New group, The Yellowstone Business Partnership focuses on environment and business

More than 100 members have joined a new regional business group that wants to foster a sustainable economy alongside a healthy environment.

"There’s been good interest so far," Janice Brown, director of the Yellowstone Business Partnership http://www.yellowstonebusiness.org/ , said in a visit to Billings on Tuesday.

Gazette Staff

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/05/13/build/business/40-enviro-biz-group.inc

The group, headquartered in Bozeman, was formed in 2003 to try to raise awareness of regional issues that affect the economies and natural resources in the counties in the greater Yellowstone area.

"We need to unite as a business community on the issue of economy, environment and community vitality," Brown said. "We’re really looking at the regional scale."

The group has already waded into transportation issues, including pushing for $8 million in federal funds to study a regional transportation system linking Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks with major airports and communities in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming.

Brown said one of the group’s goals is to look beyond community and state borders to find common solutions when tackling issues such as growth, transportation and preservation of natural resources.

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BUILDING A NATURAL PARTNERSHIP…

or more than a century Americans have cherished the remarkable natural qualities of the Yellowstone region. Today, Yellowstone is still being ‘discovered’ — and what was once a quiet place to live and a distant place to visit has a new look and feel.

Communities grow at historic rates. Businesses seek to locate here; jobs are created. Homesteaders and visitors alike still arrive in growing numbers–which attracts new business. The cycle continues. And where quality of life is improved, the progress is good.

But at the center of our success is a dilemma: healthy economies can exhaust the very resources that fuel them. And in the case of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, it is the wildlife, open space and intangible beauty that clearly are most vulnerable.

The Yellowstone Business Partnership brings a pragmatic, forward-thinking, solutions-based perspective to the economy and its ability to improve our quality of life. The formula: respect and steward the unique natural resources of the region. Plan and work for a prosperous, vital economic future. And let our carefully protected natural legacies be the centerpiece to a quality of life that makes the Yellowstone region our home of choice.

We welcome you to join us.

…WHERE A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT MAKES FOR GOOD BUSINESS

http://www.yellowstonebusiness.org/

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The group will hold its first annual conference May 24-26 at Jackson Lake Lodge. The conference is called "A Sustainable Future for the Yellowstone-Teton Region."

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