MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Montanans Could Pay 75% More for Health Insurance Next Year

  KFF estimates 15,000 Montanans will go without insurance because they can’t afford that increase

• Businesses connect with government agencies at GovMatch event

  Great Falls businesses are getting a unique opportunity to secure government contracts through the first-ever GovMatch event.

• Half of farmers (and ranchers) are over retirement age. Is our food system at risk?

  The average age of farmers in the United States is 58. Industry leaders are worried about what will happen when they retire.

• Legislature, Montana towns at odds with BNSF

  They’ve complained of exorbitant prices for permits, wait times stretching months to receive communication from BNSF and inconsistency from one of the nation’s largest freight companies. The railroad company is also in a legal battle with a company laying hundreds of miles of fiber optic cable in the Treasure State.

• Employer-Sponsored Child Care Grant Program – 2nd Round of Funding Application

  Applications will be accepted until Aug. 24, 2025 – closing at 9 p.m. (Mountain Time)

• Three Tips for a Happier Work Life – Harvard Business School

  Chasing success has costs that can end up lowering happiness, as many a desiccated, lonely workaholic can tell you.

• Trump Promised a Golden Age. Then a Montana Lumber Plant Closed Down.

  Anger over well-paid manufacturing jobs giving way to lower-wage work fueled President Trump’s rise. With his movement now in power, who gets blamed as the trend continues?

• Montana companies on the 2025 Inc. 5000 annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America.

  The Inc. 5000 is an annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America, showcasing the best of the best in entrepreneurial business.

• Local governments are being asked to do more with less. It’s time we gave them better tools.

  As federal support for local government shrinks, localities can shift how they budget by doing what works first through evidence-based budgeting.

• 406 JOBS initiative To Strengthen Montana’s Workforce

  406 JOBS stands for Four Pathways to Employment, Zero Barriers to Work, and Six High Demand Sectors. Those sectors include health care, construction, hospitality and recreation, advanced manufacturing and computing, education and child care, and financial and professional services.

Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority

• Is U.S. Passenger Rail Having a Big Moment?

  We brought in an expert to unpack some of the biggest rail headlines of the day — and a few you might have missed.

TechLink

• The Pulse from Techlink

  What is a CRADA?

• Join Us at the DARPAConnect Regional Pop-Up Event on 9/24 in Bozeman!

  Why DARPA?
  DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is the U.S. Department of Defense’s premier R&D agency, relentlessly pursuing groundbreaking innovations in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity, and more. Renowned for turning bold ideas into field-ready capabilities, DARPA continues to push the boundaries of possibility.

Montana Ambassadors

• Sessions Announced for the Montana Ambassadors Annual Convening – 9/16-17 – Big Sky

  In addition to keynote speaker Delano Roosevelt, we will feature Montana leaders who are forging global partnerships in technology, exports, and offering Montana-based services to international markets.

Prospera Business Network

• Prospera Navigator – Upcoming Business Trainings & Networking Events

  Prospera’s 56Strong women’s mentorship program is now accepting applications for mentees and mentors for the January through June 2026 cohort. The mentorship program supports female entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses and to build resiliency and solidarity among female professionals across the state.

Montana Business

• After completing innovation and management graduate program, Montana State alumnus launches food-focused startup Nutrax

  In February, Holland co-founded a new startup business called Nutrax, which aims to connect large food companies that have sustainability and nutrition goals with agricultural producers who can help achieve them.

• Historic Oxford Saloon & Cafe in Missoula up for sale – $5,250,000

  The sale of this landmark presents a unique opportunity for potential buyers to own a piece of Missoula’s history.

• Josh Smith, the owner of Montana Knife Company is now questioning Trumps tariffs on products he needs to purchase.

  Jesse talks about Josh Smith, the owner of Montana Knife Company, who in April posted a snarky video bragging about his “made in America” product prices not being impacted by Donald Trump’s damaging tariffs. Now he is singing a different tune as his business is being harmed by the policies he trusted Donald Trump about. Podcast   Missoula, Montana Knife Company Grows From Garage to State-of-the-art Facility On Tuesday’s KGVO Talk Back show, the Missoula Economic Partnership hosted Josh Smith, founder and owner of the Montana Knife Company, in the monthly ECON 101 broadcast. A double-edged knife: Missoula knife company…

Housing

• Montana homeowners can apply for property tax rebate starting Aug. 15

  Montana taxpayers who owned and lived in their home for at least seven months last year will be able to claim a rebate on their primary residence, for the amount they paid in property taxes for 2024, up to a maximum of $400.

• Affordable 3D-printed housing finally comes to the USA

  When 3D-printed architecture first materialized, many assumed that it would lead to widespread affordable housing, but, excepting some housing for homeless people, this hasn’t been the case in the USA yet. However, leading 3D-printing firm Icon may have made an initial step with three new homes in Texas that are being built for low-income individuals.

• Federal funding cuts threaten local assistance to Ravalli County families

  Did you know over 60,000 Montanans utilized Community Action services throughout the state last year?

Funding and Building your Business

• Is the Future of Solar in our Sidewalks?

  From photovoltaic pavement to bus stops that charge EVs from below, the next generation of clean energy infrastructure is right under our feet.

• The leadership strategy that’s more valuable than performance reviews

  Annual reviews are often too little, too late. Today’s top-performing teams thrive on real-time feedback. Here’s why.

Regional Economic Development

• San Francisco went too far in the wrong direction. It’s leading the way again.

  San Francisco’s rebound is built not just with ideals but with action.

City Club Missoula

• City Club Missoula highlights challenges, bright spots for education in Montana

  “We’re put into a position where we’re having to cut resources, where we’re cutting teachers, we’re cutting programs in order to just maintain what we have, and so that’s that’s significant for us,” Hill said.

Energy and Transportation

• What’s the story with recycling in Montana?

  This week, we’re tackling more of a “big where” than a why. A listener wants to know, where does our recycling go in Montana?

• State of the Climate in 2024

  The annual global temperature across land and ocean was
  the highest recorded in the observational record dating back to
  1850, breaking the record just recently set in 2023. The warmth
  was widespread

• AI experts return from China stunned: The U.S. grid is so weak, the race may already be over

  “U.S. policymakers should be hoping China stays a competitor and not an aggressor,” Fishman said. “Because right now they can’t compete effectively on the energy infrastructure front.”

• Exxon Mobil cleared to put in test well to assess viability of Snowy River carbon sequestration project

  The BLM says a test well will facilitate ‘transparency and continued dialogue’ for a controversial carbon sequestration project proposed in southeastern Montana.

21st Century Education Initiative – “You Should Care…”

• ‘Even if one young Afghan girl is educated, that is a success’: Bozeman nonprofit Central Asia Institute fights to educate Afghan girls under Taliban rule

  “The Taliban takeover has definitely impacted our work,” Karzai said. “Their brutal treatment of women has only worsened since the takeover. We still operate in Afghanistan, although we’ve had to reshape certain programs as the Taliban closes more doors to Afghan women, girls, and children.”

• Can this ‘jaw dropping’ program fix low literacy rates in San Francisco schools?

  A tutoring program has shown that 80% of the kindergarten and first-grade students participating in the tutoring were mastering foundational literacy skills by the end of the year.

• Building Community: University of Montana’s First-Year Indigenous Program Finds Success

  Initially developed to address the challenges faced by Indigenous students, many of whom experience culture shock and homesickness when transitioning to college, the IFYE program has made impressive strides. Retention jumped from 11 out of 17 students in the first cohort returning for a second year to 17 out of 22 in the second cohort.

• In Ireland, Montana State University business students hone intercultural communication skills

  “Studying abroad provides a unique opportunity for students to learn from different cultures, and I am proud of our professors for delivering real-world applications of international business communication in Ireland.”

2025 Legislature and Politics

• As Medicaid, insurance marketplace face huge changes, Congress eliminates most Montana navigators

  These navigators, both in person and via the phone, have helped thousands of Montanans get signed up for healthcare, whether through the healthcare.gov website, or begin the Medicaid process.

• Man detained after being pulled over by Whitefish police sues city, police department

  ”Being non-white, speaking Spanish, and providing proof of lawful presence does not justify transforming a traffic stop into an immigration investigation,” Castillo’s attorneys wrote.

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

• Most people are using ChatGPT totally wrong—and OpenAI’s CEO just proved it

  A tiny fraction of users ever touch the ‘thinky’ models built for better answers. Sam Altman’s slip reveals why GPT-5’s big debut landed with a thud.

Privacy, Hacking and Virus Alerts

• Data Brokers Are Hiding Their Opt-Out Pages From Google Search

  Many of the pages containing the instructions, listed in an official state registry, use code to tell search engines to remove the page entirely from search results. Popular tools like Google and Bing respect the code by excluding pages when responding to users.

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