Big Sky Economic Development

Big Sky Economic Development Authority Executive Director Steve Arveschoug said he considers workforce development to be Montana’s biggest economic development issue and that one of the possible solutions is using technology to boost worker productivity.

Big Sky Economic Development reversed its support of a local option sales tax authority for the 2017 legislative session after criticism from Yellowstone County commissioners, who control the agency’s budget.

"(Health care) is a big deal for us," Arveschoug said. "But it’s faced with challenges in terms of workforce."

Steve Arveschoug, executive director of BSED, Yellowstone County’s economic development agency, urged attendees to think about how Billings compares to other cities within a 500-mile drive. Over the coming decades, Billings will continue to compete with other cities within 500 miles for well trained workers.

For more on what sets Billings apart, watch this video.

If we can figure out how to build and live lightly and sustainably in this place, we should be able to do it just about any place."

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) was able to take a client from being non-bankable to bankable in a few short months. As a result of the work the SBDC did with our client, we transitioned from what may have been a loan turn down into extending a $1.2 million dollar loan to fund their new business venture.

Ty Elkin

Yellowstone Bank
President, Billings Homestead Bank

The keynote speaker will be addressing how to be a great small to mid size workplace and position your business to hire and retain top notch talent in a competitive and employee driven market.

Data enables us to understand the economic pulse of our community, and perhaps more importantly, how we compare to others in our region.

Billings Flying Service is an air service company owning and operating Chinook helicopters.