Western Montana InBusiness September 2009 – Even amid downturn, Missoula is looking up

While working on this edition of Western Montana InBusiness, I received a letter from a longtime Missoulian reader, Mavis McKelvey, that I’ve reread and appreciated many times over now.

McKelvey isn’t shy about criticizing the newspaper when we miss the mark, and for that I’m always grateful. This note, though, was one of thanks – for our balanced local coverage, excellent photography, and clean and elegant design.

Then came this sentence, the one I keep thinking about: "I think the Missoulian works at making the community proud of itself – at least once a day."

To which I replied, "Absolutely!"

And why shouldn’t we be optimistic? We live in one of the most active, vibrant, thoughtful, all-around awesome communities in America, where even in down times there remains a robust optimism in the future. Where someone – usually many someones – is always there to help. Where there’s always a lot going on.

That’s why the September InBusiness was such a joy to assemble. We’ve got local business success stories from cover to cover, beginning with Betsy Cohen’s interview with the folks at Diversified Plastics, a Missoula-built company that manufactures industrial plastic components.

There is much to learn from owner Brad Reid about survival in down times – Diversified Plastics was once heavily dependent on the timber industry. Not only did Reid’s company expand into the food, wastewater, agriculture, wind power and green energy industries, but it did so without "risking it all." And it has quadrupled employment in recent years!

So, too, came stories of successful diversification from Flathead Valley Community College, where more than 1,000 workers laid off in the Flathead Valley’s industrial collapse have gone to find their futures.

The good news is they are learning skills that will not only result in near-term jobs, but will position these workers for long-term success – some in altogether different professions, some in high-tech industrial plants, all with a healthier resume on which to rely.

This is also our annual "Picture the Progress" salute to some of the businesses that have completed major remodels or construction in recent months – always a spirit-lifter. And these are just a sampling of the many new faces and facades around town.

Which brings me back to those words from McKelvey, and to this: Yes, we here at the Missoulian and Western Montana InBusiness do indeed celebrate the successes of our community every day. We’re proud of what we see, as you should be, too!

Editor Sherry Devlin can be reached at 523-5250 or at [email protected].

Full InBusiness: http://www.mtinbusiness.com/inbiz-0909/index.php