Publication ranks Billings as great place to work

BILLINGS – Billings has been listed as one of the top 20 places to live and work in America,
according to recent survey by a national employment magazine.

By the Billings Gazette

The staff of Employment Review and BestJobsUSA.com, a monthly publication geared for
professionals working to manage their careers, listed Billings as No. 9 in its eighth annual Best
Places to Live and Work review. Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.; Madison, Wis.; and
Huntsville, Ala., were listed as the top three picks. The only cities west of the Mississippi besides
Billings on the list are Tempe, Ariz., (No. 4) and Fort Collins, Colo. (No. 17).

Diane Licht-Metheney, the managing editor of Employment Review, noted in introducing this
year’s list that "each location is unique, but each shares a commonality of solid community
economics, substantial job growth, good schools, recreation, cultural events and much more."

Her introduction also says "if a professional is seeking new work challenges or looking for a
different place to call home, he or she will get a great head start on where to begin their search."

The list can be found on the Web site
http://www.bestjobsusa.com/sections/CAN-bestplaces2002/index.asp and includes a review and
reference points of each city on the list. Those reference points include information on the area’s
population (Billings is listed as 129,352), the median housing cost (listed as $131,700 in Billings),
taxes, education opportunity, health care options, the arts, recreation, unemployment rate (4.2
percent in Billings), and the projected job growth to 2008 (seen as 21 percent by the staff of
Employment Review).

"A hub for the distribution of goods and services, Billings’ primary trade territory is one of the
largest in the United States," the listing for Billings says. "In addition it is a regional center for the
energy industry. Eastern Montana provides vast coal, gas and oil resources. The development
and production activities associated with these resources are headquartered here.