Imagination means nothing without doing. 

Charlie Chaplin – Born 4/16/1889

Missoula, Montana Chamber of Commerce

• 4 Montana Cities Shine as Top Spots for New Businesses

  Bozeman ranks fourth nationally for launching businesses, with Helena, Missoula, and Great Falls also recognized. Despite statewide challenges in workforce and infrastructure, these cities offer strong local environments for entrepreneurs.

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Top Top for 4-19-26

  The 15th Annual Fire Within honored 52 women business owners at The Newberry in Great Falls. GFDA’s annual celebration of female entrepreneurship drew over 230 guests this year for an upbeat event with food, photos, music, and excellent networking opportunities.

• Janicki Industries Considers Great Falls, Montana, or Twin Falls, Idaho, for New Manufacturing Facilities

  For more than 33 years, Janicki has designed and built composite and metallic tooling, parts, prototypes and assembled structures for many industries and is one of the largest privately owned Tier 1 aerospace suppliers in the United States.

University of Montana College of Business

• University of Montana’s 37th John Ruffatto Startup Business Challenge Awards $50,000 in Startup Challenge

  The 37th John Ruffatto Startup Challenge awarded a single finalist $50,000, highlighting the university’s ongoing support for student entrepreneurs. This competition plays a key role in fostering innovation and providing crucial financial backing for fledgling ventures.

Montana Business

• Breeding a better bread – CBS Sunday Morning

  The researchers at Breadlab, at Washington State University, are trying to breed varieties of whole grains that are better for farmers, consumers – and taste buds.

• Bio Cement that doesn’t require heat from coal and is stronger. CBS Sunday Morning

  The process of making 30 billion tons of concrete every year produces more carbon pollution than all the world’s ships and planes put together.

• Retirement is looming. Gen X’ers don’t have an estate plan. Do You? Why age 69 is crucial

  Trust & Will’s 2026 report reveals 62% of Gen Xers lack estate plans, the highest among generations. Montana’s unique challenges may require promoting online tools to improve planning uptake.

• Missoula’s Pangea Restaurant Group Halts Operations and Withholds Wages

  Pangea Restaurant Group announced a temporary closure and inability to pay workers’ last wages, signaling financial distress. The lack of details on the closure’s duration and future plans raises concerns about the group’s stability and impact on the local hospitality sector.

• Please Help Shape the Strategy for the Future of Education & Workforce in Montana

  I invite you to review the draft plan and submit comments during the public comment period, which is open now through 5:00 p.m. on April 27, 2026.

Montana Housing

• The Flywheel – Slow Bets

  No single bet changed my life. This loop did.

Regional Business News

• Artemis II Astronauts Credit Wyoming-Based NOLS For Prepping Them For Moon Mission

  In their first interview Thursday since returning from a trip around the moon, the Artemis II astronauts credited their training at Wyoming-based NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School) for helping prepare for their mission. NASA has contracted NOLS for more than 45 wilderness expeditions.

Montana’s American Prairie

• Montana Ag Network: A fight over bison grazing in the plains

  “Bison grazed here for thousands and thousands of years. You know, they’re built for the landscape. They’re adapted to the landscape. Whether it’s drought or severe winter. They’re made to live here. They do very well here,” Heiderbrink said.

YOUR MONTANA CAREER

• Why age 69 is crucial to planning a comfortable retirement and legacy

  Taxes are one of the largest surprise expenses for retirees

VR/AR, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Artificial Intelligence, The Internet of Things and Montana

• It’s the End of the Internet as We Know It

  Across all these projects and many more, the model identified thousands of vulnerabilities in code. These are the types of issues that can allow ransomware to shut down hospitals. They’re how cyberattacks can disrupt critical infrastructure. And they’re how foreign intelligence services can compromise government networks.

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