News

Billings Development board looks at brain industries

Companies specializing in brain power, not bulk commodities, will help drive the Billings economy during
the 21st century.

By TOM HOWARD
Of The Gazette Staff

That’s the focus of a new business recruitment plan unveiled Thursday by the Big Sky Economic
Development Authority. The plan, expected to cost about $250,000, calls for concentrating on companies in
health-related fields, engineering services, financial services, value-added agriculture products,
energy-intensive industries and alternative energy sources such as fuel cells.
The new plan identifies Yellowstone County as "Montana’s Business Hub."
Joe McClure, executive director of Big Sky EDA, said Billings’ thriving medical corridor could be a magnet for
new health-related companies seeking to expand or move.

Engineering services companies are another good fit for the Billings market, whose location far from major
metropolitan areas is a disadvantage for industries that must ship large quantities of products, McClure said.

Also on Thursday, McClure announced that Big Sky EDA is rolling out a capital campaign to seek $500,000
per year in private-sector donations to supplement the organization’s economic development efforts. Big Sky
EDA is funded in part by a countywide property tax levy, which raises about $500,000 per year.

Big Sky EDA last fall hired Development Counsellors International, a New York-based firm that specializes
in economic development and marketing, to develop a business recruitment plan for Billings and Yellowstone
County.

As part of the process, DCI has been investigating the strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for
business in the Billings area. Local business leaders who were surveyed rated Billings high for having a strong
work ethic, a diverse business climate, good access to transportation and a good quality of life.
The community’s biggest liabilities include an unfavorable tax structure, long distances to major markets,
costly air travel, a lack of planning and leadership and a lack of new capital investment.
DCI also surveyed 17 site selection consultants – specialists in finding new locations for expanding
businesses – to find out what they know about Billings and Montana.

Not surprisingly, Billings doesn’t register on the radar screens of most site selection professionals, who
tend to concentrate their efforts in the Midwest and on the East Coast, said April Mason, account supervisor for
DCI.

Besides targeting certain industries, the business recruitment effort also will concentrate on companies
that are growing by at least 20 percent per year, companies experiencing changes such as a merger or a
change in CEO, companies with established connections to Montana and companies located in cities that can
be reached by one direct flight from Billings, Mason said. The plan also targets companies interested in moving
30 to 50 employees.

DCI’s next move will be to arrange meetings between Big Sky EDA and representatives of targeted
industries.
"We have put together all the information in terms of what kinds of business we should be going after,"
McClure said. "Our consultants have started to gather information on companies located in certain parts of the
country, and we plan to set up 10 to 15 face-to-face meetings with them."

Eventually, Big Sky EDA hopes to contact 250 companies that might be interested in relocating to Billings,
he said.
As part of its baseline research, DCI compared Montana’s business climate with that in Colorado, Idaho,
the Dakotas, Utah and Wyoming.

The findings are similar to those found in previous surveys. Montana’s cost of living is about average, but
the state’s average wage, $23,000 a year, ranks 50th in the nation at about 70 percent of the national average of
$33,000 per year.
On the plus side, Montanans are relatively well educated, with 78 percent of Montanans having graduated
from high school, compared with 67 percent of all Americans, Mason said.

Montana’s electricity costs are among the lowest in the nation, a potential attraction for energy-intensive
industries. But that ranking is likely to change after rate increases resulting from the sale of Montana Power Co.
go into effect July 1, Mason said.
Also on Thursday, Laurie Ryan of Adam Associates, a Billings marketing firm, unveiled new logos,
letterhead and other graphic materials that will be used in recruiting new companies and marketing Big Sky
EDA’s services.

Mason also recommended a complete overhaul of Big Sky EDA’s Web site, which usually the first contact
that a site selection consultant has with a community.
The slogan identifying Billings as Montana’s business hub was selected over several other slogans,
including "Billings, Where the Big Sky is the Limit," Ryan said.
Tom Howard can be reached at 657-1261 or at [email protected]

Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2002/03/29/build/local/72-bseda.inc

Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.