Number of units in Aurora Apartments development adjacent to the Touro Montana Medical School construction: 216 Number of units in planned Carter Commons affordable senior housing development: 25 Speed of all-fiber broadband network TDS Telecommunications is constructing throughout Great Falls: 2Gig Record number of The Fire Within female entrepreneur award winners: 32 Mill levy increase in City of Great Falls from newly taxable property since 2002: $8,750,727 Amount of pasta produced annually by Pasta Montana: 85 million pounds Number of hives Smoot Honey puts out in region: Over 5,500 Megawatt generation increase in Great Falls area dams underway by Northwestern Energy: 4 Average annual wage growth in Great Falls MSA in 2021: 3.2% Average annual wage in 2021: $46,437 Average annual wage growth in 2021 $1,430 Dollar amount of annual total wage growth Great Falls MSA in 2021: $103 million Cost of living in Great Falls in 2022Q1 compared to national average: 86.7% Number of CNA graduates in first year of Great Falls College MSU program: 52 Completion rate: 100% Percentage of College’s CNA graduates who passed certification and are working for five health care providers in the region: 94% Funding announced by U.S. Dept. of Interior for Rocky Boy Central Montana Rural Water System and St. Mary Diversion water project: $142 million Companies added to our CRM this quarter: 143 Companies we actively engaged with this quarter: 363 Target activity this quarter (companies and developers we have targeted to try to attract into Great Falls trade area): 67 New targets identified this quarter: 16 Total current identified targets: 292 New leads generated this quarter (companies and developers with planned investments that are considering Great Falls trade area): 39 Active projects (investments in Great Falls trade area planned by companies and developers) we worked on this quarter: 45 Entrepreneurs, future entrepreneurs, and businesses in Great Falls trade area advised by GFDA during quarter: 187 Of these, number of new advising clients: 69 Entrepreneur and business training sessions offered during quarter: 14 Number of training participants: 175 Businesses bought or started by advised clients during quarter: 7 New capital secured by entrepreneur clients during quarter: $724,479 Jobs supported by our Small Business Development Center (SBDC) during quarter: 467 Businesses active with our Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) this quarter: 156 Amount of government contracts won by clients during quarter: $554,119 GFDA gap and bridge loans closed during quarter: $1,130,000 Additional private investment leveraged by GFDA loans: $7,019,618 SBA 504 loans closed during quarter: $173,000 Additional private investment leveraged by these loans: $252,000 504 loans approved by SBA this quarter: $147,000 Additional private investment to be leveraged: $210,000 Current SBA 504 fixed 20-year effective loan interest rate with 10% down: 5.047% Current 10-year equipment effective fixed rate: 4.962% Free Brownfield assessments completed: 4 Free Brownfield assessments underway: 3 Brownfield cleanups underway: 2 Factors scoring over 90% in corporate site selection survey: labor costs, availability of skilled labor, energy availability and costs, inbound/outbound shipping costs, and highway accessibility Factors scoring over 80%: raw materials availability, corporate tax rate, state and local incentives, environmental regulations, tax exemptions, quality of life, occupancy or construction costs, and right to work state Montana rank for bars per capita: 2nd Montana rank for best state to retire in: 7th Increase in Montana meat processing so far in FY2022: 50% Increase in number of animals processed: 34,942 Average cost reduction announced by Montana State Fund worker compensation system: 3% Percentage of online buyers who do in store research before purchasing on web: 60% Ransomware attacks in U.S. in 2021: 420 million Cybersecurity industry revenue in 2021: $150 billion Increase since 2020: 98% U.S. college student loan debt: $1.6 trillion Student loan balance held by borrowers over age 50: 23% U.S. renters who live with a pet or service animal: 64% For info contact Jolene Schalper at [email protected] or 1-406-750-4481 PDF of 2022Q2 GFDA Quarter Index |