Congratulations to Sustainable Oils grand opening of its North American headquarters located in Great Fall Montana! Sustainable Oils is the world’s leading Camelina seed company for renewable diesel production. For more information on renewable bio-based processing opportunities, call our GFDA food, ag and bio-processing specialist, Justin Loch, at 406-590-1301.

1) Proximity to Canada, supply chain options, workforce, lower cost of doing business, community - these were some of the reasons two top companies chose the Great Falls Montana Region to locate their businesses. Thank you Morgan Tweet, CEO, IND Hemp, and Edward Friesen, CEO, Friesen Nutrition, for sharing your site selection story during our annual Select Great Falls Montana, Select USA Spin Off Summit. You can view the hour session here. 

2) The Cascade County Commission unanimously approved property tax abatements for the Great Falls Clinic hospital expansion and The Gibson boutique hotel development in downtown Great Falls.

3) The cost of living in the Great Falls MSA (Cascade County) dropped to 86.7% of the national average in 2022Q1, according to the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER).

4) Nine active duty military members participated in our second Boots to Business: An Introduction to Entrepreneurship course of 2022. Special thanks to Zach Huber, soon-to-be-owner of Action Plumbing and Construction, LTD, for coming to speak to the attendees. Since 2013, GFDA has trained over 500 veterans through the Boots to Business curriculum.

5) Alluvion Health announced it is expanding services to Choteau; see KRTV. Kids Education Yes launched a great new website. Northern Transit Interlocal (NTI) announced expanded service connecting Browning and Great Falls; see Cut Bank Pioneer Press.

6) We released the Industry Cluster Analysis put together by our strategic planning consultants, Barber Business Advisors.

7) What began as a home-based business has exploded into a full retail and design floral business for Karen Beeler at Life in Bloom. The business outgrew its current space in a year's time. Find out what Karen at Life in Bloom has planned for her larger location in the Times Square Building located in downtown Great Falls in the announcement of the week.

8) The recent Housing Market Demand Assessment we commissioned has drawn several developers to consider the Great Falls market. We have the demand to support over 4,500 new units in the next 10 years. If you have creative solutions for development or think now might be the time to develop land you have been holding onto, please reach out to Jake Clark at Jake@GrowGreatFalls.org

9) Traci Rosenbaum with Great Falls Tribune features two Fire Within Award winners - Jade Hineman and Corinna Dahlin. Jade owns Hineman Coffee in Browning and Corinna Dahlin owns Corinna Dahlin Photography.

11) The Otto Bremer Trust awarded GFDA a $50,000 operating grant to support our economic development efforts to create economic opportunity and improve quality of life in the 12-county Great Falls Montana trade area.

12) If you are trying to expand or start meat processing operations in the Golden Triangle and have unmet capital needs, please contact Justin Loch this week at Justin@GrowGreatFalls.org or 1-406-590-1301.

13) The Montana Indian Equity Small Business Grants to support start-up or expanding businesses grant application period opens on July 1 through August 31st. Rich Gannon of our Great Falls Regional Small Business Development Center can help you apply: RGannon@GrowGreatFalls.org or 1-406-845-4581.

14) Growing the economy takes smart strategy and support from local investors. Recent investments include: Pacesetter Division—Taylor’s Auto Max; Community Division—406 Attorneys. With the continued support from them and other investors, we are able to keep working towards bringing more high wage opportunities to the region. You can learn more about our investors HERE, and contact Investment Director Jenn Gallmeier at 406-781-9499 or Jenn@GrowGreatFalls.org if you want to join the team that is growing Great Falls.

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.

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"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."

Vincent Van Gogh

Here is a Growth Highlights for the Great Falls Montana Trade Area. Our Menu of Services and Staff Team handout. Here is our our Quarterly Investor Letter and our GFDA 2022Q1 Quarter Index. In case you missed it at Ignite 2022, we unveiled our new We Are Great Falls video!

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

The 25-year loan effective rate (including all fees) came in at 5.187%; 20-year at 5.127%; 10-year equipment loan at 4.922%; and, 20-year refinance 5.141%; 25-year refinance 5.200%. 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.

Save the dates for four new trainings we’ve recently added to our Business Education Calendar this summer. We’ll be hosting our cash flow and profitability course Profit Mastery on July 8th and July 15th. We’re also launching a new training to inspire and educate entrepreneurs about becoming a franchise owner. Becoming a Franchisee: An Alternate Path to Business Ownership will be hosted in-person July 29 and via a two-part webinar August 11 and August 18.

The Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce announced the inaugural Worlds of Work! (WOW). WOW is a career expo pioneered by West Alabama Works. Though NOT a typical job fair, this event opens new avenues of opportunity for middle school students they never knew were possible. The Chamber's goal this first year is to have sixteen Worlds, each representing one of Montana’s sixteen recognized career pathways. On October 18th, 2022, WOW will be held at Great Falls College – MSU and the University of Providence (inside and outside) from 7:30 AM - 6:00 PM. Area 8th graders will be divided into groups and will have a navigator who will guide them to each of the worlds, where they will explore for approximately 20-25 minutes before traveling to the next world. WOW Varsity, the block for high school students, will be in the late afternoon, and will include sophomores only for this first year. Check out the West Alabama WOW. Contact Scott Wolff for more info at swolff@greatfallschamber.org.

The Montana Innovation Partnership is offering a number of trainings and an accelerator program for companies interested in pursuing Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants.

The Montana Food & Beverage Show will be held November 7th in Missoula. Register at: AGR.MT.GOV/FOOD-AND-BEVERAGE-SHOW.

Great Falls College MSU is working with partners to create a CDL Truck Driving program in Great Falls. They need full-time and part-time instructors -- download job description -- and employers to support this important workforce development effort with funds, equipment, and commitments to recruit participants and hire successful graduates. Contact Tammie Hickey at 406-771-5104 or tammie.hickey@gfcmsu.edu.

The transition is complete! The D-U-N-S number has gone away, and the SAM.gov-generated Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) isnow the authoritative identifier for all U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and Integrated Award Environment (IAE) systems. If you are registered in SAM.gov (active or not), you have already been assigned a UEI (SAM). To register your business in SAM.gov for the first time, get a UEI (SAM), or to find out more information about how this transition affects you, contact your Great Falls PTAC and connect with Shannon at SClancy@GrowGreatFalls.org     

Montana STEP grants can pay for 75% of your international export marketing efforts up to $10,000. The Montana TechLink Center at MSU is offering a new round of workshops on how to win Small Business Innovation Research funding.

What’s it like to live in Great Falls Montana? Get a glimpse through the new Great Falls 2022 Livability Magazine! Livability Great Falls is a tool for recruiting people from outside our community and is one of the tools for our Talent Attraction campaign. We also have a Email List to share resumes of trailing partners and others and we promote Hot Jobs – jobs that would entice people to move here. If you are recruiting people from outside Great Falls, click here to join our recruiter email list and learn more.

USDA launched a Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) to help compensate producers with their livestock losses incurred by adverse weather or attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the Federal Government. LIP payments are equal to 75% the average fair market value of the livestock. For more information visit the USDA website here.

We have migrated our pre-business workshop for early stage and pre-venture startups to a self-paced, video-facilitated, online format. Business Basics for Startups is now live and ready for beta testing. If you’d like to check out the content and provide feedback, we’d appreciate it. Click here to check out the new modules and resources. Please direct feedback to Rich at RGannon@GrowGreatFalls.org.

Montana Rapid Retraining funds are available to help more people enroll in workforce training programs and expand industry-driven accelerated workforce training courses. The Great Falls Job Service can assist with Rapid Retaining Efforts. Contact Beth Schmidt at 406-791-5869 or beschmidt@mt.gov. For business strategy/planning help to take advantage of this one-time opportunity, contact our Small Business Development Center (SBDC) regional director, Jason Nitschke at JNitschke@GrowGreatFalls.org

What if you could step back for a couple hours a month, discuss issues with similar size companies and work on your business growth? We invite CEOs to join PeerSpectives, a CEO roundtable system with structured, facilitate protocols. When companies reach the second stage (typically 10+ employees, $1m + in revenue) they have unique challenges and this model is designed to maximize your opportunities. Call Jason Nitschke to discuss, 750.0314. Participation is limited by size and industry. Learn more about this proven system here.

Attention Veteran-Owned Businesses! In less than a year the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) will transfer to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). As of January 1, 2023, all functions of VA’s CVE will be handled by the SBA. To help make this a seamless transition, we encourage all self-certified SDVOSBs to complete the verification process through the VA now before the transfer becomes effective. Please start the verification process at https://vetbiz.va.gov/vip/. For more information on starting the verification process, contact Lillian Sunwall at LSunwall@GrowGreatFalls.org. 

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.

We've released the Great Falls Childcare Demand Assessment that shows a need for additional childcare facilities to serve 580 children in Great Falls. For assistance with childcare facility business planning, contact Jason Nitschke at JNitschke@GrowGreatFalls.org.

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. “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.

We've released the Great Falls Housing Market Assessment that shows a need for over 450 new housing units per year in the immediate Great Falls area. For assistance with housing development, contact Jake Clark at Jake@GrowGreatFalls.org or 1-406-403-4937.

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.

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.

The Montana Manufacturing Extension Center (MMEC) is offering a Cybersecurity Challenge to Montana manufacturers. They are also offering Lean 101 workshops in May. Sign up here to get email notice of all of MMEC's services and trainings. 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.

Grow diverse economic opportunities that enhance quality of life.

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