Montana Department of Commerce Launches New Public Digital Asset Resource

Commerce’s content.commercemt.gov service provides video and photography assets for public use to better support promoting Montana’s economic growth

The Montana Department of Commerce will accept applications for the Agritourism Grants Program September 24 through October 23.

 These grants support rural tribal and agricultural businesses and communities by assisting with diversifying operations, developing and enhancing agritourism opportunities and generating tourism revenue for the benefit of local communities.

Commerce To Launch New Capital Access Opportunity for Rural Montana Businesses

“Commerce is excited to launch this program and begin reviewing impactful projects that support rural Montana,” said Commerce Director Marta Bertoglio. “This is a unique opportunity for local lenders and economic development partners to collaborate in delivering capital to businesses that need it most.”

Protests at Glacier as national parks reel from Trump cuts: ‘They’ve gutted staff, gutted funding’

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Parking: The Dark Matter of the Urban Universe

  Parking regulations affect our lives and communities in many, often mysterious ways. These impacts are often overlooked, resulting in bad policies. It’s time to apply urban planning magic: fewer driveways and better managed public parking.

• Communities lure new residents with cash incentives

  More than 100 programs offering people economic incentives to move to cities and states across the country have sprouted up over the last decade on the online site Make My Move.

• Montana Department of Commerce Launches New Public Digital Asset Resource

  Commerce’s content.commercemt.gov service provides video and photography assets for public use to better support promoting Montana’s economic growth

• The Montana Department of Commerce will accept applications for the Agritourism Grants Program September 24 through October 23.

   These grants support rural tribal and agricultural businesses and communities by assisting with diversifying operations, developing and enhancing agritourism opportunities and generating tourism revenue for the benefit of local communities.

• Montana Infrastructure Coalition Annual Meeting – 9/11-12 – Shelby, Montana

  Registration is now open for the 2025 MIC Annual Meeting! This year’s meeting will take place in Shelby, MT, and will feature a full-day bus tour of the St. Mary’s Siphon failure site and other critical infrastructure projects in the area. Attendees should plan for a full day in the field.  An official agenda with full meeting details, including speakers and session topics, will be released soon.

• Protests at Glacier as national parks reel from Trump cuts: ‘They’ve gutted staff, gutted funding’

  It’s only a matter of time until there’s an event we can’t respond to appropriately and there’s a mass failure of a system.”

• Commerce To Launch New Capital Access Opportunity for Rural Montana Businesses

  “Commerce is excited to launch this program and begin reviewing impactful projects that support rural Montana,” said Commerce Director Marta Bertoglio. “This is a unique opportunity for local lenders and economic development partners to collaborate in delivering capital to businesses that need it most.”

• Eshylon Scientific opens in Bozeman, boosting local semiconductor industry

  “We were originally just going to bring our expansion to Montana, but after visiting the state and with the Montana Department of Commerce, we decided to pull tent stakes and leave the Bay Area.”

  Eryn Smith, founder and CEO of Eshylon Scientific

Northwestern Energy

• Montana hydropower provides reliable, carbon-free energy for customers

  Sunday, August 24 is National Hydropower Day. Nearly 35% of electricity for Northwestern Energy customers in Montana comes from hydropower, contributing to the state’s impressive renewable energy portfolio where more than 60% of energy comes from carbon-free sources.

• FCC documents show some internet providers struggling to bring service to Montana

  Cost, legal disputes could drag out broadband expansion

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Releases Food Processing Safety Videos Series

  Montana has some of the best food processors in the world and there are many partners across the state working to support existing and startup processors. As part of this effort, we partnered with the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center (MMEC) to produce a series of 10 food safety videos geared specifically to food processors.

• GFDA Top Ten for 8-24-25

  Three of the fantastic new murals in Downtown Great Falls created during the Great Falls : Great Walls event this month. Thank you to the Business Improvement District, the City of Great Falls, property owners, sponsors, volunteers and the incredible artists who made this happen!

• GFDA Releases “Opportunities in Pulse Processing for the State of Montana” Market Assessment

  Montana is the nation’s top producer of dry peas, lentils, and chickpeas, yet most of this production leaves the state in raw, unprocessed form. We are pleased to release a statewide market assessment that explores opportunities to expand pulse processing capacity in Montana.

TechLink

• SBIR/STTR at the National Science Foundation (NSF) September 17 – Bozeman

  Pitch your innovation for up to $2 million in grant funding   This session will present an overview of America’s Seed Fund powered by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), a grantmaking program that provides funding to startups without taking any stake in your company. The program encourages innovators across all scientific disciplines to submit proposals that explore new frontiers and challenge conventional knowledge boundaries. By providing critical seed funding, NSF supports the ideas and the people who create breakthrough discoveries and innovations to address complex societal challenges. In this interactive session, we will provide key insights on how to…

Montana Business

• Wyoming Rancher Still Has Nightmares About Flesh-Eating Screwworm As U.S. On Alert

  As the threat of a nasty flesh-eating screwworm grows, cattle ranchers across the United States are on high alert. One rancher in Crook County, Wyoming, saw screwworms feast on her family’s cattle decades ago, and says it’s the stuff of nightmares.

Housing

• Off-grid living next new real estate trend as applications for rural mortgages skyrocket

  “It just warms my heart,” says the broker. “There are many, many young people that have kind of seen the light. … They’re just very wise, and they have the eyes to see and the ears to hear. And they say, ‘We want to be more self-sufficient.’”

• In pictures: How surging home prices nuked Montana’s property tax balance — and how a second-home tax might fix it

  Montana’s effort to offer homeowner relief without stifling businesses is mind-numbingly complex. Here’s an illustrated guide to how it works.

Funding and Building your Business

• Guides on how to make friends your first week on the job, and even foster lifelong friendships with colleagues.

  Workers benefit from making friends, and companies can (and should) facilitate this by encouraging people to socialize. Remember: we spend about a third of our waking hours at work. That time could be best spent among the company of friends.

• Mark Cuban says the best employees share 1 crucial (yet nearly always overlooked) skill

  Work ethic, productivity, teamwork, interpersonal skills—all those things matter, but so does this.

Regional Economic Development

• Bar Nunn, Wyoming Town Council again hears opposition, but also support, for Radiant nuclear manufacturing plans

  A California-based company wants to produce its portable nuclear microreactors, called Kaleidos, in Wyoming.

Regional Business News

• Denver International Airport Considers Going Nuclear With Small Reactors

  DIA is considering small modular nuclear reactors to power the airport which is attracting interest from Wyoming manufacturers that build them. The Trump administration is speeding up the permitting process for these reactors which would give the airport energy independence.

• This growing Calif. chain just tapped into an unlikely market worth billions

  It may soon be coming to a school cafeteria near you

Rural Communities

• Highway Warning if you’re going to Yellowstone on 26! – Shoshoni, Wyoming Police Write Thousands Of Speeding Tickets — But Don’t Call It A Trap

  Although the town of Shoshoni has a reputation for having a speed trap, the chief of police disputes that. He says the reason 2,372 speeding tickets were issued last year is that people were a threat to public safety and without consequences, you can’t change behavior.

City Club Missoula

• City Club Missoula Presents: The Energy Industry in Montana: The Price of Power Day: Monday, September 8th 2025

  City Club Missoula will examine the changing dynamics of power utilities in Missoula and throughout the state.

American Prairie

• American Prairie Grows in Size, Expands Missouri River Access

  American Prairie is pleased to announce it has added just over 1,400 acres of land, which includes scenic habitat situated both near and along the Missouri River, improving public access for boaters, floaters, anglers, and other river recreationalists.

YOUR CAREER

• California teens are ditching office jobs — and making $100K before they turn 21

  College degrees don’t offer the job security they once did. Is blue-collar work the answer?

Energy and Transportation

• One-Way Streets Have Worse Crashes, Higher Crime and Lower Property Values — Why do we Still Use Them?

  How reverting one-way streets to two-way can boost both safety and economic development.

• Nuclear Training Center In Kemmerer, Wyoming To Finish Three Years Ahead Of New Plant – Career Opportunities

  The lead time will be needed to ramp up hiring for the Bill Gates-backed company’s first Natrium reactor, but the center is not going to train people only for the Kemmerer operation.

• This new technology could help reduce speeding-related deaths

  In Washington State, a horrifying crash killed a mother and three children when someone barreled down the street at 112 MPH. That tragedy led to ISA legislation called the BEAM Act, named after the first initials of the four victims.

• Can-Am Outlander Electric ATV: BRP brings silent power to the trails

  The Outlander Electric delivers a solid 47 horsepower and 53 lb-ft of torque, with a usable range of up to 50 miles in ideal conditions. It’s also quick to recharge: 20 to 80% in just 50 minutes using a Level 2 charger, making it practical for real-world work and play.

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

• Research growth brings funding uncertainty at University of Montana

  The loss of funds triggered staff cuts and forced the university to scale back community and educational services.

• Newsela – Research-backed, engaging, differentiated content and AI-powered tools that save educators time and support every student.

  When students can draw personal connections to their classroom materials, they engage more in their learning, participate more in class, and better understand what they’re learning.

University of Montana & Montana State University Tech Transfer

• Why This Billionaire Berkeley Professor Won’t Leave The Classroom

  This computer science professor became a billionaire launching four startups out of his privately-funded research lab, including unicorns Databricks and Anyscale. But it’s never been just about business.

2025 Legislature and Politics

• Local emergency alert systems in question as media agency closes

  “CPB has been fully invested in the NGWS program and its mission to protect the American public,” CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison wrote in a statement. “This is one more example of rescission consequences impacting local public media stations and the communities they serve—in this case, weakening the capacity of local public media stations to support the safety and preparedness of their communities.”

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