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Construction on the new Great Falls College - MSU dental hygiene center is coming along nicely and is expected to be complete this summer.
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Here is our Top 15 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) The Great Falls MSA (Cascade County) economy grew by $106 million in 2019, reaching $4.124 billion. Private industries represented 85% of this growth, increasing by $89 million while government grew by $17 million. Private industries now comprise 80% of our local economy and government 20%. This is according to county-level GDP data released this week by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
2) The eleven counties that comprise the Golden Triangle, including Cascade County, saw economic growth of $360 million in 2019 reaching $7.787 billion. $315 million of this growth was in private industries which total 81% of the region's economy.
3) High Plains Financial's Board approved an SBA 504 loan and we submitted the package to the SBA for approval. This is for a business that currently leases space and wants to expand in Downtown Great Falls. This client has the opportunity to purchase a building, renovate and even add some equipment to their existing business! If you are in the process of buying or building commercial real estate and would like a loan with a low down payment and a fixed interest rate for the life of the loan, please contact Jill Kohles at 406-590-1056 or [email protected].
5) You can still register for Boots to Business, a two-day virtual workshop December 17th and 18th designed to help military service members and veterans start their own business. KFBB ran a story about our new entrepreneur training effort with the Great Falls Public Library.
6) 24 business leaders have attended the first two installments of our three-part Attracting and Retaining Talent Series with national talent expert Chris Czarnik. Register here to access the recordings, or attend the upcoming session on December 15th from 11:00 AM-12:00 PM MST. All registrants will receive a free copy of Chris’s book Winning the War for Talent. Thanks to support from the SBA Small Business Development Center lead center at the Montana Department of Commerce, we're able to offer this series, usually costing over $350, for free.
7) The Military Spouse Employment Partnership now exceeds 500 member companies offering over 235,000 online job listings. Employers, check out how you can gain access to fantastic employees!
8) SBA 504 loan rates for December including fees and fixed for the life of the loan: 10-year 2.417%; 20-year 2.583%; 25-year 2.622%; 20-year refi 2.626%; and, 25-year refi 2.663%. We do 504 loans statewide. Contact Jill Kohles for more info: [email protected] or 406-590-1056.
9) Our Business Attraction efforts continue to generate leads. We added another three business attraction potential deals to our pipeline this week. We are always competing with other communities for these leads, oftentimes as far away as Asia. In addition to our lead generation efforts, we rely on in-market intelligence from all of you. Depending on the deal, we have a toolkit of resources we can bring to bear from state and some local incentives, financial packaging and gap financing, project advocacy through the permitting process. Call Jolene to learn more or to give us info on a potential startup, expansion or attraction lead, 406.750.4481 or email [email protected].
10) Registration is now open for Ignite 2021! Friday, January 22nd starting at 10:00AM MST we will be virtually hosting entrepreneurs and developers from around the region announcing business startups, expansions, and more. Want to feature your project? Contact Nathan Reiff at [email protected] or call (406) 403-4937. Projects include business startups, business expansions, real estate developments, and institutional capital projects.
12) Check out this awesome Holiday Shopping Guide from our partners at the Great Falls Chamber! They've made shopping local easy for you this year. Click here for a directory of Great Falls retailers - grab gift cards, ship from the store, or pick up curbside. Shop early so we don't crowd the stores and shop local to keep our businesses open!
13) Jolene Schalper was appointed to the State Workforce Innovation Board. The Board’s mission is to advise the Governor on statewide workforce development strategies that maximize the state's education, training, and employment resources in support of economic development.
14) Looking forward to next quarter, save the date for the SBIR/STTR Cost Proposal virtual workshop offered by the Montana Innovation Partnership, powered by the MSU TechLink Center, on January 21, and their NIH SBIR/STTR Proposal Lab that will be held virtually during February 9-25. Registration is open for the University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research's popular Annual Economic Outlook that will be held virtually on February 1-2. Earn a Cultural Heritage Tourism professional certification, offered virtually January 11-February 28 by the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association in partnership with George Washington University.
15) Did you know GFDA was the first internationally accredited Economic Development Organization in the Rocky Mountain West? Arvada, serving Denver, Colorado, was the second. We are proud to be held to the highest standards for economic development and among the top 1% of organizations nationally. This week Jolene shared the importance of accreditation on a call with 60+ Economic Developmemt agencies across the United States and Canada.
I was out most of the week sick with COVID. Starting to feel better. The quote this week, see below, is inspired by the Starship flight I was able to watch live. Entrepreneurship is alive and climbing new heights!
Take care and Untame Your Entrepreneurial Spirit!
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.
"I remember in third grade, I asked my mom, 'How does an engine work? So my mom bought me a book."
Gwynne Shotwell
President & COO of SpaceX
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.
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Economic Development Services
See our Great Falls Economic Development Menu of Services which includes our expanded staff team. We provide award-winning and internationally-accredited economic development services throughout Montana's Golden Triangle, and SBA 504 loans statewide.
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 [email protected]
December SBA 504 Loan Rates
The 25-year loan effective rate came in at 2.622%; 20-year at 2.583%; 10-year equipment loan at 2.417%; and, 20-year refinance 2.626%; 25-year refinance 2.663%. 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 [email protected].
GFDA has two great career opportunities. We're boosting our lending team with a new Loan Officer position. We're going to post an alternate position of commercial credit underwriter this week. We really need someone to help with our underwriting and loan packaging because our lending activity is growing so much. And, we're looking for a Business Development Officer to lead our food processing, ag-processing, bio-processing and renewable energy business attraction and business retention/expansion efforts. Download position postings or visit our website. GFDA is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and Lender. We encourage all qualified candidates to apply! Please help us spread the word.
Invest in Great Falls Regional Economic Development
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Events, Business Training, and Opportunities
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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.
Job Service Great Falls is hosting online Job Fairs on the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 10-11 AM. Employers should contact a job Service Workforce Consultant at 406-791-5800 to participate.
The USDA's Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) 2 has almost $14 billion available to help agricultural businesses impacted by the pandemic. More crops and agriculture operations are eligible under CFAP2 than under the first CFAP program earlier this year. Farmers or ranchers can apply directly at www.farmers.gov/cfap or by contacting their local USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Office. See full story on Montana Standard.
If you missed the Invest Downtown Great Falls event, don't fret, we recorded it! Make your way over to our Downtown Great Falls page to watch the recording and hear about Downtown Successes, Opportunities, the Visioning, and the announcement of Mountain Wave Distilling. While you're visiting our Downtown page, check out some more opportunities that are available in Downtown Great Falls! For more information or to inquire about some of these opportunities, call Christian Leinhauser at 406.836.0136 or email, [email protected].
The Blackfeet Tribe announced a grant program to support Blackfeet tribal business owners whose businesses have been affected by COVID 19. For more information.
Montana's Incumbent Worker Training program just became easier to use. Employers can view the videos at their convenience to learn how to use these grants to fund skills-based training of existing employees. These grants area available to for-profit and non-profit employers with less than 50 employees in the state. We can help you with these if you run into a snag. Or contact the IWT program manager, [email protected].
There are many documented benefits of remote working and there are unique stressors. We explored these stressors and management techniques with Erin Butts, GFPS, and the Stop the Stigma Team on a workforce focused webinar. In case you missed it, here are the slides which include contact information for Erin if you want to follow up.
A great food processing workshop is being offered by Headwaters RC&D. Basics of Running a Food Subscription or Community Supported Agriculture Programs, Wednesday January 27th, 1-3 PM, will cover the basics of, and differences between, subscriptions and community-supported agriculture programs. Topics covered will include pricing, packaging, building a program, fulfillment, and more. This program is for farmers, ranchers, meal kits, and food producers of all kinds.
The new relocation website LiveInGreatFalls.com is officially LIVE! 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. The Great Falls Livability relocation magazine is a new tool to help you recruit talent from out of town to relocate to the Great Falls trade area. For printed copies or to have a conversation about best practices for recruiting employees, email Soren at [email protected]. Let's talk Talent Attraction!
Attention all businesses doing government contracting: Are you aware of the regulations for Cybersecurity? Don’t know where to start? Check out this E-Book – Cybersecurity 101 for Government Contractors. By entering the promo code "4PTAC2020" at the checkout link, you can receive it for free. For more information and future trainings on cybersecurity or doing business with the government, contact our government contracting advisor Shannon Clancy at [email protected].
Great Falls Tourism has a host of resources available to help local businesses deal with the pandemic. Check out the resources at https://visitgreatfallsmontana.org/COVID-19/. If you are a business owner and need materials to help educate your customers on how to stay safe, Great Falls Tourism is here to help, contact Rebecca Engum at 406-761-4436 to arrange for material distribution.
The Montana Department of Commerce is offering business grants to increase your international digital marketing efforts. Read more here.
The Montana Department of Commerce’s Office of Tourism and Business Development has launched the “Montana Aware” campaign to promote safe and responsible behavior among those who are traveling in the state. Through the formal “Montana Aware” campaign, 17 of Montana’s Convention and Visitors Bureaus and six tourism regions share $5 million to promote the initiative. To download the partner toolkit visit MARKETMT.COM.
The Great Falls Livability relocation magazine is a new tool to help you recruit talent from out of town to relocate to the Great Falls trade area. Here is the online link to the magazine. For printed copies, and to have a conversation about best practices for recruiting employees, email Soren at [email protected]. Let's talk Talent Attraction!
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 [email protected].
We are scheduling another Destination Creation Course which helps businesses increase their revenue, sales, traffic, and profitability. The proven 14-point business success strategy developed by internationally-known business consultant Jon Schallert teaches techniques to increase your ability to attract customers who are willing to go out of their way and postpone buying until they can visit your business. The Destination Creation Course retails for $399, and we are offering it FREE (for now) to Montana businesses. If you are interested in taking the course complete this survey to help us tailor the course to your schedule. Or if you have questions, contact Nathan Reiff at 406-403-4937 or [email protected].
Northrup Grumman is working to gather subcontractors for the missile upgrade project. This is a long process and they expect to gather information for three to four years. If you are a small business interested in doing business with Northrop Grumman, please complete the Supplier Information form at https://oasis-sbeforms.myngc.com/.
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 [email protected] 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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