Author: Press Room

Montana Highlights February 15 2020

22 February 2020
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The Flathead County commissioners have voted to purchase the CenturyLink building in Kalispell for extra county office space. The building is located at 290 N. Main St. Many of the Flathead County departments have requested additional space for several years. It is estimated this building would solve the County’s space needs for 15 years.

Hunter’s Lair LLC, of  Williston, North Dakota, is proposing to build a restaurant, bar and hotel on property that was once a helicopter tour company just outside of Glacier National Park on U.S. 2. The company is asking permission to build on 36 acres. Only a portion of the property would be developed.

Legend Soccer Company in Whitefish, has recently started a partnership with the Forest Green Rovers soccer club in England. The company produces a bamboo shin guard that is high performance and environmentally friendly. Estimates are that plastic shin guards have produced about 200 million pounds of plastic in the recent past. The company aims to offer high quality and environmentally friendly shin guards. With the new partnership, Legend now provides bamboo shin guards to the men’s and women’s professional teams, as well as the affiliated youth teams.

Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, a chain based in Texas, will soon have locations in Billings, Bozeman and Missoula and Casper, Wyoming. The fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain will be serving  Baja-style Mexican food. The franchise is owned by John Johnson, of Johnson Restaurant Group Inc., in Casper. Fuzzy’s has close to 150 restaurants in 17 states.

Gallatin Import Group has outgrown its location at the intersection of West Main Street and 19th Avenue in Bozeman. They have begun construction on a new dealership on the Frontage Road, east of Bozeman. The 30,000-square-foot building will be ready for occupation in June or July. It is located next to next to Gallatin Motor Company, a Subaru dealership.

Recently, the ACLU of Montana, Western Environmental Law Center, and the Bahr Law Offices challenged two Montana state agencies’ refusal to release public records relating to the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Early Stage MT is a nonprofit program for Montana based tech companies to get mentorship and connections to financing. The program is planning to select 15 businesses from multiple showcases happening across Montana. These business will be presenting at a statewide showcase  and the first-place winner receives $50,000 in investment funding.

FireRoots Spirits of Florence is for sale. FireRoots distillery currently produces and distributes,  Vodka, Gin, and two different Brandies. The distillery was licensed in 2017 and began distribution in 2018. 5 recipes and labels are all approved by the TTB.

Montana State University has been recognized as a top global university by a well-known magazine. MSU tied for the 547th spot on U.S. News and World Report’s 2020 Best Global Universities rankings. In addition to its overall rank, MSU tied for No. 239 in environment/ecology, tied for No. 263 in physics and tied for No. 373 in plant and animal science. The University of Montana ranked 736th. UM was ranked No. 103 for environment/ecology, tied for No. 224 in geosciences and tied for No. 276 in plant and animal science.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) approved plans that outline a long-term cleanup process for a large coal ash impoundment outside the Colstrip Power Plant. DEQ has requested $107 million in bonding from Colstrip’s owners to cover the cost of remediation. The plans, submitted to DEQ by Colstrip owner/operator Talen Energy on August 30, propose strategies for how the company will remediate high levels of sulfates, boron, selenium, and heavy metals that have been polluting local groundwater for decades due to leaking coal ash ponds associated with Units 3 & 4 at the plant.

The recent string of state-level marijuana legalization continues to impact commercial property demand and residential housing decisions throughout the US, according to the National Association of Realtors. Their study found that in states where prescription and recreational marijuana use is legal, there has been an increase in requests for warehouses or properties used for storage. The demand for storefronts grew, while one-fifth said there was a greater demand for land.

Nielsen Commercial, Inc. (NCi), a general construction firm serving the Northwest United States, announced expansion into Montana and a new office location in Great Falls. The company looks to establish a local workforce delivering a diverse collection of construction projects throughout Montana. Jeffrey Nielsen, founder of Nielsen Commercial and former co-founder of BNBuilders, was born and raised in Montana.

The State of Montana plans to invest $80 million in community mental health services over the next five years. The Medicaid Severe and Disabling Mental Illness (SDMI) – Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waiver currently provides around $9 million dollars a year for services for people with severe and disabling mental illness. The state is working on expanding the budget to around $16 million a year, which will double the capacity of the program from the 357 current individuals to 750 by 2025.

The Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman is featuring an exhibit on reptiles that’s been in the works for three years. Turtles, snakes and lizards brought from Florida are making themselves comfortable as Bozeman’s newest residents. The reptiles are native to places like Madagascar and Australia. “Reptiles: the Beautiful and the Deadly” will be available for visitors to see until Sept. 13.

Samples of the Wuhan coronavirus have been sent to scientists at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML) in Hamilton to research to help combat the disease. Because of RML’s Virology Lab experience in researching other viruses, they are being called upon to help in searching for a vaccine to halt the spread of this virus. They will be researching how the virus binds to cells so they can develop therapies; determine how stable the virus is; establish an animal model to study; and, test the safety and effectiveness of treatments.

The Northern Ag Network reports some positive news for Montana ag: Beef demand is strong and with U.S. cattle numbers plateauing, prices are likely to be stronger in the year ahead as consumers at home and abroad support industry profitability. That was the message delivered as part of the 2020 Cattle Industry Convention in San Antonio, Texas.

A group of Williston, North Dakota, residents is raising money to build a $32 million hockey complex using an airplane hangar at the decommissioned Sloulin Field International Airport. Power Play Project Board Members say the current number of hockey players exceeds the capacity of Williston’s two indoor rinks.

The price on entry –level homes in Missoula have increased 33 percent – since 2012 – faster than the increase in higher-end homes at 26 percent, according to the Bureau of Business and Economic Research. The difference is due to supply and demand. There is only currently 3.2 months’ worth of inventory for entry-level homes and 8.6 months’ worth of stock of higher-end homes. Missoula’s median home sales price soared to a  high of $315,000 in 2019, a jump of 8.62% over 2018.

A public hearing is slated for March 6 in Williston on a proposed natural gas liquids pipeline slated to connect several processing plants in Williams County. Oneok wants to build the 75-mile line to carry natural gas liquids from the Hess Tioga, XTO Nesson and Flatiron Springbrook plants to another pipeline and, ultimately, to markets farther south in the middle of the country and on the Gulf Coast.

In Sidney, the Family Dollar had a ribbon cutting on Thursday, Jan. 16 in celebration of their opening on Jan. 23.

North Dakota’s eight commercial service airports finished calendar year 2019 with a statewide total of 1,191,569 passenger boardings.  This is a growth of 108,452 passengers or an 10% increase from 2018 numbers.  This also results in the second busiest year on record for North Dakota next to 2014, which occurred during the height of the state’s oil boom.  In 2019, the airports also saw 1,187,533 passenger deplanements for a grand total of 2,379,102 passengers that traveled through the commercial service terminal buildings in North Dakota over the past year.  

Island Kitchens has opened in Sidney. It is located at 430 N. Central Ave., in the Shops at Fox Run. Brian Knight and Cal Gordon are co-owners.

In North Dakota, Outrigger Energy II plans to construct, own and operate a new 250 million cubic feet per day cryogenic gas processing plant west of Williston to gather and process production from XTO, as well as from other operators in the area. The exact location has not been determined and there is a possibility that the size of the facility will be increased to 450 million cubic feet per day. Its operation will help reduce flaring in the Bakken. The liquids removed by the proposed plant, planned to open by next December, would travel on an existing Oneok pipeline system.

North Dakota’s Tax Commissioner reported that North Dakota’s taxable sales and purchases for the third quarter of 2019 are up 4% compared to 2018.

Of the 50 states reviewed by the American Legislative Exchange Council-Laffer Economic Outlook, North Dakota ranked number three. The report indicates North Dakota’s recent tax changes contributed to its high ranking, as well as not taxing estate or inheritance, low average workers’ compensation costs, low minimum wage, debt service as a share of tax revenue and it being a right-to-work state. North Dakota has consistently ranked in the top five for the past seven years. Utah was No. 1, for many reasons, including a flat-rate income tax of five percent and its lack o an estate tax. Idaho was in second place, due to a low minimum wage, no estate and inheritance tax, and being a right-to-work state. Nevada ranked fourth, and Indiana, fifth.

A new hemp plant has opened up in Sidney, called American Hemp. They will produce the whole hemp plant, which is noted as being different than marijuana, although closely related. Hemp does not have any concentration of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana. The Sidney plant is an extension of ITC grain, a specialty crop business in Glendive handling pulse crops since 2016. With the price for chickpeas and lentils having dropped, ITC decided in 2018 it would expand into hemp, and founded American Harvest.

Manufacturing Rebounds

22 February 2020
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U.S. manufacturing activity rebounded from a five-month slump in January, heading off concerns about a protracted downturn, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s January survey of manufacturing executives.

The ISM’s report, released February 4, finds last month’s gauge of U.S. manufacturing activity bounced back into expansion territory, hitting a level of 50.9%. This represents an increase of 3.1% from December’s reading of 47.8%.

Hass Allstate Celebrates 20 Years

22 February 2020
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Michael Hass Allstate Insurance  is celebrating 20 years of service in the Billings.

The Michael Hass Allstate Insurance first opened its doors and wrote its very first insurance policy in 2000. Times were different 20 years ago, Shiloh Road had no roundabouts, our population was only 91,926, and cell phones weren’t around! Now, the full-service Allstate agency, located at 1611 Alderson Avenue, employs four licensed professionals with three additional support staff and serves more than 1900 families and businesses, helping them protect  their family, their home, their automobiles and their lives. 

 “Time flies! It feels like just yesterday when we cut the blue ribbon and opened our doors,” said Hass. “The years I’ve been with Allstate and all the years I’ve worked in this community have been an important part of my life. I have enjoyed working with so many families in our community and thank each and every one of them for allowing me to service their household insurance and financial needs.”

Hass provides auto, home, life and commercial insurance, as well as a variety of financial products, including college savings plans, mutual funds and more.

Hass also serves his community as a volunteer coach for the Billings Youth Hockey league, and offering programs such as teen driver safety and fire safety to students and residents. Through the years, Hass has won numerous awards, including Billings Gazette Readers Choice Awards for best insurance agent and coach of the year.  He has also won several awards from Allstate – Inner Circle, Circle of Champions, National Conference, Honor Ring and Spirit of the Good Hands.

Earnings are On Upswing

20 February 2020
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After several decades of stagnation, real earnings for full-time U.S. workers are on the upswing. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that between 2015 and 2018, inflation-adjusted earnings for full-time wage and salary workers increased by more than 3.0 percent. Similarly, newly released data from the Census Bureau shows that inflation-adjusted earnings across all full-time workers increased by 2.2 percent over the same time period.

Not all workers are seeing larger paychecks. According to data from the BLS, flight attendants had a nearly 18 percent increase in earnings from 2015 to 2018, outranking all other occupations with at least 100,000 workers. Farm workers and laborers, food preparation workers, and dishwashers also experienced large increases in real earnings, ranging from nearly 11 to over 16 percent. At the opposite end of the spectrum, postal service workers and financial services sales agents experienced the largest declines in real earnings among the nation’s most popular occupations, at 11 percent and 15 percent respectively.

Grant Awarded for Brewery

20 February 2020
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Big Sky Economic Development Authority will receive up to $24,300 to support Meadowlark Brewery, LLC in completing a feasibility study. The grant was gained through the Montana Department of Commerce, which recently announced $275,000 in grants under the Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund (BSTF) Planning Grant Program for economic planning, growth and development, including feasibility studies.

Colstrip Winning Through Diversification Strategy

20 February 2020
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To streamline the recruitment of new businesses to Colstrip, the City will soon have a cutting-edge site selection tool.  The web-based system will give businesses direct access to a database of available industrial and commercial properties in Colstrip that describes the infrastructure available at each site, and business demographic information.  Colstrip has the infrastructure and resources to support many types of businesses and this project will make it much easier for entrepreneurs to find sites for their companies.

The project is being spearheaded by Southeastern Montana Development Corporation (SEMDC) in partnership with private industry.  The need for a site selection tool was first identified in the Colstrip Diversification Strategy and has since been funded by USDA Rural Development at no cost to the City or County. 

“Building the Business Recruitment tool is a step toward positively marketing what Colstrip has to offer.  No other town in Montana in similar size has the amenities and assets that Colstrip does – we just need to do a better job of telling people about it!”

Billings Building Permits 02-15-2020

20 February 2020
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Commercial

Montana Rail Link/Kirby Construction, 505 N 24th St, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $21,000

Stone, Randolph D/Justin Jawort Construction, 1018 2nd Ave N, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $3,000

Montana Rescue Mission/Bradford Roof Management Inc, 2902 Minnesota Ave, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $46,600    

Dan Palmer/Wood Framed Building, 1832 King Ave W, Com New Office/Bank, $0

TGC LP/Hulteng, Inc., 1127 S 31st St W, Com New Warehouse/Storage, $982,026

TGC LP/Hulteng, Inc., 1127 S 31st St W, Com New Warehouse/Storage, $360,076

TGC LP/Hulteng, Inc., 1127 S 31st St W, Com New Warehouse/Storage, $420,089

TGC LP/Hulteng, Inc., 1127 S 31st St W, Com New Warehouse/Storage, $324,069

TGC LP/Hulteng, Inc., 1127 S 31st St W, Com New Warehouse/Storage, $360,076

TGC LP/Hulteng, Inc., 1127 S 31st St W, Com New Warehouse/Storage, $252,053

TGC LP/Hulteng, Inc., 1127 S 31st St W, Com New Warehouse/Storage, $420,089

 School District No 2/Star Service, Inc., 1315 Lewis Ave, Com Remodel, $95,000

Carol Brosovich/Yellowstone Basin Construction, 1231 N 27th St, Com Remodel, $92,625

Stockman Bank Of Montana/Hardy Construction Co., 402 N 28th St, Com Remodel, $40,000

Plaza Office Building LLC/Artisan Builders, 1629 Avenue D, Com Remodel, $200,000 

Billings Heights VFW Post 677/Blackfoot Communications Inc, 618 Winemiller Ln, Com Remodel,    $14,500

Dan Palmer/Neumann Construction, 1832 King Ave W, Com Remodel – Change In Use, $1,700,000 Johnson, Bob/Infinity Roofing & Siding Inc, 1650 Inverness Dr, Com

Residential

Tyrel Martin/Martin Built Home Llc, 2722 Hanover Cir, Res New Single Family, $266,397

Wells Built Homes Inc./Wells Built Inc., 6051 Canyonwoods Dr, Res New Single Family, $418,697

Langford, Leroy & Lee/Aaron Higginbotham, 1010 Yellowstone Ave, Res New Two Family, $518,904

NA/McCall Development, 6026 Elysian Rd, Res New Two Family, $259,243

Wells Built Homes, Inc/Wells Built Inc., 4210 Arrowwood Dr, Res Plan Revision, $5,450

Sponsor the Building Permits on our website and print editions? Call 406-259-2309 and ask for Dennis

Montana’s Biggest Counties

20 February 2020
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Data on personal income for Montana counties show that Yellowstone County remains the largest county economy at $8.381 billion (2018). Gallatin County ($6.123 billion) is now the second largest county in the state by this measure, ahead of Missoula ($5.879 billion).

Bakken Output Increases, Expected to Grow More

19 February 2020
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North Dakota’s Bakken Shale gas output increased by 20% in 2019, and the latest analysis shows it growing another 10% year over year in 2020. Due to limited downstream access, the additional production looks to take a greater share on Northern Border Pipeline.

Bakken gas production is expected to grow by 10% in 2020, before slowing down to about 4% annually from 2021 through 2025, according to a forecast by S&P Global Platts Analytics.

Last year, Bakken producers relied on well completions, or bringing drilled but uncompleted wells online, to keep production growing. However, one of the lingering constraints within the basin is insufficient processing capacity and natural gas takeaway, which has caused producers to consistently miss gas capture targets established by the North Dakota Industrial Commission.

To combat the issue there has been a push for additional infrastructure and as a result: four gas processing plants came online during the second half of 2019 and another five are in the planning stages with in-service dates spread out over the next two years.

With Bakken gas production growing faster than processing plants can come online, the region has come up short in meeting the state’s regulatory policy for gas flaring, which not only are set to tighten in 2020, but also are expected to be enforced more aggressively due to public pressure.

Recent enforcement of the regulations has not been strict, especially since the NDIC designated various extenuating circumstances and producer exemptions. The NDIC currently estimates more than 500 MMcf/d of gas is being flared at oil wells within the state with natural gas capture rates hovering around 83% in November 2019. This is a problem because the commission’s current gas capture target is 88% and increases to 91% in November 2020.

There is also a shortage of gas pipeline takeaway within the region. The main outlet for Bakken gas is Northern Border, where Western Canadian import volumes compete for space. Bakken gas has been increasing its market share of Northern Border’s capacity for the past several years. As of late, the percentage of Bakken gas on Northern Border’s roughly 2.5 Bcf/d capacity has approached 80%, according to Platts Analytics.

This means about.500 MMcf/d of Northern Border capacity currently being occupied by Canadian volumes that Bakken gas could potentially push out. In order to meet the current 12% flaring limit, operators in the Bakken need to capture an additional 200 MMcf/d, which is within the bounds of potentially available capacity on Northern Border.

However, about a quarter of the gas produced in the Bakken originates in the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, where it is more difficult to obtain permits for building infrastructure such as gathering and takeaway pipelines. Per the latest state data, capture rates in the FBIR stand at 81%. While this marks a notable improvement since January 2019 when the FBIR capture rate registered at 73%, it remains unclear how much extra gas operators in FBIR can capture next year.

With no new announcements for imminent gas takeaway pipelines serving the Williston Basin, operators in the basin will need to maximize their footprint on Northern Border to meet the required capture rates.

Downtown Business Owners Want to Form a New TID

18 February 2020
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A group of property owners in the west end of downtown Billings want to create a new tax improvement district.


The proposed boundaries of the new district would be Division Street, 1st Avenue North and North 31st The pros and cons and options available to them was explained to a gathering of some 30 people at the Granite Tower building, a week ago, headed by one of the property owners Russell Fagg, whose family owns Granite Tower, as well as the Fratt Building, a former school, located just across the street.

“There are pros and cons,” said Fagg, “I think the pros out-weigh the cons.” While very supportive of the idea, Fagg credited Jeff Kanning, a principal of Collaborative Design, an architect firm, with initiating the idea.
Kanning said that the creation of a TIF would give the area a public investment tool to make improvements that would make the area and Billings more attractive. He said that Billings is in a competition with other cities in the state to attract a workforce – “and Billings is losing.”
“This is an undefined, hidden gem. It could be a lynch pin” to more downtown development. “Maybe we could get city hall to locate down here,” he said. It’s about “place making” and to help enhance the neighborhood. “It’s not to compete with One Big Sky District,” Kanning added.


Kanning said that one possible vision for the area was to build a trolley/bus system to serve the area and connect it to the hospitals and the rest of downtown. Fagg explained that the cost of improving property often exceeds what the market can afford to pay in renting or leasing. Being able to tap into TIF funds to build some of the basic infrastructure for a project, such as a street, helps make the development economically feasible.
“This is about what do you want Billings to look like in 20 or 30 years?”
In consideration are two options for a TIF. One to become part of the existing downtown TIF and the other is to be a stand-alone district. Fagg said his preference was to be a stand-alone district because that would give them control to assure that future tax revenues would be spent at that end of downtown. But it depends on what other property owners want, he said.
The proposal will go to the planning board and then for a final decision by the city council which would have to approve an ordinance creating the district. The process could take up to nine months. It was suggested that the district would be called Founders’ District after Founders’ Park which lies within the proposed district (the triangular park at 1st Avenue north and Division Street, has the lighted Christmas Tree.)


A TIF is a designated area, usually one considered in need of infrastructure improvements or deemed as blighted. Future increases in property taxes paid by the property owners within that district are directed to be spent on improvements within that district. The idea is that the improvements will generate greater development and economic growth, and more tax revenues in the future. Improvements are usually directed at building streets, curbs and gutters, parking garages, utilities, etc.


The city currently has three TIF districts, a downtown district, the east urban renewal district, and the South Billings Boulevard District.
Those in the audience asked “what about the downsides to creating a TIF district?”


There seemed to be few, as far as the organizers were concerned, but from the audience came comments that readily identified some of the typical complaints about TIF’s, including comments from one city council member Chris Friedel, who said that TIFS were “counter productive.” He went on to claim that the downtown TIF, which will expire in 2038 is evidence that TIFs do not achieve what they are meant to achieve.


Others comments were made to point out that tax revenues that are directed to a TIF, do not go into the general funds of other taxing jurisdictions, such as the city, which means that in order to maintain the same level of revenues to fund their functions, those governmental bodies must increase levies on taxpayers outside the TIF districts to compensate.
For taxing jurisdictions which have limited ability to increase levies, such as schools, this can be a problem.


Some property owners commented that whether a project or development is viable in the market is something that should be determined in advance of buying it. Said one woman, “You have to pencil out the thing. That’s what I did. I don’t look to government and taxpayers to do it.” Another commented, “this is cronyism.”