Growing home in Ekalaka
Eastern Montana’s Carter County is bucking longtime trends toward population declines in rural plains communities, adding 255 residents according to the 2020 census. How? Oil money, dinosaurs and family.
Exploring Montana’s economic future
Montana, as the saying goes, is one big small town with really long streets. The Long Streets Project aims to cover it like that, focusing on the economic trends and issues that shape the opportunity Montanans have — or don’t have — to make a decent living.
Funding for Long Streets is provided by The Greater Montana Foundation — encouraging communication on issues, trends and values of importance to Montanans.
No shouting. No name calling. Just local Montana reporters working for you.
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Stimulus infrastructure funds headed to water and sewer projects
The awards, totalling nearly $127 million, were formally announced Thursday by Gov. Greg Gianforte. They follow an allocation process that was outlined by the Montana Legislature this spring in which project applications were submitted by local government entities, ranked by staff at the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and reviewed by an advisory committee…
The town that turned its stimulus money down
Montana towns and cities have been allocated a total of $86.4 million in local COVID-19 relief from the American Rescue Plan Act. The mayor of Ismay, the 17-person town that once renamed itself Joe, says his community doesn’t need it.
Census releases detailed 2020 counts — with an asterisk
The U.S. Census Bureau released detailed statistics Thursday on the 2020 populations and racial compositions of Montana counties, cities, towns and neighborhoods, providing a once-in-a-decade look at demographic change across the state, and also handing the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission the block-by-block data it will use to define the state’s two U.S. House Districts.
‘Economic transformation’ commission adopts priorities, seeks public input
Lawmakers and Gianforte administration officials tasked with allocating $150 million to bolster Montana’s post-COVID economy name business innovation, value-added ag, worker training and affordable housing as priorities.
Reporter’s notebook: Oil town
A group of young professionals in Sidney, Montana put on a conference aiming to show off their town to peers across the state. The weather had other plans.
Bitcoin fracking turns waste gas to digital gold in Bakken oil field
Natural gas produced as a byproduct of Bakken oil production is often flared as a waste product, frustrating regulators, environmentalists, and conservation-minded energy producers. MTFP’s Long Streets Project turns up an alternative in operation near Sidney: Using it to mine cryptocurrency.
Reporter’s notebook: Getting back to Montana’s Long Streets
MTFP journalist Eric Dietrich on what’s next for the Long Streets economic reporting project — and how you can help with your own two cents.
Multibillion stimulus bill aims to spur Montana into post-COVID prosperity. Here’s what lawmakers want to spend.
House Bill 632 directs a massive influx of cash, equivalent to about $2,800 per Montana resident, toward spending on infrastructure, business support, social services and education — investments that proponents say will help carry Montana into post-COVID prosperity.
Stimulus money could fuel massive Montana broadband effort
Department of Commerce Director Scott Osterman said Wednesday he’d like to see lawmakers put at least $350 million from Montana’s share of the new federal coronavirus relief package into a major initiative boosting broadband connectivity across the state.
Gianforte administration calls for tax cuts to lure out-of-state entrepreneurs
Three bills before the Legislature would scale back income and capital gains taxes in an effort to bolster Montana’s economy by boosting entrepreneurs. Opponents don’t buy the logic.
Business equipment tax cut gets initial hearing
House Bill 303, sponsored by Rep. Josh Kassmier, R-Fort Benton, would raise the threshold where the state’s business equipment tax kicks in from $100,000 to $200,000.
Promoting rural broadband with tax breaks
Senate Bill 51 aims to address a troublesome gap in Montana’s infrastructure: places where residents still don’t have access to reliable broadband internet.
Shared State
Pledging to bring Montana more “good-paying jobs” is a time-honored cliche for politicians on the campaign trail. But what can elected officials really do to expand economic opportunity for Montanans? And what concerns are Montanans weighing as they decide whether they can build the life they want here?
Next stop: uncertainty
Passenger rail advocates say Amtrak’s plan to reduce the Empire Builder to three days a week will cost the state more than $38 million.
State ‘stabilization’ grants try to plug the holes in federal relief efforts
Entrepreneurs say state-administered grants are welcome aid, even as critics complain that Gov. Steve Bullock hasn’t written checks fast enough
Homegrown
If Montanans want to keep Montana-grown food — and the associated dollars — in-state, the local supply chain will have the be expanded. That includes storage and distribution infrastructure, but the bottleneck is mostly at the food processor level.
Feds release data on Paycheck Protection loan recipients
Data released this week by the U.S. Small Business Administration provides the first detailed accounting of the businesses aided by the Paycheck Protection Program, indicating that Montana’s loan recipients span nearly the full width of the state’s economic landscape.
Lagging rural census response could cost Montana second U.S. House seat
COVID-19 pandemic disrupted get-out-the-count efforts
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