Julie Foster honored as the Business Advocate of the Year for 2004 by the Bitterroot Valley Chamber of Commerce

Julie Foster

My best description of Julie Foster is that she exemplifies ‘a mover and a shaker’. In other words she is a doer! Other people complain, but Julie looks for a solution and never lets grass grow under her feet. (Of course, most of us have to work to just keep up with her!)

To start with, Julie kept hearing from folks across our great state that our #1 export was our youth and that there are many educated and talented individuals who would like to return ‘home’. However they don’t know that there are new and exciting companies in Montana and there are jobs available. Julie took the initiative to develop Montana Jobs Network http://www.montana-jobs.net , a non-profit, online job-research site to encourage businesses to hire local graduates, resident Montanans and out-of-state workers looking to return to their home state. Her goal was to retain a highly qualified and desirable work force in Montana and to advertise that there are new and exciting companies in Montana.

Next, she was hearing that Montana’s workforce needs training in core competency skills and small business owners are not able to afford to provide training in-house. Julie created Montana Business Culture 101 to improve the fit between employer skill needs and education/training opportunities. This on-line course included problem solving, communication and team skills, work habits and ethics, adaptability to change, and basic interpersonal skills in its curriculum, which was accessible by Internet from home or the workplace.

Julie participated in a project of the Montana Economic Developers Association http://www.medamembers.org to evaluate Liberty County’s strengths and weaknesses and propose possible community projects. What she realized was that there are a lot of people who want to come back to Montana and a lot of communities who want them to come back. So Julie developed the Come Home Montana http://www.comehomemontana.org/ project to connect the 2 groups. Julie hopes that former Montanans discover that each towns has amazing strength, i.e., history, recreational opportunities, community activities, transportation, churches, medical care, community organizations and services, including high-speed Internet access, a modern water and sewer system, highly rated schools, and even package delivery by UPS and FedEx. These communities are good places to bring their families and their businesses. She hopes the Internet site will allow communities to promote themselves in a way that’s very user-friendly and inexpensive.

Julie is working to bring our greatest asset back home, help employers get good employees, and rejuvenate our communities with economic development! Just what every community needs in its pocket!

Patti Furniss, Manager
Bitterroot Job Service Workforce Center

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Warmest Congratulations Julie. I’m so glad that the Valley realizes what an asset they have in your enthusiasm and dedication. It’s wonderful that they’ve honored you with this recognition.

Congratulations,

Russ

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"The best argument I’ve ever seen for human cloning is Julie Foster!".

Webb Brown

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