Nicole Frieling of startup Habit and Ryan Pfeiffle of Farm Power Malt, two of the twenty-three presenters at Ignite 2022, showcasing entrepreneurs, businesses, developers, and institutions planning to make investments in the Great Falls trade area this year. |
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Here is our Top 10 for this week celebrating work and successes to grow and strengthen the Great Falls regional economy -- Montana's Golden Triangle. And, sharing business resources and skill-building opportunities to empower your success. |
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1) 23 companies announced projects either starting or opening in 2022! We heard from military, education, healthcare, manufacturing, food and ag process, distilleries (yep two of them!), and more. 2022 is going to be a great year for Great Falls. You can view the entire Ignite presentation here. See Great Falls Tribune story and KRTV.
2) In case you missed it at Ignite, we unveiled our new Great Falls Promo Video! We are Great Falls Montana! Click here to check it out and please SHARE!
3) The Honey Hippo Play Cafe, another Ignite presenter, held an open house on Friday; see KRTV. The new business will open downtown on January 17th.
5) Over the last year, we leaned into supporting businesses with attracting, retaining, and managing talent. Four of our 12 Small Business Webinar Series presentations in 2021 were on the topic. Our first webinar of 2022 trained 36 business professionals on Managing Diverse Personalities. To view that training with HR Solutions LLC, owned by Great Falls-based leadership and HR consultant Deborah Jenkins click here. If HR is a topic of interest to you, as it has increasingly been to many entrepreneurs over the last year, save the date for Wednesday, February 9th from 9am-4pm. The Montana Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program is bringing an HR trainer from Associated Employers to Great Falls for a full-day training titled Fast Tracking Your Human Resources. Location and cost are being determined. Email Jason with interest at JNitschke@GrowGreatFalls.org.
6) United Airlines is bringing more flights to Great Falls, some on larger 76-seat jets, starting this month. See KRTV and The Electric.
7) Agritourism Webinar Series—Toole County Extension will host a virtual webinar series on the basics of starting an agritourism operation in Montana. The webinars will be held every Tuesday in January. Upcoming webinars:
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January 11: Agritourism Production Options—Agritourism offers a unique opportunity to diversify production on your operation. Karen Searle, Owner/Manager of Montana Bunkhouses Working Ranch Vacations, will discuss the operation recently featured on Netflix. Caroline Nelson, Owner of Little Creek Lamb and Beef, will discuss her approach to producing value added products.
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January 18: Business Management for Agritourism Operators—Starting an Agritourism business may seem difficult, but there are many resources available to help. Weston Merrill, Marketing Officer, will speak on behalf of the Montana Department of Agriculture; Hailey Vine, Director of a Food & Ag Development Center, will discuss economic development resources.
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January 25: Communications and Marketing for Agritourism—Once your business has started, how will you get the word out? What is the best way to communicate and market your business online and F2F? Karoline Rose, Owner of KRose Marketing and Consulting, will help you with developing a plan!
9) New GFDA Career Opportunity. Competitive Improvements Director - Project Management - CDFI Community Economic Development. Dynamic, self-motivated professional sought to join our passionate, creative, fast-paced, results-driven economic development team. Help us engage community leaders and partners to form task forces that address key competitive factors including housing production, talent attraction, industrial spaces, logistics costs, Montana natural gas transmission capacity, and opportunities to grow our health/bioscience industry cluster. Looking for a star with demonstrated achievement in community development, collaboration, and project management. Requires excellent writing, computer, and communication skills. Live in the Great Falls area on the Missouri River along the Rocky Mountain Front and work with a great team! Salary range $55,000-65,000 with excellent benefits, professional development, growth opportunities, and flexible work environment. EOE. Cover letter and resume to Brett Doney, President/CEO, BDoney@GrowGreatFalls.org. Open until we find a great candidate. Download posting for this opening as well as openings for Resource Director and Content Marketing Director/SBDC Business Advisor.
10) With a new year comes new excitement and energy! Our investors share that excitement for the growth, stability & diversity of our region. Recent investment include: Pacesetter Division—Bravera Bank, Culligan Water; Community Division—Bison Ford; Supporter Division—Wendy Weissman, CPA, Ted & Roxie Lewis. The support they continue to provide the community is one of the many things that makes Great Falls so Great! If you are interested in supporting your community and joining the team that is helping to Grow Great Falls, contact Investment Director Jenn Gallmeier at 406-781-9499 or Jenn@GrowGreatFalls.org
Have a great week!
Brett
Brett Doney
President & CEO
Connect with me on LinkedIn to network with the Great Falls Montana region. Forward the GFDA Top 10 to friends and colleagues. You can join our distribution list HERE or text GFDA to 22828.
"Either I will find a way, or I will make one."
Philip Sidney
We are HUNGRY to Grow the Great Falls regional economy, create higher wage jobs, build our tax base, improve our market competitiveness, and enhance the quality of life and economic opportunity for residents of Great Falls, Cascade County, and the entire 13-county Great Falls trade area.
Edition 517
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GFDA Career Opportunities
We have three exciting career opportunities for Competitive Improvements Director, Content Marketing Director/Small Business Adviser, and Resource Director (grant writing). Download job postings and please help spread the word. GFDA has a year-round College Intern Program with five paid internship opportunities. Download application. Help us spread the word!
Cost-Effective Rail-Served Industrial Sites Available
If your company needs a rail-served, BNSF-Certified, shovel-ready site with all municipal services at your door, we have lots available for immediate construction in the Great Falls AgriTech Park. Contact Jolene Schalper at 1.406.750.4481 or JSchalper@GrowGreatFalls.org
December SBA 504 Loan Rates
The 25-year loan effective rate came in at 3.023%; 20-year at 2.875%; 10-year equipment loan at 2.793%; and, 20-year refinance 2.889%; 25-year refinance 3.036%. These rates are FIXED for the life of the loan and are inclusive of all fees. If you would like to find out how to get financing for commercial real estate and equipment at potentially lower rates than you're paying for your home mortgage, please contact Jill Kohles at 406-590-1056 or JKohles@GrowGreatFalls.org.
Invest in Great Falls Regional Economic Development
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Events, Business Training, and Opportunities |
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The Montana Department of Commerce announced a $500,000 Recovery Destination Event Grant application cycle to assist Montana communities as they re-schedule and plan for new events that will increase non-resident visitor traffic and expenditures. Eligible events could receive grant funding from $5,000 to $25,000 and no match is required. Applications open January 5. Submissions will be reviewed, scored, and awarded until all available funds are awarded or June 1st, whichever occurs first. For information, eligibility criteria, or to view a workshop about the grant cycle, visit the Tourism Grant Program website at MARKETMT.COM.
The biennial application cycle for the Montana Historic Preservation Grant (MHPG) is now open. Grants are available for public and private entities to support the preservation of historic sites, historical societies, or history museums; this includes “brick-and-mortar” improvements to address various infrastructure, maintenance, building code, security, climate control, or fire protection issues. Funding decisions will be made during the 2023 legislative session. Application and further information here. Application Workshop on January 12 from 3:00 - 4:30 PM. This webinar will provide an overview of the program, timeline, and environmental review process. Register for the webinar here. If applicants have questions, contact the Community Development Division at 406.841.2770 or DOCCDD@mt.gov.
A number of state special business programs using American Rescue Plan funds are rolling out. The Workforce Training Grant Program has been launched by the Montana Department of Commerce and has up to $3,000 per eligible employee available for training expenses by businesses. The Apprenticeship Training Grant Program will be able to reimburse construction-related apprenticeship expenses up to a limit of $3,000. Track all state ARPA economic programs on the state's ARPA website.
Attention Small Business doing Government Contracting: There has been an update to the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). The plans for the next iteration of CMMC which is being call CMMC 2.0 has been released. Like the initial CMMC (which was pilot tested but never implemented) this version has to go through the public comment and rulemaking process and nobody knows what changes will occur to the proposed CMMC 2.0 during those processes. A few proposed changes included in CMMC 2.0 include decreasing certification levels from 5 to 3 and increasing opportunities for (no-cost) self-assessments. While the rulemaking efforts are ongoing, the Department intends to suspend the current CMMC Piloting efforts and will not approve inclusion of a CMMC requirement in any DoD solicitation. The Department encourages contractors to continue to enhance their cybersecurity position during the interim period while the rulemaking is underway. Please visit the CMMC website and projectspectrum.io to learn more.
The best resource we scan daily to stay abreast of business and community innovation is MATR.net (Montana Associated Technology Roundtables) which we are proud to help sponsor. Sign up for their free newsletter.
The Montana Department of Commerce launched an investment matchmaking website for Montana business projects. The Opportunity Exchange’s - Montana Investment Portal is a website where investors can easily view and connect to projects in the state. Click here to view listed projects. Click here to get your investment project listed on the portal. For help posting your project or property on the Montana Investment Portal, contact Kristian Richardson at 406-841-2032 or Kristian.Richardson@mt.gov.
Montana DPHHS will be accepting one-time Child Care Stabilization grant applications from now until December 31! These funds are meant to stabilize your business coming out of the public health emergency. The process is not competitive and licensed centers are eligible for up to 80-100% of their operating expenses. Go to https://dphhs.mt.gov/arpa/childcare/ and click on “Grants for Licensed & Registered Child Care Programs (Stabilization).”
Join the Trailing Partner Email Group specifically for employers to share resumes of trailing spouses/partners across the Great Falls region with other employers looking to hire. Connect with Talent Attraction Director Soren to learn about more great talent attraction tools for employers. “Your (Live in Great Falls) website is very impressive and helpful! Great Falls looks amazing, and we love what we've seen real estate-wise, and business-wise.” This quote was from an email sent to us from a couple considering relocation to Great Falls. We will be sharing their resumes (with their permission) on the Trailing Partner Email Group.
Looking to take control of your business’s financials, increase profit, and improve your bottom line? We have had interest from businesses in scheduling a Profit Mastery course. These courses are scheduled by demand. If you are interested in taking this two-day workshop, contact Jason Nitschke at JNitschke@GrowGreatFalls.org or call (406) 750-0314.
Pro-tip: Post positivity! When you’re using Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn and share something positive about Great Falls, tag @LiveinGreatFalls or @GrowGreatFallsMontana. We will like and share your posts. Follow our talent attraction effort, Live in Great Falls, on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and follow the Great Falls Development Authority to help us attract entrepreneurs and business investment on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
You are facing tough decisions right now. We’ve developed toolkits to help you decide what is best for your business. Toolkits include: Crisis Toolkit, Hibernation Toolkit, Business Resiliency Guide, Re-Opening Toolkit, and a Child Care Whitepaper. All of these can be found on our website.
A new access to capital option for businesses has launched. Crowdfund Montana is an investment crowdfunding platform, affiliated with the national platform Crowdfund Mainstreet, to bring people together to fund good business projects. Unlike traditional crowdfunding, investment crowdfunding allows funders to receive a financial return on their contribution, and in some cases own shares in the companies they are funding. NBC Montana has published this story about the platform's launch.
Visit our relocation website LiveInGreatFalls.com. This website was the #1 request we got from local recruiters and HR professionals for aiding in attracting talented workers to Great Falls. The Great Falls At-A-Glance two-pager is a great complementary resource that highlights Great Falls for people unfamiliar with our community.
We have Brownfield Clean-Up money that we want to put to work! Our low interest Brownfield Loans can be used to clean up hazardous materials including but not limited to lead paint, asbestos, etc. Are you working on a project that could use some clean up? Call Lillian today to discuss eligibility 406.750.1253 or LSunwall@GrowGreatFalls.org.
Manufacturers, if you're not engaged with the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center hosted by MSU, you're missing out on powerful resources, services, and networking. MMEC clients report cost savings of $160.3 million, new investment of $328.4 million, $1.3 billion in new and retained sales, and 6,186 new and retained jobs since 2000. We're proud to host an MMEC business adviser who covers the Golden Triangle region. Contact Doug Roberts at richard.roberts4@montana.edu or (937) 489-3985.
Of our online business planning tool, LivePlan, one said: "LivePlan is Awesome!" The LivePlan tool is helping her streamline her strategy in preparation for presenting to bank partners. We offer LivePlan licenses for free to active clients. Learn more about LivePlan on our website.
All of our recorded monthly business strategy webinars are available online for viewing anytime, click them out here.
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Vision
Hungry to Grow the Great Falls region
Mission
Grow and diversify the Great Falls regional economy.
Create higher wage career opportunities.
Improve market competitiveness.
The first economic development organization in the Rocky Mountain West to earn accreditation from the International Economic Development Council.
GFDA is a certified Community Development Financial Institution and a 501(c)3 charitable organization. High Plains Financial is a certified Community Development Corporation that offers SBA 504 loans statewide. GFDA and High Plains Financial are Equal Opportunity Employers and Lenders.
GFDA is proud to host a Montana Small Business Development Center, a Montana Procurement Technical Assistance Center, and a Montana Food & Ag Development Center. We are also proud to provide office space for MSU's Montana Manufacturing Extension Center.
For more info, click to our website.
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