The Billings Chamber of Commerce has announced that Taylor Brown is the recipient of the 2024 Legacy Award.

This outstanding community leader and business owner will be honored during the 2024 Billings Chamber Annual Meeting, October 22, at Pub Station, sponsored by NonStop Local and Marsh McLennan Agency.

Taylor Brown is well known in the Billings community, throughout Southeast Montana, and across the state and nation as an ag broadcaster. Raised on the family ranch in Sand Springs, Brown attended college at Montana State University where he earned a degree in agriculture.

He came to the Billings area shortly after graduation, proudly calling Huntley home, and began working for Conrad Burns at Northern Broadcasting System. Brown has built a name for himself as a trusted voice of agriculture and his unwavering commitment to supporting rural communities, ranching, and farms, in Montana and throughout the west.

In 1986, he and his wife Shannon, purchased Northern Broadcasting System, and today, Northern Broadcasting System has grown to encompass digital content, radio, and television delivering agriculture, weather, news, sports, and talk content on over 70 stations in four states.

Son Colter, daughter Courtney Kibblewhite and her husband Jonathan have all joined the management team at NBS, and the company has grown to 20 employees. His passions in agriculture, youth, and business led him to public service, as he was elected to office and served in the Montana Senate from 2009-2016. Brown served as Majority Whip, and chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee, as well as the Senate Education Committee. Through his career, Brown has amassed a number of awards and accolades, including being a past National President of the National Association of Farm Broadcasting, inducted as a member of the NAFB Hall of Fame, founding REAL Montana, and receiving an honorary doctorate from Montana State University in 2021. One has to look hard to find someone who is more synonymous with agriculture, youth, business, and advocating for the rural way of life than Brown.

In recent years, he helped establish the Lockwood FFA Alumni Chapter and his efforts in the legislature helped pave the way for Lockwood High School to come into existence. He has been an active member of the Billings Chamber Ag Committee from the start, working on policy, serving pancake breakfasts for youth, volunteering on sub-committees, and bringing newsworthy information to the monthly meetings. “Taylor was one of the founders of the Chamber Ag Committee and has been tireless in his support of this community,” shares one of his nominators. “I cannot think of a person who has given more of themselves in support of Billings, Montana and business”.

The Legacy Award is presented to an individual who has consistently demonstrated success in improving the business and economic climate in addition to the quality of life for residents of Billings over their lifetime. Previous honorees include George Selover, Sam McDonald, Don and Marilyn Floberg, Ron Sexton, Joseph Sample, Michael Schaer, Jim Soft, Tom Scott, Karen Sanford Gall, Bill and Merilyn Ballard, Bruce MacIntyre, Bill and Mary Underriner, Ziggy and Stella Zeigler, Dr. Bob Wilmouth, Kris Carpenter, Jim and Chris Scott, and Mike Nelson.

Brown will be honored during the 2024 Billings Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting on October 22, 2024 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at Pub Station. Tickets for this event can be purchased at BillingsChamber.com