New businesses make for splashy headlines, and Missoula has landed its share of new companies over the past few years, from bicycle fabricators to digital services.

But Missoula Economic Partnership has found equal success in keeping the city’s existing businesses home and helping them grow, the organization’s president and CEO said this week.

“The thing that tends to get the most headlines is our business attraction work,” said Grant Kier. “But the truth is, the vast majority of our work is helping those companies that are already here.”

By Martin Kidston