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36 percent of the farmers and ranchers in the U.S. are women and they manage almost half of America’s ag land.

Never regret meeting anyone in your life. 

Good people give you happiness.

Bad people give you experience.

The worst people give you lessons.

And the best people give you memories. 

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Older Americans are lonely. It’s a public health crisis.

  A new national study from AARP, released in December 2025, found that 40% of adults age 45+ are lonely, a material rise from the 35% that AARP found in both 2010 and 2018.

• 36 percent of the farmers and ranchers in the U.S. are women and they manage almost half of America’s ag land.

  Globally, we produce more than half of all food.

• The age of AI co-workers in Montana

  Just as our timber, software, and manufacturing sectors have embraced new tools to stay competitive, every Montana business can begin integrating AI in small, practical ways. The companies that succeed won’t be the ones with the most algorithms, they’ll be the ones that pair these tools with the talent, grit, and problem-solving instincts Montanans are known for.

• Keeping the human in the Artificial Intelligence loop at The University of Montana College of Business

  If you are a business leader, an alumnus, or a community member, I invite you to help us keep the human in the loop. Connect with students. Offer internships and job-shadowing opportunities. Serve as a mentor. Share your career story, including the lessons learned. Human connections shape confidence and long-term success in ways no algorithm can replicate.

Great Falls Montana Development Alliance

• GFDA Top Ten for 3-1-26 – Are you contributing your ideas to the Central Montana Defense Coalition discussion?

  Thank you to the dozens of business and community leaders who came together on no notice to brainstorm how we can support a company. Thats how Team Great Falls rolls! Wanna know what company?

Kalispell, Montana Chamber of Commerce

• Montana’s Flathead Valley is a growing hub for technology – Glacier Cybersecurity

  This month’s profile highlights Glacier Cybersecurity founder Jeff Wilson and his mission to fill a gap that too often leaves small businesses exposed.

Montana Business

• Why is America Having Less and Less Baby Talk? “when a nation fails to preserve the family, the state soon fails to preserve itself.”

  Here’s a startling statistic. The nation’s birthrate — that is, the number of live births per 1,000 people in a given year — is down by more than 25 percent since 2007, when the decline began. Almost half of the country’s 30-year-old women are childless.

• The Alternative Board and Cascadia Management Group Introduce a New Execution-to-Leadership Pathway for Montana Businesses

  The collaboration brings together Cascadia Management Group’s operational consulting and sprint-based executive cohorts with TAB Montana’s long-term peer advisory boards and leadership development. Together, the organizations aim to help small and mid-sized business owners strengthen both how their businesses run and how they are led.

Montana Housing

• State of Montana officials cite ‘intermittent technical issues’ with an online portal as reason to extend March 1 deadline for landlords, homeowners filing second-home tax declaration.

  The deadline, which had been set for March 1, has now been pushed back to midnight on March 20, according the Montana Department of Revenue.

Regional Economic Development

• Wyoming’s Plumber Shortage Collides With Massive Data Center Boom

  Wyoming’s plumber shortage is about to get worse. Already short on plumbers and pipefitters, creating delays for homeowners and businesses, a huge wave of data centers and mega-projects are sweeping into the state, which will require thousands more.

Regional Business News

• Powell, Montana Man Banned From McDonald’s After Driving Horses, Wagon Through Drive-Thru

  You can’t have it your way.

Montana’s American Prairie

• Viewpoint: Bison, bureaucrats and bad politics in Montana – American Prairie Reserve

  The hypocrisy is blatant. If a private landowner can graze cattle on public land without risking permit loss, why should a neighbor who grazes bison be punished for doing the same thing, and more, for the public good?

Hellgate Venture Network

• Hellgate Venture Network February Recap and March 19th – Monthly Meet-Up

    Recap of February Event

YOUR MONTANA CAREER

• Long-term unemployed has reached the highest point since the pandemic

  Unemployed Americans struggle to find next job

• How to spot a ‘ghost job’ before you waste time applying

  Looking for a job is hard enough already, between economic headwinds, pivots to AI, and constant layoffs that just pump more competitors into the talent pool. Alas, there’s yet another obstacle to throw on the pile: “ghost jobs,” which are not even real job listings.

• Burton K. Wheeler Center – Use Your Voice: A Civil Conversation on Tax Policy, April 6–7 at Montana State University.

  If you care about how Montana funds its future, your perspective belongs in the room.

• The Job Service Missoula Employers’ Council is offering a $3,000 “Back on Track” scholarship for Missoula County high school seniors facing obstacles, valid for the 2026-2027 academic year.

  Deadline: March 27, 2026.

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

• Education leaders: Missoula grappling with enrollment declines, teacher shortage ‘crisis’

  “Politics in our education system and classroom is so difficult when people are trying to, what I describe as, a ‘manufactured crisis’ about what’s going on in our classrooms, instead of actually coming into our classrooms and seeing what our teachers are doing and the amazing work that they do,” Hill said.

• Modern technology is changing what is possible in Montana

  Northwest Montana will not win by copying a coastal model. It will win by compounding its assets: technical work that ships anywhere, community builders who connect people, training that prepares workers, and investors who back teams. The region will continue to grow as companies choose Montana as a competitive advantage.

• Applications open for Montana State’s $100K Venture Competition, set for April 21

  The competition is open to all undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, researchers, postdoctoral researchers and recent alumni (2024 and 2025 graduates) from MSU, the University of Montana, Montana Tech and affiliated campuses.

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