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1) We hosted three site visits—two with companies we’ve been working with to move their projects forward, and one with a new developer exploring opportunities to enter the Great Falls market. In each case, we connected them with local partners, utilities, and resources to help advance their decision-making. These visits reflect the growing interest in North Central Montana as a prime location for business expansion and investment. We’re seeing increasing momentum across all sectors as more companies recognize the strategic advantages our region offers. If you know of a business or developer considering our region, contact Christian Leinhauser at CLeinhauser@GrowGreatFalls.org or 1-406-836-0136.
2) We’re seeing incredible momentum with our 2025 Livability campaign! In just two months, the digital magazine has already surpassed 10.5K page views, putting us on pace to exceed last year’s full total of 31.3K. Our overall marketing reach through Livability content has now hit 224.6K, with over 200K social impressions and 13.2K engagements. Across Montana, our Livability presence has brought in 63.3K views, with 21.5K+ total users and 7.7K new users engaging with our content. Major traffic is coming from key recruitment cities like Denver, Dallas, and Seattle. All signs show that interest in Great Falls is growing rapidly, and our Livability tools are working to attract attention, talent, and investment. For more information or to explore how you can use the Livability campaign in your outreach, please contact Katie Carvell at 1-406-217-7635 or Katie@GrowGreatFalls.org
3) We were excited to learn that Great Falls was selected by an aerospace manufacturing company as the result of a site search RFI we responded to from the Montana Department of Commerce. The company shared that Great Falls offered the greatest potential of any market they evaluated and chose our region because of the ecosystem we’ve been building to support growth. While there’s still work ahead, we’re thrilled to welcome this new company to our community and continue growing our regional economy. If you're aware of companies exploring expansion, contact Christian Leinhauser at CLeinhauser@GrowGreatFalls.org or 1-406-836-0136.
4) Registration is open for GFDA’s Annual Meeting. Tuesday, June 17th, 8:00-10:00 AM at The Newberry. Join us as we reflect on the past year's achievements, share updates on projects, and outline our strategic priorities for the upcoming year, while also honoring this year’s Ally Award winners. Mark your calendars and register here. Reach out to Jenn at 1-406-781-9499 or Jenn@GrowGreatFalls.org for more information.
5) Our GFDA Small Business Development Center Business Advisors worked with several entrepreneurs this week on creative problem-solving for inventory, diversifying product/service offerings, branding and cash flow. Did you know that applying creativity is one of the fastest ways to move past being stuck? Inventors are creating all the time and it’s one of the best skills they bring to a business. We are pleased to have a special interactive webinar presentation, Think Like an Inventor, coming up this Thursday, June 5th at 11:00 AM. Our guest is Arnold Volker, is a lifelong inventor and manufacturing entrepreneur who has fostered innovation in others for over three decades. As owner of Next Innovations, Arnold has transformed the American manufacturing company from generic consumer décor to an industry leader in metal art and specialty coating. Under his leadership, Next Innovations serves clients from local businesses to The Walt Disney Company. The company originally sat alone on a 54-acre plot, but Arnold's passion for collaboration and innovation has inspired other companies to settle down nearby. Arnold transformed the space into a multi-revenue property with other manufacturers, coworking spaces, and even a U-Haul dealership. He has also been featured in the book, Mission Matters by Adam Torres. Don’t miss this free webinar! Register here.
6) Swing and Meat golf simulation and BBQ business opened in Great Falls. See more local business news on KRTV's Eye on Great Falls. Antique Brew Coffee & Tea opened in the Marketplace on Main in Cut Bank; see Cut Bank Pioneer Press. Progress is being made ion the Little Sage subdivision in Ft. Benton; see KRTV. Panera has applied for a building permit to construct a new restaurant in Great Falls; see TheElectric's Business Bites.
7) Kristen and the GFDA team made substantial progress on a major project this week, providing support and connections to evaluate power infrastructure and availability to meet the project requirements. Proactive communication and teamwork with our partners ensure that North Central Montana stays competitive and responsive to increasing energy demand.
8) Great Falls Regional APEX worked with a local manufacturer to explore how their innovative product line could meet the needs of government agencies. We helped them identify entry points into the federal marketplace and guided them in pursuing early-stage funding through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, federal initiatives that provide grant funding to help businesses develop new technologies without giving up ownership or equity. If you're a Montana innovator or manufacturer looking to break into the government marketplace, we can guide you every step of the way. To learn more, contact Shannon Clancy at SClancy@GrowGreatFalls.org or 406-590-1184 to learn more.
9) Congratulations to the winners of the annual Indian Equity Fund Grant! This year the highly competitive grant from the Montana Department of Commerce awarded $320,000 to support 25 Native American-owned businesses across the state. If you’re a Native entrepreneur in our region and would like to apply for the Indian Equity Fund Grant, reach out to our Small Business Development Center. We’re here to help!
10) New food and grocery options are coming to the Hi-line! Anna met with farmer and business owner, Tyler Streit, to discuss the development of the new grocery store, pizzeria, golf simulator and retail space, The Mercantile, in Chester, MT. This business will fill an important gap in Chester’s grocery and restaurant landscape while also helping to revitalize downtown Chester by offering another community gathering place.
11) Montana is one of a handful states who has a dedicated food and value-added ag manufacturing consultant on hand to assist small to medium sized manufactures with everything from facility design and process optimization to writing HACCP plans. GDFA's Food and Ag Development Center and MMEC's Claude Smith hosted a webinar to give an overview of some of MMEC's services and answer food manufactures questions. To watch the video, please go HERE. To check out the other trainings in our Tuesday Training webinar series, go HERE.
12) The Montana Facility Finance Authority has expanded their tax exempt and taxable bonding program to include energy generation. If you are a business interested in power generation, contact Kristen Blue at Kristen@GrowGreatFalls.org or 1-406-788-4989.
13) Congratulations to Leigh Larson of Creative Leigh Digital who recently had a Tik Tok and Instagram video go viral with over 4 million views and more coming in every day! In addition, Leigh was recently selected for a humanitarian trip to Pakistan and will be working with women and child refugees of war and environmental disasters. She is the ONLY American, serving alongside German and Swedish delegations. Leigh was also a finalist for the Stone-Campbell Journal essay on "Relationship Between Secular Democracy and Women's Rights in American History”. Our GFDA Small Business Development Center Business Advisors love seeing entrepreneurs and small business owners achieving success and implementing marketing and business strategies! If your business is looking to identify business strategies that will work for YOUR business, please reach out to Christian Nichols, CNichols@GrowGreatFalls.org or 1-406-788-9385; Rich Gannon, RGannon@GrowGreatFalls.org or 1-406-836-2078; and Deb McGregor, Deb@GrowGreatFalls.org or 1-406-750-0314. Our services are provided at no cost to you.
14) One major limitation to any local food system is simple visibility. You could live your entire life without realizing that a local farm sold fresh eggs just down the road. GFDA's Food and Ag Development Center partnered with Abundant Montana on a webinar showcasing this organization's work on solving this problem from both the consumer and business side. By offering a free Local Food Guide for consumers to find their local farmers and markets and offering food and farm businesses marketing services to increase their visibility, they are working hard to increase the % of Montana food on Montana plates. To watch the webinar, please go HERE. To watch other webinars in the Tuesday Training series, you can find them HERE.
15) Summer in Downtown Great Falls is peak season for businesses. This summer there are a handful of road construction projects that will interrupt the convenient access to some businesses, please continue to patronize businesses effected by the construction as these businesses rely on summer sales revenue to continue to serve Great Falls patrons.
16) The Great Falls City Commission has directed Planning & Community Development staff to begin developing a program that would make “Workforce Housing” an eligible reimbursable expense within the Downtown Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District. Builders, developers, downtown business and property owners were invited to review an initial draft of the proposed program at two open meetings. Attendees had the opportunity to provide feedback, share insights, and help shape a policy that supports housing development in Downtown Great Falls. Your input is essential to ensuring the program is both effective and responsive to real-world needs. To submit your input, reach out to Lonnie Hill at lhill@greatfallsmt.net
17) The former Hardees location in Downtown Great Falls is getting ready for demolition to make way for the new Clearwater Credit Union project. The building still contains commercial kitchen equipment. Interested in making use of the old equipment? Reach out to Jake Clark and he can put you in touch for more information: Jake@GrowGreatFalls.org or 1-406-403-4937.
18) Our freight logistics consultants, Moffat & Nichol, visited to look at future potential rail-served industrial sites, part of a project we commissioned them to undertake to help us find sites throughout the region.
19) The final competitive round of the Montana State Small Business Credit Initiative 2.0 (SSBCI 2.0) low-interest loan program opened on May 20th and closes soon. This program is designed to support businesses and projects that can benefit from affordable, low-interest financing. The application portal will close at the end of June 2025, and funding is extremely limited, with demand expected to be high. If your business or project could benefit from this opportunity, we strongly encourage you to begin discussions with the Great Falls Development Alliance (GFDA) as soon as possible. For more information or to explore your eligibility, please contact Jill Kohles at JKohles@GrowGreatFalls.org or 1-406-590-1056.
20) We’re now preparing to welcome the third class of Touro University students and are looking for businesses willing to donate 155 items to help greet the new students and make them feel at home in our community. If you’d like to contribute this year, please reach out to Jenn at 1-406-781-9499 or Jenn@GrowGreatFalls.org to coordinate the details.
21) Are you a Montana resident who has considered law school but can't commit to a full-time program? We'd like your input. We are conducting a quick anonymous survey to assess interest in a part-time law school option for Montana. Click here to take the survey. If you have additional questions email or call Jolene, JSchalper@GrowGreatFalls.org, 1-406-750-4481.
22) We held our annual Volunteer Appreciation event at the Opening Night of the Great Falls Voyagers!
23) Economic development doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, patience, and the kind of long term commitment our investors and partners continue to show. Learn more about them here. They’ve been with us through the challenges and the opportunities, and because of their support, we’re seeing more housing, more jobs, more growth. Recent investments include: Leadership Division—Gusto Distributing; Pacesetter Division—M&D Construction; Community Division—Falcon, Lester & Schaff, P.C.; Supporter Division—BSPARK Architecture. Thank you for investing not just in us, but in the future of North Central Montana. To learn more about our work and how you can be a part of it, reach out to Vice President of Investment Jenn Gallmeier at 1-406-781-9499 or Jenn@GrowGreatFalls.org.
24) We're growing our GFDA Staff Team with a new Accounting Assistant position and a new Business Development Officer - Defense position, and we have an opening for a Business Development Officer - Downtown Great Falls. Download our Career Opportunities and please forward it to great candidates.
Another fantastic week!
Brett Doney
Great Falls Development Alliance
BDoney@GrowGreatFalls.org
1-406-750-2119
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Don Yaeger
Edition 687
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