09/02/2024
Community updates from our Great Falls Development Alliance partners:
1) The Bureau of Reclamation broke ground in Babb on the $90 million St. Mary's Diversion Dam Replacement Project, part of the Milk River water project; see KFBB.
2) Students, faculty, partners, & community leaders celebrated the opening of the new CORE School, a Public Charter School at Morningside Elementary, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. This is the first teacher prep charter school in Montana. See: KRTV, The Electric. The school, a partnership between the University of Montana Western and Great Falls Public Schools, offers college students a hands-on teaching experience alongside experienced elementary educators. This approach is set to enhance educational quality, foster local talent retention, and provide valuable hands-on learning for future educators. This school’s unique program promises to elevate our community’s educational standards, strengthen our workforce, and serve as a model for future schools across the state.
3) Pasta Montana added an additional processing line while celebrating their 20th year in Great Falls (read more at the Electric). This week, Tracy and Anna toured this exciting new expansion and learned how the increase in processing capacity will benefit both our local pasta company and the greater region of North Central Montana. If you are a food manufacturer looking to expand or celebrate an expansion, reach out to Anna at 1-406-590-1301.
4) I joined several local elected leaders and Ed Brown, President of the Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce for a dinner with Under Secretary oif the Air Force Melissa Dalton and her Sentinel leadership team to discuss how we can support next steps in the project. See TheElectric.
5) Great Falls College has launched a new Future Build Carpentry Program; see KRTV.
6) The final competitive round of the Montana State Small Business Credit Initiative 2.0 (SSBCI 2.0) low interest rate program opened. If you have a project that could move forward with the benefit of low interest rate funding, start talking to GFDA now as these funds are very limited. If you have a business that can benefit from these funds contact Jill at 1-406-590-1056.
7) Cost of living in the Great Falls metro continues to be competitive versus other metro areas of the country according to 2024Q2 data released by the Council for Community and Economic Research. Our cost of living was 89.8% of the national average compared to Billings at 99.5%, Boise at 103.2%, Cheyenne at 109.4%. However, we need to do everything we can to get more housing into construction to avoid losing our affordability.
8 Malmstrom AFB is holding Town Hall Meetings to update the community on the upcoming Sentinel Project. September 4th, 6:00 PM at the Fergus County Fairground in Lewistown and September 5th, 6:00 PM at CMR High School in Great Falls. There will be time at the end of the meeting for crowd questions or submit your questions in advance here. See KRTV and TheElectric.
9) Deb McGregor started work as our new Small Business Development Center Regional Director. Connect with Deb at 1-406-750-0314
10) Havre and Cut Bank both got nice mentions recently in a travel piece from the New York Times.
11) Jake was in Boise, Idaho meeting with developers that have expressed interest in the Great Falls, Montana market. Several companies have noted that Great Falls presents opportunities similar to "Boise 20 years ago." Whether or not that is true, Great Falls is now on the map for companies and development teams that have the capacity to execute significant investments in the Great Falls housing market as well as other types of development projects. If you are ready to get your project going reach out to Jake Clark at 1-406-403-4937.
12) Our freight logistics consultants, Moffat & Nichols, will present key findings of the Great Falls Region Freight Market Assessment and economic development strategy recomendations during the GFDA Board and Council meeting on Thursday, September 5th, 8:00 AM at Great Falls College in Heritage Hall or via Zoom. This comprehensive study offers valuable insights into the logistics industry and its potential in our region. For Zoom login info, contact Tracy Heggem at 1-406-788-1192
13) Our Great Falls Regional APEX and Mr. Conn McKelvey, Infrastructure Flight Chief for Construction and Architecture-Engineering with the 341st Contracting Squadron at Malmstrom Air Force Base, teamed together for a special in-person event where Construction and Architect & Engineering companies that have won federal (DoD and /or Civilian) contracts or have experience submitting bids, learned about their responsibilities AFTER they’ve won a federal contract. Great Falls College's Heritage Hall served as a dynamic platform where businesses across the state were able to present their capability statements to contracting officers from the 341st Contracting Squadron and engage with potential partners. If you’re interested in learning more about doing business with Malmstrom Air Force Base and other federal agencies, contact Shannon Clancy at 1-406-590-1184.
14) Cascade and Teton Counties have selected NeighborWorks Great Falls to be their Community Reinvestment Organization (CRO). If your county has not already opted into a CRO, NeighborWorks Great Falls would like the opportunity to speak to your commissioners about Montana HB819 and the advantage of working with NeighborWorks as a CRO. Please feel free to contact Sherrie Arey, Executive Director of NeighborWorks Great Falls at [email protected] or 1-406-216-3512 or Karen Cleveland, Director of Lending for NeighborWorks Great Falls at 1-406-216-3505 for further discussion.
15) Participated in a tour and discussion with a local non-profit organization that wants to expand their operations but are hindered by the hazardous materials asbestos and lead based paint. GFDA does have funding abilities to either assess your clean up needs or to provide low interest funding to help a project move to the redevelopment stage by cleaning up those hazardous material. If you would like more information on having a property assessed please contact Christian Nichols at [email protected] or at 406-788-9385 or if you want to know more about the low interest rate clean up funding please contact Jill Kohles at 406-590-1056.
16) The Montana Indian Equity Fund Grant deadline has been extended to September 30th. If you are an enrolled member in a Montana based tribe and are interested in applying for the business grant, please contact Rich Gannon for more information and assistance at 1-406-836-2078.
17) Providing over 24,000 jobs and $7.1 billion input into the state economy, co-ops form an unrecognized backbone of the Montana Economy and are often overlooked when people consider starting a new business. To promote the role that co-ops have in the world of food and ag, GFDA's Food and Ag Development Center (FADC) partnered with Tracy McIntyre of the Montana Cooperative Development Center to host a webinar as part of GFDA's FADC training series. To view past webinars, please check out GFDA"s YouTube channel. To learn about upcoming webinars, sign up for our monthly Food and Ag newsletter here.
18) Host a group of Touro students to dinner! Last year, over 40 community members stepped up and hosted small groups of students from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine to dinners at various restaurants around the community. This year, we are putting together another fun evening of dinners. We are seeking hosts to take a group of 2-5 students out to dinner on Wednesday, September 25th, 2024, at a restaurant of your choice. Deadline to sign up is Monday, September 16th. If you’d like to sign up as a host, register here. If you’d like to find out other ways you can support these new students in our community, reach out to Jenn at 1-406-781-9499
19) Public comment is being sought for the Great Falls Long-Range Transportation Plan. Please submit comments by September 23rd.
20) Our investors and public partners are the driving force behind the impact we make in our region. Their support and collaboration allow us to create meaningful change, promote economic growth, and build a stronger community. Learn about them by viewing this short video. Recent investments include: Community Division—Geranios Enterprises, Inc. Their contributions enable us to pursue our mission and achieve our goals, ultimately enhancing the quality of life in our community. If you’d like to learn about our work and how you can join the team driving positive change, contact Investment Director Jenn Gallmeier at 1-406-781-9499
21) We Are Growing Our Awesome Staff Team and have excellent career opportunities. Download a description of openings for Loan Officer, Lending Solutions Specialist, and Government Contracting Advisor -- APEX Accelerator. Contact Tracy for more info
22) The Montana Manufacturing Extension Center is seeking a Business Advisor based in Great Falls to support manufacturers in the region. See description on Facebook.