Montana Sate University, Montana High Tech Business Alliance, NorthWestern Energy and Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research will cover a wide range of topics.

Those include a U.S. and Montana economic outlook, health care, tourism and recreation, the forest industry, technology and startups, a local outlook for the Havre region and an update by NorthWestern Energy CEO Bob Rowe titles “An Update on Our Energy Investment.”

Anyone who wants to know more about what has happened in those sectors and why, and what is likely to come in the rest of the year, would find it very beneficial to attend the Economic Outlook Seminar.

For more information and to register, people can visit https://www.economicoutlookseminar.com online or call 406-243-5113.