Author: Evelyn Pyburn

The Use of Force

28 August 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

There is lot’s not being said about all that is happening.

Despite what is claimed, COVID-19 is a political issue. When political power is brought to bear on any issue it is political. It becomes political in that moment.

One must remember that politics is about the use of force. When people are forced to do something against their will it is either criminal or political, because that is the essence of politics – a debate about how to apply the legalized use of force. At its root that is all it’s about as to whether government should be able to mandate the wearing of masks, closing of businesses or prohibiting the peaceful assembly of groups. Are these laws an appropriate use of force by government against innocent citizens?

Because government is nothing more than an instrument of force and because the only moral use of force is in defense of oneself and of others, the only just use of force by government, in the US, was determined to be the protection of its citizens.  Whether it is against enemies from outside or within, or whether it is about a military attack at our borders or a thief stealing a bicycle from a neighbor’s yard, the primary purpose of our government is to protect us from that illegal and immoral force.

That is why the failure of governments in cities and states where rioting is allowed to rage unabated is such an atrocious thing to witness. These are government officials who are deliberately refusing to perform their primary and most fundamental duty — the protection of innocent citizens against the use of criminal violence. What purpose do peaceable and innocent citizens have of a government that cannot carry out that one and most profound charge?

How force is being used in our society right now is what many people find perplexing. It’s not about whether or not to wear a mask, it is whether the governor should be able to wield state power to force people to wear a mask, which gives cover to local, often unelected officials, to use such authority as a cudgel to intimidate, shame, and coerce citizens. As can be seen in many cities right now the inappropriate use of force is far worse than the threat of a virus. To challenge government’s use of force is important far beyond the realm of a temporary threat of a disease, if a peaceful, thriving and content society is the goal.

Even though there is no evidence of violence in our streets, the disquiet and anxiety in communities under the lockdowns being imposed by local governments, in the name of the coronavirus, is just as real as the more overt threats seen in Seattle or Portland or Chicago.  There is no sense of peace and security in communities where people worry about being accosted about what they wear, or where their every action must be measured in terms of judgment by others, and the uncertainties of the force of law that might be brought to bear.

While there may be arguments to justify health and safety precautions regarding the coronavirus, those arguments should be made rather than bearing down with the business end of government. It is a fact, that no matter the degree that they are convinced about the reasonableness of health measures, business owners and employees are acting, not out of that conversion, but out of fear and duress. As civic leaders attempt to bully innocent hard working citizens, they create a pall of anxiety and resentment across the community. 

It’s a fact, that business owners, their employees and customers are scared about the threats that are held over them. Such angst gnaws at the soul and psyche, and its imposition is cruel and ruthless. It is only slightly less onerous to its victims than facing the more direct and visible violence of rioters in the streets. In a different form it is violence and unconducive to a free, benevolent and peaceful society.

Ranch House Meats Buys Packing Plant

27 August 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

The owners of Ranch House Meats and S & T Project Meats, Shane and Tanya Flowers, have purchased Quality Meats of Montana in Miles City in order to facilitate an expansion of their business.
They will rename the Miles City business Pure Montana Meats.
Since the Miles City facility, which has been in business since 1946, is a federal USDA inspected plant, it “helps us get more beef out there to consumers sooner,” said Flowers. While the Shepherd plant at 6608 Highway 312, is a state inspected facility, the Flowers are working on meeting federal requirements at that plant and making it a USDA inspected facility, as well, which will enable them to broaden their marketing area.
They want to increase their distribution area and to up their on-line sales, which at present are minimal, due primarily to the fact that plants that are not federally inspected are currently not allowed to ship product across state lines. That restriction holds the prospect of changing with a bill that is making its way through the US Congress that would allow movement across state lines of meat products coming from state inspected facilities – the Flowers are not waiting.
There will be a total separation of the operations of the Miles City and Shepherd plants, said Flowers. Animals will be harvested and processed in Miles City and shipped to Shepherd to make the retail products, including the jerky and bacon for which the company has become so well-known – and a lot of hamburger. Acquisition of Pure Montana Meats brings another whole new product line to their business including Custer Steak Strips and a popular cube steak.
Both facilities are undergoing some redesign and remodeling to better fit their needs and to keep them appearing fresh and professional. Flowers said that each will have a re-grand opening when the remodeling is complete.
The purchase dovetails with a lot of changes that are occurring in their industry. The recent market disruptions of the meat industry brought about by impacts of COVID-19 boosted retail sales for Project Meats and Ranch House Meat by 400 percent. After two months, the sales dropped gains to a more manageable 250 percent, says Shane Flowers, but the experience introduced a lot of new customers to their business which was already starting to burst at the seams.
Earlier this year, the company moved Ranch House Meats in Billings from Grand Avenue to 3203 Henesta, off King Avenue. The move was a good one, said Flowers, in that it has generated a lot more business.
Flowers notes that the phenomenon of the COVID impact was industry wide; most meat processing facilities in the state and in other states experienced increased sales as consumers found empty grocery store shelves and started looking for local providers. The COVID virus unveiled the precarious nature of a meat processing supply chain in the US which is very narrow, concentrated in the hands of a few large processors, which had to shut down when many of their workers contracted the disease and social distancing became necessary. Past restraints on the industry had diminished the number of alternative processors.
In some respects the consumer shift was good for small meat processing facilities because it brought awareness and an appreciation by consumers for what they do, said Flowers, but it was very frustrating for the industry in general. While meat prices were very high at the grocery stores, the producers were getting very low prices, dealing with a glut of product. They also were unable to get their meat processed because of a lack of facilities able to do so.
During that period, Flowers said that they tried hard to keep their prices low, while offering the local ranchers higher prices than they were getting elsewhere in the market.
Flowers expects the COVID boost to encourage, even more so, what has been a strong trend among consumers to buy local. The trend has contributed greatly to the young couple’s business, which has steadily grown since they began in 2007. The recent market upheaval brought consumer attention to the meat industry’s problems, and with that insight Flowers believes many more will shift their support to local processors.
There is a shortage of local processors in Montana, one that has been evident for quite some time. Producers and wholesale purchasers of meat are finding longer and longer wait periods to get their animals processed.
“There is a demand for custom processing,” said Flowers, noting that they will not be doing much of that. Their business model is taking them in a different direction, selling retail products to consumers, restaurants and grocery stores.
The processing backlog is in part due to a shortage of trained and skilled workers, a problem with which the Flowers will be contending as they expect to be hiring more people for both their Shepherd and Miles City operations.
Flowers is very supportive of the recent news that Miles City Community College hopes to be able to offer, this fall, a program to train meat cutters. Being located in Miles City he is hoping that they can participate in some manner with the program. But, said Flowers, he is willing, as an employer, to train people on the job.
In total, the Flowers employ 35 people, and plan to be hiring as many as ten more in Miles City, and a few more in Shepherd, as their businesses get into full production and begin to grow.

Montana Fair May be 12 Days, Not Just Nine

23 June 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

Plans are continuing for Montana Fair, despite coronavirus social distancing constraints.

But rather than just nine days of fair, from August 7 through 15, there may be twelve days of fair with the addition of pre-fair dates, July 31 to August 2.

Details, issues and potential solutions were discussed by Metra Park Manager Bill Dutcher, Assistant Manager Tim Goodridge and Marketing Director Ray Massie, with Yellowstone County Commissioners. Commissioners asked the Metra Park team to bring them updates every Monday.

Commissioner Denis Pitman said that as the commissioners talk to constituents they are being asked questions and they need to know answers. Most of the feedback commissioners are getting about holding the fair, however, is very positive and people want to see the “show go on.”

Whether Montana Fair, like many other events in the state, will be held became questionable given the threat of COVID-19 and quarantines, business closures, travel restrictions, and the enforcement by state and county officials of social distancing regulations and other health measures that have curtailed the free movement of citizens. Many events, including other fairs, concerts, races, and sport events have been cancelled.

But with the State now in Phase 2 of reopening businesses and with the relaxation of “stay at home” restrictions and with the number of COVID-19 cases in decline, Montana Fair officials and county commissioners have been working on ways in which they can still hold the fair, even if it means doing so on a smaller scale.

Dutcher said, “We have been working at it every day, Monday through Friday.” They were encouraged with the success of holding high school graduation ceremonies last weekend, he said.

Dutcher said that they have been “listening to people in the community,” and of course conferring with Yellowstone County Health Officer John Felton for guidance and direction. “We are talking about open air and a lot of distancing.” Metra Park has four million square feet of open space.

“Nobody minds that we are cutting back,” he said. Roughly speaking they are estimating a fair doing about 40 percent of the business of a normal fair.

Goodridge said that the “point of no return” about holding the fair was June 1, and they made the decision to move forward when they received the commissioners’ commitment to support the Junior Livestock Show with $150,000.

That will be the biggest cost involved in putting on the fair, since there will be no concerts to fund. Concerts have always been the biggest cost and most often they generated little if any revenue for Metra Park.

So without night shows, this year, the fair will include the Junior Livestock Show, food vendors and the carnival. Food vendors and the carnival hold little risk of loss, said Dutcher. In fact, they are almost certain to generate revenue streams since Metra Park gets a percentage of all their sales.

About 4200 visitors are being planned for each fair day. Counters will keep track of the numbers coming and going. Adding the extra days allows them to spread the number of fair -goers out. “We are flattening the curve, too,” joked Goodridge, to which Commissioner Don Jones replied, “Let’s say we are ahead of the curve.”

With all the space and distancing and reduced number of fair- goers there will be no lines, “You won’t have to wait for carnival rides or cotton candy.”

Metra Park comptroller, Kelly Campbell said that they have worked and reworked the numbers and believe that they will break even at about $620,000. “No guarantees,” she said.

Ostlund predicted, “I think you will be pleasantly surprised.”

One benefit of scaling back means that expenses will also be scaled back. Besides not having to pay for the shows – a cost of about $900,000 — labor costs will also be less, since producing the shows is what usually requires most of the labor.

We controlled the margins of expenses,” said Massie. They will be losing about $130,000 in sponsorships, according to Massie, but they aren’t going to have to spend as much in marketing, “which is usually another big expense.”

Advance sales of value passes will probably have to be refunded, but that amounts to only about $13,000.

Pitman said that one of his concerns is the risk of liability. In discussing the issue with the Montana Association of Counties, he said, that was their primary concern. He said that they reminded him that the county was “on the hook” for the first $250,000 for every liability claim. He asked Jeana Lervick, Chief In-House Counsel for the Civil Division of the County Attorney’s Office, what the county’s liability exposure could be.

Lervick explained that the “health officer is there to provide guidance .. if we don’t follow that opinion, we are going to have to explain why, if there is problems.” She said any liability claim would have to demonstrate that the county was negligent.

“How do we make it happen as safe as possible? We are consciously looking at everything to make it as safe as possible,” said Pitman, adding to the staff, “I think you have reduced the risks of a lot of events. That takes away a lot of risk.”

Ostlund said, “There is a little risk in everything. If you go to Costco or to Walmart or go out to dinner. In my opinion we have a commitment to the public to put this on.”

“There is a commitment and there is also a risk,” said Pitman.

Fair administrators are talking a lot with other fair and event promoters in the state. Dutcher noted that there are quite a number of other county fairs moving forward in the state, and they will be taking note of how those events unfold. He said that while Montana Fair in Great Falls was cancelled, the two events are not comparable nor are the situations and staffing. They are quite different, said Dutcher.

Goodridge added, “We are providing leadership that the rest of the state is looking for. They are asking us, what are you going to do? How are you going to do it?”

Ostlund commented that “part of our mission is the economic increment of a lot of people coming to town and doing business at the hotels and motels and restaurants.”

“People are looking forward to it,” said Goodridge, adding that it is good for the moral of Metra Park and of the county.

Beef Backlog Could Pose Future Problems

22 June 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

The US Department of Justice is taking the concerns about distorted cattle prices seriously, and an investigation is underway, according to the President of Montana Stockgrowers  Association, Fred Wacker. Wacker in discussing Montana’s beef market with the Yellowstone County News, said he has had recent contact with the Department of Justice, and while he is confident that the matter is being pursued he is not authorized to discuss details.

In an interview, Wacker not only commented on the status of the investigation, but explained the status of the cattle market in Montana and how it has been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis – a very important issue to Montana since the cattle industry is the state’s largest industry, according to Wacker. When the cattle market struggles, the state struggles.

Hopefully, the worst of the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the industry is over, according to local cattle buyer, Brian Okragly, Billings, who reported that the number of cattle being slaughtered weekly, is once again on the rise, after plummeting with the closure of the packing plants. Beef prices, too, are coming back into alignment, he said, in an interview with Yellowstone County News.

Okragly is a licensed and bonded cattle dealer, who has spent the past 27 years buying and selling feeder calves, yearlings and finished cattle.

Besides his leadership role in the Montana Stockgrowers Assoc., Wacker raises black and red Angus cattle in the Miles City area on the Cross Four Ranch. His cattle are non-hormone and non-antibiotic grown to serve outlets such as Whole Foods. Much of what he raises is sold to Europe, Japan and China.

“We raise cows and calves!” he stated. And, Montana raises the best cattle. “They are sought after,” said Wacker, “Buyers drive through four and five states to get them”

Montana’s Attorney General Tim Fox, along with AGs from 21 other states sent a letter in early May to US Attorney General William Barr, to request an antitrust investigation of the beef processing industry to determine if the packing companies have entered into agreements that thwart competitive bidding. The beef packing business in the US is dominated by four major companies.

Puzzling everyone was why cattle prices were so low for ranchers but are at record high levels at the grocery counters. In simple terms, as explained by Wacker, “We are getting $1.90 pound, but the packer is getting $4.65 per pound. ..We feel it is Ok for packers making $300, but when it is double and three times that; it is very excessive.”

The rancher typically hopes to make about $50 to $100 profit per head.

“We don’t think there is enough cattle being bartered,” Wacker said, “That’s what makes it a market.”

Another aspect of what’s happening in the cattle market is the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, which have created shortages in the retail beef supply, which are alarming consumers. Besides meat prices in the grocery stores being at all -time highs, the shelves are often empty, and signs are commonly posted limiting the amount of meat the customer can buy.

To some extent the shortages reflect deeper problems within the industry. Beef packing plant closures have squeezed narrow supply lines and unveiled weaknesses of the highly regulated and concentrated beef industry.

It’s not just beef that has been impacted by plant closures. The coronavirus caused the closure of chicken and pork meatpackers and other food processing plants, as an estimated 12,000 plant workers tested positive for the disease and 48 workers died. Other workers went on strike, concerned about working conditions.

As of April 28, according to Bloomberg, processing plant shutdowns wiped out a quarter of the nation’s pork-processing capability and 10% of that for beef.

As the plants closed so did the processing of fat cattle – animals ready for slaughter and distribution to grocery stores and restaurants.

Before the COVID-19 virus hit, the industry was experiencing record kills nationwide of about 650,000 a week, according to Okragly. “We were looking really good,” he said, “The futures market looked good.” As COVID-19 hit workers and forced plant closures, the slaughter number dropped 200,000 animals a week – down to 450,000, and the futures market dropped 25 to 30 percent.

The reduction in the number of animals being processed, began a backlog of fat cattle and then of feeder calves, and on down the supply chain to the ranchers’ rangeland.

Not liking the prices they were being offered ranchers began deferring sales. There were reports that some producers – of cattle, pigs and chickens —  were having to euthanize animals because of no ability to place them, or feed to feed them.

With most packing plants now open and kill numbers coming back to 600,000—“almost at full capacity,” things seem to be improving, but “We are going to have backlog down the road. What that will do to feeder cattle this fall is uncertain,” said Okragly.

In addition, the carcass weight of the back-logged cattle will be heavier, by about 48 pounds per head – “that’s a lot of tonnage on the market.”

The heavier carcasses and backlog will play together and cause a build-up of numbers,” he continued. How that will work itself out with the resumption of normal supplies, “is hard to tell.” The industry has never experienced anything like this. “There is no play book for what lies ahead.”

One positive of the situation is the grain and corn prices are low, which Okragly hopes remain low. “We need to market the beef and hope and pray for a big beef demand, domestically,” said Okragly. Even at that, Okragly said he expects a market lower than it was last year at the same time – but he added predicting the cattle market is like predicting the weather.

Wacker explained that ninety percent of the calves raised in Montana are shipped to “mid-west feedlot states.” Weighing 500-600 pounds the calves are fattened to about 1400 pounds and then sold to one of the four major packing companies.

About 15 percent – around 300,000 head — of Montana calves are retained by growers who “winter” them and then sell them in the spring as “yearlings” that weigh about 950 to 1500 pounds to be “finished” in Montana feed lots.

There are no major packing plants in the state. Wacker said that he wished there were.  “I would love to see more [cattle] stay in Montana. , I would love to see more competition.  I’d like to see feed lots and a nice processing plant,” he said, “It would be a great growth thing for the state.”

Airport Traffic Down 95%; Gets Millions from CARE

22 June 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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Even though traffic at the Billings Airport has dropped to just 5 percent of normal levels, the facility will go forward in sound financial condition thanks to substantial grants from the federal government under the CARES Act, according to Kevin Ploehn, Director of Aviation  & Transit, in his report to the Aviation and Transit Commission during their regular monthly meeting.

Impacts to the MET in Billings by the COVID-19 crisis have not been as severe.

“While March started out great, by mid-March traffic was falling off drastically.” reported Ploehn regarding airport boardings. During April the Airport was doing  96 TSA screenings per day on average, as opposed to 1,197 in April 2019.

All industries related to travel were seeing decimated revenues, said  Ploehn, and airlines had already had voluntary layoffs and early retirement buyouts to reduce the number of employees and costs.

Ploehn said that he did not think things would return to normal until the Summer of 2021, and maybe later if people change their attitude about travel, use technology more for virtual meetings, there are more social distancing requirements, and if people cannot afford to travel. The airline industry is likely to be much smaller in the “near future.”

Ploehn projected that the Billings Airport would see a revenue shortfall of $4 million to $5 million, mostly due to a drop in concession and airline revenues. However, they will be very well compensated for that loss with the $12,721,011 the Airport was allocated under the CARES Act, which will cover two or three years of revenue shortfalls.

Additionally, the CARES Act included other benefits for airports such as dropping the requirement for matching the regular 2020 AIP funds. The Feds will pay 100 percent. The change could be worth $700,000 to $800,000 to the Airport depending on how much in AIP (Airport Improvement Program) Discretionary funds the Airport receives this year. 

In order to shed some costs to the Airport, two of the Airport Police Officers were reassigned to MET Transit to patrol the transfer centers and bus stops due to transient issues.  Additionally, some custodial staff will transfer to MET and do deep cleaning and other tasks to enhance the cleanliness of the MET facilities.  No seasonal employees will be hired, some maintenance contracts were halted, and very little capital dollars will be spent this year.

Ridership on MET buses was down 31 percent in March, which was largely accounted for by the decline in student riders, since the schools were closed. MET continued to have 600 to 800 passengers daily.  However, MET too will be saved from financial hardship by funding from the CARES Act. MET received an allocation totaling $5,358,483.  Ploehn said that this additional funding would keep MET fiscally sound for a number of years.

Benefits of the CARES Act funds include, no expiration, all expenses 100 percent reimbursed, and the funds can be used for capital procurements or projects.

Since the direct purchase of tickets from the drivers became a safety concern, fares were waived for April and May, which costs the city enterprise around $48,000 per month. MET staff has put together a Request for Proposals for an Electronic Fare Collection System so that passengers may buy their tickets electronically to avoid the interaction with the driver.  Individual fares only account for approximately 10 percent  of MET revenue.

Ploehn noted that the CARES Act also changed the regular 5307 operating grant from a 50/50 Federal/Local match to 100% Federal for items related to COVID-19, which MET can use for the two Airport Police Officers working for MET and the hours of the Airport Custodial to clean MET facilities.

Construction of the $60 million Terminal Expansion Project is progressing. The anticipated funding for the project will come from AIP grants at $29,100,000; PFCs of $1,600,000; financing or bond funds of $24,000,000, and $5,300,000 of Airport local match funds for a total of $60,000,000.

A Request for Qualifications was advertised for financial institutions interested in the financing of the Terminal Expansion Project.

Empty Meat Counters will Trigger Changes to Beef Market

19 May 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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The impact of the disruption of our economy with the business shutdowns across the nation, due to the COVID-19 crisis, is yet to be understood and will be full of surprises. But one thing is certain, impacting as it is two of Montana’s basic industries – travel/tourism and agriculture – Montanans are in for a lot of changes and probably a bumpy ride.

One aspect of those changes is already making the headlines – the production and processing of beef. Although a long-standing problem that has frequently elicited complaints and controversy among livestock growers and the ag community, for the first time in his tenure, Governor Steve Bullock has addressed the issue with a letter to the USDA.

Attorney General Tim Fox, and gubernatorial candidate, has joined forces with other states demanding an investigation of price fixing charges. Other politicians, too, are now proclaiming that something must be done.

What’s prompted the sudden interest? Consumer awareness of the issue, says one local economics expert, Ed Ulledalen, Billings.

The whole issue comes down to what the consumer wants, says Ulledalen, and for the most part US consumers wanted low-priced products. They are usually not aware of how the market works and what risks might exist. The COVID-19 crisis has revealed the nation’s vulnerability in several regards, most especially in our food and medicine supplies.

As an independent financial consultant, Ulledalen deals “with all kinds of farmers and ranchers,” in Montana, and he has long understood that “this is an on- the- ground concern of a lot of farmers and ranchers.” Now, “with the meat shortage it has become a kitchen table concern.”

Shortages on grocery store shelves have captured consumer awareness. “The bell rang when you walked into Costco and the meat counter was empty,” said Ulledalen.

That awareness is going to bring about changes – changes that could mean the unraveling of the way the economy has been functioning. What all that will entail is uncertain, but it will most definitely mean changes for Montana.

The question becomes, why don’t we have meat? said Ulledalen. Answering that question requires going down “all the rabbit trails.”

“It is not something to reverse quickly. It will take years.” Ulledalen suggested that low-costs will go away and “our meat industry will be more like it is in Europe. They don’t have the same kind of structure.”

Consumers will direct the changes.

Consumer demand for cheaper products has driven the industrialization of all kinds of markets, and it has resulted in the “industrialization of the food chain,” explained Ulledalen.

What we are going to see is a reversal of “50 years of globalization,” he added.

Little realized is how much concentration there is of beef processing plants. And, that foreign countries operate two of the four companies that dominate the US market, including China that owns Smithfield Foods, based in Virginia and with a plant in South Dakota. To underscore the cultural as well as the economic status of the industry, Ulledalen pointed out that within the Smithfield plant, 40 different languages are spoken.

About the economy in general, Ulledalen says there is lots of uncertainty — “the bad economic news hasn’t even come out yet.”

“The Federal Reserve and the federal government have weighed in so hard that they have stopped us from going into a second recession,” said Ulledalen. It is still unclear, however, what the consequences are going to be over the next five or ten years, “because you screwed up the world economy, not just the US.”

“We are going to get some kind of surge as the restrictions are lifted. Some business will come back but …maybe 20 percent of the economy won’t come back.” Especially vulnerable, and of most important to Montana, are the travel industry and agriculture. And, “it’s not to be resolved in a matter of weeks.”

Said Ulledalen, “We have a biological contagion that has potential to morph into a financial contagion and an economic hard –stop. An “economic hard stop” is very unlike most descents into a recession, which usually happen in gradual and incremental weakening in various market segments.

Most beef processing in the US is done through four companies, Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef. While there was a time when there were many meat processors scattered throughout most states, the industry has been concentrated for many decades, a situation that is sure to create problems – such as the ability to control prices.

Attorneys General from 11 states, including Montana’s Tim Fox, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr, asking him to investigate possible price fixing among the country’s four largest beef processors, who control 80 percent of the industry.

President Trump threw his weight behind the request, sending his own request that the federal agency proceed with an investigation. He pointed out that supply and demand forces, within a competitive market environment, should prevent price gaps from playing out to the extent that they have in the U.S. meat-packing industry.

According to an Associated Press report,  a  disparity in the price of live cattle and the retail cost of boxed beef that is sold to consumers, “shows the market lacks fair competition.” According to the report, “Live cattle futures recently hit 18-year lows, while both the price of boxed beef and consumer demand remain healthy as consumers stockpile meat in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The state attorneys general suggested that if, after an investigation, there is no appropriate enforcement action that can be pursued, regulatory strategies should be explored to promote competition. A suggestion that even Montana’s Governor seems to believe is worth considering.

Nuances of regulations in the industry has left tons of beef sitting in lockers during the COVID-19 crisis with no place to go. The distribution system for grocery stores is different than that which serves institutions like schools and hospitals. School closures have left them with unused supplies but because it has a different “stamp” on it, and has gone through a different inspection process than those that serve retail markets, regulations prohibit the product from being sold elsewhere or even given away.

Requests to the USDA to allow the Montana Department of Livestock to consider modified protocols have been denied.

Governor Bullock’s letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue asked that regulations be temporarily set aside to prevent the food from going to waste, at a time when it is needed in other areas. He also asked that the regulatory agency set aside some rules to allow some local processing in order to avoid food waste.

Perhaps even more significantly, Bullock suggested that the USDA encourage new ideas to reduce barriers for Montana meat processing capacity and improve markets for rural producers in Montana over the long term.

His suggestion is nothing new. For decades everyone from beef producers, to would-be local butchers, to restaurants and other consumers, have had a wide range of complaints about an industry that cannot adjust to demands. Could this be the impetus for long awaited change?

A Matter of Life & Death

6 May 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

The one thing the coronavirus crisis has surely demonstrated is how many people have no understanding about the economy and no respect for the role it plays in our lives – no respect for those who make it work. We are very much reaping the disaster of generations of limited economic education and the consequences lay before us.

Let’s make clear that the economy is not the stock market, ledgers, accounting schedules or a bunch of data points. The economy is PEOPLE LIVING THEIR LIVES.

Shutting down the economy is to destroy people’s lives. We are not all going “to get through this, together,” no matter how often the mantra is repeated.

Economic losses at every level of business are about life and death conflicts, every bit as much as the risks of a virus. It is without doubt a terrible thing to have to choose courses of action between the two, but it is even more tragic if the importance of one side of the equation is trivialized and minimized. When that is happening, how good can decisions really be?

There is little balance in the analysis that is taking place. When business closures are presented as nothing more than “minimal inconveniences,” it seems rational to conclude that the spread of the virus is the worst possible outcome. The need to shut down the economy becomes very convincing, if one doesn’t look at the economic side of the equation too closely.

Oh no, our leadership really cares. Such will surely be the claim.

The tone of conversations, directives or other public comments show little evidence of that. The tone of political leaders and bureaucrats who are still restricting the operations of business, as well as citizens who want to continue the shutdown, reveals that a huge segment of our population truly believes that “milk comes from the grocery store.”

Pleas to convince the public to accept the business closures blatantly trivialize the importance of business.  They subtly chastise us about being resistant to their decisions. We are told we shouldn’t be reluctant to give up parties, dining out, having a drink with friends at pubs and bars, or missing a ball game.  That’s all they mention, as though that is all business closures is all about – as though that is the only consequence of what they are doing. Given the reality, though —of people watching years and years of building a business go down the drain, food items disappearing from grocery shelves, or struggling to provide the necessities for their families – such repeated chastising is an insult.

From the beginning of decrees to close businesses— while there were lots of numbers quoted regarding infections and deaths, masks, testing and ventilators, and projected impacts of the virus— there was not one number quoted regarding the closure of businesses. Not one.

There was not even a warning about how many people should be prepared to lose their jobs the very next day. It was as though this was a very benign decision and no one would lose their jobs. There seemed to be no awareness that billions of dollars were to be lost to the economic base of our communities – much less any numbers to estimate how much that could be.

There were no decision- makers saying that many local small businesses may never reopen again. Or that over a third of workers would be unemployed. One comment suggested that if “only” 40 percent of business failed, that would be an acceptable outcome. A loss easy to bear, when it’s not yours to bear.

Closing businesses is apparently only about foregoing a beer with friends. How could anyone object to shutting down the economy?

Alongside not spending an evening at the pub, decision-makers might have mentioned the young single mother who is a server at that pub, dependent upon tips at the pub to pay rent and to feed and clothe her children. They could have mentioned her, but they never have.

I heard one astonished man upon hearing the decrees declare, “Don’t they know that losing a month’s salary for some of these people will take years to make up?”

No they don’t. Either they don’t or they don’t care. They would mention it, if they thought it important.

Among the other data they might have compiled and spoke about, as part of the public pronouncements, was the mention that maybe a fourth of businesses will fail within the next couple of years as a consequence of the closures. They might have compared the number of virus deaths with the deaths that would surely result from economic declines, including the increase in suicides. They might have foreseen the potential of food shortages, had they understood that “economics” is all about life and survival. If only they knew that milk doesn’t just materialize on grocery store shelves.

But since they never had to know, and those more knowledgeable always took care of economic realities, the consequence of closing businesses seems a minor thing. It certainly doesn’t compare to the threat of disease, a disease from which 99 percent survive. In that ignorance, there seems no reason to weigh pros and cons.

Maybe one benefit of this economic destruction – of which most of the consequences are yet to befall us — will be a better understanding, that the economy is not some esoteric academic indulgence for an elite few, but that it is everyday common people living life and without which there is no life.

Hope for the Future

8 April 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

Did you know that one of the reasons for the shortage of the COVID-19 test kits was that, not only did the CDC, a large purchaser in the market, restrict their purchases to one company, but they eventually imposed a law on the private sector that basically made it illegal for any other companies to manufacture test kits?

Why a government agency would create such a monopoly advantage for one company can be left to the imagination, but it is an example of the kinds of rules and regulations that have weighed down the health care industry for decades and decades.

There has to be more than a little irony that when the government rushed in to take care of business in regard to the COVID-19 virus they found as primary stumbling blocks the same regulations they had forced upon the industry, and about which many people have long and vociferously complained for decades, as hobbling efficient production, and as being the primary reason for the extremely high cost of health care in the US.

If this alone — the removing of these regulations and focusing a light upon regulatory practices for their crippling impact on the industry and patients – if that should be the only benefit of this upheaval of American life and business, then it will have been well worthwhile.

One has to temper optimism with the realization that there are high-profile politicians (NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, for example) who, right now, are actually advocating that we should double down on top-down control by nationalizing private businesses ….as though there is any evidence that they have ever been able to outperform the private sector. Coercion and political clubs have never created a single marketable product or innovation.

One has to be puzzled about why any rational person would advocate practices that have been so thoroughly discredited as being a benefit to consumers.

All kinds of nonsensical regulations have been falling over the past few weeks as health care workers and other market providers had to be freed from government shackles in order to do their jobs.

For example, they had to remove regulations so that doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals could practice medicine across state lines. Government commonly restrains all kinds of industry segments with this kind of restraint. It is absurd regulation and cannot be justified as being for the prevailing good for consumers. It may empower government but it does not deliver inexpensive, convenient and quality medical care.

Or how about a regulation that dictated how doctors may contact their patients? One of the recently rescinded regulations is that The Department of Health and Human Services suspended a federal regulation that forbids doctors from using their personal phones to communicate with Medicare patients! In this day and age??

Said Pat Barkey, Montana’s premier economist at the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, “If doing this at a time of crisis is warranted what would be the harm of doing it all the time? Our economy is choked with senseless regulations that are mindlessly implemented and do us immense harm.”

When government steps in to tell the private sector how to do things, there is no end to the level of minutia they can reach. The regulations are routinely imposed to solve some problem with never a glance at the broader negative impacts.

So silly and trivial can be their tinkering, and so greatly do they exceed common sense, that one of the difficulties in persuading the uninformed that this is a problem, is that when you tell them some of the specifics, they believe you must be making it up or exaggerating.

Absurd regulation is of course not just a federal issue but it reaches down to local levels. In Montana, for example, some health care providers in order to get licensed must go to state bureaucrats and “show need” for their services. The fact that someone is willing to step into the market, invest money and go through all the regulatory hoops isn’t enough to convince government that entrepreneurs can see a need / opportunity. The whims of un-invested, detached and usually market naïve bureaucrats have final sway over the services, products and prices that are made available to Montana consumers. And, most outrageously, often times it is other bureaucrats, protecting their government funded agencies, who stand up (also at taxpayer expense) to object to the “competition.” They seem not to know that they are not the same as a business. They seem not to understand (or maybe they do) that if the private sector can outperform a government agency providing the same service, the logical process should be for government to bow out and save the taxpayers the expense of something that can be provided better in the private sector.

To “show need” was  at one time common as a regulatory demand in all states,  but most states have  abandoned it. Not so Montana, even though it has been brought forward repeatedly to the state legislature. It is such an absurd approach to advancing health care with its rapidly changing technology, new products and ideas for increasing and improving services, one has to be baffled at the motivation of anyone opposed to eliminating a costly and purposeless barrier.

We have to hope that this is a life lesson for the bureaucrats and politicians who are now struggling to combat the coronavirus.  Let’s hope that they are realizing what free market advocates have been saying since the founding of the country: government regulation hampers the ability of free people and civil society to innovate and solve problems, and to meet consumer demands at the lowest cost, most efficient and prudent means possible.

Let’s hope that this misfortune brings about more affordable health care!

Evergreen Ace Open Now

8 April 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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Evergreen King’s Ace Hardware store is open at 1540 13th St West.

Over the past few months, the 34,000 square foot building has been the site of a massive half-million dollar remodel, converting it from the former IGA Grocery Store, to the largest King’s Ace Hardware store in the region. It will be the sixth store in the area, owned by Skip King who has been in the hardware business since he was a boy working alongside his father.

L-R Skip King, Owner Ace Hardware; Tyler Powers, Assistant Manager, Mike Albertson, Manager

If the interest in the neighborhood about what’s going on is any indication, the store will be a welcomed addition. In visiting with Skip King at the front door, people kept pulling off the street and into the parking lot to ask questions about the opening and what the plans are. That’s been going on all during construction, said King — people in the neighborhood wandering in and taking a look around and asking questions.

“I think the store is going to impress people when they walk in,” he said.

It’s not the first time that there has been a hardware store at this location in mid-town Billings. In the early 60s, the Odegaard family operated, quite successfully, a hardware store at the same location. King believes a need for a hardware store to serve that neighborhood still exists, and he spent a lot of time looking for the perfect site. When he heard the news that the IGA store was closing, he wasted no time in striking a deal for the property.

The store will employ about 30 people, most of whom are already in training at other King Ace Hardware stores. Its manager will be Mike Albertson, and assistant manager is Tyler Powers.

King’s Ace Hardware also engages many high school students with their stores, giving them exposure to the retail business and on-hands experience, a program for which they are being recognized by the National Hardware Association.

King is especially excited, not only for the size of the new store, and the wide variety of wares that it can carry, but it has a large enough parking lot to allow for many activities that he’s always wanted to be able to do at his stores. Things like grilling demonstrations or pet grooming workshops, both of which are extensive departments in the new store. They have space enough that they may also be able to provide a community room.

The store will be the location of employee training, not just for King’s Ace Hardware stores but for Ace Hardware stores throughout Eastern Montana from Bozeman to Malta – events which often draw as many as 300 people to Billings. Ace Hardware is a buying group that serves a membership of store owners.

“It’s going to be a fun place,” said King. Adding to that mix will be something distinctively new for a King’s Ace Hardware, a soup and sandwich shop. To be operated by the Hoefle family — Stu, Cydney and Mitch — the shop will open sometime later than the hardware store. It will comprise about 2300 square feet of the same corner of the building in which IGA had a luncheon area.

Evergreen King’s Ace Hardware will be similar to the Zimmerman Trail store – a full service hardware store, but also featuring a Hallmark gift store and a Montana-made boutique.

The store will also have a large garden center with four green houses, to be open just in time for the spring gardening season.

A large grilling and patio section will feature a full line of Traeger grills. The store is one of only two sanctioned Traeger dealers in the state.

They will also feature a full line of Benjamin Moore Paints and offer basic lumber and building supplies. They will have the largest selection of fasteners in town.

King’s Ace Hardware is also a Honda dealer for power equipment.

Customers may also order on-line from the Ace Hardware website and have items shipped to the store postage free.

Panic Has a Price

7 April 2020
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

Evelyn Pyburn
Evelyn Pyburn, Big Sky Business Journal

The coronavirus is a scary thing.

Not so much because of the threat of the disease but for the demonstration of how easily an entire population can be whipped into hysteria that far exceeds the reality of a threat.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has called the panic “dumb.” And, it is.

It’s not that the coronavirus (CORVID-19) isn’t a serious issue that needs to be taken seriously but it isn’t a crisis that should make people terrified to come out of their houses.

We the people of this country deal with problems and issues of this magnitude — and in fact much greater magnitude — every day, folks!

Usually, we take for granted that we can deal with the problems. Perhaps we shouldn’t take so much for granted, but we do have a great track record and we should be far more confident than what the current panic would indicate.

Why is everyone freaking out?

For all the world it feels a great deal like political correctness gone amuck. Is it somehow cool to lose your cool? Leaders of businesses and organizations are making decisions and taking actions that seem more directed toward public perception than dealing with a real problem.

So far 39 people in the US have died of this virus. 39.

Of the thousands of people who come down with the regular flu every year, 57,000 people in this country die from it. And it’s not just the flu; a similar number die from tuberculosis each year. Why aren’t people hysterical about these health threats if it is health threats they are really concerned about? They could be in panic-mode every year.

Back in 1918 we had a real flu epidemic. A forerunner of COVID-19, the Spanish Flu, swept the planet killing between 20 million to 50 million people worldwide, including some 675,000 Americans. It happened during World War I and many US soldiers fighting on European battlefields were left wondering why they no longer heard from home, only to return home and discover all their family had died from the flu.

But that has not happened since because, we the people, have done many things to mitigate such threats. From greater education about why it happened, to better hygiene, better medicine, better technology and medical facilities and smarter and more talented medical professionals. We took care of things, and so we will this time.

The problem with the panic is that it is creating other problems—really serious problems that are causing far greater harm than the disease. The panic is putting large companies into bankruptcy which creates far more job casualties. Jobs lost mean lost income, lost health insurance, leaving families unable to meet other health care needs.

Small businesses too are being pushed out of business, destroying the livelihoods of many others, not to mention the destruction of life-long investments. Lower returns on savings destroy the capital for future businesses or the viability of retirement funds for thousands or millions of people.

As distribution lines close and manufacturers shut down, all kinds of parts and components and materials needed to produce other important life-sustaining, business sustaining, job sustaining products are not available.

The impact of panic is immense and long –term and will never be fully measured.

It all makes so little sense, once one considers all that we have going for us.

And, have you talked to a little kid lately? All the crazy so-called adults are scaring them to death. Little kids shouldn’t be scared in such ridiculous ways.

Perhaps there is one positive thing that might emerge from all the extreme caution and health care prevention. Maybe fewer people will get the regular flu and fewer than 57,000 people will die this year. That would be one  every big positive.