Billings businessman, Skip King, who owns all the local Ace Hardware stores, has opened another Ace Hardware in Sidney. It will be managed by Reece Gairrett. The store has had a ‘soft opening’ in order to embrace the growing season. Although not quite fully stocked it is fully staff and close to having a grand opening.
For the third consecutive year, the Montana Department of Justice’s Forensic Science Division (FSD) is among only 14 laboratories, worldwide, to earn the Foresight Maximus Award from the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors. FSD, most commonly referred to as the State Crime Lab, houses Montana’s forensic science laboratories and medical examiner system and is the sole source of forensic services for law enforcement in the state. The Foresight Maximus Award is presented to forensic laboratories operating at 90 percent or better of peak efficiency as evidenced by Foresight business metrics during 2022.
Western Montana Mental Health Center, Missoula, has not renewed its contract with Levi Anderson, who has been CEO for the past five years. Anderson’s last day was May 19. Western has contracted with Cascadia Management Group to help with the administrative transition for the next two to three months. The president of that group, Colleen Rudio, is overseeing Western as the interim executive administrator.
To protect Montanans’ personal, private, and sensitive data and information from intelligence gathering by the Chinese Communist Party, Governor Greg Gianforte has signed a bill that bans TikTok from operating in Montana. He also directed the state’s chief information officer and executive agency directors to prohibit the use of all social media applications tied to foreign adversaries on state equipment and for state business in Montana. The governor signed Senate Bill 419, making Montana the first state in the nation to ban TikTok and prohibit mobile application stores from offering TikTok within the state.
Reclamation announces lifting the closure of Reclamation lands on and adjacent to Joe’s Island on the south side of the Yellowstone River in Dawson County, 15 miles north of Glendive, Montana. The temporary closure was in place to ensure public safety during the construction of the Lower Yellowstone Fish Passage Project. Construction of the fish passage project was recently completed, and the land closure is no longer needed.
Of the three metro areas in Montana, Great Falls has the lowest housing costs. According to the EPI’s Family Budget Calculator, a modest two-bedroom rental in the metro area will cost an estimated $9,696 in 2022, including utilities. The statewide average cost of a comparable apartment is estimated at $10,972. Rent prices often reflect the overall real estate market in a given area, and this pattern appears to hold in Great Falls. Just as rents in the area are lower than the statewide average, so too, are home values.
With the world facing helium shortages, news that Montana has helium resources that mining companies are exploring is good news for the economies of some of the state’s most remote areas. Two helium drilling companies are drilling wells in the areas of Toole, Hill and Liberty counties. The activity is an extension of helium drilling that is occurring just across the Canadian border. Helium is the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium, and while it can be found everywhere, it is rare that it is found in geological formations that are capable of capturing and holding it in pockets large enough to make recovery feasible. The lighter-than-air element that gives balloons their buoyancy also powers vital medical diagnostic machines, enables the operation of superconducting magnets, and is vital to the military.
Brinkman Real Estate, a Colorado-based multifamily investment company with expertise in Intermountain West markets, closed on the acquisition of The Highline Apartments in Columbia Falls. This purchase marks their third acquisition in Montana and the largest to date with 180 Class A units across six buildings. The company also owns properties in Billings and Missoula. Brinkman Real Estate’s capital markets team, in partnership with CBRE’s Institutional Debt and Restructured Finance team comprised of Brady O’Donnell, Jeff Halsey, Jill Haug, and Alex Scott
The fastest growing city in Montana is the Missoula metro area. Its population grew by 11.3% from 2010 to 2020 to 121,630 residents. During that same time, the population of Montana grew by 9.2%. The Missoula metro area has a median annual household income of $57,347, slightly above Montana’s median of $57,153.
The fastest shrinking county in Montana is Fergus County. The county’s population declined by 4.2% from 2010 to 2020. The population of Montana overall increased by 9.2% during that same time period, and the U.S. population increased by 6.7%. Fergus County’s population declined by 486 people during the decade, from 11,590 in 2010 to 11,104 in 2020. This is due in part to negative net migration as 88 more people moved away from the county than moved to it during that decade.
Quinn Pacini, vice president and general manager at KBZK in Bozeman, and KXLF in Butte, has been named vice president of broadcast operations for Scripps Sports. Jon Saunders, a vice president of Local Media operations, will serve as interim general manager at both stations while The E.W. Scripps Company searches for Pacini’s replacement.
Montana Highlights June 1, 2023
Downtown Bigfork has a new space, The Nook, where artists and wellness practitioners can interact and mingle. The Nook offers Aiology Works, an acoustic and vibral studio and Bluebird and Honeybee, a mercantile offering local artisan gifts and goods. The mercantile stocks products including wellness apothecary and kitchen items. The Nook offers over 40 local artisans. Not only does the brick-and-mortar space allow them to local goods, it also provides the opportunity for art and wellness workshops.
Cenate, a Norwegian battery company, is considering Butte and two other sites for a manufacturing plant. Tax incentives will be a factor in its decision. Two of Butte’s largest employers and two economic development organizations are backing the Norwegian company’s request for millions of dollars in tax abatements. Officials with the Butte Local Development Corp., St. James Healthcare, the Montana Carpenters Union and Northwestern Energy spoke in favor of the abatements. The company is developing silicon-based materials for higher-density batteries with faster and longer-lasting charges.
Dave’s Sushi in Bozeman reopened recently after a month long closure following a severe food poisoning outbreak that sickened dozens and has been linked to two deaths.
Backers of a multibillion-dollar proposal to build a giant reservoir for energy storage in rural south-central South Dakota are no longer pursuing the project. The two entities involved, MidAmerican Energy and Missouri River Energy Services, said the decision not to pursue the project was made following their evaluation process.