Author: Evelyn Pyburn

Casinos Left in Lurch as City Council Adopts Project Recode

22 December 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

After making a number of changes to Project Recode, the Billings City Council passed the new zoning regulations in First Reading by a wide margin last Monday. On December 21, the City Council will take up Project Recode in Second Reading at which time more changes are possible.

A proposed amendment to a regulation that is perceived as especially onerous by casino owners failed to be passed. The amendment would have reduced from 350 –feet to 150 –feet as the distance that  casinos must be located from the nearest residence. The new regulation immediately puts almost all 134 casino and bar owners in Billings out of compliance. Also left in place are regulations that will, over time, consolidate casinos into one or two areas in the city. Non-complying businesses are “grandfathered in” until they have to rebuild or remodel for some reason.

Questions about whether the city could “target” casinos in such a manner and whether it was legal was generally dismissed by city planners who pointed out that other cities have implemented similar regulations. City Council members who voted against the amendment said that regulations are being changed because they have been hearing for years from people who want them changed, because they don’t like living so close to casinos, and said council members, during the past weeks they had heard from only a few casino owners who objected.

Said City Councilwoman, Penny Ronning, the presence of casinos is “one of the major issues I have heard about more frequently than most other issues… the frustration that people have with casinos being close to their neighborhood.” Incidents of crime was pointed out by council member Denise Joy as a concern.

With one casino owner pointing out that bars and taverns have a much higher incident of crime associated with them than do casinos, (and that crime around convenience stores is four times higher) he wondered why the distance requirement for bars and casinos is only 150 feet. Mayor Bill Cole expressed his concerns that there is a difference between the two types of businesses, saying he prefers to see consistency in the codes.

The objections are about the risk to casino owners who could lose their business and property values should something happen in which they would have to rebuild and would be denied the ability to do so by city government. The risks also exist for other kinds of non-conforming businesses,

“This simply isn’t fair and is being pursued by a relatively small group,” said casino owner Dennis Benson, “There are thousands of people who go into the casinos.” The regulation, said Benson is not “healthy for the community” …. ”people who go into the casinos are being pushed into the underbelly of the community.”

“I don’t see it as an incredible hardship,” said City Council member, Danny Choriki, calling the objections “fear mongering.” Choriki was later chastised by one casino owner, Josh Benson, for jokingly calling gamblers “sinners.”

Other amendments to Recodes, which fared much better, addressed other issues such as requirements that would have forced new infill building or remodeling, to adhere to the current style of a neighborhood. Builders had said in earlier comments that the requirement could increase costs.

Another successful amendment extended from six months to 12 months a limitation on how much time businesses of non-conforming uses would have to sell or otherwise resume business, at their location, should they temporarily cease operation for some reason. To exceed that time frame would terminate the legality of the non-conforming use.

City Council members Pam Purinton and Frank Ewalt wanted to delay the decision on Project Recode until January 11, but the motion failed. They pointed out that there are a number of issues that have been brought forward that are still unaddressed, most especially the concern from builders that the new codes escalate the cost of building and will adversely impact affordable housing. There are also unaddressed requests for a legal review of the codes.

During the next city council meeting on December 21, the adoption of Project Recode will be considered again in Second Reading, with the possibility of additional amendments.

In earlier emails, builders pointed out many aspects of the codes that they believe will raise costs. For example the requirement to have a back road access to a multi-family development immediately doubles the cost.

Restrictions on building heights eliminate opportunities to gain the most value from available space.

There were questions and confusion about restrictions on the amount of frontage required for residential lots versus multi-family lots and about required sizes of garage doors. “Can you confirm if there will be a maximum garage square footage size, other than the max of 50% total garage door width on the front façade?” asked Brendon Hill of Diverse Construction.

“The 50% limitation in the proposed code applies only to the garage door opening on the front façade of the house. So if your house is 60 feet wide, 30 feet of garage door opening is allowed along the front façade,” replied Nicole Cromwell, Planning Department staff member who oversaw the three and a half-year effort writing the new codes. Cromwell explained on Monday night that she believes the garage door restrictions is a safety measure which will allow the home owner to better see if they accidently left their garage door open or to see the plight of a pedestrian who might fall in front of their house and need assistance.

Bill Hanser, a residential builder, pointed out that one regulation requires side or alley facing driveways, which “adds cost and reduces the available yard space…. adds expense and increase(s) the amount of snow removal for the homeowner.

If safety is the issue, said Pam Purinton, how can a home owner see a garage door off the alley?

Landscaping requirements are also a concern. A landscaping plan is required to be submitted with the building permit and that plan will be binding on successors. This seems to add a significant, hard- to- enforce burden, as well as additional cost to the housing market, said Hanser. Also, many homeowners choose to build sweat equity by doing their own landscaping, allowing them to purchase a property they otherwise would not be able to afford.

Purinton expressed surprise and concern to learn that under Recode the newly built Shiloh Commons would not have been allowed.

Developer of Shiloh Commons, Mike Stock, pointed out in an email that his company, Stock Development, has developed over a hundred million dollars in residential, commercial and multi-family real-estate in Billings over the last several years. “During the project re-code we were never given the opportunity to comment on any of the changes that have been made. Just reviewing the 400+ page document the parking for residential/multi-family has increased over 25%. This is astronomical in development worlds and will have a substantial increase in development costs! As it stands today we will no longer be able to consider Affordable housing or for that matter Housing in general. Costs due to this type of increase could be as much as 2 Million on a 200 unit complex. Stock Development is very energy conscious and all the work we put into making our buildings ENERGY EFFICIENT will be canceled out by the increase parking! 99% of all municipalities across the country are reducing parking codes not increasing them.”

Builders have said that the restrictions make using new kinds of materials and concepts impossible, and push them into building higher priced homes, for which there is a market which they can readily address, but leaves middle class buyers out of the market.

Recode advocates have repeatedly said they want “quality over quantity.”

 “Anytime you say quality, you are raising the price,” said one builder.

When Old-fashioned and Cumbersome is Good

8 December 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

Sometimes modern technological innovations may not be an improvement over old fashioned, labor intensive processes. Such is perhaps true regarding voting.

No matter how this election turns out, it will have totally undermined confidence in the electoral process for all, and that is a massive casualty for the country. And, it isn’t something that happened after Election Day, it began long before when all kinds of safeguards were being eagerly undermined.

Confidence in the process has to be reinstituted and we have to conclude, that no technological advancement can be introduced that won’t carry with it greater potential for fraud. 

Former President Barak Obama identified most clearly the best system and how it provides the best possible safeguard. Back when there were concerns about Russia having manipulated our voting process, then- President Obama stated, “…there is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even rig America’s election, in part because they’re so decentralized.” (October 2016)

And, therein is the solution – we had it all along, and President Obama resoundingly identified it. Keeping it a hands -on process conducted county-by-county. No computers, or digitizing of data or centralization. President Obama recognized, as should anyone, that decentralization, while undoubtedly cumbersome, is inherently the best protection against subverting the whole system. The very unwieldiness of it minimizes the ability to orchestrate any kind of focused massive manipulations.

A computerized, centralized process will always be vulnerable. One doesn’t have to be much of a computer guru to understand that.

While how to conduct elections should still be left to the province of each state –dovetailing with the idea that a decentralized process is best – the one federal limitation should be that it remains under the authority of disparate counties, in a manner in which each ballot can be traced back to a voter – no centralization, no computerization.

Fraud can certainly still happen but not on a massive scale and not without being detectable should someone exercise their prerogative to look. (Speaking of which, it is not only President Trump’s right to challenge suspect elections, it is his obligation. Part of the system’s weakness today, is that others did not challenge when they should have.)

And while we are talking about it, let’s be really, really honest — the only reason for voters not to have to show ID, or for deadlines not to matter, or for mail-in ballots (not absentee) — is to facilitate the potential for fraud – and everyone knows it.

While the old fashioned method to guarantee one- person, one- vote, with its inherent decentralization is the most secure process, it does have a price. It could indeed be more costly and it absolutely requires citizen participation.

The cost in a country that spends money on everything from writing zoo poetry to studying cow burps – the cost cannot be of any serious concern. Whatever the cost, to have elections that can be trusted, is worth that cost.

But the biggest challenge for local hands-on elections is the need for hands… they need the volunteer efforts of local citizens and that has been one of the biggest problems for local election officials – getting the people they need to be election judges, poll monitors, counters, etc. Where are you?

You are the only solution to that problem, and assuring honest elections, no matter how it is done, will never happen without citizen participation and oversight. When compared to what soldiers, since the Revolutionary War, have done to assure our liberty, being a poll-watcher is piffle. Again, where are you?

The other safe guard for sound elections is the aggressive prosecution of anyone who commits voter fraud.  Even if they are just one person mailing in their dead relative’s ballot, they should be pursued and prosecuted and their name splashed across the front pages. Every ballot should be considered inviolate, and its violation should be an despicable act against humanity and liberty. And, that is exactly how everyone, who in any way worked to undermine this election, or who condone or accept any election tampering, should be regarded.

Impact of Project Recode Puts Casinos at Risk, Worries Builders

8 December 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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Bar and casino owners in Billings and Yellowstone County are very apprehensive about the impact of a revamping of zoning regulations, called Project Re-code, which is very near to being adopted by both the city and county. One owner said the code could have “traumatic consequences” for the gaming industry.

Real estate agents and builders also voiced concerns to the Billings City Council on Monday, prompting the council to postpone further action until December 14. Last week, Yellowstone County Commissioners also delayed taking action on the county’s revised codes, which differ than those being considered by the city.

Regulators have been working on rewriting the 600 plus page document for three and a half years and one of its authors, Darell Tunnicliff, questioned why it’s detractors are waiting until now to object to some of its requirements. Tunnicliff is among  a dozen or so citizens who were appointed by the City County Planning Board to completely overhaul the codes.

Nicole Cromwell, Billings Zoning Coordinator and Code Enforcement Supervisor, said that since the first hearing on November 9, her office has received many calls and emails from casino/bar owners, builders, sign companies and real estate agents with concerns. Most of the time, she said, they were mistaken in their interpretations of what was meant and clarifications on her part satisfied them.

The passage of Re-code will immediately put almost all 134 casino and bar owners in Billings out of compliance. A 600-foot distance requirement from parks, churches, schools and residents, was specifically designed to do that, in order to push such businesses into being concentrated in a few areas of the city. Cromwell said that once in force, only five casinos on Grand Avenue will be in compliance with Re-code. Non-complying businesses are “grandfathered in” until they have to rebuild or remodel for some reason.

As one owner, Fred Liske, wrote to the city council, “If a bar or casino gets destroyed by accident or disaster, it can’t rebuild as a bar or casino if it doesn’t fit the new zoning requirement.” He was among numerous gaming owners pointing out the issue, saying the requirement stands to destroy the property values, investments and livelihoods of all those involved in the business.

City Councilwoman Pam Purinton urged the council to agree to a delay to allow the Planning Department to deal with the citizens’ concerns.

Wyeth Friday, who heads the Planning Department, and a number of council people, expressed frustration with the delay saying that some of the issues they were being asked to re-examine were achieving exactly the things that those writing the codes said they wanted to do, especially those having to do with casinos.  City planners expressed concern that by entertaining the citizen’s current complaints about Re-code, the council was initiating a process that could go on for a long time and shouldn’t be encouraged.

City Councilwomen Penny Ronning  and other council people made the point that the distancing regulations were the result of safety concerns of residents located near those kinds of businesses and that those concerns were valid and just as important as business interests.

“I don’t think you can devalue private property like that,” said one casino owner,  pointing out that it would “create a skid row. You can’t put one kind of business in one area of the city.” He said he had asked for a map indicting where casinos and bars “would be allowed to locate”, but had not received one.

There were others who questioned why casinos are being targeted and whether that is a legal policy.

City Attorney Brent Brooks was asked whether the document has been reviewed for its legality, to which he replied that it has not and advised that that process needs to be done.

“We need to weigh it very carefully,” he said, “We need to look at it… and  be very careful and get it right and accurate so that property owners will know exactly what is going to happen.”

Among other concerns expressed most frequently by real estate agents was what they believed were requirements for homeowners to hire professional landscapers to landscape their property. It added to the cost of home ownership they said, and would not help housing affordability.

Cromwell said that the regulations were not directed at home owners but at developers and pertained primarily to the aesthetic requirement for trees.

Council members asked the staff to look at rewording the landscaping code since so many comments were about it, which indicated that it was not understandable.

Other issues which prompted citizen concerns had to do with garage doors and spacing for residential units, single use zoning, etc. many of which said builders would add to the cost of home ownership.

“State is on Fire” with COVID Cases; More Restrictions Declared Necessary

8 December 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

In speaking to County Commissioners, County Health Officer John Felton said that although he is normally an optimistic person, “It’s getting increasingly hard to be optimistic,” regarding the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the state.

“The state is just on fire with cases,” said Felton.

The number of cases is nearing 100 per 100,000 population, which Felton said is very serious. Just under 6 percent of the population has been infected.

 Montana has been experiencing escalating cases since mid-September, (see accompanying article) Felton said that he doesn’t know what else to do other than impose more restrictions, which happened with announcement from Governor Bullock that requires bars, restaurants and casinos to reduce capacity from 75 percent to 50 percent and to close at 10 pm – limitations that are the same as being totally shutdown for many businesses, beginning Nov. 20.

Felton broadened the restrictions on hours of operation to include all businesses. He has also hired four “liaison officers” to patrol businesses in Yellowstone County and oversee training of people failing to comply and oversee legal proceedings of enforcement against businesses.

“I know that there are significant economic impacts,” Felton said, noting that the situation is even more severe since, “we don’t have access to all the supports we had in the beginning with the CARES act.”

Montana ranks ninth in the nation in terms of COVID cases per 100,000 population which is at 95.4.

After the impact of the Canyon Creek nursing home cases, the number of cases in Yellowstone County dropped to a level more in keeping with its share of population, at about 16 percent.

Yellowstone County’s hospitals are at capacity. Besides space, the hospitals are struggling with having adequate staffing since many are either sick or quarantining.

“This is becoming a pretty significant issue for us,” said Felton.

The number of regional patients fluctuates between 40 and 60 daily. Billing’s medical community serves a regional population of about 650,000 people.

People have occasionally asked why they don’t just refuse to accept out- of- county patients, to which Felton explained that Billings has spent the last 40 years establishing itself as a regional medical center and has thrived economically on that distinction, in addition they have a moral responsibility to live up to the commitment.

Felton also pointed out that staffing issues are impacting local businesses, making it difficult for them to stay open. It is not that much different for them than being required shut down. Staffing shortages are also the primary issue with which schools are dealing.

Schools “haven’t seen a large number of kids becoming ill,” reported Felton. There has only been a slight increase in the number of cases since school began.

Yellowstone County is experiencing more deaths, said Felton. As of press time, the County had 107 deaths, with the number of confirmed cases in the county nearing 10,000. The state has had almost 50,000, with 543 deaths.

Felton rebuffed claims that hospitals get funding based on the number of COVID cases reported. He said, “There is no economic benefit to say that someone dies of COVID when they don’t.”

The good news lies in reports that there are two effective vaccines on their way. How they will be distributed has yet to be determined, and it is likely that the vaccines will have to be taken repeatedly, not unlike flu shots.

“I don’t know where the end point is,” said Felton, “….There is no evidence that we are at the top. What slows it down is when people decide this is enough. I have to do my part.”

“We know how to slow this thing down. ..There is no ‘magic sauce’”

It requires masking, distancing, and sanitizing. Bars, restaurants, gyms, schools and churches should be closed – “but we haven’t done that… now we are at the point.”

 “There are no good choices,” said Felton.

American Steel Steps Into Future of Robots

7 December 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

The future belongs to companies that are keeping pace with available technology. American Steel, Inc. in Billings is well aware of that and they are taking very measured steps to keep at the forefront of their industry, steel fabrication.

American Steel recently announced the appointment of a manager who will lead the company into that future.  Curtis Childree has been named as the new Vice President, bringing with him years of hands-on experience learned from the ground up, which gives him a depth and breadth of knowledge that will serve the company and industry well.

American Steel, located at 1655 Coulson Road in Lockwood, has already installed some major pieces of new technology over the past three years, investing some $1.5 million in robots and management programs that are transforming the way they do business and expanding the level of service they can provide their customers, which most typically are the owners, contractors and erectors of buildings.

Acquiring the technology is but a small part of the process, points out David Lewis, who has been charged by company owner, Bill Kronmiller, with the challenge of overseeing the transition. “To transition from where it was to where it is going to go,” said Lewis, “requires knowing how the leadership is going to react to the changes. There needs to be changes in the way the business thinks about how things are done and the way it behaves.”

The new technology is making production more efficient, which increases the level of service, often at less cost. “Vendors are excited for the change,” said Lewis, who explained that American Steel is not a large company and described it as a “boutique” fabricator, where “we weld things together.”  Most of their customers are within the Montana region.

Lewis sees himself as a short-timer. Having once accomplished his mission, he will retire in a couple of years. Childree and the newly trained and transitioned staff will be the future for American Steel.

Kronmiller acquired full ownership of American Steel in May 2016. He founded the company with partner Paul Neutgens in 1998 in west Billings. They built a new plant in Lockwood in 2009.

Since the adoption of the new processes and equipment, American Steel exceeds almost every standard set by the AISC (American Institute of Steel Construction).

Their first project, which served as their “jumping off point” for their new skills and processes was the construction of Shiloh Commons at Central Avenue and Shiloh. By the end of that project, said Childree, “We had a baseline from which to work and we have continued to change things… change has been constant.” The American Steel team members “are now more than willing to try something.” They are understanding that changes will be “fruit-bearing down the line,” said Childree, a Montana native who over 15 years ago started in his first job as a janitor at a fabricating company in Lewistown, becoming a welder after leaving the National Guard, and advancing from one role to another at American Steel, as a Beam-line operator, detailer, project manager and learning computer programming.

At the forefront of the new technology that has been adopted by the company is a program that allows them to build a model that involves designing and planning, down to the most minute detail… not only where each nut and bolt goes but when it will go there. The process allows them to identify overlapping conflicts and to solve problems before they materialize. The model is available to everyone involved with the project, from shop managers, each of whom has a computer, to the project owner and contractors. “All that information helps our customers in other planning,” explained Childree.

It is not uncommon for a project model to involve 36,000 pieces, said Childree. “Every item is defined to within 16th of an inch.”  The program also provides for detailed scheduling, which allows American Steel to predict to the exact day when a load will be delivered to the worksite and to provide with confidence a completion date.

Other amazing pieces of technology are two robots – one they call “Ratchet” that welds pieces astoundingly precise and rapidly, and the other called “Rosie” that cuts through steel as though it was butter, using “controlled lightening.” Operating the robots requires considerable training and skills, which their managers have not only achieved, said Lewis, but many he considers world-class operators.

“The introduction of these technologies by itself is just expensive if you don’t have individuals able to use it. It comes down to people,” said Lewis, who came to Billings in the 1980s by way of Eugene, Oregon. He has built businesses paralleling the advancement of computerization, and has developed a very practical philosophy about technology. He noted how quickly “revolutionary changes” in technology, becomes “second nature,” to the people using it.

There is a lot of fascination as well as angst about AI (artificial intelligence), with many worried that “you can take humans out of the situation,” said Lewis. There is a fear that employment will be less. Lewis points out though, that as amazing as technology has been “there has always been human thinking involved.” That will continue to be the case, he believes, and rather than less opportunity there will be more, as has been the case for American Steel’s 44 employees. Their jobs have become more interesting and challenging with more pay as productivity and skill levels increase. “Robots don’t replace people, they enhance them,” he said, “…a robot doesn’t have skills,” it is the skilled craftsman that is innovative.

Montanans are more willing than most to embrace change and to adapt, said Lewis. “You show Montanans why you want to adapt to technology and they get it. They love it. They want to be competitive and they realize if they don’t someone else, somewhere else, will be.”

Both Lewis and Childree frequently referred to the new technologies as “toys” and that time working with new technology is “playtime,” and that is how most of their employees are responding to it. When human beings are at play, “that is where the human mind develops the fastest,” said Lewis.

2M Home Grown Company Now Serves all Western US

22 November 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

Quietly growing and expanding in a southwest corner of Billings is a homegrown, family-founded business that has made a giant foot print throughout the west. 2M Company is an amazing success story for our community as the kind of business that generates a rock solid foundation for the local economy.

In 1978, Hollis A. (Bill) Mills and Chester Majors pooled their resources and started the 2M Company, a water well wholesale supplier.

During their first year the two experienced salesmen had $1.5 million in total sales and paid wages of  $100,000. From 2000, company sales increased from $21 million with a payroll of $2 million to over $44 million and a payroll of $4.5 million in 2007.  Since then they have maintained a 15 percent annual growth rate and fully expect to see sales exceed $200 million within the next five years, predicts H. A. “Buzz” Mills, Bill Mill’s son, who is now the company’s president.

“We have quadrupled sales since 2008,” said Buzz, “and a lot of it is market share growth.”

2M has 8000 customers, most typically professional licensed contractors who interface with the end users of pumps, water wells, well monitoring equipment, sprinkler systems, pipeline designs, booster system, etc. for residential, municipal and industrial sewage systems including landscapers, manufacturers, mining companies, farmers, etc.

Buzz Mills believes that the success of the company rests upon the fundamental philosophy which was the impetus for the two M’s, his father and Majors, to start the business, which was to build a wholesale company around the principal that the customer always comes first. The philosophy and 2M’s dedication to it, has come to be recognized throughout the industry and dubbed “Legendary Service.”

Bill Mills had been the manager of a water well wholesale supplier, and Majors was a factory representative. Both men were tired of working for companies that only thought about the bottom line. They wanted to give back to the people who make a business successful, and to have fun doing it.

Strictly adhering to that philosophy has been the company’s every day commitment and it remains at the forefront, today, says Buzz Mills, proudly.

Much has changed since the company’s founding.  In 2017 it became part of Headwater Companies, a collective group of groundwater distributors owned by Franklin Electric. While 2M is no longer a family-owned business, Buzz Mills still manages the company.

At the time that Franklin Electric acquired 2M they also acquired Western Hydro Corporation, based in California, which now functions in tandem with 2M. Both 2M and Western Hydro are continuing operations with the same management style, history and culture that built them, however the financial and accounting administration of Western Hydro has been moved to the Billings office.

2M has 15 locations in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Washington, Texas, New Mexico, Oregon, including four locations in Montana. Western Hydro has 12 locations in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Kansas, Nevada and Utah.

Company wide, 2M and Western Hydro employ 237 full time people; forty of those are based in Billings, of which 30 are dedicated to the administration of the two companies.

To this day, 2M remains true to “Legendary Service” standards. Buzz explained that they have a dedicated training center in Billings and employ a full time training manager who works with the employees and their customers to pass along product knowledge, application and design, and to assure “Legendary Service” every time they encounter a customer. Given the rapid and dynamic technological advances over the years, their training has become all the more important.

Buzz grew up with the company. As a boy, he can clearly remember opening day, sitting at his father’s desk, observing the bustle of activity around him. It was at 2M that he gained his first job. And, he remembers walking through the brand new corporate facility with amazement in 2007, which is when he was named president and general manager, having spent 15 years working from the bottom up, and graduating college from MSU-Billings.

Chester Majors retired in 1993 and Bill Mills became sole owner.

While Bill Mills has retired, he remains an important advisor to the company.

Buzz is proud of his company’s employee retention rate. One of their employees “remembers me when I was eleven years old,” he said.

2M’s employees reflect the high caliber of workers in Montana. It was this high employee quality that influenced the decision to make Billings headquarters for all 27 locations of 2M and Western Hydro, said Buzz. 2M has two locations in Billings, a couple blocks apart, one the administration center and the other a warehouse, at 5249 Holiday Avenue and 1215 Cordova Street.

During its 40-plus years of operation, 2M has always been a leader in its industry which meant initiating many “firsts.” The “firsts” often reflect things that while being revolutionary in their day have become so common place that they hardly seem worth mentioning today – such as being the first to offer customer toll free numbers, a reminder that there was a time when almost any business phone call was an expensive proposition. All telephone services posed a significant barrier and cost for most businesses.

2M was the first wholesaler in the industry to provide delivery cargo vans, cash discounts, dealer meetings, and trip promotions. They were also the first to offer factory fly-ins, Saturday morning hours, emergency service 24/7, extended summer hours, a website, on –line ordering, and building programs.

Among its customers 2M remains noted for their many customer benefits and promotions, which includes trip promotions and an annual event which last year involved hosting 740 customers and their spouses on a 5-night trip to the Dominican Republic.

Speaking of revolutionary changes, 2M started up as an enterprise at a time when doing business on a national scale from Montana was considered very challenging, fraught with many disadvantages. Technology and innovations have changed much of that. Computers, the internet and improvements in communications have to a large extent removed many barriers. About the only disadvantage that a Montana –based business struggles with today is the lack of air service, said Buzz. As someone who usually spends an average of 130 days a year in over-night traveling throughout the western United States, Buzz knows, of what he speaks.

Given the Coronavirus crisis, this year has been very different. Buzz has spent less than 30 days traveling, and much of that included a car trip through five states. Options for air travel have been even more limited, but the cost of lodging is greatly less, he pointed out.

There’s been an upside to the situation. Buzz explains, “I had a day-long meeting in Denver from a website sitting in my office. Everyone could see each other. It was a good meeting, and at the end of the day, I went home.”

Like so many other people during the crisis, Buzz has had more time on his hands, and like so many others he turned to doing home improvements, renewing landscaping and installing a new sprinkler system. Since many other people have done likewise it has meant increased business for 2M, despite the many other changes they have had to make.

Buzz says he sees many of the changes remaining in the future, such as meeting more virtually and traveling less. And there will be changes in how many other industries do business, who are 2M’s customers  – especially in the livestock and food industries. Being able to get water efficiently and economically is going to be even more important predicts, Buzz.

Red Wave Sets Rare Political Trifecta

20 November 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

The people of Montana have “thrown down the gauntlet,” and have challenged Republicans to show what they can do, stated Republican Brad Tschida, who was 2019 House Majority Leader and recently re-elected to HD97 in Missoula. On Nov. 3, the Republicans swept all statewide offices and netted many new positions in both houses of the state legislature, achieving a rare “trifecta” in state political power.

The Republicans have been saying they can govern better and the voters of Montana have said, “prove you are in fact better to run the government,” surmised Tschida, regarding the fact that Republican Greg Gianforte won the governorship and Republicans won a veto-proof majority in both the House and the Senate.

“It’s the first time in 84 years that something like this has happened, “ said Tschida, “It doesn’t take much insight to know it is significant.”  But why it happened isn’t all that clear, Tschida puzzled, adding that it was probably a myriad of factors. Significant, however, was probably “seeing all the riots and lawlessness that was going on, and I think people think Republicans have a better grasp on supporting law enforcement and safety.”

This may be the first time in history that Republicans swept all the offices – including all the State Land Board Offices, as well as the Public Service Commission positions, said Jon Benion, a senior staff attorney for the Montana Attorney General’s office. Benion is something of an expert on the history of Montana politics having written the book, “Big Sky Politics.”

“I don’t know if we have ever had a time when Republicans controlled all Land Board offices,” said Benion, “The Democrats did in 2008, “when they swept all offices except for Dennis Rehberg’s  US Congressional seat.”

When looking at history, it becomes obvious that there is something of a 16- 20 year cycle regarding party control in Montana, said Benion.  “From 1988 to 2000 the Republican brand was strong, and then Democrats were golden from 2004 to 2008.”

Montana is typically known as a red state, said Benion, but that is mostly because the state predictably votes for Republican presidents. Clinton winning in 1992 was out of the norm, but that was because Ross Perot was a third party candidate. One has to go back to 1964 before Montana supported another Democrat presidential candidate as part of the Lyndon B. Johnson landslide.

Asked what he thought the Republican sweep would mean in the next state legislative session, Benion quipped, “It means a lot fewer vetoes.”

Tschida, too, cited that as one of the most significant aspects of the election wins. Having a Republican governor for the first time in 16 years, will undoubtedly more easily advance Republican policies. Even though Republicans have controlled both houses for the past couple of sessions, a lot of their measures were vetoed by Democrat Governor Steve Bullock and before him, by Democrat Governor Brian Schweitzer, who gained some notoriety for the number of his vetoes.

Going into the 2021 session, the Republican majority in the House will be sufficient to override a governor’s veto or to pass measures that require a two-thirds majority without winning Democratic votes.

With Republican Greg Gianforte winning the governorship, Republicans also picked up nine legislative seats in the Montana House and one in the Montana Senate — enough to expand their majorities to 67 of 100 House seats and 31 of 50 Senate seats. Cascade County Republicans made a total sweep of their legislature districts. Democrats didn’t win a single Republican-held legislative seat.

Tschida was not too certain what the priorities for the Republicans will be. There are a lot of things that need to be addressed and he quickly recited a long list starting with First and Second Amendment rights, water rights and protecting “the most vulnerable.”

Tschida wants to demonstrate that the Republicans do not just stand opposed to expanding government, “but that we want smart government.”

The rules and details of how the legislative session will be run and their leadership will be ironed out in caucuses of both parties on November 18 and 19 in Helena.

“We are going to see some good legislation that will save money and benefit Montanans….we will get business-friendly legislation passed, reduce the size of bureaucracies and the regulatory impact on businesses….We will have a legislative and executive branch that will create a positive environment to serve the needs of the population and not government.”

Property taxes will undoubtedly be a big issue, given that the rapid rise in home values is pushing a lot of people out of their homes.

An obvious issue will be what Tschida called “over-reach by the outgoing administration regarding masking people up and shutting business down. If you look at what they did — not a single state, county or city job was deemed as non-essential.  Every one of them kept their jobs. The entire impact of COVID was born by the private sector. It caused businesses to shut down forever. “

The government failed to look at the broader impact of its actions in shutting down the economy and imposing other restrictions, according to Tschida. “By their actions they promoted more domestic violence, child abuse, an increase in the amount of drug and alcohol abuse… they didn’t look at the myriad of impacts that those decisions had on people.”

BSED Outlines 2021 Legislative Goals

19 November 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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The next session of the Montana State Legislature is scheduled to begin on Jan. 4, 2021.

Prior to each legislative session, organizations of all sorts usually announce their legislative priorities – those issues, policies and proposals, for which they plan to lobby or support.

Yellowstone County’s economic development agency, Big Sky Economic Development (BSED) is among the many that have announced their list of priorities going into the next legislative session. The agency, which administers both Big Sky Economic Authority and Big Sky Economic Corporation, has identified a broad range of issues at both the state and local level that it considers important.

BSED’s legislative priorities at a local level parallels those at the state level, and includes the goal of Yellowstone County to change state law to allow more flexibility in establishing long-term leases of county properties, which might better encourage private business investment.

BSED’s goals include supporting the continued funding of Medicaid which will bolster local and regional healthcare providers.

They will also stand behind any proposed funding of Montana State University-Billings, including what has been identified as a need for investment in the health care and science professions.

BSED wants to Protect Tax Increment Financing, saying that “urban renewal and target economic development districts need to be supported as one of the few economic development tools available to support the redevelopment of our downtown core and to build infrastructure that supports the growth of value-added industry.”

BSED’s legislative priorities include endorsing the goals of the Montana Economic Development Authority and the Montana Chamber of Commerce’s “Next Generation of Community and Economic Development Tool Analysis,” which is essentially a number of funding proposals and laws that will empower agencies to develop programs and projects.

The priorities include reorganizing the state’s economic development programs and subsidies for job creation. They also advocate for a reorganization of the Department of Commerce and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

They want to fund incentives for recruiting and retaining workers in Montana and to encourage entrepreneurship.

The priorities include support for a statewide strategy to improve broadband accessibility, and revenue to support investment in 5G networks.

And they want the state legislature to explore funding sources to help advance economic development programs and projects to be created in future legislative sessions – laws which would enable government funding of “infrastructure and community development assets.”

To explore options for affordable daycare and programs supporting “workforce” housing, were other issues of interest that might come forward in the next state legislature, about which BSED would be supportive.

The Birth of a New Montana

18 November 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

“We have it in our power to begin the world over again.” – Thomas Paine

Such is the case for Montana with the Republicans having gained control of the governorship and both legislative houses.  The situation poses a rare opportunity to set Montana on a strong economic foundation.

We know how to do it! And now, with the Party that is supposed to be the Party of sound fiscal policies in full charge — there should be no excuses – no barriers to begin the state’s economy over again.

It’s not as though there are no ideas about what works and what doesn’t. What makes for a good economic environment and for sound government has been studied to death over many decades and in 50 different laboratories, usually with much the same results.

Every year for 14 years, the American Legislative Exchange Council has issued the Rich States Poor States study of the economies of all the states. In great detail it identifies the policies and strategies that work in creating an environment in which business can thrive and governments can function soundly.

Is there any reason we shouldn’t be on top of this?

Of course there is. Not all of the leaders really meant it when they advocated for fiscal restraint and economic freedom. And, there are those who hold other ambitions, so their priority is to get along with the opposition more than solve problems. And, then as one pessimistic friend described, it is in the nature of Republicans to form a circle and just start shooting.

And there’s more. Some observers have explained that to solve problems is not the goal for many politicians of either political party. They are in lock step, while appearing to be on opposite sides, wrangling over familiar issues, in campaign after campaign. Their thinking is why solve problems that are guaranteed to successfully fund raise and garner votes, for the Right and the Left? Why do the hard work and take the slings and arrows that would surely come if they were to really try to solve the problem? Hence we have decades and decades of what seems to be unsolvable problems.

We all know of what I speak. There are all kinds of issues to which over the decades Republicans have given a lot of lip service during campaigns, only to become mysteriously silent once elected.  They are the promises we were commonly told were too difficult to get accomplished, or too complicated for us to understand. They are the changes that couldn’t happen, we were told, because they lacked the political power to get them passed.

It was essentially this non-performance that got Donald Trump elected president.

The most amazing, salient factor about President Trump is that he got it done! He demonstrated with almost the speed of light and with what appeared as astounding ease the nonsense of all the excuses.

From Day One, in the cancelling of a hugely over-priced order for a new presidential airplane, to the building of the wall, to neutralizing the saber-rattling of Iran, North Korea and Russia, to bringing peace to the Middle East, to ending terrorist activity, to unleashing the productivity of the American people, increasing for the first time in decades real income growth, regaining our energy independence, reversing the loss of our manufacturing industry, reinstituting Constitutional law. Almost single handedly he was doing all these things that so many had said were impossible. That’s why there were Republicans who stood opposed to Trump, he unmasked the lie of the duplicity of political compromise and the languor of expediency.

Montana has hundreds of issues big and small that should and could be addressed. Take away the political gamesmanship and the road is clear.

If during the next legislative session the Republicans do not act to strengthen our civil liberties, encourage economic freedom, curb the oppressive regulation of our industry, businesses and entrepreneurs, solve the growing debt of the public employees’ pension fund, unleash educational freedom, eliminate the remnants of business equipment taxes, penalize  the promulgators of frivolous lawsuits, and diminish the power and size of our bureaucracy  — all those things Republicans have always said they wanted to do are now doable.

Of course, part of the reason many of those things don’t happen is because legislators don’t hear from their constituents. So to all those who voted in this red wave: it’s no time to sit back and wait. Every voter needs to be up front -and -center about the issues – with Republicans and Democrats. Be assured there are many very organized and well-funded lobbying groups, who in your absence will be making their case.

Staatspolizei

10 November 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

It is unspeakable, the assault on Montana’s small business owners that the Governor is perpetrating in what has to be the most disrespectful attack on citizens ever seen in this state.

For going on nine months now, small business owners of every size and industry have been struggling mightily to keep their heads above water, given the extreme restrictions that they have been working under, with claims that their sacrifices and the loss of their businesses are necessary to end the impacts of COVID-19.

Despite wide-spread compliance to the protocols that included months of closures, as well as social distancing, lines on floors, masks, plastic shielding, hand washing stations, constant cleaning, consumers staying home, quarantining  and cancelling of events, the virus has continued to spread. Concluding that the solution must be more of the same, Montana government and Governor Steve Bullock have doubled down and turned on the most vital of our citizens – those who provide the goods and services, jobs and income – and tax revenues —that sustain everyone.

It’s not that our business people don’t have enough pressure on them keeping up with the protocols, responding to divisive snitching, working 24-7, losing money, exhausting their savings and watching their businesses go down the drain – now they have to deal with a specially -designed force of secret police stalking their businesses and lives, who will force them into re-education programs with the threat of criminal charges if they don’t adjust their attitudes. (The enforcers are being called “liaisons,” an attempted slight-of-language that says they fully understand the nature of what they do and want to avoid clearly identifying it.)

As dire as the consequences of the disease, the consequences of governments such as this are far greater. The lack of individual liberty kills just as surely as any lethal virus.

The attack on businesses in Yellowstone County is all the more baseless given that the only rational excuse offered is that they want to reduce pressure on medical facilities that are at capacity, with no consideration given to the fact that more than half of the patients are from outside the county. People are coming to Billings, as they always have for medical care, from throughout dozens and dozens of counties, Wyoming, North Dakota. How is it effective or justifiable to penalize local business people for hospitalizations of people from other areas?

The question deserves an answer.

But more importantly our business people deserve to be treated with more respect. The citizens of the state are autonomous individuals, not vassals of  bureaucrats and political agendas and ambitions.