The contentious small-town tax dispute that forced Montana to confront its growing pains

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• The 2025 Montana Housing Issue

  Who Will Feel the Squeeze of Montana’s New Property Tax Code?

• California lawmakers approve film and TV tax credit expansion to $750 million – Montana Media Act capped at $12 million per year until 2029

  The Film and Television Tax Credit Program is set to expand from $330 million a year to $750 million through 2030.

• Q&A: Creative Economic Development and Rural Ingenuity

  How do you balance creating for the community versus attracting tourists or outside visitors?

• The Commerce Department recalled funding for 6 manufacturing tech hubs. What happens next?

  “At my direction, the Commerce Department is revamping the Tech Hubs program to prioritize national security, project quality, benefit to the taxpayer, and a fair process,” Lutnick said in a statement. “To be clear, this decision is not an indictment of the work that the previously selected Tech Hubs are doing,” he added. “They can compete for funding alongside all other prospective applicants.”

• It’s All About Trust – Fast Company tips for becoming more trustworthy at work whether you’re remote or in person.

  Trust is vital for building successful businesses. Companies with higher trust have 76% more engagement and 50% more productivity. Yet only one in three employees trusts their leaders, and when employees stop trusting leaders, innovation and engagement fly out the window.

• The contentious small-town tax dispute that forced Montana to confront its growing pains

  “There’s so few examples of success stories of counties working together or districts across counties working together well,” said Kristin Smith, a Bozeman-based researcher with a focus on rural economic development.

• Brad Feld on ‘Give First’ and the art of mentorship (at any age)

  How should mentors protect themselves while still giving generously?

• Poplar, Montana Based West Electronics Keeps Gaining Respect At National Level During Its 50th Year

  Although many people might not even know the nationally respected West Electronics is located in Poplar, the Fort Peck Tribes’ company is celebrating its 50th year of existence this year. Rodney Miller of Fort Peck Tribes Economic Development acknowledges the longevity and achievements of West Electronics. “In economic development, we don’t celebrate our successes enough. This is a great one,” Miller said of West Electronics. “It’s basically the best kept secret in America.”

• Montana bets on business interest to help renovate Old West towns

  The state is rolling out new leasing rules to entice businesses to move into and restore historic structures in Virginia City, Nevada City and Reeder’s Alley.

• With First Kalispell Stop, StoryCorps Mobile Tour Captures Heartfelt Conversations from the Flathead Valley

  According to one StoryCorps staffer, themes that emerged over the course of dozens of recording sessions include unexpected friendships and relationships, community traditions, role models, the environment, the natural world, and change.

Missoula Chamber of Commerce

• Nonstop to Chicago! A new era of connectivity for Missoula – Missoula Economic Partnership

  Missoula travelers and businesses will soon have a direct link to one of the country’s most important transportation hubs. Beginning December 18, 2025, American Airlines will offer year-round, nonstop service from Missoula Montana Airport (MSO) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD).

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Top Ten for 6-29-25 – Congratulations to GFDA for Hosting an Exceptional International Rural Retreat

  We hosted 400 community economic developers from across the U.S., Canada and beyond for the International Economic Development Council’s first ever Rural Retreat. These leaders participated in immersive experiences in Great Falls ands rural and tribal communities throughout the region. Thank you to the many partners and sponsors who helped make the event a great success! See KRTV and KFBB.

Montana Business

• Montana’s largest newspaper company agrees to $95M payout

  The three new lawsuits, each filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, allege that Lee, which owns hundreds of newspapers and specialty publications in Iowa and 24 other states, is guilty of negligence, breach of an implied contract, unjust enrichment and invasion of privacy.

Housing

• Notorious Montana Mansion Rescued By A Couple From Meeteetse Can Be Had For $27M

  A Billings mansion known as “The Castle” is notorious for a massive fraud that involved a fake kidnapping and rogue biker gang. It was rescued by a couple from Meeteetse and is now back on the market for $27 million.

• Montana Senator Tim Sheeny lists Montana estate for over $10 million

  He also owns a working cattle ranch and cattle feeder company, called Little Belt Cattle Company and Yellowstone Cattle Feeders.

Funding and Building your Business

• Marc Benioff says AI does 50% of Salesforce’s work, calls himself the ‘Taylor Swift of tech’

  Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says AI is transforming productivity, reducing the need for new hires, and reshaping the future of work through autonomous digital agents.

Regional Business News

• No Income Tax, Dynasty Trusts Draw Wealth To Wyoming — And Not Just Jackson

  No income or capital gains taxes, 1,000-year dynasty trusts and Wyoming’s cowboy culture and national parks are drawing more wealth than ever to the state. And not just to Jackson Hole.

American Prairie

• Montana Career Opportunities – The American Prairie

  Join one of the most exciting and ambitious conservation projects in the world while directly supporting our mission to create a vast refuge for people and wildlife preserved forever as part of America’s heritage.

• Escape to the Wild with a Trip to Montana’s American Prairie – Careers at the American Prairie

  Whether camping under expansive skies, cycling along quiet trails, or experiencing wildlife up close, a trip to American Prairie promises a truly unforgettable, uncrowded, and completely wild adventure.

Hellgate Venture Network

• Hellgate Venture Network – July Monthly Meet-up 7/17 – Missoula

  Networking for the Missoula area start-up and small business community offering peer support for current and aspiring entrepreneurs. The Hellgate Venture Network is a community of Missoula entrepreneurs that meets monthly. It was founded in March of 2009 by Paul Gladen and Dawn McGee. Being a leader of a business is often isolating, so Paul and Dawn decided to offer peer-to-peer mentorship and support by hosting a gathering once a month. People who are not from Missoula often ask about the name – the steep gorge cut by the Clark Fork to the east of the Missoula Valley is known…

YOUR CAREER

• The Computer-Science Bubble Is Bursting and AI is the Pin

  Artificial intelligence is ideally suited to replacing the very type of person who built it.

Energy and Transportation

• Robotaxis Are Here, But Can’t Yet Handle A Wyoming Winter

  Driverless taxis are rolling out in urban areas across the nation and going viral for their miscues. Don’t expect them in Wyoming anytime soon as robotaxis can’t handle winter weather. But industry analysts say autonomous driving is coming.

• USAF taps Oklo for military’s first nuclear micro-reactor in Alaska

  Small nuclear reactors yielding less than 50 MW that can be mass produced in factories and shipped to where needed have very much been in the news in recent years. They promise a new way to provide heat and electricity that is cheaper than current nuclear power plants, being faster to build, easily scalable, and inherently safer.

• How Amazon’s Zoox will roll out 10,000 robotaxis a year

  Amazon subsidiary Zoox is ramping up production of its robotaxis in California ahead of its commercial launch in Las Vegas expected later this year. It’s flung open the doors to its second production facility that’s set up to roll out over 10,000 of its driverless four-passenger vans annually.

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

• Kalispell Public Schools Summit Focuses on Personalizing Students’ Educational Experiences

  Second annual Doris Mountain Summit brings together more than 250 educators to share best practices

2025 Legislature and Politics

• Remembering Pat Williams – “Keep the faith, do the work, show up and care.”

  Pat Williams’ passing reminds me of just how much things have changed, and damn it is not for the better in any way.

• CBS Sunday Morning – Gov. Cuts to Cancer Research – Saving money vs. saving lives

  Scientists conducting medical research are facing an existential crisis: Layoffs and budget cuts pushed by President Trump that, they say, jeopardize finding a cure for cancer. They tell “Sunday Morning” senior contributor Ted Koppel that what was once an issue receiving strong bipartisan support – cancer research – is now falling under the administration’s budget axe. Koppel also talks with cancer patients taking part in clinical trials for treatments and vaccines, whose own contributions to finding a cure are imperiled.

• Gianforte administration plans to centralize Montana agencies’ HR, IT, procurement

  The announcement came in an email from Gov. Greg Gianforte, which said the move was intended to “streamline government.”

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