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GFDA Top Ten for 12-29-24…Here is our Top 10 highlights for calendar year 2024! Well, Top 11 — really tried to keep it to 10.

GFDA
Here is our Top 10 highlights for calendar year 2024!

Well, Top 11 — really tried to keep it to 10.

1) Primary Sector. Montana Renewables secured a $1.44 conditional loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand its sustainable aviation fuel refinery in Great Falls by 150 million gallons per year. Berkshire Hathaway Energy Montana started construction on a 75MW battery storage system and announced plans to construct a 100MW solar farm in 2025. Sustainable Oils won a $30 million USDA grant to validate camelina as an ultra-low carbon renewable fuel stock. Pasta Montana added an additional processing line. Montana Specialty Mills expanded its oil seed processing facility in the Great Falls Agritech Park. Ardent Mills expanded its facility in Shelby’s Port of North Central Montana. Construction started on the Weapons Generation Facility at Malmstrom AFB. Hybrid Steel Design expanded their Ft. Benton facility. Construction stared on the new VACOM facility in Lewistown.

The McLaughlin Research Institute won a $13.8 million NIH grant to launch the Center for Integrated Biomedical and Rural Health Research. The Institute became part of Touro University and was renamed the Weissman Hood Institute. The Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians announced a major Event Center and Resort development in Great Falls.

2) Entrepreneurship. We celebrated 52 business openings in the region in our Top 10’s this year and 8 business purchases. We recognized 31 awesome female entrepreneurs with Fire Within Awards. We organized the first of a new cohort entrepreneur program with 10 Downtown Great Falls entrepreneurs participating. We held our first annual Entrepreneur celebration and the first gathering of our Angel Network. We started a new spotlight series featuring veteran-owned businesses and launched a new entrepreneur start-up class called Idea to Income. We are partnering with Great Falls College to bring the Goldman Sachs 10,000 businesses program to the region. We became a Grow with Google partner.

 

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