Tony Peres met with MSU Extension Ag Agent Kim Woodring at the Marias Fair in Shelby to discuss economic educational offerings for entrepreneurs and small businesses across the Highline. |
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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) With our partners from the Montana Department of Commerce and the Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, GFDA hosted a visit from an exciting Aerospace company looking for big skies of opportunity. This company has unique needs, which may be best served by partnerships in multiple Montana cities. We have incredible resources at the state level and a strong sense of team with other economic developers throughout the state, which can help us make Great Falls the best place to land for large innovative companies. Do you know of a company looking to expand or locate in the West? Reach out to Jolene at JSchalper@GrowGreatFalls.org
3) Our Downtown Business Development Officer completed his 1,500 mile journey through Idaho and Montana, visiting six communities, networking with over 20 people, and meeting with seven developer and restaurant groups while leaving plenty of shoe leather along the way. He was able to attend the grand opening of the Warehouse Food Hall in downtown Boise and spent some one-on-one time with the CEO of Hendricks Commercial Properties who is the developer on the project. He toured all six community downtowns and received inspiration and new targets along the way to bring back to Downtown Great Falls. We've already started receiving emails from developers that heard we were in their town. If you have a great company you think would make a great fit in Downtown Great Falls, contact Christian at 406.836.0136 or CLeinhauser@GrowGreatFalls.org.
4) Carter Commons, an affordable senior housing development next to Carter Park, is in the running for Montana Board of Housing federal tax credits. We spoke in support at the Great Falls City Commission meeting. They are collecting letters of support through August. This is a highly competitive process. Carter Commons is the only Great Falls project and one of just seven finalists. Three to four projects across the state will receive funding. If you’d like to submit a letter of support for this much needed senior housing project, contact Jake Clark, Jake@GrowGreatFalls.org.
5) Great Falls Clinic is expanding hospital operations. The $58 million dollar project will bring 125 new jobs to the community and expand healthcare services. Learn more about the expansion in the Announcement of the Week.
6) Calling female business owners of growing companies! We are seeking participants for our new peer-to-peer mentoring program, PeerSpectives, designed specifically for growing, second stage companies. We are halfway to our applicant goal, but most of the applicants are men. If your company is facing growing pains and meets the definition of “second stage,” learning from the shared experiences of others may help you navigate those challenges more efficiently. To join our initial PeerSpectives cohort, please contact Jason at JNitschke@GrowGreatFalls.org to complete an application.
7) Great Falls College MSU is offering four industrial technology courses this fall. Industrial Safety & Rigging and Fundamentals of Mechanical Systems begin on August 22nd. Fundamentals of Hydraulics & Pneumatics and Machine Shop begin on October 24th. Email Karry Hardman at karry.hardman@gfcmsu.edu or call him at 406-771-4366.
8) KFBB ran a great story about the importance of housing development efforts in Great Falls. Montana Housing of the Montana Department of Commerce announced a new Multifamily Loan Program that can be used for new construction, or an acquisition with substantial rehabilitation. Eligible applicants include for-profit, non-profit, and government entities.
10) Congratulations to Western Feed Corral who recently moved into their new building and location at 2502 Vaughn Road in Great Falls. The Western Feed Corral offers livestock feed for all species along with farm and ranch supplies.
11) This week Tony Peres, our Small Business Navigator, traveled north to Choteau, Conrad, and Shelby to meet with city officials, chamber members, port authority officials, and agricultural agents across the region to forge relationships and identify needs in rural communities that will help create and further economic development through collaborative efforts within the Golden Triangle. Connect with Tony at 406-750-2099 or Tony@GrowGreatFalls.org.
12) Avmax's leasing arm, Avmax Aircraft Leasing, announced that it has placed an order with Universal Hydrogen Co. to convert 20 regional aircraft to run on green hydrogen. See story in North American Clean Energy.
13) Two more GFDA team members finished their Economic Development Finance Professional 101 course last week. Jake and Christian finished the course and will now join Jill in the next course on their way to becoming certified Economic Development Finance Professionals.
14) Montana is the Best State to Start a Farm or Ranch, 4th Best State to Live Off the Grid, and 18th Best State for Female Farm Producers, according to LawnLove.
Great to be back in Great Falls after spending time on the islands of Saipan, Tinian and Rota helping the economic development recovery efforts of the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.
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.
"If anything is worth trying at all, it's worth trying at least 10 times."
Art Linkletter
Edition 542
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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 JSchalper@GrowGreatFalls.org
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 JKohles@GrowGreatFalls.org.
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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 tammie.hickey@gfcmsu.edu.
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 medaexec@gmail.com or me at BDoney@GrowGreatFalls.org.
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 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 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.
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 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.
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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