MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Your Third Trimester and The Encore program – Who am I? What’s my purpose? What do I really want? Do I matter?….“I should have done this earlier”

  We shouldn’t have to wait until we’re 65 to learn how to transform our lives.

• Underground Energy, How Aquifer Thermal Systems Could Cut Costs and Power Montana’s Growing Cities

  Studies show aquifer thermal systems can cut heating and cooling emissions by up to 74 percent and deliver payback periods as short as two years, with long term infrastructure lasting decades.

• Leadership Montana Flagship Class of 2027 – Applications are OPEN – Deadline: February 28, 2026

  We are a collaboration of leaders from business, labor, healthcare, education, nonprofit, and government coming together to form a strong partnership for the betterment of our state. Leadership Montana offers participants a program that strengthens leadership skills while fostering personal growth and reflection. Participants gain a deeper awareness of issues affecting Montana all while building powerful and personal connections with their classmates and network of committed alumni.

• Montana Department of Commerce Investment Targets Downtown Revitalization Across 11 Montana Communities

  For many rural towns, even modest capital investments can have outsized effects by attracting visitors, supporting local entrepreneurs, and stabilizing tax bases that fund schools and essential services.

• How America Ignited Wildfires

  A planet that learned to burn. A century of fire suppression. A warming world primed to ignite. 1440 Explores host Sony Kassam sits down with fire historian Stephen Pyne to trace how humans turned fire from our greatest tool into our most dangerous threat—and what it would take to live with fire again.

Missoula, Montana Chamber of Commerce

• Draught Works Brewery has become a cornerstone of Missoula’s identity, blending local pride, craftsmanship, and community connection

  As visitors seek out authentic Montana experiences, Draught Works serves as a gateway to the local economy, encouraging spending at nearby restaurants, shops, and outdoor outfitters. Its success also reflects a broader trend in Montana’s economy, where small scale manufacturing and value added local products play an increasing role in rural and urban economic resilience.

• Big Sky Documentary Film Festival – Feb. 13 to Feb. 22 – Missoula

  Now entering its 23rd year, the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is the premier venue for non-fiction film in the American West.

Northwestern Energy

• Career Opportunities at Northwestern Energy

  NorthWestern Energy is a regional energy company serving electric and natural gas across western and central Montana, eastern South Dakota and several communities in Nebraska. We also proudly serve Yellowstone National Park. Our company is an employer of choice, encouraging employees to creatively address the energy evolution with innovation and integrity. We offer a wide array of careers, from the traditional utility craft professionals to accountants, environmental professionals, biologists, community relations professionals, computer technologists and engineers.   Here’s what our employees are saying: When we joined the company we felt welcome. NorthWestern is a physically safe place to work. We…

• Nuclear Power Debate in the Dakotas Signals Big Stakes for Montana, NorthWestern Energy, and Ratepayers

  “We’re going to ultimately have to get to nuclear.” Brian Bird CEO and President of NorthWestern Energy

Great Falls Montana Development Alliance

• GFDA Quarterly Investor Letter

  We’ve recommitted to producing an annual report and published our FY2025 Annual Report last month.

• GFDA Top Ten for 2-1-26

  Work continued this week across GFDA’s active pipeline of business attraction projects, with several initiatives advancing meaningfully toward key decision points. Efforts focused on clarifying project requirements, confirming community capacity, and resolving final due-diligence items as prospects moved closer to the finish line.

Montana Business

• Montana Career Opportunity – President of the University of Montana – Missoula

  The President of the University of Montana serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Montana’s flagship public top-tier research university and provides strategic, values-driven leadership to advance impact, access, and inclusive prosperity. Reporting directly to the Commissioner of Higher Education, the Chief Executive Officer of the Montana University System, the President leads in a shared governance environment and works closely with the Board of Regents, faculty, staff, students, alumni, and partners across the state and beyond. The President will provide UM with visionary leadership, stewarding UM’s positive momentum at a pivotal moment for the institution. UM enjoys demonstrated maturity, operational…

• A Montana Distiller’s Long View on Growth, Grit, and the Pioneer Spirit – Willie Blazer and Willie’s Distillery in Ennis, Montana

  Building a business in Montana has always required patience, resilience, and a willingness to face uncertainty, qualities that define both the state’s pioneer spirit and the entrepreneurs who keep it alive today. Willie Blazer, a veteran of the United States Armed Forces and the U.S. Forest Service, embodies that tradition through Willie’s Distillery in Ennis, which he co founded with his late wife, Robin.

• Plonk: Downtown Missoula upscale restaurant property listed for sale for $4M

  “The sale includes a fully renovated 3-level building with an upper terrace and a highly valuable all-beverage gaming license,” the listing says. “The property offers over 6,600 square feet of hospitality-ready space with updated HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems, strong street presence, and excellent pedestrian exposure. Sale includes a Missoula City quota area all-beverage license with gaming attached.”

• University of Montana Business College to Host Co-Founder of Whatnot for Lecture – 2/11 – Gilkey Building

  Today, Whatnot spans hundreds of categories – from sports cards and sneakers to fashion, coins and live plants. Buyers spend an average of 80 minutes a day on the platform, discovering products, forming connections and driving more than 1.5 million daily transactions.

• BHE Montana’s New $100 million Glacier Battery Facility Signals Major Energy Investment in Northern Montana

  “The energization of the Glacier Battery System marks a significant milestone in our commitment to delivering reliable energy to the region,” Ed Rihn, CEO of BHE Montana, said. “This project strengthens our ability to balance supply and demand and ensures customers have the power they need, when they need it. Montana continues to be a great place to invest, and we are excited about our quickly expanding presence here.”

Visit Montana

• Missouri Breaks monument fuels income, job, tourism growth in Montana, analysis finds

  In the 25 years since its controversial creation, the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument’s surrounding counties have seen steady job and income growth, according to a recent analysis by Bozeman-based Headwaters Economics.

Regional Economic Development

• North Dakota town serves as an example of the promise and perils of data centers for South Dakota

  Some data center boosters in South Dakota say Ellendale — which has more data center development than the entire state to its south — is an example to follow.

Montana’s American Prairie

• Bison, Boundaries, and Public Lands, Why a Wyoming Dispute Matters to Montana and American Prairie

  A heated debate over bison reintroduction and land status on Wyoming’s Wind River Indian Reservation is drawing attention across the Northern Plains, including Montana, because it highlights the legal, cultural, and land use challenges that come with restoring bison at scale.

YOUR MONTANA CAREER

• Women in the Skilled Trades Face New Hurdles Because of the Campaign to End DEI.

  Since the 1980s, women have made small but meaningful gains in the construction trades. Now there are concerns that President Trump’s campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion will stall that progress — setting back both women and the construction industry.

• Remote Career Opportunity – Product Manager – Geniuslink

  We are hiring a Product Manager to lead one of our most strategically important initiatives: helping creators successfully “go multi-retailer” when sharing products with their audiences. This Product Manager will own metrics tied to this mission and they will be directly accountable for moving it forward. You will report to the Chief Product Officer and work closely with a small, focused product team (2–3 engineers initially), as well as stakeholders across engineering, data, marketing, and leadership. This is a high-ownership role suited for a product manager who is comfortable operating with ambiguity, defining success metrics, and shipping iteratively toward clear…

Montana Energy and Transportation

• Missoula, Montana removes all minimum parking requirements for new developments – First in the state.

  In January 2026, the Missoula City Council voted to remove all minimum parking requirements for new developments as part of a major zoning code update, positioning the city to become the first in Montana to eliminate such mandates
  . This move aims to encourage higher density, reduce housing costs, and update regulations.

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

• Got Cursive? – Great Falls Students Create App to Teach Cursive Which Isn’t Taught in Many Classrooms

  Three high school students from Great Falls, Lily Kirkaldie, Charlie Kotthoff, and Danica Sabo, are gaining national recognition after winning an app challenge for a project developed through a STARBASE Montana afterschool program.

• “Timber Fallin,’ Trucks a Haulin.” – 107th Foresters’ Ball at the University of Montana – 2/6-7 – Missoula

  Attendees can get “married” or “divorced” in the chapel, lock up friends in jail, grab a haircut in the barbershop, walk through the history of the ball in the museum and more. All proceeds benefit UM forestry student scholarships and preserve the legacy of the Foresters’ Ball.

• Feds order interpretive signs in Glacier National Park and 16 other National Parks changed or removed

  Items removed include a brochure that shows “images of glaciers retreating and explains that human-caused climate change is a factor in their likely future disappearance and a similarly-themed video that refers to disappearing glaciers

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