Looking forward to seeing everyone tonight at the Sundowner at Bigfork Art & Cultural Center from 5-7pm...
This is going to be a very special, don't miss event!
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Bigfork has long experienced seasonal staffing shortages and this year looks to be more of the same. That is why, at the request of our members, the Bigfork Area Chamber of Commerce is organizing a job fair with Bigfork High School. This is a great opportunity for your business to connect with students and residents in the Bigfork area and fill those seasonal and year round positions. Not hiring right now, now worries! Set up your business booth to attract future applicants and allow the students to explore what a career in your industry might look like.
This event is free to chamber members and non-members are asked to make a $20 contribution towards a Bigfork High School Scholarship the day of the event.
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Thursday, March 10th
Sundowner & Young Artist Exhibit Opening at Bigfork Art & Cultural Center 5-7pm
Friday, March 11th
Cup O' Joe Live @ Montana Bonfire 5-9pm
Joel Fetveit Live @ Garden Bar 7-10pm
Disney's Descendants @ Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts 7:30pm
Saturday, March 12th
Drawing - Learn & Improve Class @ BACC 9am
Pet First Aid Class @ Bigfork Community Center 10am
Bigfork Rotary Books Sale @ "The Ark" at Bethany Lutheran Church 10-3pm
- Books will be sold for $1.50/inch to benefit ImagineIf Library Bigfork
Book Signing (see information below) @ Mountain Vibes Gallery 3-6pm
"The Walls" Wine dinner (see poster below) @ Stone Hill Kitchen 6pmpm
Disney's Descendants @ Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts 7:30pm
Sunday, March 13th
Dim Sum Brunch @ Montana Bonfire 10-1:30pm
CPR and First Aid Class @ Yellow Bay 10am
Disney's Descendants @ Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts 2:00pm
Tuesday, March 15th
Cowabunga Auditions @ Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts 4:30-7pm
Wednesday, March 16
Code Girls (4th - 8th grade) @ BACC 3:30-5pm
Cowabunga Auditions @ Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts 4:30-7pm
Trivia @ Flathead Lake Brewing Company 6:30pm
Thursday, March 17th - Happy St. Patrick's Day
Corned Beef & Cabbage @VFW 4pm
Live Music with Mike Russ @ Montana Bonfire 4-9pm
St. Patrick's Day Celebration @ Buffalo Saloon 4pm
Corned Beef & Cabbage @ Kelly's Casino 5-8pm
Debris Pile Burning Presentation @ Community Methodist Church 7pm
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John Pogachar Book Signing at Mountain Vibes Gallery
March 12 @ 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Mark your Calendars!
Local author, John Pogachar, will be doing a book signing from 3pm-6pm on March 12 at Mountain Vibes Gallery & Gifts in downtown Bigfork, 483 Electric Ave. John’s first book is called Mom & Dad 10 Things I Want You to Know by the time I’m One Week Old! This book is for everyone, child, parents, and that inner child in all of us. Light refreshments will be served.
"This book needs to be read by every human on earth. It’s a masterpiece!" – Amy C.
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Swan River Gardens is opening up March 15th for their 24th season!
Swan River Gardens is a complete retail and wholesale nursery and greenhouse. They grow and sell annuals, perennials, shrubs & trees plus all the necessary hard goods such as chemicals and mulches. Swan River Gardens is the Flathead Valley’s premiere source for native plant material with many kinds and sizes available throughout the season. They also grow thousands of hardy perennials that are customer favorites.
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State & Regional Happening |
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Glacier National Park Vehicle Reservation System Communication Toolkit
Glacier National Park has a growing number of resources to aid in the understanding of the vehicle reservation system. You can download and share the free graphics and map from our website here.
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UM Institute Gauges Attitudes Towards Montana Tourism -
A 2021 University of Montana survey finds state residents still generally support tourism. However, there are growing worries about overcrowding, quality of life and newcomers flooding the state due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A large majority of Montanans (71%) still agree that the overall benefits of tourism outweigh the negative impacts. Similarly, more than eight out of 10 residents agree that tourism promotion by the state benefits their communities economically.
That question, however, saw a great deal of variation in its level of agreement when different travel regions of the state were compared. For example, the areas with the highest level of agreement are closest to Yellowstone National Park, with the lowest level of agreement being in the Missouri River travel region in northeast Montana.
When it comes to a sense of overcrowding due to visitors in 2021, residents expressed the highest level of agreement since the start of the annual survey nearly 30 years ago, with 56% of residents agreeing that the state is becoming overcrowded because of more tourists. This is the first time more residents have agreed than disagreed with this statement. When compared to pre-pandemic levels, this represents a 75% increase since 2019. The residents who live closest to Montana’s two national parks had the highest levels of agreement regarding crowding.
When it comes to quality of life for Montana residents, more respondents than ever expressed concern, with just under 40% agreeing that quality of life would improve if tourism increased. When looking at trend data for this statement, sentiment began to shift towards disagreement before the pandemic began – only to be exacerbated by current conditions.
Finally, residents had the chance to share comments with surveyors, and many noted that the crowding they perceive is not necessarily from tourism and visitors, but from those who chose to move to Montana during COVID-19. These residents also expressed the sentiment that tourism within the state is good economically, but the influx of new residents is having an impact on housing costs and affordability for locals.
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Startup Roadmap
March 17, 2022, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. (FREE)
Zoom
Designed for individuals who would like to start their own business. This is a great overview of things to know about start-up costs, financing options, and business planning. A wealth of information and resources are provided free of charge.
https://mtsbdc.ecenterdirect.com/events/5250
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Retention and Culture:
Keep ‘em and keep ‘em happy.
Date: Tuesday, March 22, 2022
Time: 12 P.M. – 1 P.M.
Location: Zoom
Cost: Free to attend
Key takeaways:
- Culture - Not just a buzzword anymore. Employees’ motivations have changed, and we as business leaders need to change with them.
- Find ways to engage and re-energize your employees and make them want to fight for you, not with you.
- Create a workplace environment where employees feel valued and respected
Presenter: In the five and a half years since Chick-fil-A has been in the Flathead Valley, it has been voted “Best of the Flathead - Best Customer Service” three years in a row. Chick-fil-A Kalispell has also seen a growth of 20% or more for the past three years. When you enter Chick-fil-A, you can expect to be greeted by any team member with a smile and a heartfelt welcome, and that culture of service and care has been the focus of Director of Hospitality, Jeph Morris’ time in the restaurant. Chick-fil-A Kalispell has maintained retention rates between 57-60% in an industry that sees tremendous turnover. Jeph has been instrumental in creating and maintaining a positive and encouraging culture for employees.
Jeph has always had a passion for people and has worked in the foodservice industry from a very young age. He holds a degree in K-12 Music Education from Montana State University and taught at Cayuse Prairie school for four years. His students loved his classes, and enrollment in music programs more than doubled during his time there. Through his years of teaching, Jeph learned how to positively interact with people of all ages, from students to parents and even grandparents.
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REGISTRATION HAS BEEN EXTENDED AND COURSES START IN MARCH!
All courses run from 12pm-1pm over Zoom
Cost is $45 per session or $399 for the year
Multiple attendees from the same organization will receive a 10% discount
Below is a complete list of courses and dates:
Tuesday, March 22 – School Overview: Navigating HR in Montana
Wednesday, March 23 – Ten Steps to Successful Hiring
Wednesday, April 27 – Employee Attendance & Absence Issues
Wednesday, May 25 – FMLA & ADA Leave Basics
Wednesday, June 29 – Employee Coaching, Discipline and Termination
Wednesday, July 27 – Wage & Hour Employee Pay Obligations on Employers
Wednesday, August 24 - Job Description and Employer Policy Writing
Wednesday, September 28 – Preventing Harassment and Discrimination Liability
Wednesday, October 26 – Dealing with Disabilities in the Workplace
Wednesday, November 30 – MT Wrongful Discharge Act: How to Fire Without Getting Burned
Wednesday, December 14 – Top Ten Mistakes Employers Make in Montana
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Destination Analysts Update on American Travel Trends & Sentiment—Week of February 28—Going to New Places, Traveling Sustainably
The pandemic’s lessening impact and Americans’ heightened enthusiasm makes for a strong outlook for travel. Americans are demonstrating a propensity to seek new travel experiences, and thus more will be headed on international trips this year. With the increasing amount of travel, fortunately, the majority say they will make an effort to limit their personal impact on the environment when traveling.
The Lessening Impact of the Pandemic—Americans further regained their sense of normalcy, rising over 5 percentage points to 47.3%. Over half of Americans think the course of the pandemic will improve in the next month, while less than 10% think things will worsen—a dramatic reversal from the start of the year. COVID is slowly but surely losing its effect on Americans’ perceived ability to have meaningful travel experiences, now down to 43.5% from 46.8% in January. More Americans than ever since the start of the pandemic want tourists in their communities, exceeding those that do not want them 35.1% to 31.3%. Even the related impact on service appears to be lessening. The percent of Americans reporting that travel businesses were having trouble providing adequate service on their most recent overnight trip declined from 39.6% in January to 31.3% this week.
The Outlook for Travel—Strong excitement for travel continues to grow amongst Americans, now at 82.1%. Fully 70.0% of Americans did some trip dreaming and planning in the last week alone, and 61.5% say travel is a high budget priority for them. Timing for Americans’ upcoming leisure trips shows strong intentions for Spring travel—the months of April and May both have 20% of American travelers reporting trip plans in them. As always, June and July will be peak travel months—right now each of these months has 25% of American travelers reporting trip plans in them. The planning window for trips remains relatively shortened—over 40% of Americans say they would plan a week-long trip in under 2 months. New York, Florida, Las Vegas, California and Hawaii top the list of destinations Americans say they want to head to this year.
Travel Ideologies & Preferences—As we have been reporting, family trips and romantic getaways are the travel Americans are currently most enthusiastic about. However, more than a third of American travelers say they have high levels of excitement for girlfriend trips, solo trips and reunion trips this year. Americans say they are looking to travel most for fun, relaxation, finding happiness and escaping stress. In addition, as they look to travel this year:
- 54.2% prefer visiting places they have never been to over places they have visited before
- 53.6% usually make an effort to limit their personal impact on the environment when traveling
- 47.6% tend to prefer “active time” to “down time” on vacations
- 40.6% say friends and relatives often ask them for travel advice or opinions
- 39.0% say luxury travel experiences are usually an important part of their leisure trips
- 35.3% say they are the kind of person that often makes new friends while traveling
- 33.4% of Americans say if a new trip planning technology comes out, they are excited to try it
- 28.9% usually make an effort to support minority-owned businesses when I travel
International Travel Recovery—With the propensity for seeking new travel experiences, more Americans look to be headed on international trips in the coming year. Avoidance of international travel continues to decline (now at 54.7%), while 29.7% of American travelers say they are likely to travel internationally this year. In fact, 25.1% of American travelers say they are more interested in traveling outside the United States right now than domestically. Europe (especially Italy and France) tops the list, followed by Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Asia (especially Japan).
Read more from the Destination Analysts blog here.
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If we missed an item you had submitted for the weekly email, please accept our apologies! If you would like something included in the next email, please include "Happenings" in the subject line.
Thank you for your understanding!
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