Montana Economic Development Report 2019

Dear Governor Bullock, Cabinet Members, and Citizens of Montana,

The team of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and I, are proud to present this report on the economy of Montana and many of our activities throughout the preceding year.

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development has had several big wins in the last year. Notably, ClassPass has expanded beyond what anyone anticipated and now employs over 125 people in Missoula. Many other new companies relocated to Montana recently as well. Some of the most notable include 4Cast, an Israeli tech firm, Birddog Innovations, a consulting company, Kudos, a social media app, Free Agent Software, a customer relationship management software, and The MeatEater, a video production and lifestyle brand. Universally, the reasons for these companies moving to Montana has been the state’s excellent workforce, affordable cost of doing business, and outstanding quality of life.

These characteristics are helping Montana win the war for both talent and companies against cities like Salt Lake City, Boise, Denver, Seattle and San Francisco. We must continue to double down on the assets that make Montana attractive. The work being done by the Office of Outdoor Recreation, for example, has catapulted Montana to the forefront of national conversations about public land access and our outdoor recreation economy.

Despite these successes, there are many areas of our state that need attention. Nowhere is this more true than in many rural parts of Montana. As cities like Bozeman and Missoula continue to boom, attractive rural towns like Roundup and Choteau are hemorrhaging population and losing jobs. Tackling this issue is of the utmost importance, which is why Main Street Montana Rural Partners was created. This initiative seeks to rectify the lack of economic parity between rural and urban places. Although this is a long-term trend, significant progress is already being made in several pilot communities. It is our hope that the lessons learned can be leveraged to great effect in towns all across our state.

It is truly an honor to serve the people of Montana, and we at the Governors Office of Economic Development look forward to keeping strong forward momentum toward a prosperous future.

Sincerely,

Ken Fichtler

Chief Business Development Officer

Governor’s Office of Economic Development

State of Montana