The Great Falls Development Authority Forming Industry Cluster Task Forces. Kickoff Meetings 5/6 through 5/15

Five industries have been targeted for growth in the region: Energy, Agriprocessing, Business Services, Design & Construction, and Medical.

The Great Falls Development Authority http://www.GreatFallsDevelopment.org today announced kick-off meetings to form industry cluster task forces.

The task forces will bring together business leaders within each industry, public officials and interested residents to identify growth opportunities and discuss obstacles to growth. “We believe these primary sector industries have excellent potential for growth, “ stated Brett Doney, President of GFDA. “We want to work with existing businesses to help them expand and prosper. We also want to identify opportunities to attract and start new companies that will expand and strengthen each industry cluster.”

The kick-off meetings will be held at 3:00 PM at the Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, 100 1st Avenue North, on the following dates:

Energy Cluster May 6

Agriprocessing Cluster May 7

Business Services May 12

Design & Construction May 13

Medical May 15

The meetings are open to anyone interested in growing these industry clusters in the Great Falls region. Primary sector industries are critical to growing a region’s economy because these businesses generate the majority of their revenue from outside the Great Falls trade area. The industries were chosen based on existing businesses and industry cluster analyses commissioned by GFDA.

The Energy Cluster will explore opportunities in electric generation and transmission, oil and gas development, and alternative energy. Examples of existing energy businesses and projects include Montana Refining, the Montana Alberta Transmission line, Gibson Dam, PPL’s Rainbow Dam upgrade and the USAF Coal to Liquid proposal.

The Agriprocessing industry includes grain and oil seed processing, food processing and biofuels. Examples of existing companies include General Mills, Archer Daniels Midland, Pasta Montana, Montana Milling, Timeless Seeds, Cenex Harvest States and Montana Specialty Mills.

The Business Services cluster will cover finance, insurance, customer service, data centers and professional services. Existing companies include DA Davidson, NEW, and Centene, as well as entrepreneurial companies such as Wendt, North Country Media Group, Winston Publishing and many others.

The Design & Construction cluster includes architectural, engineering, construction management, construction supply companies and construction firms that do business, or would like to do business, outside the Great Falls trade area. Existing companies include Sletten Construction, L’Heurreux Page Werner, CTA, NCI, United Materials, Lumber Yard Supply, Stelling Engineers, Pacific Steel & Recycling and Anderson Steel, just to name a few.

The Medical Cluster includes Benefis, Great Falls Clinic, Montana School for the Deaf and Blind, and the McLaughlin Institute.

For additional information contact Brett Doney at (406) 771-9030 or [email protected].