Levi Clark of Geraldine has been named as SBA’s 2020 Montana Young Entrepreneur-owned Business of the Year.

Clark grew up in rural Geraldine, attended Montana Tech and graduated with an Associate’s of Science degree in Metal Fabrication in 2008.  After spending five years in the coal mining industry refining his welding and fabrication skills, Levi returned home to Geraldine.  With the support of his wife Ashley, Levi pursued an innovative idea to serve farmers and ranchers in rural Montana and give back to his hometown community.

Hybrid Steel Design initially operated as a mobile welding unit. Levi is a certified welder and able to streamline on-site equipment repair saving farmers countless hours in downtime and money.

As word of Levi’s skills spread throughout the Golden Triangle area, new opportunities presented for the company, including mill wright services such as onsite consultation, design, installation and assembly. Over time, the projects grew from agri-production equipment earning hundreds of dollars of revenue to full agri-processing facilities in the tens of thousands of dollars and beyond.

Currently, the company’s primary focus is construction of agricultural processing facilities.  Over the last 18 months, they have built three major value-added agriculture facilities in Montana’s Golden Triangle.  Pardue Grain is a pulse processing facility in Glacier County.  Hodgkiss Seed Plant is another processing facility located near Choteau. They are working on another major processing facility in the Golden Triangle, but for confidentiality reasons, are not able to divulge the details of that project.  Levi and Ashley utilized the Great Falls SBDC starting in 2018 for guidance and assistance in growing their budding company. They are active PTAC clients and have participated in state and local matchmaking events with government agencies enabling them to diversity revenue and continue to grow the company.

The company has experienced stellar growth in the last three years, with 2019 the best year yet.  Growth is due to diversification, going from a welding and fabrication company to providing on-site mill wright services including building huge agricultural plants.

Levi Clark’s commitment to his customers and his integrity and work ethic are extraordinary and continue to drive the success of this business.  

Hybrid Steel Design was nominated by Jason Nitschke, Great Falls SBDC Regional Director and Teresa Schreiner, Investment Director at Great Falls Development Authority.