Gateway Economic Development Corp. hires Deborah Hayden as new regional development coordinator

Deborah Hayden sees no reason that Montana can’t be home to more high-tech firms and other 21st century businesses that could help lift the state’s economy out of the bottom fifth in the country.

"The mentality in Montana is that we can’t do that because we’re not Silicon Valley or Boise or Austin, and that’s just not true," she said.

By JOHN HARRINGTON – IR Business Editor

http://www.helenair.com/articles/2004/02/15/business/e01021504_01.txt

Hayden recently joined Gateway Economic Development Corp. as regional economic development coordinator. Her first goal is to create a Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for the Gateway region, which includes Lewis and Clark, Broadwater and Meagher counties.

The plan will draw on economic development documents already drawn up by the three counties, the City of Helena and the town of Lincoln, as well as meetings with business and civic leaders in all the jurisdictions.

The plan sprouted from the East Helena Adjustment Study done when the smelter closed. When complete, it will allow Gateway to apply for grant programs and revolving loan funds from the federal Economic Development Authority.

But beyond developing an economic development plan that qualifies the region for certain federal funds, Hayden wants to identify specific industries a community is interested in luring, and get to work on making it happen.

A more long-term goal is to get the entire three-county region, from Augusta and Lincoln to Townsend and White Sulphur Springs, working off the same page if not pursuing the same forms of economic development.

"It’s a very well laid-out and enlightened planning process. It helps people in these diverse communities get to know each other and work together," she said. "They can gain some advantage from facing similar problems and developing problem-solving strategies."

Also high on Hayden’s list is impressing upon the greater Helena business community the potential of the region’s outlying towns.

"We’re seeing that more and more in Helena," she said. "People realize the importance of the health of these smaller communities. It’s good to have a healthy region as well as a healthy core."

A committee of three county commissioners — Anita Varone from Lewis and Clark, Jamie Doggett from Meagher and Jim Hohn from Broadwater — will oversee the plan’s progress.

Hayden comes to Helena from Polson, where she was a private consultant specializing in grant writing, business strategies and marketing feasibility studies. She was previously economic development officer for two tribes on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington.

John Harrington can be reached at 447-4080 or [email protected].