Columbia Falls potential site for new plant

Don Bennett, Flathead County Economic Development Authority chairman, told the Columbia Falls City Council Monday that a new manufacturing plant may be built on the outskirts of the city.
Bennett, who is also on the board of Jobs Now, said an experienced, financially strong businessman is interested in working with the city to apply for a Community Development Block Grant for the project.

By Nancy Kimball
The Daily Inter Lake

"It’s environmentally friendly — the plant is all electric," Bennett said. "It would employ about 15 people to start, and about 50 people in four to five years."

Although the plant probably can be established without a loan, Bennett said he and others are working out an arrangement to use the grant money to initiate a revolving loan fund for future business start-ups.

Eric Hanson, regional development officer for the Montana Department of Commerce, told the council that the city can apply annually for up to $400,000 in matching funds under the Community Development Block Grant program. Deducting 8 percent in grant program administration fees, $368,000 actually would be available.

The city in turn could loan its grant money to the plant, with an anticipated five- to seven-year payback. The final decision is up to the city, Hanson emphasized, but proceeds from the repaid loan could go into a revolving fund to help other businesses.

Northwest Montana Human Resources would help with the grant process, said Northwest Business Center Director Gary Winship. The business center is a program of Human Resources.

Along with the potential $400,000 grant, another $500,000 training grant would be available to the plant owner to hire and train qualified workers.

City Manager Bill Shaw questioned whether the city could claim responsibility for the grant, since the site being considered lies outside city limits. The property under consideration is behind Glacier Valley Brandy on U.S. 2 in the former Trumble Creek Hub building.

Winship said local hiring, funding and a Columbia Falls mailing address, among other criteria, would establish a legitimate relationship between the city and the business.

"It could default to Flathead County," said Bennett, president of First Citizens Bank in Columbia Falls, "but we want it to qualify for Columbia Falls so the money benefits the city."

Winship also said Human Resources would do all the work except an environmental review, which should be carried out by someone in the city government. The city also must receive and transfer the grant money to Human Resources.

Several council members were hesitant about that provision, recalling their recent experience with a HOME grant for the Teakettle Vista II project. In that, the city must stretch slim resources over a 50-year loan term to Human Resources in order to receive the grant money, transfer it to the agency as a loan and handle repayment.

"It’s a complex program," said city-county planner Tom Jentz, who administered Community Development Block Grants for the county for 25 years.

"But there is a lot of groundwork that has been done years ago that makes this much easier now. It’s a good program to get into," Jentz said, "because the money comes back to you."

Bennett asked the council for quick action, requesting a public hearing on the grant application at their next meeting on Jan. 6.

"This man is in a big hurry," Bennett said. "He doesn’t care whether it’s with Columbia Falls, but we want it to benefit Columbia Falls."

The council unanimously agreed to schedule the public hearing for Jan. 6 at 7 p.m.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at [email protected]

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