Opinion

Alliance Names Most Promising Tech Firms

19 August 2019
Press Room
No comments

The Montana High Tech Business Alliance has announced a list of eight Montana High-Growth Companies to Watch in 2019. This is the third year the organization has recognized emerging stars in Montana’s booming tech and manufacturing industries.

The eight new companies on this year’s list bolster the narrative of the flourishing tech industry in Montana. A 2019 survey conducted by the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research found Alliance member companies are growing faster than ever – 9 times the overall Montana economy – and expect to add 1,700 new jobs this year that pay twice the median wage. The high-growth companies to watch list highlights high-potential companies for job seekers, business leaders, and investors.

The eight Montana High-Growth Companies to Watch in 2019 are:

1. Alosant, Bozeman

Founded in Montana in 2017, Alosant is a lifestyle management platform targeted toward real estate communities.  Michael Swanson and April LaMon are co-founders.

2. Alter Enterprise, Missoula

At its core, Alter Enterprise is an IT company, but  founder Ryan Alter said they work closely with clients to produce solutions that can range from traditional IT services to cybersecurity.

3. DataSmart Health Solutions, Missoula.

Bernard Khomenko, CEO DataSmart Health Solutions uses sophisticated d“We’re blessed with the opportunity to stand for something; liberty, freedom and fairness. And these are things worth fighting for, worth devoting our lives to.”

– Ronald Reaganata analytics to help companies build the best health benefits packages for their employees while saving them money.

4. Figure, Bozeman and Helena.

Mike Cagney, CEO, explains Figure uses a custom-built blockchain platform, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics to provide home equity solutions for their clients. .

5. MyVillage, Bozeman.

Erica Mackey and Elizabeth Szymanski, co-founded the company in 017. MyVillage is a platform designed to empower educators to create and run childcare services. it helps them navigate issues like setting up a website or filing for insurance. In April, MyVillage closed a $5.95 million seed round, the largest ever closed by a Montana company. 

6. Superior Traffic Services, Missoula. 

Jeff Hollenback, CEO, founded the company in 2009. The construction tech company has built a system to manage portable traffic signals, and other e traffic control equipment in real-time. By providing a solution to automate traffic control in busy and rural construction zones, Superior helps make the road safer..

7. Vision Aerial, Bozeman.  

Shane Beams, founder, produces drones for commercial use— commercial infrastructure inspection drones  since early 2016.

8. XY Planning Network/AdvicePay, Bozeman.

Alan Moore and Michael Kitces, co-founders, help financial planners set up their own businesses.

Mincing Words

21 July 2019
Press Room
No comments

Evelyn Pyburn, Editor

Our governor made a comment recently in regard to the announced closure of Colstrip Units 1 & 2 that deserves to be scrutinized.

Gov. Steve Bullock said, “Markets and consumer preferences continue to move away from coal, yet this news comes quicker than anticipated. Today our priority is taking care of workers and their families who will be impacted by these closures.”

It’s a very typical political statement. Kind of shallow and hollow. But in examining it closely, it isn’t as benign as the Governor probably hoped it would sound – for two reasons. One, it continues to propagate a myth that the Left loves and has down pat; and two, it is an insult to every working person who wants to earn their way in this world.

To hear our Governor even mention “markets” is a first, and that alone should raise an eyebrow. But his official comment is a slight of hand — or of words – aimed at diverting attention to what has really happened and the role he has played. Now that the destruction of their manipulations are strewn before us, he wants to change the subject.

It’s a strategy that the Left and other statists have used to some success in the past. Every time an industry or business fails because of political policies and regulations and legal attacks — once the piling-on of those obstacles succeeds in bringing it down, the ant1s-business politicians, environmentalists and statists suddenly discover “markets,” and claim that it’s nothing more than the free market at work — and we are all supposed to be dumb enough to believe it.

Are we to forget President Obama’s “war on coal?”  Are we to forget the many years in which they have done everything they could to circumvent the market? Are we to forget witnessing consumer choice being displaced by political gangs swinging the biggest clubs possible to change the direction of markets?

We heard the same claim when they finally brought the Corette plant in Billings to its knees. Immediately the pundits started declaring, its closure had nothing to do with the regulations that were piled upon it! It was “market forces”, said its tormentors, as we watched dozens of people leave their jobs for the last time, and company owners dismantle what had once been a thriving, taxpaying business in Billings.

The first time, I became aware of this propaganda tactic was back when political forces destroyed Montana’s timber industry in the name of the Spotted Owl. The attacks on timber were loud, vociferous and at times violent, for several years; but as soon as timber mills began to close, the mantra became “it is nothing more than the market at work” – even as timber imports from Canada were booming.

One has to really wonder why the Governor and so many others who worked so hard to impose their will, are so reluctant to claim victory. Why aren’t they celebrating and shouting about their success, rather than muttering and mumbling about “markets” and shuffling on to their next target?

In a sense, their claim about markets is correct. The market is looking at the political policies being imposed and declaring “this is stupid!” What that looks like in “the market” is investors fleeing the field and finding less risky places to put their money. That is indeed the market speaking, but that isn’t to say there has been a free market at play. This is exactly the dynamics of controlled markets. It is exactly how markets are destroyed in socialist regimes.

The insult that comes from the Governor is the idea that all those losing their jobs and livelihoods, will now be taken care of by government. Even this lament is not original. Hillary Clinton made the same condescending offer to the coal miners of West Virginia, when she told them not to worry there were government programs that would take care of them.

A few years ago, a Crow tribal leader voiced his indignation during an energy summit in Billings, about having been told the same thing when he went to Washington DC to beg the politicians to back off the “War on Coal,” because of what it would do to his tribe’s coal business and their jobs. Government welfare programs, he said, is not what they wanted – and he, too, was insulted at their words.

MPA Applauds Court Decision

21 July 2019
Press Room
No comments

By Jenna McKinney, Montana Petroleum Association

 The Montana Petroleum Association (MPA) applauds the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel that recently ruled the injunction put in place last fall by U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris is no longer in effect. This decision comes shortly after the Trump administration issued a new Presidential Permit on March 29, 2019. The new permit supersedes the previous permit and allows TransCanada to now continue construction of the Keystone XL pipeline project.

The continued delays of the Keystone XL pipeline project have gone on since the first Presidential Permit was issued in 2008. In Montana the four year permitting process resulted in a Major Facilities Siting Act permit in 2012, seven years ago. The initial hold ups were due to standard protocols for Environmental Impact Studies (EIS) and determining the most advantageous route for the pipeline to go from Canada to Houston, TX. The subsequent delays and court appeals have become a battle ground for political gamesmanship and conflicting ideologies. The Keystone XL pipeline project is one example of how political posturing has harmed our economy by stifling employment and slowing reasonable access to markets. With a projected $3.4 billion added to the U.S. GDP, and the creation of tens of thousands of jobs, isn’t it time for the Keystone XL to be built?

Montana Petroleum Association Executive Director, Alan Olson responded to the news with, “Oil and gas development and industry growth means significant job opportunities for Montanans, it means energy independence for America, and provides responsible, safe, and efficient transportation for the oil and gas industry.  We appreciate the Trump Administration’s support of Keystone XL pipeline and the Oil and Gas industry.”

To Avoid Energy Shortage, Montana Must Increase Reliable Baseload Power

21 July 2019
Press Room
No comments

Chairman Brad Johnson (R-Dist. 5), Montana Public Service Commission

While California may have a population nearly forty times greater than Montana, utility consumers are still subject to the same vulnerabilities. With current technology, the best way to protect utility customers from an energy shortage is through an increase in available, reliable, baseload power.

Out-of-state and foreign interests are applying increased pressure on lawmakers, and consumers, to replace base load power with wind, solar, and geothermal sources. Demands from outside interest groups for an almost irreversible change in how utilities provide power are accompanied by accelerated timetables to implement such substantial change. I share the concern with many that shifting away from reliable base load power will eventually lead to brown outs – and they may come in the not so distant future – unless we begin to prepare now.

There seems to be a precarious hostility toward flexibility in the course of this approach. To have a decipherable path toward a sustainable energy future, we need to appreciate the business concept of scale. If we cannot scale, we will fail. It would be a grave mistake for anyone to accept that a policy or judicial mandate somehow ensures that success is a foregone conclusion.

Some may consider the reality that electricity is not something that occurs naturally in the environment to be an inconvenient truth, but it is still reality. There are those out there who would insist we make an absolute choice between base load power and a renewable-heavy portfolio. However, the market, and science, suggest renewable energy and reliable base load power sources are natural partners. They can, and should, coexist. 

Classic doom and gloom scenarios exist on the fringes of both sides of the energy debate. If we are going to maintain a safe, reliable power grid for years to come, we have to focus by pruning distractions from self-anointed experts on all sides. 

We must address the potential manmade energy shortage that can be caused as a result of mandating utility providers phase out the only backup for wind and solar energy. If we fail to do this, brown outs will not only prevent lights from turning on at night, and heaters warming homes during the winter. During brown outs, medical devices such as respiratory aids, artificial pancreas devices, and breast pumps can be unavailable to those dependent on them.

Though the market share of electric vehicles (EV) in Montana is still barely measureable in Montana, EV sales grew nearly 92% in our state over the last two years. With our urban areas experiencing the most growth, and more people moving here from other states, trends like this will continue to put stress on our power grid.

Increasing Montana’s available supply of base load power is an investment in the potential of clean, renewable energy – and will keep consumer prices low. We are already one of the 10 largest consumers of renewable energy, and we can maintain this momentum with an increasingly secure base load. Montanans cannot afford to go down the path of California, which is racing to eliminate reliable base load power. They lead the nation in power outages and has some of the most expensive electricity rates in the country.

Power providers are not like a Silicon Valley dotcom companies. When one fails, there are not thousands of backups to turn to. Base load power is not like a sponge. When it dries up, you cannot just add water.