Author: Brett Doney

Congratulations to Cesar and Heidi Morales of Cut Bank, owners of the Los Tacos de Montana street taco business that has started selling authentic street tacos on the East Side of Glacier National Park! The business will operate on the Many Glacier Road near Babb during the summer and will also serve their tacos from time to time at the Cut Bank Creek Brewery.

GFDA’s Top 10

Here is our Top 28 for the last four weeks 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.

Apologies for such a long break in our Top 10’s. We’ve been incredibly busy with multiple prospect visits, helping clients get deals put together, and pursuing new opportunities.

1) Over the past several weeks, we have hosted visits from multiple primary sector prospects. It’s been my most exciting month since joining GFDA almost 15 years ago!

GFDA will be closed the week of July 5th. In recognition of the outstanding work our team has done this fiscal year, I’ve given our staff the week off so they can recharge and come back hard charging into our new fiscal year.

2) The proposed expansion of Downtown Tax Increment Financing eligible programs has raised questions on prevailing wage – or commonly referred to as Davis Bacon wages. Join us at 4 PM on Wednesday, June 30, via zoom as the Deputy City Attorney Jeff Hindoien helps us understand the implications. This half hour session will be recorded and shared for those unable to attend in person. Click here for the Zoom. Meeting ID 895 1998 6381 and passcode of 423225.

3) Did you miss the ground breaking of Arc last week? Check out the highlights here.

4) Heartland Forward ranked Great Falls as the 11th best metro area in the nation for Average Annual Pay Growth (based on 2013-2017 data). Montana was name the most patriotic state in the nation by Wallet Hub. Great Falls was once again named the most patriotic city in Montana by Insurify.

5) We closed a $316,420 gap loan package to The Newberry, the new state of the art entertainment and concert venture under construction in Downtown Great Falls. Many thanks to Ryan Fritz from Citizens Alliance Bank for partnering up to help make this happen. If your business needs assistance with financing to start, grow or innovate, please contact Jill Kohles at 406-590-1056 or JKohles@GrowGreatFalls.org.

6) Lifestyle’s Haute Hive Co-Working Space celebrated their grand opening. Check out the video announcement and see KRTV. Not only will the renovated building house Lifestyle Real Estate Firm’sexpanded office, but will also offer executive officers, semi-private offices, co-working space, conference rooms, and more in Downtown Great Falls. Looking to be a part of the revitalization in Downtown Great Falls? Call Jolene to discuss your project; (406) 750-4481.

7) Had a new Agri-processing client in town this week looking for a site. We have several manufacturing projects looking for industrial space between 5,000-50,000 square feet. That will be the topic of our next Development Coffee this Friday, July 2, at 7 AM. Click hereto Zoom In!

8) Virtual delivery of our training events continues to broaden the exposure of GFDA to wider and wider audiences. This month, military veterans from Atlanta, Austin (TX), Rhode Island, and Dallas joined our Boots to Business: An Introduction to Entrepreneurship training with transitioning service members from Malmstrom Air Force Base. Special thanks to our guest speakers, Beth Blessing of Beth Blessing Realty and Remax and Jeff Miser of Mountain Wave Distilling. Beth and Jeff are two military veterans who volunteered their time to share entrepreneurship experiences with workshop attendees.

9) Glacier Property Group announced the purchase of a large vacant commercial building in downtown Cut Bank and is under contract for another. The real-estate development company has plans to renovate and develop both properties. Read the full story at the Cut Bank Pioneer Press.

10) We have been busy helping small business learn the new SAM.GOV website and apply for certification with SBA as a Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) and 8A Set-Asides. Are you ready for the upcoming MT PTAC Virtual GovMatch 2021 in July? Even though the registration in not open yet, make sure your company is ready to meet one on one with buyers from federal, state and local agencies in a virtual “booth.” So how do you get ready? Contact your Great Falls PTAC to make sure the action steps are finished in order to complete your VIRTUAL “profile” once registration is open.  Your PTAC Advisor is ready to assist with the action steps. Contact Shannon Clancy at SClancy@GrowGreatFalls.org or 406-590-1184. You don’t want to miss out on this great opportunity.

11) Worked with an agri-processing company who has been buying grain in the Golden Triangle for years but has realized it makes better business sense to also process here. They are seeking a 30k square foot food grade manufacturing facility. While we recommend they work with a broker, we routinely get these requests. Please make sure your properties and buildings are listed on LoopNet and with an area broker. Reach out to Jolene to discuss, 406.750.4481.

12) Jennifer Reed owner of Glacier Drip Coffee officially opened her mobile coffee trailer for business along the east entrance to Glacier National Park. Last summer, Jennifer applied for and won one of the highly competitive Indian Equity Fund Grants, which helped her with the purchase of her new coffee tailer.  Currently Glacier Drip is open on the corner of West Shore Drive and Highway 89 in St. Mary.  The Indian Equity Fund application for 2021 opens on July 1st. If you are an enrolled tribal member and need help applying, contact Rich Gannon at 406-836-2078 or email RGannon@GrowGreatFalls.org.

13) We have an entrepreneur interested in taking our cash flow and profitability workshop, Profit Mastery. So we are looking for at least a few more interested participants before scheduling the course. If you are professional seeking continuing education credits or are an entrepreneur wanting to get a better grasp on financial statements, this two-day course is worth considering. Every decision a business owner makes has a financial impact. We believe Profit Mastery provides excellent insight and tools into a business’ cash and profit cycles. Please contact Jason Nitschke to indicate your interest in participating in this course at JNitschke@GrowGreatFalls.org.

14) Image Jewelry Design, owned by Craig Williams, has officially launched. Based in Great Falls, Mr. Williams is designing, producing, and selling high quality jewelry through his e-commerce platform. Jason and Rich provided startup, financial planning, and website design assistance. Thank you to Matt McKamey at Opportunity Bank for this referral.

15) Working with several companies looking to located in the Golden Triangle. We work behind the scenes to help companies put the puzzle pieces in place for them to locate here. This includes connecting with local officials, building capital stacks, site location advising, working with local utilities, supply chain support, and overall business concierge services. Know a business that should be here? Call Jolene at 406.750.54481.

16) Attention, Contract Opportunity! We were contacted by a contracting officer with the US Forest Service who is having trouble getting businesses to bid on a contract for janitorial service at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. If this fits with your business, contact Lillian Sunwall for more information at LSunwall@GrowGreatFalls.org.

17) We hosted two webinars for Realtors called “Closing More Sales to Out of Town Homebuyers — Tools and Resources to Attract New Residents.” We shared some of our talent attraction tools and resources that could help this key group of people assist us in our mission to grow the population of Great Falls!

18) Governor Greg Gianforte has launched a remote worker talent attraction campaign! Visit the new Come Home Montana website. This state-wide campaign will perfectly complement our local talent attraction efforts here in Great Falls. Share the Come Home Montana website and the Live in Great Falls website with your family and friends!

19) SAM.Gov has merged with beta.SAM.gov as of May 24th. If you have tried to login to your registration at the new site and are having trouble, contact Shannon Clancy at SClancy@GrowGreatFalls.org. She can guide you through the new process and help keep you active.

20) Soren and I had a kickoff meeting with Livability Media regarding the upcoming year’s Great Falls Livability talent attraction marketing program. If our Livability Media representative John Waltz reaches out, we encourage you to have a conversation with him and see how your advertising support of the publication will help bring talented workers to Great Falls!

21) Upcoming GFDA entrepreneur/business convenient virtual trainings: Looking to increase sales and develop repeat customers? Sign up for a free one-on-one consultation with retail/restaurant/event business guru Barbara Wold.

22) Our great city of Great Falls was mentioned several times in a Roadtrippers.com article, “An insider’s guide to exploring the Missouri River in Central Montana.” Read it, share it, and let’s get some excitement buzzing about our community!

23) Have you ever taken the time to identify your target consumer(s), or do you just guess and hope for the best? Our newest business technical brief, the Customer Discovery Checklist will walk you through a proven process to identify your target consumer(s). This and other technical briefs are available for download on our website with no strings attached, with more to come!

24) We hosted one of the project managers from our talent attraction consultant team DCI this month and she loved Great Falls! She was very impressed with the diversity our downtown entrepreneurs, great breweries and ACCESS to all types of outdoor adventures and left excited to keep helping us grow Great Falls.

25) Christian took the International Economic Development Council’s Marketing and Business Attraction course. He was able to connect with over 50 other industry professionals and learned some best practices we can implement here in our own market. We always encourage our team to pursue professional development and this course will count towards this team member becoming a Certified Economic Developer. I enjoyed teaching parts of the Council of Development Finance Agencies’ Revolving Loan Fund online course last week.

26) GFDA won a $1.28 million loan capital grant from the CDFI Fund’s Rapid Response Program. We also secured a $1 million loan capital loan commitment from CNote. NeighborWorks Montana has agreed to purchase a $250,000 participation in our bridge loan package for construction of The Arc 218-unit workforce housing development.

27) As we gear up for our new fiscal year that starts on July 1st, we have signed a renewal to our downtown business development partnership agreement with the Great Falls Business Improvement District, signed a two year agreement with the Montana Department of Agriculture for our Great Falls Food & Ag Development Center, signed a year extension of our business attraction account-based marketing lead generation work with DCI, and signed a year contract for lead generation with Global Site Selection Industries. We have also executed agreements with Common Goals Software to implement a new loan portfolio management system that will enable us to offer online loan applications and tracking, a contract with Friedman Associates to help us update our lending policies and procedures, and a contract with Barber Business Advisors to engage in a new economic development strategic planning initiative.

28) Staci Cambell started work as our newest Lending Associate. We are excited to announce that Jake Clark, current Dean of Students of the University of Providence, will be joining the GFDA team in July as a Business Development Officer. Welcome Jake!

I’ll catch up with more great stuff in our next Top 10 on Monday.

Stay cool and have a great week and a fantastic Independence Day!!!

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.

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
Stephen Covey

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 496

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Here is our Menu of Services and Staff Team handout.

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

June SBA 504 Loan Rates
The 25-year loan effective rate came in at 2.883%; 20-year at 2.764%; 10-year equipment loan at 2.612%; and, 20-year refinance 2.807%; 25-year refinance 2.924%. 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.

GFDA has a great career opportunities — Investment Director (Fundraising). Download pdf describing the opening in more detail. GFDA has launched a College Intern Program starting with five paid internship opportunities. Download application. Help us spread the word!

Invest in Great Falls Regional Economic Development
Contact Brett Doney at 406-750-2119 or BDoney@GrowGreatFalls.org. Here is a current list of our great investors.

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Events, Business Training, and Opportunities

Exhibitor applications are open for the 2021 Made in Montana Tradeshow. The show will take place September 10 and 11, 2021 at the Lewis & Clark County Fairgrounds in Helena. Only active members will be considered for the Tradeshow. Check to see if your membership is up to date by searching your business in the Product Directory. If you can’t find your listing, send an email to madeinmontana@mt.gov with your business name. Save the date for the 2022 Made in Montana Tradeshow — March 11-12, 2022 in Helena.

Beginning July 1, the City of Great Falls will be accepting small works roster applications from contractors and vendors for several categories of work. A full list of service categories, the application and additional information ca be found at: https://greatfallsmt.net/planning/small-works-roster.

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.orgor 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.

We launched a Bring a Friend to Great Falls campaign with the Great Falls Voyagers – keep an eye out this summer when you’re at the stadium! We also have an Out of Town Fan of the Game for every game. The purpose of this campaign is to engage the community in recruiting friends, family, and colleagues to relocate to Great Falls. Send a virtual postcard on the Live in Great Falls website.

GFDA’s Top 10

Here is our Top 14 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.

1) We met with the Provost of Touro College to begin planning recruitment assistance for the Medical School’s faculty, staff and students. Touro has added a one-year 70 student Masters program to its Great Falls plan.

2) Seven businesses learned about Dr. Deborah Smith Cook’s tips for attracting remote workers in our weekly workforce webinar series. If you want to catch up on the series you can see our recaps on our website. You can also register for the entire series. Dr. Cook will be back on June 8th at 9 AM to discuss managing remote workers.

3) The entrepreneurs behind Great Falls’ wildly successful Tracy’s Diner are back at it with their newest venture Street Burgers. Check out the video announcement. By their grand opening on June 18th, they plan to employ 40 workers earning top wages in the food service industry. The Great Falls region is HUNGRY for new, innovative businesses, give Jolene a call to discuss your projects; (406) 750-4481

4) Our pipeline of deals is expanding weekly! This week our team worked on several project and leads. One new lead is a light manufacturer from Canada. This company specifically wants a location on the US side of the border in response to pandemic border closures and a growing US market.

5) Ulm School students and community leaders broke ground on the new BlueHawk Park; see KRTV. A movie called “The Ploughmen” featuring Robert Duvall, garret Hedlund and Amy Madigan is being filed in Ft. Benton; see KRTV.

6) How do we spark more housing development in Great Falls? That’s the focus for the June GFDA Development Coffee. Zoom in on Friday, June 4, at 7 AM. Click here for the Zoom Link. Meeting ID: 865 1217 4728 Pass: Maj9bz Questions? Call Jolene at 406.750.4481.

7) The Montana Department of Labor & Industry has Incumbent Worker Training Program funds available to help pay for workforce training. The current grant cycle will end with the state’s fiscal year; you have until June 20th to apply, and the training you are applying for must begin before June 30th. If your training begins after June 30th, you should wait until the next grant cycle to apply for funds.We can help work through the process.

8) We were notified late Friday that a catalyst Downtown Great Falls project will be moving forward. Progress had slowed down due to the pandemic, but the entrepreneur never gave up. We should see some new construction happening in Downtown Great Falls soon! If your project has stalled due to rising construction costs or some other speed bump, contact Christian at 406.836.0136 or CLeinhauser@GrowGreatFalls.org and lets discuss a game plan to move your project forward.

9) The quarterly cost of living index by C2ER placed Great Falls’ cost of living at 90.5% of the national average, a 0.7% increase over last quarter. We are still well below the national average and 19% less than Bozeman – let’s work to keep it that way! To see a cost of living comparison of Great Falls to other US cities, check out the Cost of Living Calculator on the new Live in Great Falls talent attraction website.

10) Lots of upcoming GFDA entrepreneur/business convenient virtual trainings: Looking to increase sales and develop repeat customers? Sign up for a free one-on-one consultation with retail/restaurant/event business guru Barbara Wold. The LaunchPoint, our catch-all workshop for those looking to start a business is back on June 2. June’s webinar is all about e-commerce: is your website laid out to generate maximum sales? Boots to Business, our pre-business workshop for entrepreneurial military personnel is back on June 17th and 18th.

11) The 2.0 version of the LiveinGreatFalls.com website is live – if you haven’t had a chance to check it out, do so here. We average about 80 unique views per day and we want to keep that ever increasing, so share Great Falls with your friends and family!

12) Looking to buy or sell a business? Ever considered crowdfunding to jumpstart that venture? Needing to bring on employees, but not sure the correct way to do so? These are just some of the topics covered in our new business technical briefs. In the coming months we will be publishing a host of topics designed to make your business successful – available for download on our website with no strings attached.

13) Check out these upcoming training from our partners: Montana DPHHS is offering a course on Understanding the Cottage Food Law on June 3rd at 10:30 AM MST. The Prospera Business Network in partnership with One Valley Community Foundation are hosting a workshop entitled Power Up Your Nonprofit: Create your Business, Financial, Fundraising & Marketing Plan starting June 3.

14) Please welcome our new lending college intern, Kenadee Chartier. Kenadee is a Financial Engineering major at MSU Bozeman with a Agricultural minor and has an anticipated graduation date of May 2022. Kenadee is rooted in Montana with her family ranch in Centerville, MT and plans to stay in the area after graduation.

Have a great week!

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.

“America is hope. It is compassion. It is excellence. It is valor.”
Paul Tsongas

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 495

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Here is our Menu of Services and Staff Team handout.

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

May SBA 504 Loan Rates
The 25-year loan effective rate came in at 2.933%; 20-year at 2.845%; 10-year equipment loan at 2.612%; and, 20-year refinance 2.887%; 25-year refinance 2.974%. 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.

GFDA has a great career opportunities — Investment Director (Fundraising). Download pdf describing the opening in more detail. GFDA has launched a College Intern Program starting with five paid internship opportunities. Download application. Help us spread the word!

Invest in Great Falls Regional Economic Development
Contact Brett Doney at 406-750-2119 or BDoney@GrowGreatFalls.org. Here is a current list of our great investors.

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Events, Business Training, and Opportunities
Do you need additional working capital? The SBA has increased the EIDL loan limit to the lesser of 24 months of working capital or $500,000. If you have questions, contact Nathan Reiff at 406-403-4937 or NReiff@GrowGreatFalls.org.

Exhibitor applications are open for the 2021 Made in Montana Tradeshow. The show will take place September 10 and 11, 2021 at the Lewis & Clark County Fairgrounds in Helena. Only active members will be considered for the Tradeshow. Check to see if your membership is up to date by searching your business in the Product Directory. If you can’t find your listing, send an email to madeinmontana@mt.gov with your business name. Save the date for the 2022 Made in Montana Tradeshow — March 11-12, 2022 in Helena.

Beginning July 1, the City of Great Falls will be accepting small works roster applications from contractors and vendors for several categories of work. A full list of service categories, the application and additional information ca be found at: https://greatfallsmt.net/planning/small-works-roster.

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.orgor call (406) 750-0314.

The Montana Young Professional Summit will be held June 9-10 in Sydney. Montana Young Professional provides career development, networking, and community engagement opportunities aimed at professionals aged 21-39.

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.

The Great Falls Livability 2021 digital workforce recruitment magazine has been released. If you’d like some print versions of this awesome talent attraction tool, contact Talent Attraction Director Soren at Soren@GrowGreatFalls.org or (406) 836-0147. 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.

Rendering of the Karhu Koski Distillery to be developed in Vaughn. The 10,000 square foot destination facility, designed by LPW Architecture, is scheduled to open in June 2022! See KRTV.

GFDA’s Top 10

Here is our Top 19 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.

1) We refinanced bridge loans we made for predevelopment support of the Big Sky Cheese project and closed a $5.245 million bridge loan package to get 216 new apartment homes into construction in Great Falls. Since January 1st, we have closed or issued GFDA loan commitments totaling $9,377,170 to fill financing gaps and provide bridge capital to move projects forward in our region.

2) The Great Falls City Commission approved a tax increment financing package totaling $762,780 for infrastructure to serve the industrial flex-space development that is a partnership of Dick Anderson Construction and the Great Falls International Airport Authority. The Commission also gave final approval of the conditional use permit and vacated roads for the Aim High Big Sky Indoor Aquatic and Recreation Facility.

3) We hosted three prospect visits this week — one fantastic tech company and two excellent primary sector, value-added agri-processors. Two of the prospects converted to client status because they plan to move forward with investments in the Great Falls trade area! The third prospect looks very promising after their second visit in the last month.

4) The Cascade County Zoning Board of Adjustment approved the Missouri River Bar and Grill that plans to open soon in Cascade; see TheElectric. True Brew officially opened its second location in Great Falls; see KRTV.

5) The Great Falls Community pulled together this week to help us respond to a second round request for information for a major industrial site selection. We’ll know in June if we make the cut for the next step. Thank you to the numerous partners that helped us!

6) Love’s Travel Stops’ newest location has started construction here in Great Falls, Montana! Check out the video announcement. Love’s is an exemplary brand that has their own fuel reward program/contracts that will attract different providers to our community. We published an updated Growth Highlights for the Great Falls Region. To learn more about various business opportunities in the Great Falls region, give Jolene a call at (406) 750-4481.

7) We continue to hear from employers that hiring and retaining employees is one of their biggest challenges. In response, we created an ongoing series of webinars focused on connecting employers with local resources designed to help attract, develop, and retain their workforce. Head over to GrowGreatFallsMontana.org/Workforce to learn more and register for the remainder of the series, every Tuesday morning for 30 minutes at 9:00 AM!

8) The Montana Department of Commerce awarded Historic Preservation grants to several sites in the Golden Triangle, including $412,535 for the Crowley Block in Lewistown, $125,000 for the 10th Street Bridge in Great Falls, $60,240 for the Blaine County Museum in Chinook, and $9,000 for the Old Town Hall in Shelby.

9) Our team has always packaged a wealth of information for our clients, and now we have found a way to share this information to everyone. Over the coming months, we will be publishing a series of Business Technical Briefs covering a variety of must-know business topics. Additionally, all of our recorded webinar content is now available to view on-demand on our website.

10) The 2.0 version of our Live in Great Falls talent attraction website is live! Visit www.LiveinGreatFalls.com for a sleek, comprehensive website that highlights Great Falls, Montana and anything someone might want to know before relocating here. Explore some of the cool new features, including a Cost of Living Calculator, a new career/news/lifestyle blog and an embedded Great Falls Livability magazine!

11) Lots of upcoming GFDA entrepreneur/business convenient virtual trainings: Looking to increase sales and develop repeat customers? Sign up for a free one-on-one consultation with retail/restaurant/event business guru Barbara Wold. The LaunchPoint, our catch-all workshop for those looking to start a business is back on June 2. June’s webinar is all about e-commerce: is your website laid out to generate maximum sales? Boots to Business, our pre-business workshop for entrepreneurial military personnel is back on June 17th and 18th.

12) The Great Falls Voyagers baseball opening day is May 26th. Keep an eye out for ‘Live in Great Falls’ marketing at Centene Stadium this summer! We are always trying to raise the presence of the talent attraction effort, so we have an outfield sign and a kiosk with Live in Great Falls postcards in the stadium concourse. Grab a postcard and mail to someone special to let them know we want them here!

13) Presented a proposal to continue our Food and Ag Development Center to the Montana Ag Development Council. We received high marks and were one of three centers that were approved for full funding for the next two years! This will allow us to continue our pursuit of value added ag business startups, attractions, and expansions, growing high wage jobs across the Golden Triangle.

14) Check out these upcoming training from our partners: The Prospera Business Network in partnership with One Valley Community Foundation are hosting a workshop entitled Power Up Your Nonprofit: Create your Business, Financial, Fundraising & Marketing Plan starting June 3.

15) Join us in welcoming two new team members. Staci Campbell will be joining our lending staff starting June 16th. Staci has over 15 years of experience in banking, accounting and insurance. She earned a BS in Business Administration from MSU Billings. Annabella Aline started this week as our first college intern. Annabella is pursuing a double major in Statistics and Secondary Math Education at MSU Bozeman. She will be doing market research in support of our business development and advising work.

16) Hosted a panel on creative housing partnerships in Great Falls during the Montana Housing Partnership annual conference. Thank you to Sherrie Area of NeighborWorks Great Falls, Pat Corrick of The Farran Group, and Craig Raymond of the City of Great Falls for participating on the panel!

17) Kids Count Montana issued a report on Montana Child Care and its importance to our economy.

18) Progress continues on establishing a new Women’s Business Center to boost entrepreneurship in our region. Jason sits on the new WBC’s advisory and hiring committees for the program manager to be employed by University of Montana affiliate, MonTEC, and based in Missoula. The application window has closed and candidates are being evaluated. We anticipate interviews to be conducted by June. Once the program manager is hired, we’ll begin recruiting WBC Business Advisors to be embedded with the GFDA team and with Montana Native Growth Fund in Hays. Women’s Business Centers nationwide are a federally funded resource partner of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). To learn more about GFDA’s partnership, contact Jason at JNitschke@GrowGreatFalls.org.

19) Received the final report from a group of Harvard students who undertook a project for us as part of a Financing Community and Economic Development course. The project they came up with assesses the feasibility of a Food Incubator Project in Great Falls.

See you at the Voyagers!

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.

“We will either find a way, or make one.”
Hannibal

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 494

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Here is our Menu of Services and Staff Team handout.

Cost-Effective Rail-Served Industrial Sites Available

When you’re worked for years on a project, it’s even sweeter when it gets into construction!

GFDA’s Top 10

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.

1) We made the cut in the first round of a site selection process for a major manufacturing investment and started work on putting together data to submit for the next round. We hosted a prospect on its second visit to consider two downtown Great Falls projects.

2) Four fantastic community projects are moving with help from up to $205,000 in hazardous materials clean-up grants from our EPA Brownfields Loan Fund. We are excited to support the Great Falls Rescue Mission, Alluvion Health, and Great Falls Public Schools. Check out the video announcement. If you are considering a commercial property that may be contaminated, we have resources to ensure your project’s success – connect Lillian at 406-750-1253 or LSunwall@GrowGreatFalls.org.

3) Lots of upcoming GFDA entrepreneur/business convenient virtual trainings. Looking to increase sales and develop repeat customers? Sign up for a free one-on-one consultation with retail/restaurant/event business guru Barbara Wold. Take control of your business’s finances, increase profit, and improve your bottom line in our two-day Profit Mastery workshop May 17 & 24. The LaunchPoint, our catch-all workshop for those looking to start a business, is back on June 2. And June’s webinar is all about e-commerce: is your website laid out to generate maximum sales?

4) We’ve made great progress in Downtown Great Falls this week on new projects and projects that are in progress. We will have new announcements coming soon as well as more projects starting construction. We are always here to help keep projects moving, and one of the newest road blocks is construction costs. If you need Gap or Bridge financing to help get your project to the finish line, contact Christian at 406.836.0136 and let’s keep the momentum going Downtown.

5) We continue to hear from employers that hiring and retaining employees is one of their biggest challenges. In response, we created an ongoing series of webinars focused on connecting employers with local resources designed to help attract, develop, and retain their workforce. Head over to GrowGreatFallsMontana.org/Workforce to learn more and register for the remainder of the series.

6) The Indian Country Programs at the Montana Department of Commerce will begin accepting applications for the Indian Equity Fund (IEF) Small Business Grant starting July 1. Applications will be accepted through August 31. If you are an enrolled member of one of Montana’s eight federally recognized  tribes and would like help applying, contact Rich Gannon at 406-836-2078 or email RGannon@GrowGreatFalls.org.

7) The labor shed analysis was completed as part of the Great Falls child care market assessment we commissioned.

8) Congratulations to Melanie Racine who has purchased a vacant building in downtown Cut Bank and is moving and expanding her restaurant R’ Snack Shop. Read the full story at KRTV News.

9) Check out these upcoming training from our partners. Ever considered selling to the government? The US Forest Service will be hosting a Virtual Industry Day on May 20 where you can learn to do just that. The Prospera Business Network in partnership with One Valley Community Foundation are hosting a workshop entitled Power Up Your Nonprofit: Create your Business, Financial, Fundraising & Marketing Plan starting June 3.

10) I was able to network this week with western U.S. leaders on an infrastructure virtual discussion organized by the Milken Institute, Kinder Institute and the International Economic Development Council. And, I enjoyed networking with economic developers to our north by once again co-teaching the ethics workshop as part of the Alberta Economic Development Association’s annual conference.

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.

“Momentum is an amazing thing when it is working in your favour.”
Simon Mignolet

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 493

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Here is our Menu of Services and Staff Team handout.

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

May SBA 504 Loan Rates
The 25-year loan effective rate came in at 2.933%; 20-year at 2.845%; 10-year equipment loan at 2.612%; and, 20-year refinance 2.887%; 25-year refinance 2.974%. 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.

GFDA has two great career opportunities. Investment Director (Fundraising). And, we’re expanding our lending team with either a Business Development Officer, a Commercial Credit Analyst, or a Loan Officer. Download pdf describing the openings in more detail. GFDA has launched a College Intern Program starting with five paid internship opportunities. Download application. Help us spread the word!

Invest in Great Falls Regional Economic Development
Contact Brett Doney at 406-750-2119 or BDoney@GrowGreatFalls.org. Here is a current list of our great investors.

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Events, Business Training, and Opportunities
Do you need additional working capital? The SBA has increased the EIDL loan limit to the lesser of 24 months of working capital or $500,000. If you have questions, contact Nathan Reiff at 406-403-4937 or NReiff@GrowGreatFalls.org.

Exhibitor applications for the 2021 Made in Montana Tradeshow will start being accepted at 9 AM on Wednesday, May 19. The online application will be available on the Tradeshow webpage. The show will take place September 10 and 11, 2021 at the Lewis & Clark County Fairgrounds in Helena. Only active members will be considered for the Tradeshow. Check to see if your membership is up to date by searching your business in the Product Directory. If you can’t find your listing, send an email to madeinmontana@mt.govwith your business name. Save the date for the 2022 Made in Montana Tradeshow — March 11-12, 2022 in Helena.