Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN) announced that JetBlue will begin a new winter seasonal nonstop service between BZN and Fort Lauderdale, FL beginning on Dec. 18, 2020. The new service will be the first and only nonstop service between Florida and Montana.
Austin Grazier has been hired as the Director of Ag Safety, a position funded by the Montana State Fund. Participating organizations include the Montana Farm Bureau Federation, Montana Stockgrowers Association, Montana Wool Growers Association, Montana Grain Growers Association, Montana Pork Producers, Montana Cattleman’s Association, and Montana Organic Association. Grazier’s office is housed in Bozeman. Grazier, who grew up on a horse boarding facility west of Golden, Colorado, and attended Montana State University as an animal science major.
Oboz in Bozeman has announced several new hires and promotions in product, sales, and operations to foster its continued growth. Amy Beck is Oboz President. Julie Ham Elliott joins Oboz as National Sales Manager. John Nehring has joined Oboz as Planning Analyst. Dan Wehunt has been promoted to Director of Merchandising and Development. Steve Lowry has been promoted to Sales and Operational Planning Manager.
The city of Belgrade received a $3 million contribution from the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport on a new $40 million wastewater facility to allow for more growth. City engineers estimated the airport’s water and sewer use to be 7.5% of the city’s total usage. The current wastewater and sewage facility is at its max capacity of connections, just over 4,000, and will double their capacity with the new upgrade.
In West Yellowstone an agreement has been reached between guides and the company operating most of the area’s tours. The guides, Montana Right Now, listed off many concerns, from what they describe as over-staffing and poor management, to false promises and a non-livable wage. The tourism company, Delaware North, Buffalo, New York, say they’ve invested about $3.5 million into Yellowstone Vacation Tours, a business they have owned since 2016. Guides say they’re worried the company is monopolizing snowmobile travel in the park at the expense of local business owners. The guides do not want the park to renew Delaware North’s license to operate in the park when it expires in a few years.
The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) began reconstruction of a portion of Valentine Road 22 miles north of Winnett on September 14. The project begins at reference post 22.0, extends north 0.4 miles to reference post 22.4 and is centered on the Sage Creek crossing of Valentine Road. MDT awarded the construction contract to Wickens Construction, Inc. which plans to be finished in November. Proposed work will include adding drainage culverts as well as armoring of the roadway and roadside slopes. The purpose of the project is to improve drainage and armor this section of the roadway to prevent future damage from flooding as it has washed out multiple times in recent years. The project is funded with Federal Highway Administration funds and State matching funds.
The nonprofit community lender MoFi uses New Markets Tax Credits Program in Montana to fund projects that create jobs. The U.S. Treasury recently awarded MoFi $65 million in New Markets Tax Credits to lend to businesses and projects in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. The NMTC Program was authorized under the Community Renewal and Tax Relief Act of 2000 to help stimulate private investment and economic growth in low-income and rural areas.
124 projects at an estimated total cost of $61.9 million has been approved as Whitefish’s five-year capital improvement program. The city updates its capital improvement plan every few years listing the needed investments in capital facilities and equipment expected in the next five years. One of the biggest changes in the city’s fiscal year 2021 budget, which was recently approved, is the sunset of the city’s tax increment finance district.
The Montana Department of Transportation’s plan to redesign the interchange at Foy’s Lake Road on the U.S. 93 bypass will replace the heavily trafficked roundabout with a four-lane overpass. Two teardrop-shaped roundabouts on the east and west sides of the bypass on Foy’s Lake Road are part of the new design. The Department of Transportation and contractors KLJ Engineering and LHC Construction will remove the Foy’s Lake Road roundabout next spring. The project is on an accelerated design-build timeline, with the majority of the anticipated $14.7 million cost covered by a $12.7 million BUILD grant, MDT expects the new interchange to be open by November 2021.
A proposed $19.1 million facility is being planned for Missoula which will comprise 120,000 square feet of production and operating space and six acres of backlot on about 17 acres of land in the Missoula Technology Park. The facility will be home to a television and film studio for large-scale productions, targeting producers and streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Paramount, Warner Bros., and Hallmark. Preliminary plans were presented to Missoula County Commissioners for parcels of land the developers intend to purchase in the Missoula Technology Park, which is owned by the County. The facility would include three sound stages totaling 60,000 square feet, mill space where props could be built, office and flex space.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has issued a mining permit for the first phase of the Black Butte Copper Project. Located north of White Sulphur Springs the project developer, Sandfire Resources America, is allowed to build roads and pads, and construct a small reservoir while applying for future permits to tunnel underground.
Heather Greene has joined Florence Crittenton in Helena as development director. Heather brings more than 25 years nonprofit experience. She will be responsible for leading the development team at Florence Crittenton, which raises upwards of $750,000 per year.
The Kimpton Armory Hotel, also called the Etha, will be welcomed its first guests last week after nearly a decade of planning and construction. The Etha Hotel will be home to three restaurants. Facilities include a 600-person capacity venue, the Armory Music Hall.
Rebecca Skeldon has been named director of the Montana Discovery Foundation based in Helena. Skeldon originally was hired by the foundation in 2015 as the education coordinator. She has been instrumental in developing the Helena Master Naturalist program and Helena Snow School.
United Airlines is adding an additional flight to Williston in October. Air service at the Williston Basin International Airport has been scaled back in recent months. United Airline has been operating one flight daily, but will now be adding an additional daily flight to Denver beginning Oct. 1. There is no information regarding Delta Airlines’ return service to Williston.
Schlumberger is trading OneStim, its North American hydraulic fracturing business, to Liberty Oilfield Services in exchange for a 37 percent stake in the new combined operation. These two hydraulic fracturing business giants are merging. The two companies share only a little overlap when it comes to customers.
The Montana Chamber of Commerce has announced the organization’s opposition to the I-190 initiative. The initiative is also known as Montana Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act.
1,700 employees of Blackjewel, a bankrupt coal mining company would get up to $17.3 million in back pay under a proposed settlement. The former employees could receive checks early next year depending on the outcome of bankruptcy court hearings. The employees and their former employer reached a tentative settlement in March. The document remained sealed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court until September 1. The Blackjewel shutdown put about 600 employees in Wyoming out of work.
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