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MSU Billings Fall 2020 Enrollment Data

25 September 2020
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MSU Billings  fall 2020 enrollment data showed an increase in retention and graduate student enrollment, specifically in all mental and behavioral health programs at the undergraduate and graduate level. At its official 15th class-day count, 4,000 students were enrolled with 2,500 at University Campus and 1,500 at City College. This is a decrease of 416 students (9.4%) from fall 2019. Given the uncertainty and financial impact of COVID-19, this enrollment decrease was expected to be greater and is anticipated to be better than the nationwide higher education enrollment forecasts.

Moving the fall semester start date up three weeks impacted some students’ ability to enroll, especially for those who rely heavily on summer jobs and could not afford to conclude their jobs early. Dual enrollment numbers were also affected since School District 2 and other partner schools started their fall semester later than MSUB, making it challenging for many high school students to enroll.

Interim Chancellor Rolf Groseth noted that many MSUB students also have increased family responsibilities as a result of COVID-19, some having to navigate their children’s remote learning and their own remote jobs, or job loss, creating additional enrollment challenges. Groseth reminded that students can still apply for CARES Act funds that can provide some financial relief.

Notable areas of growth for fall 2020 semester enrollment included:

* Increase in one-year overall freshmen retention by 4%

* City College one-year freshmen retention increased by 13.7%

* Overall graduate student enrollment increased by 6.2%

* New graduate student enrollment increased by 44.2%

* Programs with significant enrollment growth included: Human Services 36.8%, Special Education Advanced Studies 36.4%, Psychology 18.2%, RN to BSN 14.8%, Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling, MS 10.1%, and School Counseling, MS 8.5%

Julian Simon Award

25 September 2020
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 “The world’s problem is not too many people but lack of political and economic freedom.” Julian Simon

Each year since 2001, Competitive Enterprise Institute pays tribute to free-market economist, professor, and consummate optimist Julian Simon by presenting the Julian L. Simon Memorial Award to an individual whose work supports Simon’s vision of mankind as the ultimate resource. This year, CEI  to honors Dr. Steven Horwitz, Director of the Institute for the Study of Political Economy and Distinguished Professor of Free Enterprise at Ball State University, as the 2020 Julian L. Simon Memorial Award Winner.

Professor Steven Horwitz extends Simon’s legacy with an exemplary teaching career and thorough empirical investigation of labor saving innovations in the modern economy.

Julian L. Simon (1932-1998) was a free-market economist and business professor known for his optimism about the future of mankind. His groundbreaking research built the case for how human ingenuity would allow the environment to support the world’s increasing population over the long-term, demonstrating human beings are an asset to the planet, not a liability.

Simon authored the 1981 classic, The Ultimate Resource, which debunked eco-doomsayers’ predictions that modern civilization is unsustainable. Over the years, he argued that humans are living longer, that people are better fed and healthier, that resources are becoming ever more abundant, and that environmental quality is improving.

How to Work with the Government

25 September 2020
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Are you a manufacturer who wants to be a part of America’s COVID-19 response? The NAM (National Association of Manufacturers) continues working with the federal government to help manufacturers meet the urgent need for face coverings and other materials. Director of the NAM’s Creators Respond effort Herb Grant recently led a webinar for the Defense Department on how manufacturers can get involved, including by selling to the government itself. Here are a few of his helpful suggestions:  

* Get a DUNS number: A Data Universal Numbering System number is a unique ID that is required to register with the federal government for contracts or grants.* Register with SAM: The System for Award Management consolidates the capabilities of existing federal procurement systems—and you can register at www.sam.gov.

* Check for contracting opportunities: The webinar covered a range of sites that offer contracting opportunities, including beta.sam.gov, USAspending.gov and Dibbs.bsm. dia.mil.

“Banking on Hope” Walk for Alzheimer

25 September 2020
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 As a financial services professional, Jennell Huff sees the risks that older adults face from elder abuse, fraud and exploitation. The onset of the COVID pandemic has made matters worse, forcing many people into isolation.

That passion for protecting older adults – particularly those at increased risk because of dementia – has brought Huff and her employer, Bank of the Rockies, to the Alzheimer’s Association. That commitment has encouraged Huff to bring a variety of resources to the table for the 2020 Walk to End Alzheimer’s taking place virtually throughout Montana in September and early October.

“I think that our missions intersect in that bringing awareness to cognitive decline is important,” said Huff, a relationship manager at Bank of the Rockies’ Shields Valley branch. “To me, COVID isn’t a time to slow down our efforts, but to ramp them up. It’s more important than ever to find ways to engage our elderly residents and make them feel like they aren’t alone or forgotten.”

To demonstrate Bank of the Rockies’ support and determination, Huff has organized the bank’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s team around the theme of “Banking on Hope.”

“Because the Walk is everywhere this year, in my community it truly will be,” she said. “I have approached several of the businesses about setting up ‘check in’ or ‘selfie stations’ at their places of business. We are asking our walkers to snap selfies at these places and send them to me. We have a prize for first, second and third place in Shields Valley.”

 Huff also crossed generational lines to recruit a preschool, Elevate Our Shields Valley, where the children have created small purple footprints on the bank’s sidewalk for the day of the walk. And the school district’s art teacher, Belit Pigman, will have her K-12 students create flowers for a Promise Garden that will be displayed in Bank of the Rockies’ office throughout the month of September.

The harsh facts are that there are more than 47 million people around the world living with Alzheimer’s disease, including 6 million in the U.S. and 22,000 in Montana. And it is the only leading disease without a prevention, treatment or cure.

 On Walk day, an opening ceremony will feature local speakers. These events will be delivered to participants’ smartphones, tablets and computers.  

New features are being added to the Walk’s mobile app. Participants can use the app and new “Walk Mainstage’’ to:

*   Track their steps and distance

*   Follow a virtual Walk path

*  Manage their Facebook fundraisers and

*  Access information and resources to help individuals and families affected by the disease.

Packing Plants will Likely Expand

24 September 2020
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By Colter Brown, Northern Ag Network

In the last few years, it’s become evident that the beef industry needs more processing capacity. That only became more clear this spring, when a bottleneck in U.S. cattle processing created a backlog of harvest-ready cattle. It does appear though that more shackle space will be created in the next year or two.

Last week, a new meatpacking plant in Idaho Falls announced plans to open in the fall of 2021. Intermountain Packing will build a new $20 million facility that will have the capacity to process 500 head of cattle and bison per day. The new packing plant is connected to Intermountain Bison, a vertically-integrated operation that raises and processes bison.

This is the second announcement this summer of a new packing plant coming to Idaho. In late July, Agri Beef announced its plans to open a facility in Jerome, ID. That facility will also process 500 head of cattle per day.

These new plants are not huge in scale when compared to many of the packing plants that operate largely in the Midwest. But increasing harvest capacity will allow for more competition in the packing segment and more marketing avenues for cattlemen.

Last week, in Certified Angus Beef’s virtual Feeding Quality Forum, CattleFax CEO Randy Blach said that its clear the industry needs more harvest capacity. Blach said, the industry-wide estimated 40-hour processing capacity decreased from 550,000 thousand head in 2007 to 465,000 head in 2016. Now for 4 consecutive years the industry will have processed more than the 40 hour capacity as packers are currently incentivized to run extra shifts.

“The cow-calf producer needs to be more profitable,” Blach said. “The good thing is the profitability is in our industry but we need a little more harvest capacity to balance who’s getting what share of that. That’ll sort itself out over the next few years. Beef cow numbers are going to contract a little bit and some additional packing capacity will be coming online in the next 12 to 24 months.”

As evidenced by the new plants in Idaho and smaller processors around the region that have expanded, the U.S. beef packing capacity will increase. The hope of many ranchers is that will help to shift some of the leverage and profitability in the industry over to the cow-calf and feeding segments.

Montana Manufacturing Gets F

24 September 2020
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Montana got a grade of F for the health of its manufacturing industry, according to a recent report from Ball State University – a decline from a D- grade in 2019.

Montana maintained a C for logistics, C+ for human capital – up from a C in 2019. The state dropped to a B+ for tax climate, down from an A. F for expected fiscal liability, C for sector diversification, a D+ for productivity and innovation — a step up from a D last year, and a D for Global Reach.

The 2020 Manufacturing Scorecard from Ball State’s Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) analyzes how each state ranks among its peers in several areas of the economy that underlie the success of manufacturing and logistics. 

The production of goods holds particular interest in the US economy. Manufacturing firms are not necessarily reliant on local demand for goods and are therefore footloose. Their location depends more on local factors such as the quality and availability of the labor force, transportation infrastructure, nonwage labor costs, access to innovative technologies, and the cost of doing business.

Manufacturing is the production of both consumer durable goods and consumer non-durable goods. The study included three variables: the share of total income earned by manufacturing employees in each state, the wage premium paid to manufacturing workers relative to the other states’ employees, and the share of manufacturing employment per capita.

Manufacturing Activity Expands

24 September 2020
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U.S. manufacturing activity posted a fourth straight month of expansion in August, hitting a level the index has not seen since January 2019, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s monthly Report on Business.

This is the third straight month of expansion for the manufacturing activity index, while the economy registered growth for a fourth consecutive month.

According to the ISM, U.S. manufacturing activity edged up another 1.8% in August, and now stands at 56%. Anything over 50% is considered expansionary.

In June, the ISM’s index posted a gain of 9.5%, rocketing from a severe contraction back into expansion. July’s gain was a more modest 1.6%, speeding up to a 1.8% in this most recent survey.

The breakdown of growth was similar to July’s report, with increase in activity led by new orders and production. Employment, however, remained in contraction.

Supplier deliveries slowed at a faster rate, raw materials inventories contracted while exports and imports grew.

Said Timothy Fiore, Chairman of the ISM: “After the coronavirus (COVID-19) brought manufacturing activity to historic lows, the sector continued its recovery. In August, the first full month of operations after supply chains restarted and adjustments were made for employees to return to work.”

Fiore went on to say that many companies went through an adjustment period with the many safety measures that needed to be implemented. Additionally, sentiment among industrial executives was positive, with 1.4 positive comments for every negative comment.

Additionally, the economic climate continues to impact investment, with many panelists putting off capital investments for the rest of 2020.

Said one executive in the machinery industry, “Capital equipment new orders have slowed again. Quoting is active. Many customers waiting for the fourth quarter to make any commitments.”

Of eighteen industries, fifteen reported growth in August (compared to thirteen in July). Growth was led by wood products; plastics and rubber products; food products; textiles and chemicals.

The three industries posting declines included printing & related support activities; petroleum products and furniture.

Know your PSC Candidates and Choose Wisely

24 September 2020
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By Commissioner Roger Koopman

As I wrap up my eight years on the Public Service Commission, I think back on all that I have learned.   Having previously run an employment agency for 37 years, it’s second nature for me to ask, “What are the most important qualifications for being a good commissioner?”  As a life-long Republican, my answer may surprise you, because the stuff that makes for a great PSC commissioner is uniquely different from other political offices.

Truthfully, the nature of the job – the wise regulating and rate-setting of utility monopolies – has almost nothing to do with a commissioner’s political party.  But there are three basic qualities a voter should look for when selecting the person to represent them – and the greater public good – on the PSC:  

1. The ability to put the public interest ahead of personal politics, ambitions and agendas.  Most PSC candidates come with the baggage of previous political experience and partisan involvement.  While this isn’t an immediate disqualifier (I myself am one), seasoned politicians generally have a harder time checking their egos and their politics at the door, avoiding intra-commission alliances and keeping their minds open to all evidence and all points of view.  A 5-person commission can only serve the public interest when all commissioners are willing to respect, listen to and learn from the others – as well as from the PSC staff and the public at large.  They must be willing to deliberate on each docket with an unbiased, well-informed and open mind.  

2. The willingness to devote long hours to the job, and possessing the intellect to understand what’s said and read.  The PSC commissioner job offers a unique opportunity to cheat your employer – the public – if that’s your goal.  Commissioners who lack a work ethic can get by doing very little to earn their $109,000 salary.  Unfortunately, I have seen multiple examples of this. To these commissioners, the “work” is in the getting elected.  After that, they flaunt their title and do little else.  Good commissioners, with an active conscience, put at least 40 to 50 hours a week into the job, and do an enormous amount of reading for each case that comes before the Commission.  They have an intellectual curiosity for all areas that the PSC regulates, and are constantly striving to self-educate, self-improve and gain a stronger grasp on the many responsibilities the job entails.

3. Integrity, fidelity, transparency and adherence to the law and to the established policies of the PSC.  It cannot be emphasized too strongly, the legal and fiduciary responsibilities that rest on the shoulders of every Public Service Commissioner.  The work of the Commission impacts many millions of dollars and the lives and businesses of every resident in the state.   Persons who are inclined to play it fast and loose with the truth, or who are drawn to game-playing and deal-making out of the public eye have no place on the Public Service Commission.  Both the internal and statutory rules commissioners are required to follow are there to protect the ratepayers and the integrity and credibility of the Commission itself.  They cannot be compromised.  It follows that any commissioner who has a problem with openness and total public transparency is a commissioner who is in the wrong job.    

Currently, the PSC is a mess, guilty of everything from spying on colleagues to intimidating staff, abusing law enforcement, slandering, lying and flagrantly violating agency rules.  I have sounded the alarm, but all my appeals have fallen on deaf ears.  To one degree or another, all four commissioners are responsible for the train wreck, either by their own shameful actions or their failure to act when duty called.

There are three PSC seats up this election cycle, so the control of the commission hangs in the balance.  I will make no endorsements.  I ask only that you consider the job qualifications I’ve listed:  independence, work ethic, integrity.  Then learn about each candidate, and choose wisely.  .

Indiana Pushes for DAP Remaining Open

24 September 2020
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The Center Square

Indiana’s attorney general wants a U.S. appellate court to allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to remain open while the federal government studies the environmental impact.

Attorney General Curtis Hill said shutting down the pipeline would create public safety hazards, threaten the environment and deliver an economic blow to grain farmers throughout the Midwest.

Earlier, a lower court ordered the pipeline closed by vacating an easement that allowed continued operation. That U.S. district court cited a lack of an environmental impact study.

“The courts should allow the pipeline to continue transporting oil while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers prepares an environmental impact study,” Hill said in a news release. “The order by the U.S. district court largely ignores the damage that a shutdown would cause to our economy, environment, food supply and personal safety.”

Hill, working with the state of Montana, joined nine other states in filing a brief with the appellate court.

For three years, the pipeline has carried about 570,000 barrels of crude oil per day from western North Dakota to southern Illinois. Closing it, according to Hill, would force oil shipments to go by rail.

Hill believes shipping by rail would force oil to compete for train space with agriculture, harming Indiana farmers and threatening the food supply during the global pandemic.

“The Dakota Access Pipeline has already been constructed, the oil is flowing and the American economy has come to rely on its benefits as an alternative to rail or truck transport,” Hill’s brief states. “The disruption that will result from vacating the easement is not merely economic. It will affect the food security of all who rely on Midwestern grain producers to ship affordable food through rail transport.”

O’Donnell Joins Stockman Bank

23 September 2020
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Mason O’Donnell recently joined Stockman Bank as a Financial Analyst. His responsibilities include modeling interest rate and liquidity risk; and assisting in the analysis of the balance sheet strategies, funding options and firm capitalization.

He will also provide credit write-ups and analysis on fixed income investments for the bank’s bond portfolio, as well as the reporting of key measurements, performance ratios and credit standards.

O’Donnell earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Finance at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa in 2019. He is currently a level 2 candidate in the CFA program.

He is located at 2700 King Avenue West.