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1,000 attend economic summit in Billings–Business ‘clustering’ is urged at summit
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BILLINGS — Rolling out a neatly condensed version of a $170,000 study outlining opportunities for growth in Montana’s economy Wednesday, David Gibson, director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, was worried about one thing.
By JO DEE BLACK
Tribune Staff Writer
"I don’t want to make it sound too simple, because it’s not," he said.
"Clustering," the buzz word of this year’s Montana Economic Development Summit, describes competing businesses that locate near each other to take advantage of assets, such as trained labor pools and abundant suppliers.
It’s the topic getting the most attention at the event being held at Montana State University-Billings.
More than 1,000 people from across the state showed up for the first day of the free, public two-day summit.
Clusters happen naturally, such as grain elevators building near railroad tracks and wheat fields.
But there are ways to foster such clusters and build stronger economies, according to many in the economic development sector.
Montana commissioned Regional Technology Strategies of North Carolina to study existing business clusters in the state.
The firm focused on six core clusters and ways to build on those clusters. The six are: wood-based products; agri-foods; tourism; creative and artistic businesses; life sciences such as biotechnology and information technology.
Gibson said although clusters already exist in Montana, such as high-tech companies in Bozeman, the state can play a role in aligning alike-businesses from throughout the state.
"We work with Sofast in Great Falls," Gibson said. "Maybe they want to work more closely with the companies in Bozeman. I don’t know, but we can find out."
Great Falls Development Authority Director John Kramer said clusters evolve in places because of specific reasons.
"There is an insurance industry cluster in Connecticut today because the first things insured years ago were whaling and cargo ships, which were based there," Kramer said. "Through the years their economy supported that industry. Their universities graduate students to work in that industry."
Individual communities in Montana don’t have the populations needed to create large clusters on their own, he said.
But, the state could work to create a banking service cluster, with a few companies in Great Falls and a few in Billings and Bozeman, he said. Then the university systems would adjust their curriculum to accommodate the industry and perhaps state tax laws would be changed to be more attractive to banking service businesses, Kramer said.
Joyce Schriver of Glendive-based Action for Eastern Montana said she’s intrigued by the concept.
"We have some opportunities in rural eastern Montana, with coal and wind," she said. "I don’t really understand clustering yet, but that’s why I’m here. It seems like a longer-term goal, not something that will happen right away."
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20030529/localnews/383102.html
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Business ‘clustering’ is urged at summit
By JIM GRANSBERY
Of The Gazette Staff
The refrain of an old country tune provides a synopsis for economic development in the current global marketplace.
"Do what you do, do well," was the song’s advice.
That is the point being made at the two-day Economic Development Summit in Billings, sponsored by the state’s congressional delegation and governor. The conference opened Wednesday and continues today at Montana State University-Billings’ Alterowitz Gymnasium.
The buzz word is "clusters," a concept that takes common competitive advantages for similar businesses and attempts to build a value-added structure that encourages spinoff enterprises.
Montana has six of these clusters that can form the basis of statewide economic development, according to an in-depth study produced for Gov. Judy Martz. The governor Wednesday was recuperating from recent shoulder and elbow surgery and unable to attend the conference.
The summit has attracted hundreds of public participants. The study was prepared by Regional Technology Strategies of Carrboro, N.C., and DADCO Consulting Services of Shreveport, La.
Outlined during the sweltering afternoon session, J. Trent Williams of RTS said Montana is made up of five regions with wide disparities in population and competitive factors. The study took note of the role of reservations and tribal colleges as elements of future economic activity.
Each of the six clusters of innovation were evaluated according to seven competitive factors, Williams said.
The six predominant clusters are: wood-based products, including pulp and paper; agri-food processing; experience enterprises (guided outdoor recreation) and tourism; creative enterprises (artists and artisans); life sciences (human and agricultural applications); and information technology.
On a lesser scale, other clusters can be identified in aerospace industries, oil and gas, and environmental services, the report said.
Williams made special mention of Montana’s lack of a medical school.
Today’s agenda has summit participants involved in breakout sessions focusing on the six clusters for a more comprehensive look at the report’s list of dos and don’ts and recommendations for priorities and applications.
Among the competitive factors applied to each cluster were: skills of the labor force, technologies, ability to cooperate, services and supplies available to businesses, marketing and transportation, innovation, entrepreneurial energy and access to capital, and equity and opportunity.
The study said "Montana has vast regional disparities in employment and economic opportunities, with opportunities diminishing from west to east." The geographic isolation has Eastern Montana "left behind in much of the state’s growth."
In an earlier presentation, Phil Psilos emphasized the need for the cross-organization of economic development to education at the K-12 level, the University System and the work force.
Psilos, is a director of economic development policies for the National Governors Association.
Jacques Koppel, president of Minnesota Technology, noted the key asset of faculty and students being available to existing companies for the transfer of ideas and workers.
He said that the arts community in any state can also provide a powerful economic and political force in moving development forward.
The Economic Development Summit, the third to be held in the state, is sponsored by Sens. Max Baucus and Conrad Burns, Rep. Denny Rehberg and Martz.
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
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Summit seeks statewide unity
By JO DEE BLACK
Tribune Staff Writer
BILLINGS — A better view of the "big picture" is one of the most important things Dave Crum said he is taking back to Great Falls from this year’s Montana Economic Development Summit.
The two-day event at Montana State University-Billings wrapped up Thursday.
Crum, the assistant director of operations and development at the McLaughlin Research Center, said too often Montana communities focus solely on their individual economies.
"We’re a state with only 900,000 people," Crum said. "It’s important to look at the entire picture."
Barrett Kaiser, spokesman for Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said such interaction is exactly what his boss had in mind when he organized the first summit, held in June 2000 in Great Falls.
"Max wanted people from across the state to have a statewide focus on our future," Kaiser said.
Thursday’s agenda included breakout sessions that gave attendees a chance to learn more about industry clusters, the buzz word of this year’s event.
Basically, clusters are similar businesses that locate near each other to take advantage of opportunities such as skilled workers or university research programs.
Economic developers say supporting clusters can boost economies.
Steve Simonson of Thompson Falls sat in on a breakout session discussing traditional industry clusters.
He’s already involved in a mini-cluster as one of 30 companies using Mission Mountain Marketing’s commercially licensed kitchen in Ronan to make value-added food products.
Simonson uses herbs he grows on his farm to make tea for his business, Big Sky Tea Co.
Mission Mountain Marketing is a joint effort of Ronan-area economic development organizations, as well as federal and tribal governments.
Programs to help broaden such mini-clusters to wider parts of the state will benefit everyone, Simonson said.
Kaiser said there will be a summit next year, although a location isn’t firm yet. He did say, however, the plan is to continue to hold the event in different cities each year. The first two were held in Great Falls.
"The emphasis is to bring people from across the state together, but each year will highlight the economies and business recruitment efforts of different cities," Kaiser said.
The rest of Montana’s congressional delegation, Republicans Sen. Conrad Burns and Rep. Dennis Rehberg, along with Gov. Judy Martz now cosponsor the summits.
Crum said the chance to meet with the entire delegation and their representatives in one place is another big plus of the summit.
Kaiser agreed.
"When else do you get the state’s top elected leaders, business owners, economic developers and people from the private sector together like this?" he said.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20030530/localnews/390134.html
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