Missoula, Montana based PatientOne Awarded Grants to Create High Wage Jobs

PATIENTONE, EMERGING MISSOULA BUSINESS, AWARDED $106,731 IN GRANTS TO CREATE HIGH WAGE JOBS

PatientOne, a health care tech startup based in Missoula, has been awarded $106,731 in combined Big Sky Trust Fund (BSTF) and Primary Sector Workforce Training Grants to support the creation of 9 new jobs over the next year– $67,500 in BSTF Job Creation grants, and $39,231 for workforce training. PatientOne CEO Jeff Fee commented “PatientOne is thrilled to have been awarded BSTF and Workforce Training grants. These grants are an important tool for early stage businesses like ours to support the creation and growth of quality jobs here in Montana, and we’re grateful to have that support.”

New positions at PatientOne are already creating opportunities for University of Montana’s students to stay in Missoula after graduation. Recent graduate Hannah Syrenne, Business Development Representative for PatientOne, is one of the beneficiaries of their recent hiring round. “I feel so fortunate to have been hired for a full-time position fresh out of college, when so many graduates struggle to find employment for years. I’m even happier to be able to say that I work for a company which impassions me, and for people who treat me as a genuine part of the team regardless of my age,” said Syrenne.

The Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund (BSTF) Job Creation Grant program through the Montana Department of Commerce Office of Tourism and Business Development awards grant funds to assist basic sector businesses creating good-paying jobs. Businesses must pay at least $19.65/hr to be eligible for the maximum BSTF Job Creation grant award, which is up to $7500 per full-time job created. Missoula County, in cooperation with the Missoula Economic Partnership, is the governmental entity tasked with applying for grants and monitoring them once they’re awarded.

PatientOne has developed a platform to provide remote patient monitoring services to independent surgeons, surgery centers and hospitals. Missoula Economic Partnership CEO, Grant Kier, said, “It’s exciting to see a businesses like PatientOne start and grow here in Missoula. Their success is a reflection of creatively merging our community’s existing strengths in health care and technology—that’s what we mean when at MEP when we talk about “best-fit” companies for Missoula.

The Primary Sector Workforce Training Grant program, also through the Montana Department of Commerce Office of Tourism and Business Development, encourages the creation of jobs in primary sector businesses by providing funding for new or existing primary sector businesses to train employees in new jobs that allow the businesses to expand in Montana without leaving the state. Primary sector businesses are generally defined as those having 50% or more of their sales outside Montana.

A primary sector business creating jobs in Montana is eligible for up to $5,000 for each net new full-time job created and $2,500 for each net new part-time job created that pays at least 170% of the state minimum wage. Training funds are not provided to the awarded applicant business until the jobs have been created at the qualifying wage and eligible expenses have been incurred.

Missoula Economic Partnership works to grow a sustainable, vibrant, and diversified regional economy.  Many individuals and groups have been an integral part of this effort since our formation in 2011. We strive to be innovative, nimble, and inclusive in accomplishing our mission and we cannot achieve success without input from community stakeholders.