“Across The State” A Picture of Local Economic Development Efforts -Montana Governor’s Office of Economic Development

Communities across the state
are finding successful and
unique ways to spur economic
growth and improve quality of
life. As part of the Governor’s
Main Street Montana Rural
Partners project, we reached
out to communities to compile
success stories and start a
dialogue surrounding best
practices across various
subjects. Our work covers topics
including sustainable childcare
facilities, cooperative business
models, trail systems, resort tax
and Tax Increment Financing
districts, local leadership, and
more. The topics are themes
that were identified in our
Community Partner meetings.

This project serves to
acknowledge each community’s
hard work, while also providing
a resource for other cities
and towns to learn from. The
following whitepaper is a
culmination of research, as
well as in-person and remote
interviews. It’s the first of several
whitepapers which will be highlighting areas where rural
Montana has achieved success,
and the resources and steps
they have taken to get to where
they are today. These stories
are intended to act as a guide
or starting point for others
wishing to implement similar
projects in their community. We
believe that by bringing these
stories to light we might better
connect cities and towns to the
resources they need to succeed.
Although every situation is
unique, we hope that this will
prove to be a useful tool kit for
continuing efforts to encourage
development and improve
the quality of life within your
community.

At every stop along our journey,
we were met with Montanans
from different backgrounds,
united in their common goal of
improving the places they call
home. We would like to thank
all those who took the time to
speak with us, as this project
would not have been possible
without your support.

Full Report

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