Zoot Enterprises

• Montana Career Opportunities – Vice President of Human Resources, Client Success Manager, Director Of Sales and more…Careers at Zoot No Suits, Montana Roots
  Discover fulfilling careers at Zoot, where our dedicated employees focus on delivering the best decisioning engines for some of the largest organizations worldwide. As part of the Zoot team, you’ll join a group of passionate individuals who value work-life balance, including commitments to family, friends, outdoor activities, and environmental causes.

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Upcoming Trainings
  Whether you’re just getting started, looking for new customers, wanting to grow sales through e-commerce, or focusing on workforce. We’re here to help.

Missoula Chamber of Commerce

• Missoula County’s Home Upgrade Hub
  It offers no-cost and low-cost resources for anyone interested in adopting healthy home measures to benefit their present lives, community, and future. Our programming is designed to guide Missoula County residents with planning home retrofit projects focused on energy efficiency, decarbonization, and climate-resilient landscaping.
• Unseen Missoula Guided Walking Tours Cover City’s Colorful Past
  “We’ve got four different offerings from April through September,” she said. “They are Basements and Back Alleys, and it goes over the transformation from a rugged frontier to the economic hub that we see. We see more in the 1920s with Hotels and Hooligans, which takes a look more at the railroad and how that kind of shaped what we see as Missoula today. Then, we have Carnal Enterprises that takes a look at the once bustling red light district that we had that covered Main Street.”
• Missoula Chamber of Commerce 2025 State of Missoula – 5/28 – Hilton Garden Inn
  The State of Missoula will offer you an exclusive look into the future of Missoula and what each organization and Government entities see as the future of our community.

Montana Manufacturing Extension Center

• MMEC – May 2025 Manufacturing News
  For entrepreneurs and small businesses navigating these uncertain times, the message is clear: the SBIR and STTR programs are very much “open for business.” These programs represent ongoing opportunities to transform innovative ideas into reality, with substantial backing from federal agencies committed to fostering scientific and technological innovation.

Montana Technology Innovation Partnership

• Montana Innovation Uninterrupted SBIR/STTR Programs Continue to Propel Business Forward
  For entrepreneurs and small businesses navigating these uncertain times, the message is clear: the SBIR and STTR programs are very much “open for business.”

Montana Photonics & Quantum Alliance

• Gallatin College MSU graduate discovers passion for photonics after decades of adventure

  “This degree wasn’t about showing other people that I’m capable,” he said. “It was just about showing myself. Can I ignite this spark again? Can I get my curiosity back at 57?”

• Montana World Quantum Week Recap

  2025 is the International Year of Quantum, and April 14 was World Quantum Day. Throughout that week, QCORE’s Education and Workforce Development Team engaged with communities across Montana to spread awareness of quantum technologies and QCORE’s role in these emerging areas.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• You’re invited: 2025 Legislative Briefing – 6/5- Missoula

  Join Missoula Economic Partnership and Parsons Behle & Latimer for networking and a presentation from legal experts.

• Large film and television campus planned for Roseburg property in Missoula, Montana

  “Missoula has given us the opportunity to show what the next era of entertainment infrastructure can look like – green, local, and value-driven,” said collaborator and CEO Sean Patrick Higgins.

• Tax Bill Threatens Montana Nonprofits and Communities. Things are moving fast:  Please Act Now

  What you can do:

• Volatile Times in Muni Bond Land

  Borrowing to finance infrastructure is now more expensive. Meanwhile, congressional tax writers are toying with the municipal bond tax exemption, scaring both investors and issuers. State and local debt managers have a lot to think about — and worry about.

• Missoula writer publishes first comic book, seeks to change view of autism

  “This is a lifetime dream of mine to have my own comic book out there,” Ackom said. “Being autistic, I want to change the world, how people look at autism.”

• Together we can help Jefferson County, Montana grow

  The BLDC, for example, recently worked with Highlands College of Montana Tech to develop a training curriculum for solar manufacturing and partnered with Missoula-based ClearSky Climate Solutions to identify and secure a suitable industrial site. Instead of asking “why,” Butte’s response to new ideas seems to be “how can we make this work?” That’s a powerful mindset – and one I believe Jefferson County is ready to embrace.

• Small Montana towns fret about potential cuts to Essential Air Service

  Federal spending cuts could be coming to rural airports across the country, with a national program utilized by seven Montana airports facing a $300 million downturn.

• Montana’s Conduit Bond Financing Options Expanded for Non-Profits, Businesses

  “Conduit bonds play a vital role in driving economic development by enabling large-scale projects that provide substantial public benefits, such as healthcare and housing,” said MFFA Executive Director Adam Gill. “These investments not only create jobs and stimulate local economies but also enhance the overall quality of life for Montanans.”

• Montana lawmakers create low-interest loan program for reopening shuttered sawmills 

  Supporters hope House Bill 876 will encourage investment at the site of the Seeley Lake sawmill that closed last year.

• MT Chamber Hosting Federal Reserve Bank President Kashkari for Town Hall

  The Montana Chamber Foundation will be hosting Neel Kashkari, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis for a town hall. President Kashkari will be in Helena on June 26 to deliver brief remarks and hear from the public and the business community about how the regional economy is faring.

• 15 lessons in leadership from the All Blacks

  New Zealand’s national rugby team, the All Blacks, are the most successful professional sports franchise in history. They are undefeated in over 75% of their international matches over the last 100 years.

Montana Business

• Modular hotswap batteries allow e-tractor to work the farm for longer

  As agriculture tries to clean up its act, the roar of the diesel engine is likely to become a thing of the past in the countryside. But electric farmers don’t want to their battery-powered machinery idling for hours charging. The ONOX tractor’s modular hotswap approach could help.

• Montana new business registrations hit record high in April

  For lower taxes you can register a vehicle or RV in Montana without living there by forming a Montana LLC and registering the vehicle under the LLC

• In the heart of Missoula, Montana, Krystal Guilhemotonia is redefining what it means to lead with purpose. As CEO and majority owner of Aqua Creek Products

  As CEO and majority owner of Aqua Creek Products — which manufactures aquatic accessibility equipment — Guilhemotonia has grown a family-founded business into an industry leader.

• Superior Meats owner honored by Small Business Association

  Jerry Stroot, the owner of Superior Meats, has been named Montana’s Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. This prestigious recognition highlights Stroot’s outstanding contributions to his community and the local economy.

Visit Montana

• ‘A new kind of museum’: Bozeman’s American Computer and Robotics Museum marks milestone

  The American Computer and Robotics Museum — recognized as the oldest continuously operating museum of its kind — will mark its 35th anniversary Thursday, highlighting more than three decades of work documenting the history of computing and intelligent machines.

Funding and Building your Business

• Google launches AI startup fund offering access to new models and tools

  Eligible startups will get Google investment, early access to AI models and hands-on support from Google employees.

Regional Business News

• The best plant-based meat products, according to a huge blind taste test

  One company dominated the competition: Impossible Foods.

City Club Missoula

• Montana state senators provide legislative recap to City Club Missoula

  The senators said while the session was a little chaotic, overall, they thought there was ultimately success in several hot topic issues.

Hellgate Venture Network

• HVN SAVE THE DATE: May 22nd Meet-up at MEP with Jon & Stephen Co-Founders of Remsight – Missoula

  Remsight is a technology applicator and service provider specializing in surface water management and analytics. We empower water providers and users with the tools and insights they need to achieve efficient and cost-effective water solutions. Founded in the Bitterroot Valley (Victor, Montana), Remsight integrates all its technology locally in Montana, and is a service-disabled Veteran-owned business. April Meet-up Recap Thanks to everyone who joined us for our April event. Thanks to Tylor and Gia of Main St. Realty for being with us. Sean Puckett drove down from Helena to be our presenter last week. Sean shared his entrepreneurial journey, from…

Energy and Transportation

• Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network

  The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

• GM’s New Battery Tech Could Be a Breakthrough for Affordable EVs

  General Motors has cracked the chemistry of lower-cost, energy-dense electric vehicle batteries. Budget-conscious gasoline holdouts may soon have no excuse.

• America Closed For Business: Bill Rolling Back IRA Provisions Will Slash Investment

  The proposed rollback will dismantle key IRA provisions, including clean energy production and investment tax credits, domestic manufacturing incentives, and targeted hydrogen production support, ending some programs far ahead of schedule. This abrupt about-face in regulatory direction sends a jarring signal to global markets.

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

• Opinion: Tyler Engstrom: Trump’s attacks on higher ed, science hurt UNC (ALL) students (In ALL States)

  I write this letter to highlight how President Trump’s recent attacks on higher education, and science in particular, are hurting students right here at UNC.

• Governor Gianforte, Director Clark Celebrate Archery Programs in Montana Schools

  “Montana’s hunting and shooting heritage is part of who we are,” Gov. Gianforte said. “It’s inspiring to see so many young Montanans learning responsibility, focus, and respect for the outdoors through school archery programs.”

• University of Montana, Blackfoot Communications Partner on Critical Cybersecurity Effort

  This is the first corporate partnership for the Public Infrastructure Security Cyber Education System, known as PISCES, in Montana. The partnership aims to provide cybersecurity analysis and training to local governments, public school systems and local utility companies.

2025 Legislature and Politics

• Under New Requirement, Montana Child Care Centers Must Accept Religious Vaccine Exemptions

  The new rule is drawing criticism from some local child care centers whose directors say their hand is being forced, and from families concerned with their children’s health.

• Trump’s plan to eliminate Social Security taxes: How it could hurt retirees and bankrupt Social Security sooner

  The CBO estimates Social Security will run a $3.3 trillion deficit over the next decade. Taxes on benefits will contribute $1.1 trillion to revenue during that period. So, eliminating that income would make an already-substantial deficit much larger. In turn, the trust fund would be exhausted sooner than CBO anticipates under current law, meaning Congress would have less time to avoid substantial benefit cuts.

• Montana Gov. Gianforte (R) signs bill banning the use of extreme risk protection orders

  These laws typically allow family members, household members, and law enforcement officers to petition a court to restrict an individual’s access to firearms when it is believed the individual is a threat to themselves or others.

• Montana on the Brain: A Bold Step for Neural Privacy

  This is an important development in mental privacy because neural data can be used to derive private information about a person’s mental states, emotions and cognitive functioning, and, according to the Montana Legislature, can even be used to manipulate brain activity.

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