Can't wait to see the Aim High Big Sky Aquatics & Recreation Center rise from this site! See update on KFBB.
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Here is our Top 13 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) Congratulations to KDS on their continued success in providing high speed cost-effective broadband services in the region! KDS is building out a network designed to support future 10G per household. They have opened the North Data Center in downtown Great Falls and Wisp Assist, a 24/7 call center to provide customer support. They have also launched support companies Fiber Tech Services and Fiber Box, a design company created to design and produce KDS' special outdoor boxes. These boxes are now being sold to several ISPs nationwide.
2) Touro College and University System is on track to open its first medical school class in July 2023! see TheElectric.
3) The Cascade County Commission allocated $13.3 million of pandemic recovery funds to 51 projects, including $1 million to GFDA to support the Great Falls AgriTech Park, one of our key economic development efforts to make the county more competitive in attracting higher-wage career business investments that also create significant long-term tax base. The projects include many important infrastructure investments, support for NeighborWorks Great Falls' permanent supportive housing redevelopment of the Baatz Building, funding for the new CDL truck driver training program at Great Falls College MSU, a new building at the C.M. Russell Museum, and important improvements for a number of public and nonprofit community services, facilities, and equipment throughout Cascade County. See The Electric and Great Falls Tribune for the entire list of projects. Thank you Commissioners for your support!
4) Hosted Site Selectors for a virtual visit to Great Falls Montana. This was in collaboration with our partners from Montana World Trade Center, State of Montana, and economic developers in Billings, Butte, and Missoula. These quarterly zooms allow us to reach more corporate site selectors increase our deal flow!
5) Renovations are underway on the historic Sullivan Building in Ft. Benton; see KRTV. Denton celebrated the new Wolf Creek bridge as the community recovers from the winter fire; see KRTV and Great Falls Tribune. The owners of the historic Bunkhouse Inn in Augusta that burned down in 2020 plan to move forward with building a new Inn; see KRTV.
7) Congratulations to Senior Airman Monica Figueroa Santos at Malmstrom AFB on being named one of the Air Force's 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year! See KRTV. Great Falls College MSU is creating an addiction counseling program with the first class scheduled to start this fall; see KFBB.
8) This week Traci Rosenbaum with the Great Falls Tribune features Fire Within Award winners Paulette Wright of Mrs. Wright's Pastys and Sophia Spark, owner of B Spark Architecture. Congratulations to Paulette and Sophia. Thank you for inspiring female entrepreneurs in our region to take the leap and start their own business!
9) We're co-hosting the Montana Economic Development Conference at The Newberry in downtown Great Falls November 14-16; see Montana Economic Developers Association. The Building a Winning Montana Team conference will feature exciting panels discussing key Montana economic development issues such as housing, business attraction, talent attraction, tourism and economic development, tribal economic development, and value added agriculture. Keynotes will bring perspectives from other states and provinces, and from leading Montana industry associations and state leaders. Workshops include economic development ethics, new financing collaborations, and supporting local entrepreneurs and existing businesses. Download preliminary agenda. Sponsor a session! Contact Rebecca Myers at [email protected] or me at [email protected].
10) As summer moves into the hottest times of the year, that also brings the increased chances of hail which can lead to severe crop damage. Producers have until August 15th to purchase state hail coverage. The Montana State Hail Insurance Program was created at the request of producers in 1917 to provide basic hail insurance coverage on any crop grown in Montana. For more information on hail crop coverage, contact Justin at 406-590-1301 or visit the Montana Department of Ag website.
11) A number of past graduates of our cash flow and profitability workshop, Profit Mastery, recently connected to share how the class affected their businesses. Record revenue and profit, pricing accuracy, a better ability to negotiate, and most importantly – better decisions are all some reported impacts. On July 15th, five more local entrepreneurs and 5 Billings and Butte-based economic developers graduated from our most recent Profit Mastery class with goals of similar outcomes. If any of those impacts are top of mind for your business, connect with Jason about how this resource can work for you at [email protected].
12) We were excited to host a visit from Frederick Van Den Abeel and Jaimie Charon from the Montana Department of Commerce. Both Frederick and Jaimie are partners with GFDA for business attraction within the state. Frederick has been to Great Falls before, but it was Jaimie's first time. They were able to tune in live from the GFDA office to a statewide site selector event, tour the AgriTech Park and a downtown tech-ready building for lease, as well as other development sites in town. If you know of a company that would be successful locating in Great Falls, please reach out to Jake Clark [email protected], we have a great network of resources and support from the State!
13) GFDA relies on the continued support from our INVESTORS. They are the reason we can continue to provide a wide range of services to our community and bring more opportunity to the region. Recent investments include: Advance Division—Wells Fargo. They are helping to grow our economy each and every day! If you want to help with our community’s growth, reach out to Investment Director Jenn Gallmeier at 406-781-9499 or [email protected].
I'm sending this out early because I am back on Saipan on a volunteer economic development disaster recovery trip with the International Economic Development Council. In 2019 I was part of the first visit team to the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands to kick off a three-year volunteer assistance effort to help the islands develop strategic and projects for economic recovery after two massive typhoons. We've returned to help plan efforts to continue typhoon recovery as well as pandemic recovery. Imagine if our economy was mostly dependent on tourism -- when the pandemic hit, visits to Saipan dropped from over 500,000 people/year to practically zero.
Enjoy a wonderful Montana summer weekend!
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.
"If you can't do great things, do small things in a great way."
Napoleon Hill
Edition 541
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Great GFDA Career Opportunity!
We're adding a second Business Development Officer to focus on growing the Food, Ag & Bio Processing Industries in the region. Download Career Opportunity.
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]
July SBA 504 Loan Rates
The 25-year loan effective rate (including all fees) came in at 5.107%; 20-year at 5.047%; 10-year equipment loan at 4.962%; and, 20-year refinance 5.061%; 25-year refinance 5.120%. 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].
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Events, Business Training, and Opportunities
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The new CDL truck driver training program at Great Falls College MSU will launch in August. Eight local employers are partnering to get it started, but more are needed. Thank you to Sysco, Meadow Gold Dairy Farmers, Gusto Distributing, City of Great Falls, REIC - Midway, Warden Paper, Holman Aviation, Hoven Equipment for partnering with the college! See CDL Business Partnership Framework. Congratulations to the College, Great Falls Job Service, Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce and industry leaders for putting this together! Contact Tammie Hickey for more info at 406-771-5104 or [email protected].
Artsfest Montana is offering artist training on painting murals on Friday, August 12th from 10 AM to 3 PM.
We’re 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 [email protected].
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 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 [email protected]
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 [email protected].
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 [email protected]. 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 [email protected]
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 [email protected].
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 [email protected].
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.
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 [email protected] 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 [email protected].
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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Our Mission
Grow diverse economic opportunities that enhance quality of life.
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 and an SBA Women's Business Center in partnership with the University of Montana and the Montana Native Growth Fund.
GFDA was the first economic development organization in the Rocky Mountain West to earn accreditation from the International Economic Development Council.
For more info, click to our website.
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