Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Top Ten for 6/14/26

  We traveled to Sedro Wooley, WA, with a group of community leaders to learn about Janicki Industries first hand. We toured, talked with people, and met several Montanan’s working at Janicki (looking forward to moving home). Janicki Industries is moving to the big city as their home town is just 13,480. When you walk through the shop everyone from the top to the newest hire know each other by their first names. It’s truly a comradery. We’ll fit great together!

Montana Business

• A New Take on “My Little Library” – Building Community in Fly Fishing Through the Flybrary

  Take a Fly, Leave a Fly

• Beavers save London Tube station from flooding

  The Ealing Beavers stood strong against the encroaching foe to save millions of pounds as well as help others to survive.

• A Court Has Ruled That Google Is Liable for False Statements Generated by AI Overviews

  The ruling holds that a company that designs, trains, operates, and manages an AI system must assume legal liability for any damages caused by the responses it generates.

• Stanford study finds surprising upside of prescribed burns…duh…..
  In a study published in the journal Science on June 11, Stanford University researchers found that intentionally burning 500,000 acres of conifer forests in California every year could reduce wildfire smoke pollution overall by about 10% over a decade.
• Missoula and Bozeman Propose Voluntary Carbon-Free Energy Program with Northwestern Energy

  The Green Power Program would allow local governments and businesses to subscribe to non-carbon-based energy through utility bills. Approval from the Montana Public Service Commission is needed before the program can launch.

• Fiber optic installations by TDS wreak havoc in Montana and nationwide – What is Your Experience?

  “I understand mistakes happen, but as frequently as I hear that these happen, you would think they would have a better system in place to avoid all of these sorts of situations.”

• Bozeman, Montana’s Zoot Enterprises Aims to Expand Into Title and Servicing

  “There’s a big movement in titling as far as decisioning is going,” Eric Hathaway, vice president of marketing, told Auto Finance News. “A lot of it is still done on spreadsheets and manually.”

• The Western Fire Chiefs Association’s Fire Map

  The Western Fire Chiefs Association’s Fire Map depicts active and recent wildland fires in the western United States and Alaska. The Fire Map draws near real-time 911 dispatch call data from PulsePoint.

• The new ‘Rape of the West’ – Montana Faces $700 Million Federal Push to Sustain Coal Industry

  The Trump administration’s policies threaten vast undeveloped lands and future resource options in Montana. Efforts to open protected areas and limit renewable energy investments continue a decades-long environmental conflict. Senator Daines’s efforts contribute to ongoing pressure on these contested public lands.

• Whimsy and Heartbreak – Garage Sales and Thrift Stores Shape American Consumer Culture

  A $100 secondhand shopping experiment reveals how garage sales and thrift stores connect us to personal histories and evolving consumer habits. Montana’s unique rural landscape may foster its own vibrant secondhand economy.

• Rick Edwards: Facts matter — clarifying the NorthWestern Energy-Black Hills Energy merger

  The purpose of this merger is straightforward. It is intended to strengthen NorthWestern Energy’s ability to make necessary infrastructure investments, improve access to capital and provide the operational flexibility needed to maintain safe, affordable and reliable service over time.

• Montana Named Top State to Start a Business – How many are LLC’s registering expensive cars?

  Under Montana law, it’s possible for car buyers to register as an LLC, purchase a vehicle anywhere in the U.S. and avoid paying sales tax — if they store the car in Montana for a set amount of time established by law in different states.

Montana Housing

• Buyers Gain Power as Montana Housing Market Shifts

  The era of bidding wars is ending, shifting leverage from sellers to buyers. Homes priced right now sell faster and closer to asking price, signaling a new dynamic in Montana’s real estate market.

• City Club Missoula – Renting in Missoula Challenges, Choices, and Opportunities Monday, July 13th, 2026
• Montana Vacation-Home Purchases Plunge Over 70 Percent Since 2021

  Montana ranks seventh highest in the U.S. for the decline in vacation-home purchases, signaling a major shift in the seasonal real estate market. This downturn could impact local economies reliant on tourism and second-home ownership.

Regional Economic Development

• Wyoming Businesses Struggle with Labor Shortages Despite High Wages

  Wyoming employers face persistent hiring challenges due to housing scarcity, childcare gaps, and demographic shifts. These factors limit services and reduce revenue, showing that competitive pay alone cannot solve workforce shortages.

Montana Energy and Transportation

• Our Roads Are Dangerous By Design

  The thesis of this report is that our streets are dangerous by design, built to prioritize the speed and convenience of cars over the safety of everyone who uses them.

• More drivers face instant license loss in France for phone use

  The national police stress that mobile phone use while driving remains one of the leading causes of road accidents, significantly increasing the risk of collisions.

• Communities Build Affordable Benches to Boost Public Transit Comfort – How About Your Community?

  Across the country, volunteers are installing low-cost benches at bus stops to address seating shortages caused by budget cuts. This grassroots approach offers a practical model that Montana communities might adopt to improve transit amenities affordably.

• China Opens World’s First Wind-Powered Underwater Data Center

  With an initial capacity of 24 megawatts, the innovative data center uses seawater as a natural cooling system.

• Berkeley, CA OKs plan that penalizes residents for owning multiple cars

  Parking your car in Berkeley could soon be more expensive after the City Council approved a range of rate hikes designed to offset a looming budget shortfall.

• Waymo Unveils $29.99 Monthly Subscription for Premium Robotaxi Riders

  Waymo Premier offers prioritized ride matching, free cancellations, and loyalty credits to subscribers in select cities. This new tier aims to create steady revenue amid growing competition and financial challenges.

• The real reason traffic circles (roundabouts) are dangerous (video)

  Now we know the truth.

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

• Britain Bans Social Media for Under-16s to Protect Youth

  This move aims to reshape digital engagement by targeting tech companies rather than children, reflecting a structural shift in online safety regulation.

• California’s schools are emptying out. Experts say it’s only going to get worse.

  Researchers say shrinking classrooms are a sign of something much larger: a demographic transformation that’s now reshaping public education across the country.

• The University of Montana Launches Montana’s First Public Physician Associate Program

  The new program will train 24 students to address rural healthcare shortages with hands-on clinical rotations across the state. The program’s focus on training Montanans to serve Montanans may foster a durable cycle of workforce replenishment in areas facing critical shortages.

2025 Montana Legislature and Politics

• USFS ignores federal laws on no chainsaws in wilderness

  Making matters worse, based on internal Forest Service documents Wilderness Watch obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), there is justifiable concern that this chainsaw massacre by commercial outfitters could expand to other Wildernesses nation-wide.

• Citizen’s United – It Was Never the Money. It Was the Power. – Please help support “The Montana Plan”

  The framers of the Constitution knew that republics do not usually die by the sword. They die by the purchase.

• Feds will abruptly dismantle system monitoring climate change, oceans over a decade early

  The National Science Foundation is removing four of five ocean monitoring arrays years ahead of schedule, risking loss of vital climate data. This move could impact research and national security, with potential indirect effects on states like Montana.

Social Media, Connectivity & Communications in Montana

• A drop in US births due to smartphone use? These researchers say so

  “As digital technology reallocates household time … deep relationships erode, partnerships form less often, the partnerships that do form are weaker and conditional fertility falls.”

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