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Going monthly feels right – Montana InBusinessMonthly

The big news about this issue of Western Montana InBusiness is right there in the name: We’re now called InBusinessMonthly – and, as the name suggests, we’re coming to you each month instead of every quarter.

After three years of producing InBusiness – and noticing that we were having trouble getting to some topics and stories in a timely manner – we decided to take the plunge and see what happens with a monthly publication.

By MIKE McINALLY The Missoulian

We know some things won’t change: The heart of the magazine will continue to be in-depth coverage of one specific issue that’s important to business in western Montana. This issue, for example, focuses on the changing landscape of retail, and we’re looking at that issue from a number of different angles.

Each month’s edition also will continue to offer profiles of people and businesses we think you’d like to meet – entrepreneurs, innovators, small businesses that are experiencing big success. We’ve added a feature to each of these called"Keys to Success" in which our profile subjects reflect on the business strategies that have worked for them.

But converting InBusiness to a monthly magazine lets us do some different things as well. We’ve added a substantial section of data to the back of the magazine that we think will be of interest to western Montana businesspeople. In our initial offering, we include information about business licenses, building permits and business bankruptcies. Our business calendar, a staple since the first edition of InBusiness, will round out the data section.

Going monthly also lets us expand the information we provide in our"Monthly Reports" section. We’ll change the lineup of information that’s featured in the Monthly Reports with each issue, so if there’s some specific information that you’re interested in, let us know, and we’ll work to add that to the report. (You’ll find information on how to contact me at the end of this column.)

Our lineup of columnists will continue to evolve as well as we move into a monthly rhythm. It seemed unfair to ask our stable of columnists to each write every month, so they’ll be moving into a rotation. Paul Polzin and the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research will continue to write on a quarterly basis, and his column appears in this issue.

Rosalie Cates of the Montana Community Development Corp. will continue to write her"What Works" column, and we hope that will run every other month, starting with the August issue.

And we’ll continue to offer advice and reflections on Montana business from our colleagues at the UM School of Business Administration on a regular basis; this month, Ronn Jones, an assistant professor in the school’s management and marketing department, weighs in with tips to help small businesses.

Of course, we’ll continue to get invaluable guidance from the InBusiness advisory panel. That group includes Cates; Rich Boberg, of the Missoula Macy’s; Bob Boschee of Smurfit-Stone Container Corp.; Missoula County Commissioner Barbara Evans; Larry Gianchetta, dean of UM’s School of Business Administration; Faye Hanson-Warren of U.S. Bank; Vicki Judd of NorthWestern Energy; Dick King of the Missoula Area Economic Development Corp.; Kim Latrielle of the Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce; Denise Person of Collegiate Marketing; and Joni Walker of the Missoula Federal Credit Union.

We’ve inserted this first monthly issue of InBusinessMonthly into the Missoulian so that readers throughout western Montana get a chance to sample the magazine. But future issues will not be included with the newspaper – instead, you’ll be able to find InBusinessMonthly at selected locations throughout Missoula, or you can call 523-5280 for information about how to subscribe.

As always, I want to know what you think of InBusinessMonthly. And I want to hear your suggestions for topics we should tackle or businesspeople we should profile. You can reach me at 523-5250 or through e-mail at [email protected].
So thanks for reading – and we’ll see you next month.

Mike McInally is editor of Western Montana InBusinessMonthly and the Missoulian.

Full Issue: http://www.mtinbusiness.com/current/

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