Development center selects Great Falls as new hometown

The Montana Cooperative Development Center, which caused political sparks this summer when it moved temporarily from Havre to Helena, has found a permanent home in Great Falls.

By JARED MILLER
Tribune Hi-Line Reporter

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20040121/localnews/266355.html

The co-op center’s 14-member board voted Tuesday to relocate to the Farmers Union Insurance building, at 300 River Drive North.

It was originally at Montana State University-Northern in Havre.

Created by the state Legislature in 1999, the center fosters the formation of cooperatives to produce and market Montana products.

In Helena, the center employed one permanent and two part-time temporary employees. The board has not decided what the staffing will be in Great Falls.

Funding comes from several sources. The state provides $65,000 a year. Two federal grants, including a large grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provide most of the funding to run the center. It also brings in a number of smaller grants.

A year ago, the state Agriculture Department asked for new proposals to house the co-op center.

According to Agriculture Department Director Ralph Peck, MSU-Northern was an incubator site for the co-op center.

The center’s board of directors narrowed the field to two candidates: Farmers Union Insurance of Great Falls and Bear Paw Development Corp. of Havre.

The board selected the Farmers Union Insurance proposal Tuesday in a secret-ballot vote. It did not release the vote tally.

The decision to move the co-op center from MSU-Northern a year ago generated political controversy when Havre officials became upset with the plan to pull the center from city.

Reaction to Tuesday’s decision was mixed.

State Rep. Bob Bergren, D-Havre, said it would have been more appropriate to keep the center in Havre, or at least on the Hi-Line.

"It was designed to operate in a rural setting," Bergren said.

Bear Paw Development proposed locating the center across the hall from it’s own offices in the Ryan Building in Havre.

Bear Paw offered to provide the center with office equipment and services.

Havre Mayor Bob Rice said he was surprised and disappointed by the news.

"I honestly didn’t think that would happen," Rice said.

Montana Farmers Union President Brooks Dailey, who also serves as co-op center vice president, said the move will be a "very good fit."

Great Falls will provide a central location with good roads for access and services. Dailey did not participate in Tuesday’s vote.

"We think we can offer the Cooperative Development Center a real home and a real chance to be part of the community of Great Falls," Dailey said.

Peck said he supports the co-op board’s decision.

"They had a tough decision to make," Peck said. "I think it makes sense that they located it where they can get the best resources they can."