Author: Press Room

FEMA Approves $1.9 million for Montana Disaster Relief

11 June 2021
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved nearly $1.9 million in additional Public Assistance funding for the COVID-19 response in Montana. The assistance was approved by a major disaster declaration issued March 31, 2020.  FEMA has provided a total of $30.2 million for the Montana COVID-19 response to date.

The $1.9 million was provided to the Billings Clinic for COVID-19 associated costs, contracts, and facilities, which include work completed between March 17, 2020, and December 30, 2020.

This funding is authorized under the January 21, 2021, Presidential Memorandum for the Secretary of Defense & the Secretary of Homeland Security and Section 403 of the Robert T. Stafford Act.

For the COVID-19 response, FEMA has simplified the Public Assistance application and funding process to address the magnitude of this event and to allow local officials to receive eligible funding more quickly. These reimbursements play a critical role as state, local and tribal officials work tirelessly to assist their communities during this response.

Wyoming Rancher Files Suit on Rescue Plan

10 June 2021
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Wyoming rancher Leisl Carpenter has announced that she is suing the Biden Administration and the Department of Agriculture for race discrimination under the US Constitution, in response to a “Rescue Plan” loan forgiveness program that explicitly bars her from participation because she is white.  

Carpenter, a 29-year-old rancher from Laramie, is represented by Mountain States Legal Foundation and the Southeastern Legal Foundation. The suit, Leisl Carpenter v Tom Vilsack and Zach Ducheneaux, was filed Monday in the United States District Court, District of Wyoming. She is seeking to be treated fairly and equally, without respect to her race.

In March 2021, the Biden administration signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, providing $4 billion to forgive loans for “socially disadvantaged” ranchers and farmers. White ranchers are excluded, in violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of Equal Protection under the Fifth Amendment.  

 “Like a lot of farmers and ranchers, our client has struggled to keep her family ranch afloat through all the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic, only to learn that she is ineligible to even apply for Biden’s loan forgiveness program solely due to her race,” said MSLF Associate General Counsel William E. Trachman Tuesday. “Instead of being rescued by Biden’s plan, she’s been excluded and discriminated against for no other reason than the color of her skin.”

 “The blatant discrimination in the American Rescue Plan Act, Section 1005, is ridiculous,” said Carpenter.  The government needs to bring an end to this horrendous practice of racial discrimination immediately and start treating Americans as individuals based on character and individual qualities, not based on the color of their skin.”

 Carpenter’s 2,400-acre Flying Heart Ranch is a family operation located in Wyoming’s Big Laramie Valley. The 500-plus head of cattle she runs, and grass hay sales are the sole source of income for her, her husband, and her 19-month-old son, Casen. Her maternal grandmother’s family originally homesteaded on the land in 1894. Unlike many family ranches, Carpenter’s outfit has been passed down mostly to daughters rather than sons. She’s proud to follow in a long line of women who work the land.  

 To avoid foreclosure and save her family’s ranch when she was 20 years old, Carpenter decided to take out an FSA loan from the federal government.  As was the case with many ranchers, the COVID-19 pandemic added to the financial difficulties Carpenter faces. When the Biden administration passed a $1.9 trillion COVID stimulus bill, it included a loan forgiveness program for ranchers. This might have been just the lifeline the ranch needed, but Carpenter and other white farmers and ranchers would learn that they weren’t eligible. The loan forgiveness program Biden signed into law excluded white ranchers and farmers, dashing the hopes of many in the agricultural community who believed Biden when he called it a “rescue” plan. 

 “Making skin color the basis of a government benefit is not only unconstitutional: it is also morally wrong,” added Trachman. “One simply cannot promote racial justice by perpetuating racial injustice.  The way to end discrimination is to stop discriminating.”

SBA Sued for Discrimination

10 June 2021
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The Center Square

The Texas Public Policy Foundation and America First Policy Institute have sued the U.S. Small Business Administration, alleging a provision in the America Rescue Act requires the SBA to prioritize businesses owned by women and minorities to receive nearly $30 billion in COVID-19-designated relief money above other applicants.

Greer’s Ranch Café vs Guzman was filed against the SBA and its acting director, Isabella Casillas Guzman, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. It is the first lawsuit filed by the TPPF and AFPI against the Biden administration.

The ARPA, which passed along party lines and was signed into law by President Joe Biden, appropriated $28.6 billion to a Restaurant Revitalization Fund to be dolled out to applicants. Section 5003 of the bill requires the SBA to prioritize applicants who are women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged business owners.

The SBA defines socially disadvantaged individuals as those “who have been subjected to racial or ethnic prejudice or cultural bias within American society because of their identities as members of groups and without regard to their individual qualities. The social disadvantage must stem from circumstances beyond their control.”

Economically disadvantaged individuals are defined as those whose “ability to compete in the free enterprise system has been impaired due to diminished capital and credit opportunities as compared to others in the same or similar line of business who are not socially disadvantaged.”

The lawsuit asks the court to determine whether the government has the right to deny Americans access to federal assistance based on their ethnicity and gender. The groups argue the government’s policy “is wantonly illegal, unconstitutional, and immoral.”

“These race and sex preferences are patently unconstitutional, and the Court should promptly enjoin their enforcement,” the complaint states. “Doing so will promote equal rights under the law for all American citizens and promote efforts to stop racial discrimination, because ‘[t]he way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.’”

TPPF’s Chief Counsel Robert Henneke said, “For over 125 years, the United States Supreme Court has recognized that the Constitution forbids discrimination by the government against any citizen because of his race. This lawsuit will enforce that guarantee.”

The lawsuit calls on the court to block the enforcement of any policy that would discriminate against certain classes of people in order to “promote equal rights under the law for all American citizens and promote efforts to stop racial discrimination.”

As of May 12, the RRF has received more than 147,000 applications from women, veterans, and socially and economically disadvantaged business owners, requesting a total of $29 billion in relief funds, representing nearly half of the applicants.

Guzman argues the SBA “is helping thousands of restaurants and other food and beverage businesses across the country get the help they desperately need to recover and rebuild from this pandemic. The numbers show that we’ve been particularly successful at reaching the smallest restaurants and underserved communities that have struggled to access relief. These businesses are the pillars of our nation’s neighborhoods and communities. We are making progress, but we have much more work to do as we continue reaching our underserved entrepreneurs.”

Overall, the SBA received more than 266,000 applications representing over $65 billion in requested funds. During the first week of the program, it received applications from 76,183 women business owners, 6,093 veteran business owners and 42,284 economically and socially disadvantaged individuals.

A total of $2.7 billion of relief funds have already been distributed to 21,000 restaurants since the fund opened May 3, 2021, the SBA reports.

Rocky Vista Clears First Hurdle

10 June 2021
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Rocky Vista University (RVU), the proposed medical college for Billings, has received approval from the American Osteopathic Association Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) to move to the next phase of development.

RVU expects to admit its first class of 80 students in the summer of 2023, with the first round of clinical clerkship rotations beginning in July 2025. Upon completion, MCOM will be housed in a 135,000 square foot, technologically advanced facility on a 12-acre campus on in the West End area of Billings.

David Forstein, DO, FACOOG, Provost of Rocky Vista University, commented, “We are thrilled that the COCA has approved RVU’s application to develop the MCOM, marking the next exciting step forward in the Billings development project. We are grateful for and encouraged by the strong support we have received from the community. We look forward to continuing to work with the local medical and business community to utilize our expertise to bring superior outcomes for students and benefits to Billings and the greater Mountain West region.”

MCOM will become the third RVU campus in the Mountain West region, in addition to locations in Colorado and Utah.

This project is completely privately funded, and the projected direct and indirect economic impact of this new medical school during the two-year start-up period (2021-23) is expected to total $78.6 million, provide 350 jobs, and add more than $1.2 million in taxes to communities in the region.

David J. Park, DO, FAAFP, FACOFP, Founding Dean of MCOM, said, “Our goal is to bring innovative and high-quality medical education to the region with an inclusive mindset. We look forward to the opportunity to work collaboratively with the community and all the healthcare providers and facilities in the region to further the common mission of improving the lives and health of people.”

RVU has a strong record of establishing or assisting healthcare facilities in developing post-graduate residency programs, having helped create 18 new residency programs yielding 327 residency positions to-date. RVU will use this experience to develop more post-graduate residency positions in Montana.

MSU-Billings Hires Interim Director

10 June 2021
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Montana State University Billings announced that their Military and Veteran’s Success Center, opened in 2018, has hired  Shane Grantham as the interim director of the Center to aid in the continuation of veteran outreach on campus.

Grantham, a Billings-native, entered the U.S. Army after graduating high school and served for 20 years in active duty. Throughout his time in the military, Grantham mentored college-aged soldiers which is where he found his interest in guiding others. Following his retirement, he tried a few different career paths until landing a position for Veterans Upward Bound at MSUB where he regained his interest of mentorship through student interaction.

Montana Chamber to Hold Center of Opportunity Forum

10 June 2021
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Dr. Patrick Barkey, Director of the University of Montana, Bureau of Business & Economic Research (BBER), will keynote MCF’s Montana Centers of Opportunity Forum, which will take place in person July 29, 11:30 m at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell.

The event will feature a panel discussion with Michael Goguen, Two Bear Capital;  Bill Mosley, GL Solutions;  Scott Osterman, Montana Department of Commerce ; and Tom Stergios, ATG Cognizant, with moderator, Kelly Schwager, Oracle.

Montana Centers of Opportunity Forum will provide the latest on Montana’s post-pandemic economy.

Patrick Barkey has served as Director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) at the University of Montana since 2008. He has been involved with economic forecasting and policy research for more than 35 years, in both the private and public sectors. for more information and registration email stacye@montanachamber.com.

Montana Highlights June 1 2021

9 June 2021
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Watercraft inspectors in Montana have found aquatic mussels on 21 boats so far this year. All watercraft including non-motorized boats must be inspected when coming into Montana. Inspectors found 35 boats with aquatic mussels in 2020. Adult mussels can attach themselves to the bottom of boats and survive out of water for up to 30 days.

Glacier Rail Park in Kalispell, which  opened in 2018, is full ahead of schedule with the decision by Northern Plastics decision to expand from its current Montana Highway 35 location into the last rail park lots. Northern Plastics manufactures polymer molds in its 10,000-square-foot facility. At the new rail park location Northern Plastics will more than double its size.

Yellowstone National Park has reported that visitation at last month increased by 40% compared to 2019. This was an increase of approximately 19,000 people and a record for the month. The previous high visitation for the month of April was in 2016 when more than 59,000 people visited the park.

Grand Teton National Park experienced record numbers of visitors in April with more than a 48% increase compared to the same month in 2019. The 2021 numbers set a record for April in the park of 87,700. The previous high in April was 60,500 set in 2018.

According to the Montana News Bureau the state is advertising for a business attractions manager. The position will pay $125,000 a year. The job entails traveling the United States promoting Montana as good place to start or expand a business. New tax laws and a $500,000 budget for the position are hoped to help foster interest by businesses in the State.

Glacier National Park recorded more than 53,000 visitors in April 2021, about 50% more than in 2019, but it did not set a new record.

Madison River Equity LLC will seek a special use permit from the Butte-Silver Bow Zoning Board to install a 1,600-acre solar array on June 17. The project known as the Basin Creek Solar Project is on private ranchland in south Butte. Project will include 700,000 solar panels which will produce nearly 300 megawatts annually.

Montana Zipline Adventures opened on May 21, 2021. The business located in Anaconda near North Cable Road has passed the required inspection by the Association for Challenge Course Technology. The owners of the business are Andre and Mianne Graa. The cost is $89 a person.  There will be a $10 discount for people who live in surrounding counties and for veterans. The course has age and weight restrictions that are described on its website: montanazip.com.

Montana’s statewide elected officials will be able receive a pay raise on July 1. The raise is due to a state law that requires pay raises every other year. governor Gianforte will receive a raise of  3.6% but the lieutenant governor and Supreme Court clerk will not get a raise at all. The state auditor will receive a 9% raise. Supreme Court justices and district court judges will get 4.2% raise

The median price for single-family homes in Gallatin County was $660,000 in April. This price is down from $704,750 in March, according to data from the Gallatin Association of Realtors. It was a similar story for the condo and townhouse median prices. The number of new listings for  single-family homes and condo and townhouses increased from April 2020. There were 160 new listings of single-family homes listed in April 2021, compared to 132 last April, and 102 new listings for condos and townhomes this year compared to 94 last April.

The Scoop bar in Bozeman closed its door for good last week. The Scoop, legally named the Scoop Beer Parlor, has been owned by the Davis family of Bozeman since 1977.

Oasis Petroleum is selling its Permian position for less than half the price it paid in 2017. Oasis acquired 20,300 net acres in the Delaware Basin for $946 million, an average $46,000 per acre. The company has now announced it will sell the assets for a little more than half that price. The Permian divestment is the second major transaction announced by Oasis in recently. The company has also announced a $745 million acquisition of Diamondback’s QEP assets in the Bakken. This play added 95,000 acres to the company’s existing Bakken Portfolio.

The Dakota Access pipeline has avoided a shut-down order. A federal judge has denied a request from the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River tribes to shut down North Dakota’s largest pipeline because it now lacks the proper federal authorization to cross under Lake Oahe. The judge also denied a motion from the State of North Dakota that sought to intervene in the case.

A new study of living and dead Engelmann spruce trees collected at high elevations in and around Yellowstone National Park have shown that the last 20 years have been the hottest summers in the Yellowstone region for over 1,250 years. The findings were published in Geophysical Research Letters. The warm periods of the past were characterized by substantial multidecadal temperature variability, markedly different from the prolonged, intense warming trends seen over the past 20 years. 

The federal government has provided funding for a wellness center in Poplar. A new Fort Peck Wellness Center has received $23 million from the New Markets Tax Credits. The purpose of the center is to extend the  life expectancy among members of the Fort Peck Tribes. Additional funding is being made by the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes. The 50,000-square-foot health clinic and recreation center will provide services for health care, physical fitness, childcare, and cultural arts and education. The building will be constructed at the old airport site off U.S. Highway 2.

Stone Glacier announced they are going to open a new business headquarters in Bozeman. Stone Glacier is a manufacturer of premium outdoor equipment. The new 16,000 square feet facility building will be located at the intersection of Huffine and Love Lane and it will also serve as a retail space – to be completed by April 2022. Inc. Magazine has ranked the company as one of the fastest growing companies in America and ranked it #3 in 2020. The company plans to add brands and double its number of employees.

Gallatin County’s residential real estate saw increases in sales, prices and new listings in April, with many homes selling above asking price, while inventory and days on the market decreased compared to last year. The number of new listings increased 21.2% in April compared to last year, from 132 to 160. Pending sales were up 28.8%, going from 118 to 152. The number of closed sales increased 36.4%, from 99 to 135. The average days on market decreased 47.6%, from 63 to 33. The median sales price increased 50% from $440,000 to $660,000. Sellers received 100.7% of their list price, up from 98.8% last April. The inventory of available homes fell 68.1%, from 404 to 129, while the months’ supply of inventory dropped 75.8%, from 3.3 to 0.8.  

The City of Williston is accepting digital cryptocurrency payments for utility bills. It is the first municipal utility in North Dakota to accept bitcoin and the third in the nation. While only utility bills can initially be paid with cryptocurrency they may eventually allow other bills such as landfill, permits, and licenses.

The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) recently issued new load postings for the Cove Ditch Bridge in Park City in Stillwater County. The postings are part of a multi-year effort to update load ratings and postings on Montana bridges as mandated by the?Federal Highway Administration

NEW Commissions Art to Fund O’Dell Creek Restoration

8 June 2021
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The outstanding success of the Ennis-area O’Dell Creek Restoration Project, which began 17 years ago, is recognized with a NorthWestern Energy-commissioned painting by renowned Montana artist Monte Dolack.

The original artwork “Restoring Our Waters” is on display at the Ennis Chamber of Commerce. All proceeds from the sale of prints of the work will be donated to Madison Farm to Fork, which in partnership with the Madison Conservation District and the Ennis School District, created the Gardens, Resources, Outdoors, Wildlife and Watershed (GROWW) program for youth.

The O’Dell Creek Project began in the early 2000s to repair damage that began in the 1950s when the area was ditched to expand usable land for agriculture. In doing so, a unique wetland was partially drained and damaged. 

Since then, more than 14 miles of creek channel has been restored and 815 acres of wetlands created, resulting in improvements to an important tributary to the Madison River. The results have included fishery improvements and a re-establishment of wetland obligate species.

“We all want to see an environmental win, which is what we have with this project,” said NorthWestern Energy Director of Environmental & Lands Permitting & Compliance Mary Gail Sullivan. “When the hydro electric dams were relicensed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the privilege of generating electricity on Montana rivers, there was an obligation to fund environmental and recreational projects.”

That funding, along with the need at O’Dell Creek and most importantly, willing partners in the landowners, were the ingredients for a successful project, Sullivan said.

“This has been a great journey and a great example of what cooperation can accomplish when all are working toward a common goal,” said Jeff Laszlo, the fourth-generation owner and managing partner of the Granger Ranches, one of two landowner partners in the project. “We are a working ranch producing cattle and crops, we continue to learn and work to improve operations in a synergistic way that serves both conservation and production agriculture.”

Dolack’s piece overlooks meandering O’Dell Creek from a bluff, with trumpeter swans, sandhill cranes and other wildlife.

“This is how it should be,” Dolack said. “We can all work together. I was delighted to be able to bring whatever I can to this project, so there’s at least a visual that ideally would sum up what we’re trying to do.”

Madison Food to Fork Chair Kaye Suzuki confirmed Dolack’s Restoring Our Water piece does just that.

“This makes me emotional, this is exactly what conversation work can be, should be,” Suzuki said.

“The heart of our electric generation in Montana is our hydro system that is an environmental, recreational and cultural asset for the state and indeed for the nation,” said NorthWestern Energy Chief Executive Officer Bob Rowe. “Our Montana electric generation portfolio is 69% carbon free. Hydro resources make up more than 40% of that portfolio. A NorthWestern Energy priority is being a good steward of natural and cultural resources at our run-of-the-river dams in Montana. Success depends on great projects like O’Dell Creek, that are made possible and made better through partnerships such as this one.”

Siemsen Promoted to Manager

8 June 2021
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Ryan Siemsen has been promoted to Assistant Vice President, Branch Manager for Stockman Bank Worden. His responsibilities include overseeing bank operations, management and employee supervision, and all lending activities in Worden.

Siemsen, who grew up in Huntley, brings 20 years of experience in Ag and Ag business to the position, which includes 11 years of Ag lending. His extensive background will continue to provide valuable resources not only for customers and potential clients, but for the community as well. He has been with Stockman Bank since 2018 and most recently served as an Ag loan officer for the Billings market.

Siemsen earned his Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Business from Montana State University in Billings and an associate’s degree in Farm and Ranch Management from Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas. He is active in the community serving as the President of Young Rider Series and will continue to be involved in Stockman Bank related activities.

He may be reached at 967-3612 at Stockman Bank Worden.

Rosendale Introduces Direct Primary Care

8 June 2021
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Representative Rosendale introduced the Direct Primary Care Accessibility Act, a bill that would protect the ability of Americans to purchase health care from their doctors without going through an insurance company first.  

Direct primary care plans allow consumers to pay a monthly fee to doctors in order to access a broad variety of health services in the event that they become sick. It is viewed as a method to enhance access to preventive care by smoothing out the costs of going to a physician or getting basic medical treatments.

Representative Rosendale championed direct primary care as a tool for reducing rising health care costs while he served in the state legislature, and again as State Auditor, paving the way for the recent passage of Senate Bill #101, which was signed into law by Governor Gianforte.

“We’ve all heard that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Representative Rosendale said. “If the law can help people get to the doctor more quickly and cheaply with direct access to primary care physicians, then we have a good chance of seeing healthier Americans. It’s an approach that’s just gone into law in our state that I think will work nationwide.”