Bear Paw Development sets annual meeting Feb. 29

Press release

Bear Paw Development Corp. announced its annual meeting luncheon for 2024, along with the keynote speaker, is set for Thursday, Feb. 29, at noon in the Best Western Plus Havre Inn and Suites, located at 1425 U.S. Highway 2 West in Havre.

The keynote speaker will be Rick Edwards, director of community connections with NorthWestern Energy, whose topic is "Dynamics of a Multi-Generational Workforce."

"We have intentionally chosen a topic for our annual meeting this year that has relevance to our region's employer community and that focuses on an issue we continue to hear is important to businesses and other employers in northern Montana, and that is the changing dynamic of today's workforce," Bear Paw Executive Director Paul Tuss said. "For the first time, we have as many as five generations in the workforce. This creates challenges as well as opportunities, and this interactive presentation will explore how others are dealing successfully with this reality."

As director of community connections at NorthWestern Energy, keynote speaker Rick Edwards is responsible for community relations, key accounts and economic development activities in NorthWestern's four-state service territory. Edwards has worked for NorthWestern, formerly the Montana Power Company, for 45 years and is an active board member for a number of organizations, including the Montana Ambassadors, Butte Local Development Corporation, Montana Economic Developers Association, Montana Council on Economic Education and the Montana State Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Edwards has a degree in technical communications from Montana Tech.

Bear Paw Development's Annual Meeting Luncheon is open to the public, but a reservation is required. The luncheon fee is $15 per person. To RSVP for the event, people can call 406-265-9226 or email [email protected].

Tuss noted that in addition to the keynote speaker, also attending will be Paul Green, director of the Montana Department of Commerce, who will also be making remarks.

"Our annual meeting is a time to reflect on past accomplishments, look ahead to future opportunities and celebrate the people and partnerships that have allowed us to serve the economic and community development needs of northern Montana for 55 years as Montana's longest-serving Economic Development District," Tuss said.