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Ice Arena Groundbreaking

20 May 2025
Evelyn Pyburn
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By Evelyn Pyburn

It’s a new era for ice hockey in Billings, Montana – in fact for all ice sports.

With Signal Peak Energy’s $6 million donation, this past month, along with the addition of many other community donations, a groundbreaking ceremony was held last Wednesday to build a $12 million Signal Peak Energy Arena, which will feature two-sheets of ice for hockey, curling, figure skating, etc.

On a bright sunny and very warm day, hundreds of people and numerous dignitaries, including Governor Greg Gianforte, were on site to commemorate the launching of the new facility, which will eventually include a second phase of four basketball courts. The new sports complex is located on property the city purchased a few years ago, next to the Amend Park Soccer Complex, near the corner of South Billings Boulevard and King Avenue East.

The two-sheet ice project is a public – private collaboration of The Yellowstone Ice Foundation and the South Billings Urban Renewal Association, (SBURA), a tax increment finance district funded by property taxes from business growth in the vicinity of the intersection of Interstate 90 and South Billings Boulevard. SBURA donated $4.6 million.

The goal of the Yellowstone Ice Foundation, which will operate the new facility, is to build it without further reliance on public dollars. Over a year ago, City of Billings’ voters rejected a $143 million bond aimed at building and maintaining a full scale recreation facility, in the same location. That effort followed years of effort, by hockey and other ice sports participants to find a way to increase capacity for their growing sports, since they were out-growing the existing Centennial Arena, which has been the only ice arena in Billings since the mid- 70s.

The new state-of-the –art facility will not only serve the youth of today but will “drive long-term economic success and create opportunities for athletes of all ages,” heralded Parker Phipps, Signal Peak president & C.E.O.  Signal Peak operates Montana’s only underground coal mine north of Billings on the border of Yellowstone County and Musselshell County near Roundup. Phipps is also president of the Yellowstone Ice Foundation Board.

Alex Picicci, Signal Peak senior accountant and secretary-treasurer for the Yellowstone Ice Foundation, also spoke to the crowd about the potential for ice sports in Billings.

The crowd especially enjoyed a historical rendition about hockey in Billings, from a man referred to as the Godfather of Hockey in Billings, Joe Studiner.

There was no hockey in Billings when Studiner arrived in the city over 50 years ago, which made him inclined to think he wasn’t going to remain in the city very long. But when he heard that there was an effort to form a youth team, he arrived at the gathering ready to serve as a coach and became a leader for the sport in Billings and throughout the state. As strange as it might seem for a city located in the north, the sport’s biggest struggle – with only outdoor rinks – – was that it was often too warm to have ice.

Studiner is more than pleased with the prospect of having an indoor rink with two sheets of ice.

The 69,996-square-foot complex will have capacity for about 2,940 spectators, and is expected to contribute to future economic growth of sports tourism for Billings, which has been championed by Visit Billings as part of the Billings Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber of Commerce President/ CEO, John Brewer, underscored the growing importance of sports tourism to the local economy.  Billings Mayor Bill Cole, further emphasized the potential for the Billings economy, stating, “Tourism is a powerful economic driver.” He noted that each year, the city hosts 2.6 million visitors, generating $621 million in spending.

The Billings Tourism Business Improvement District has announced the commitment of $1 million over the next three years to support Signal Peak Energy Arena.

That announcement followed an earlier one from Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Billings of a $500,000 contribution, which secured the naming rights for the building’s lobby.

“Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company is well-known for their commitment to the Billings community,” said Phipps. “Pepsi’s donation brings a legacy of public support to the state-of-the-art ice arena.”

Tom Dimich of Pepsi-Cola Bottling explained. “Our involvement goes beyond supplying refreshing soft drinks; we’re eager to invest in a project that will do so much for the families and athletes in the region.”

According to Yellowstone Ice Foundation they have has raised over $11 million of their $16 million goal.

Another $1 million was donated by the Larson Family. First Interstate Bank has contributed $45,000. Other contributions have come from KE Construction,  KOA, Billings Amateur Hockey Leagues, Tom and Joan Scott Foundation, Northwest Pipe Fittings, BNSF Railway, Western Security Bank, Altana, The Clark-O’Rourke Family, Weave, MCAHA, The Seedhouse Family, Billings Overhead Door Co., Edwards & Culver, The Wald Family, Mattress King, Intermountain Health, Collaborative Design Architects, A & E Design, and Allegra.

“This project is a win for Billings and for Montana kids,” Gov. Gianforte said. “Thanks to strong community partners and Signal Peak Energy, we’re investing in a stronger future for the community and for young athletes looking to grow, compete, and have fun.”

Dick Zier, who heads SBURA, also spoke to welcome the ice arena. He said that they expect the addition of a $20 million basketball court to be ready in a little more than a year.

The Signal Peak Energy Arena is expected to be completed in April 2026.

Cost of Child Care

20 May 2025
Dennis Pyburn
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Costs of child care was a significant issue during this session of the Legislature. Legislators addressed it with the passage of House Bill 456, which would allows all child care workers with children of their own eligible for state welfare assistance through the Best Beginnings program. Child care with a focus on early childhood education was also included among a number of issues that will be supported with the creation of a $10 million fund, which also includes support for bridges, water projects and state pensions.

The North American Fire Deficit

18 March 2025
Press Room
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Roger Pielke Jr., from substack.com

An important new paper published this week in Nature Communications looks at the historical record of fire in North America — A fire deficit persists across diverse North American forests despite recent increases in area burned. Reseachers find that large fires of recent decades in North America are not unprecedented:

Our study of 1851 tree-ring fire-scar sites and contemporary fire perimeters across the United States and Canada reveals a substantial, persistent fire deficit from 1984–2022 in many forest and woodland ecosystems, despite recent increases in burning. Contemporary fire occurrence is still far below historical (1600–1880) levels at NAFSN [North American tree-ring Fire-Scar Network] sites despite multiple large and ‘record-breaking’ recent fire years, such as 2020 in the western United States. Individual years with particularly widespread fire during the 1984–2022 period were not unprecedented in comparison with the active fire regimes of the historical period across most of the study region. Historically, fires in particularly active fire years were spatially more widespread and ubiquitous compared to fires burning during active contemporary years.

The authors start by asking an important question (emphasis added):

[A]verage annual area burned since the late 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries is generally less than that experienced under historical fire regimes across many North American forests, resulting in a widespread 20th century ‘fire deficit’ relative to earlier time periods. However, area burned by wildfire has increased across much of North America over the last few decades. Over this time period (mid-1980s—present), several regions have experienced individual years with exceptionally high area burned, leading to questions about whether recent fire years are unprecedented. As area burned has increased rapidly since the mid-1980s in parts of North America, is it possible that the fire deficit has been reduced or eliminated?

To answer this question they look at a novel dataset on tree-ring scars caused by fire.

It is not often that I am reading a scientific paper and encounter results that make me say — “Wow!”. This is one of those cases:

The year 2020 had the highest percent of sites recording fire in the contemporary time period, with 6% of NAFSN sites burned. This percentage is far below the 29% burned in the most widespread historical fire year (1748) and equal to the average of 6% that burned per year across NAFSN sites during the historical period.

Overall, fires occurred at a rate of only 23% of that expected based on historical fires — indicating a huge accumulated deficit.

2025 in Montana: Less Growth, Fewer People, More AI

20 February 2025
Dennis Pyburn
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Despite a high-performing job market, economic growth in Montana slowed in 2024, continuing a three year decline following the pandemic year boom of 2022, when the state had one of the fastest growing economies in the US, according to Jeffrey Michael, the new director of the Bureau of Business & Economic Research during its annual Economic Outlook Seminar. It looks like growth for 2024 is going to come in at about 2.4 percent of non-farm earnings – better than what was predicted.

In 2023, Montana fell back to a level closer to its historic average, and is likely to maintain that average in 2025 with a projected growth rate of 1.7 to 1.8 percent, which Michael said may be a bit too pessimistic. 

Even though there has been much talk about Montana’s population growth spurt, the reality is, in 2024, Montana’s population growth fell to its lowest level in decades. At the same time, Montana’s traditional resource-based industries of agriculture, mining, and forest products, all experienced downturns in 2024.

Other projections for Montana is that the population growth will slow even further; the full impact of mining and wood products closures and their layoffs are likely to be further felt in 2025; and interest rate sectors will get little relief.

 Inflation is down but it hasn’t been defeated. Because of that the Federal Reserve has indicated it is going to pause in reducing interest rates in 2025.

The good news will come after 2025, according to Michael. It’s then that moderate population growth will resume; the state’s tech industry will continue to mature; and new investments are likely in mining, energy and tourism.

Michael said that Montana’s population grew slower than that of the US for the first time since 2012. At 0.5 percent population growth in 2024 was the lowest in two decades. The decline happened for several reasons. Net migration into Montana from other states dropped to 5,400 in 2024 from a peak of 20,500 in 2021. Also, according to Michael, Montana has not felt the surge in international in-migration (legal and illegal) that has powered recent population growth in other states. Montana ranks last in international migration and is the only state with fewer than a thousand international migrants in 2024. However, births exceeded deaths last year, which was the first time that natural population increased in several years.

Even though population growth has slowed, the impacts of the earlier rapid growth are still being felt throughout the state. Most notably are persistent high housing costs. In fact, Montana’s population growth will likely remain slow until housing prices and income become more balanced, which may take years.

While the future is highly uncertain in 2025, Montana is likely to maintain slow to moderate growth because Montana is less dependent on international trade and immigration than other states and will likely be less affected by growing global uncertainty and changes in federal policies.

The seminar highlighted the emerging technology of AI (Artificial Intelligence). In introducing the subject, Pat Barkey said they wanted to focus on AI, because of its potential to benefit Montana businesses. Pat Barkey will retire in June as BBER’s director, a position he has held for 17 years.

AI has the capability to enhance productivity and it could enhance almost every industry, said Michael. “You could see significant productivity gains in the future.”

While aspects of AI have been coming at us for several years, its advances were little noticed until it gained the ability to write text, compose music and create art, said Barkey, adding “The speed of its development has been torrid.”

A question that is often asked is “will AI take over my job?” And the conference answer to that was, “No, but someone who understands AI will.”

Barkey said the question that many are asking: Is this going to be like the Industrial Revolution in bringing the entire economy to a different level of growth?

“It’s been a fast moving phenomena,” said Barkey, “What it is really good at is dealing with piles and piles and piles of unconstructed data.” It holds the promise of being able to increase the growth in productivity, which is significant, said Barkey, because “growth and productivity in the economy is what fuels our standard of living.”

We learned a “heck of a lot about production” in World War II, said Barkey.  “We put those lessons to use in the following decades. Coming out of the 50s and 60s, we had relatively high average growth.”

Since then there has been some fluctuation in the 80s and 2000s because of the internet and computers.

According to Barkey, “There has been no game change in the technological development in the economy since World War II. . . nothing like the industrial revolution ‘that changes everything’. . .  Nothing has moved the needle to the entire economy to take productivity to a new level. AI might not be that but it sure looks like it has a lot of promise. . . It doesn’t take much to make a really meaningful change in the economic standard of living ..  . The economy averages about 2.5 percent since WWII.  If we moved it up 3 percentage points out to the year 2040, then we would have almost 50 percent more economic output in the economy than we would have without that extra growth. A little change across the entire economy in the largest economy in the world, gets a whole lot done.”

Personal income growth slowed to 1.2 percent in Montana during 2024, about half of the 2.3 percent growth in 2023, and much slower than the more than 6 percent growth experienced during 2020 and 2021. 2024 was the first year since the Covid upheaval that Montana income grew slower than the US.

Earnings growth in 2024 in construction and the service sectors outperformed resource-based industries over one-year and five-year periods. Construction lead all industries in real earnings growth at $272 million, followed by health care and retail trade with both experiencing over $100 million in earnings growth in 2024.

Montana’s resource-based industries experienced a very difficult 2024. Farm earnings – extremely volatile – show a very sharp decline, after strong earnings in 2022. Mining earnings also declined by about $190 million in 2024, and the full effects of the Sibanye-Stillwater mine closure may not be fully captured in the data. Forestry activities experienced a $19 million earnings’ decline and wood products mill closures are a factor behind an $18 million decline in manufacturing earnings.

So what is sustaining job growth in Montana?

Jobs are less affected by the declines in commodity prices and real estate sales that have pulled down incomes.  Montana’s job growth was 1.5 percent in 2024, strong enough to rank in the top five states, but only half the 3 percent job growth seen in 2023. Jobs grew fastest in construction and services, with declines in mining, finance and real estate.

Said Michael, “The US economy has seen a much more dynamic labor force and a more dynamic business center in the past couple of years more than we have seen in the past decade or two.”

People ask why the US economy does so much better than Europe and other countries, according to Michael, who explained,  “Labor market researchers found that the US worker is two and a half times more likely to change industries and occupations than a worker in Europe. In the US workers are much more willing to change or move to a new sector that is more productive or where labor is more needed.  We have also seen an increase in entrepreneurship, individuals who are willing  to take a risk and start a business —  all of which is beneficial for the economy. And the last thing is the population growth. It is a controversial topic, but there is no doubt that it is a contributor. . . US population growth was more than we anticipated and more people means more workers and more demand in the economy.”

During the 2010s, continued Michael, people were scratching their heads and asking what happened to the American entrepreneur in the 2010s? “The rate of business start- ups was a mystery.” Since 2020 the level of entrepreneurial business creation has increased and sustained at higher levels. “

Business Optimism Level Rises

23 January 2025
Dennis Pyburn
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The latest NFIB Small Business Optimism Index showed a big breakthrough in the attitudes Main Street entrepreneurs now have about the economy, rising in November to 101.7 from its 50-year average of 98, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB).

The mammoth change breaks a 34-consecutive-month drought below the half-century average. Remarkably, of the 10 components in the index, nine increased, none decreased, and one remained unchanged.

“Montana’s small business owners have had a little better attitude toward the economy than those in other states thanks primarily to our Legislature’s understanding of their importance to the jobs they create and the deep involvement they have in their communities,” said Ronda Wiggers, state director for NFIB in Montana. “In fact, you could say Montana held down the fort while waiting for the national picture to change. Should there be an improved state and federal policy sync, a prosperous economy lies ahead for all.”

 “The election results signal a major shift in economic policy, leading to a surge in optimism among small business owners. Main Street also became more certain about future business conditions following the election, breaking a nearly three-year streak of record high uncertainty. Owners are particularly hopeful for tax and regulation policies that favor strong economic growth as well as relief from inflationary pressures. In addition, small business owners are eager to expand their operations.” Key Findings from Report include:

* The net percent of owners expecting the economy to improve rose 41 points from October to a net 36%, the highest since June 2020. This component had the greatest impact on the overall increase in the Optimism Index.

* The net percent of small business owners believing it is a good time to expand their business rose eight points to a net 14%. This is the highest reading since June 2021.

* The net percent of owners expecting higher real sales volumes rose 18 points to a net 14% (seasonally adjusted), the highest reading since February 2020.

NFIB’s monthly Small Business Optimism Index is the gold standard measurement of America’s small business economy. Used by the Federal Reserve, Congressional leaders, administration officials, and state legislatures across the nation, it’s regarded as the bellwether on the health and welfare of the Main Street enterprises that employ half of all workers, generate more net new jobs than large corporations, and gave most of us the first start in our working life. The Small Business Optimism Index is a national snapshot of NFIB-member, small-business owners not broken down by state. The typical NFIB member employs between one and nine people and reports gross sales of about $500,000 a year.

Billings Building Permits – November 1, 2024

6 November 2024
Dennis Pyburn
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Commercial

Billings Clinic – Mitch Goplen |Jones Construction Inc, 2800 10th Ave N, Com Remodel, $3,472,000

Wl Zimmerman LLC, 3601 Avenue D, Com Footing/Foundation, $400,000

Don Grewell Ira|Donald A Grewel,l 4190 S Frontage Rd, Com New Warehouse/Storage, $250,000

Bill Co Investment LLC Inc|Fargo Roofing & Siding, 2020 Overland Ave, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $248,228

Pelican Constance D Trustee|G & L Enterprises Inc, 1819 Montana Ave, Com Fence/Roof/Siding,  $159,870

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran C|A-Team Roofing And Solar, 2802 Belvedere Dr, Com Remodel, $135,000

Harbor Freight |Centimark Corp, 1400 Grand Ave, Com Fence/Roof/Siding $104,357

Michael W Ryan Trust|Cucancic Construction Inc, 2600 6th Ave N, Demolition Permit Commercial, $50,000

Rocky Mountain Oil LLC|Cucancic Construction Inc., 515 N 27th St, Demolition Permit Commercial, $50,000

Mt Angel Properties LLC|Highsmith Construction, 3041 Boulder Ave, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $45,000

Montana Map LLC|Centimark Corp, 303 N Broadway, Com Fence/Roof/Siding, $44,330

Hess Steven & Judy|KJ Construction, 440 Josephine Dr, Com Addition, $20,000

Griffin Farrel|TRH Construction, 320 N 30th St, Com Remodel, $2,100

Maria Santana |Beartooth Holdings & Construction Inc, 1670 Shiloh Rd, Restaurant/Casino/Bar, $950,000

Wl Zimmerman LLC, 3602 Spring Wheat Ln, Com Footing/Foundation, $400,000

Billings South Shiloh LLC|ABCO Billings LLC, 1745 E Seahawks Pl, Com New Office/Bank, $105,000

Billings Clinic|Summit Fire & Security LLC, 801 N 29th St, Com Fire Systems, $73,054

Sisters Of Charity Of Leavenworth|Johnson Controls Fire Protection LP, 2900 12th Ave N, Th Com Fire Systems, $6,123

Less Tropican Inn-Vestments 2.0 LLC|Environmental Contractors LLC, 5500 Midland Rd, Demolition Permit Commercial, $3,850

JE Nessan Camp 1|Lanter Const, 608 N 29th St, Com Remodel $3,600

Residential

AKR Development LLC|Emineth Custom Homes, 2988 Ridgefield Dr, Res New Single Family, $650,000

Billings South Shiloh LLC|ABCO Billings LLC, 4081 N Seahawks Pl, Res New Two Family, $350,000

Billings South Shiloh LLC|ABCO Billings LLC, 4087 N Seahawks Pl, Res New Two Family, $350,000

Billings South Shiloh LLC|ABCO Billings LLC, 1715 Packers Ln, Res New Two Family, $350,000

Billings South Shiloh LLC|ABCO Billings LLC, 1721 Packers Ln, Res New Two Family, $350,000

Billings South Shiloh LLC|ABCO Billings LLC, 1727 Packers Ln, Res New Two Family, $350,000

Billings South Shiloh LLC|ABCO Billings LLC, 1733 Packers Ln, Res New Two Family, $350,000

Infinity Home LLC |Infinity Home LLC, 2232 Lindero Blvd, Res New Single Family, $176,872

Infinity Home LLC |Infinity Home LLC, 2226 Lindero Blvd, Res New Single Family, $174,158

Taggart Christopher J & Eliza|Jorden Construction, 4812 Silver Creek Trl, Res New Single Family, $1,700,000

Steward Land Holdings LLC|Beartooth Holdings & Construction Inc, 3680 Avenue D, Res New Townhome, $837,756

Steward Land Holdings LLC|Beartooth Holdings & Construction Inc, 3670 Avenue D, $837,756

Billings South Shiloh LLC|ABCO Billings LLC, 4075 N Seahawks Pl, Res New Two Family, $350,000

CDH LLC |CDH LLC, 5220 Rich Ln, Res New Single Family, $311,231

Trails West Homes LLC|Trails West Homes LLC, 5718 Bear Track Trl, Res New Single Family, $247,732

Shanley Caitlin E & Tyler L|Miller Construction & Remodel LLC, 2525 Lyndale Ln, Res Remodel Single/Duplex/Garage, $5,000

Biden-Harris Spent $900 million on Faulty COVID Messaging

6 November 2024
Press Room
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By Casey Harper, The Center Square

The Republican-led House Energy and Commerce Committee released a report a week ago, saying that the Biden-Harris Administration spent nearly a billion dollars promoting COVID-era messaging, much of which turned out to be untrue or misleading.

The Congressional report examines the $900 million spent by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on COVID-era messaging to the American people.

The report cites “errors and failures” in the U.S. Center for Disease Control’s “We Can Do This” advertisements and marketing materials.

The report said that much of that taxpayer-funded marketing included incorrect information about vaccines, the danger to children, masks and more.

“Much of the scientific content directly featured in or alluded to in Campaign ads and other promotional material was drawn from CDC recommendations, guidance, and research, critical parts of which proved to be deeply flawed,” the report said.

For instance, the report cited the CDC telling Americans that taking the COVID-19 vaccine would prevent them from getting COVID, something that turned out to be false.

“This ultimately had a negative impact on vaccine confidence and the CDC’s credibility when proven untrue,” the report said.

In another instance, the report points out that federal health officials and the CDC initially downplayed the need and usefulness of masking only to later reverse course and strongly urge Americans to mask, even outdoors.

“Dr. Anthony Fauci, former head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), advocated against mask wearing on February 5, 2020, stating ‘Masks are really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection,’” the report said.

“By April 3, 2020, the CDC completely reversed course and announced new mask wearing guidelines, recommending that all people wear a mask outside of the home,” the report continued, adding that “In December of 2022, after leaving the Biden White House, former COVID-19 coordinator, Ashish Jha, freely admitted what many had been saying all along—’[t]here is no study in the world that shows that masks work that well.’”

The report also pointed out that “The CDC had inconsistent and flawed messaging about the effectiveness of masks” and that “the CDC consistently overstated the risk of COVID-19 to children.”

“The CDC continues to recommend COVID-19 vaccines for all Americans ages six months and older, which has made the United States a global outlier in COVID-19 policy,” the report said.

That marketing was used by lawmakers and local and state officials to justify extended lockdowns on businesses, which hurt the economy and put many small business owners out of business or to justify school closures, from which research now shows students have still not recovered.

“While the Biden-Harris administration’s public health guidance led to prolonged closures of schools and businesses, the NIH was spending nearly a billion dollars of taxpayer money trying to manipulate Americans with advertisements—sometimes containing erroneous or unproven information,” Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said in a statement.

“By overpromising what the COVID-19 vaccines could do—in direct contradiction of the FDA’s authorizations—and over emphasizing the virus’s risk to children and young adults, the Biden-Harris administration caused Americans to lose trust in the public health system,” she added.

Reporting has shown that during the pandemic the federal government successfully pressured social media companies to censor Americans’ posts on COVID-related issues that did not toe the party line.

Meta CEO and Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this year in a public letter that he regretted complying with those federal requests.

“Our investigation also uncovered the extent to which public funding went to Big Tech companies to track and monitor Americans, underscoring the need for stronger online data privacy protections,” McMorris-Rodgers said.

The lawmakers on the Republican-led committee pointed out that the federal government’s pushing of unproven or incorrect medical data has led to an overall distrust of federal health agencies and vaccines on the whole.

“The entire premise of the Biden-Harris ‘Stop the Spread’ campaign was that if you got vaccinated for COVID-19, you could resume daily activities because they said vaccinated people would not spread the disease,” Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith, R-Va., said in a statement. “Despite lacking scientific basis, the administration bought into this CDC claim and misled the American public. As a result, vaccination coverage with other vaccines appears to have declined, I believe because of a growing distrust of information coming from our public health institutions.”

Gallup released polling data in August showing that fewer Americans now say childhood vaccines are important, “with 40% saying it is extremely important for parents to have their children vaccinated, down from 58% in 2019 and 64% in 2001.”

NFIB Survey: Business Owners Express Uncertainty

21 October 2024
Press Room
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There was little optimism to be found in the most recent release of NFIB’s Small Business Economic Trends (SBET) report, but a whole lot of uncertainty, in fact, a record amount.

NFIB’s Optimism Index, also known as the SBET, recorded its 33rd consecutive month below its 50-year average. The uncertainty index raised eyebrows, rising 11 points to 103—the highest reading recorded.

“With elections right around the corner, there’s bound to be some level of uncertainty percolating among small business owners, but what we’re seeing right now is not your typical election season anxiety,” said Ronda Wiggers, Montana state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which produces the Optimism Index, also known as the Small Business Economic Trends report.

“There’s a massive federal tax increase set to automatically kick in on January 1, 2026, if Congress fails to act in the next 15 months. The Main Street Tax Certainty Act would address this problem by preserving the 20% Small Business Deduction, but the likelihood of next year’s Congress and the executive branch working together concerns many small business owners.”

 “Small business owners are feeling more uncertain than ever. Uncertainty makes owners hesitant to invest in capital spending and inventory, especially as inflation and financing costs continue to put pressure on their bottom lines. Although some hope lies ahead in the holiday sales season, many Main Street owners are left questioning whether future business conditions will improve.”

Other Highlights from the SBET Report

* The average rate paid on short maturity loans was 10.1%, up 0.6 of a point from August. The last time it was this high was February 2001.

* Thirty-four percent (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, down six points from August and the lowest reading since January 2021.

* Seasonally adjusted, a net 32% reported raising compensation, down one point from August and remaining the lowest reading since April 2021.

* Twenty-three percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business (higher input and labor costs), down one point from August but remaining the top issue.

NFIB’s monthly (SBET) report is the gold standard measurement of America’s small business economy. Used by the Federal Reserve, Congressional leaders, administration officials, and state legislatures across the nation, it’s regarded as the bellwether on the health and welfare of the Main Street enterprises that employ half of all workers, generate more net new jobs than large corporations, and gave most of us the first start in our working life. The SBET (aka the Optimism Index) is a national snapshot of NFIB-member, small-business owners not broken down by state. More about the Uncertainty Index can be read here. The typical NFIB member employs between one and nine people and reports gross sales of about $500,000 a year.

More Restaurants Added To Popular Burger Trail

21 October 2024
Press Room
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Burger fans traveling across Southeast Montana will now have more options to choose from, as the Southeast Montana Burger Trail announced it has added four new locations: On the Rocks in Worden, Stockman’s Club in Broadus, Six Gun Pizza in Forsyth and Mulligans Restaurant and Pub in Colstrip.

Since the inception of the Southeast Montana Burger Trail in 2022, more than 400 visitors from as far as Minnesota, Texas and Pennsylvania have downloaded the Southeast Montana Burger Trail Passport, which incentivizes travelers to venture off the highway to explore the area’s unique communities and delicious burgers.

Participants who visit four locations on the trail can earn an official sticker, and dedicated fans who visit eight locations are eligible to receive an official “Burger Boss” T-shirt.

 “Expanding our Burger Trail to include new locations within Southeast Montana is exciting and offers greater visibility to our rural communities that have numerous attractions beyond the highway,” said Sara Hollenbeck, content manager for Visit Southeast Montana. Details about each new stop on the Southeast Montana Burger Trail include:

* On the Rocks (2441 Main St., Worden): On the Rocks’ House Burger entices guests with its juicy patty, melted gruyere and house aioli, but it’s the irresistible bacon onion jam that steals the show. The burger creates a flavor explosion that makes the Worden exit off Interstate 90 not just a pit stop but a mouthwatering detour.

* Stockman’s Club (721 S. Park St., Broadus): The Stockman’s Club serves a legendary A-1 Burger featuring a juicy patty, choice of cheese, crispy bacon and caramelized onions, all crowned with a tangy, house-made A-1 sauce that makes it an unforgettable local favorite. 

* Six Gun Pizza (2100 Cedar St., Forsyth): With options to choose between a quarter-pound or half-pound beef patty sandwiched between homemade buns, guests are often found exclaiming “YUM” with every bite. Six Gun Pizza’s Smash Burger features pepper jack or American cheese, grilled onions and a signature secret sauce.

* Mulligans Restaurant and Pub (1 Long Drive Suite B, Colstrip): The Buzzy Burger at Mulligans Restaurant and Bar is the undisputed star of the menu. This mouthwatering masterpiece blends pork sausage, bacon and beef, which is all expertly seasoned for an explosion of flavor. Paired with fries dusted in Mulligans’ secret “pixie dust” seasoning, it’s a dining experience that is akin to a hole-in-one.

To see a full list of participating restaurants on the Southeast Montana Burger Trail and to download your passport, visit southeastmontana.com/burgertrail.

Four landmark properties are for sale in Livingston. They are Riverside Hardware and The Stockman Bar on Main Street, the 49er Diner, Bar and Casino on Park Street, and the former Livingston Enterprise building on South Main Street.

States Purge Polls

16 September 2024
Dennis Pyburn
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Aug. 26 that more than 1 million ineligible voters have been removed from the state’s voter rolls in the past three years, including more than 6,500 noncitizens and 457,000 people who are dead. Of the 6,500 potential noncitizens removed from the voter rolls, about 1,930 have a voter history.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said this month that he issued an executive order removing 6,303 noncitizens from voter rolls. Likewise, Alabama removed at least 3,251 noncitizens and Ohio removed 137.