Changes at Montana’s Mission Mountain Market in Ronan, MT

Lake County Community Development Corporation (LCCDC) announced today several changes in its food business incubator, known as the Mission Mountain Market http://www.mt-missionmtnmrkt.com/ . First of all, the name has been changed to better denote the increased services available within the new Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center (MMFEC).

“We got a little tired of being confused with being a grocery store” stated Jay Preston, LCCDC President, “so we decided our name should better reflect what we do. The MMFEC is an integral part of LCCDC, a non-profit 501(c)3 regional economic development organization serving Lake County. The MMFEC is focused on helping food-businesses start and/or expand their businesses and supporting Montana agriculture through the development and processing of value-added food products for local, national and global markets.”

To better accomplish our goals, several changes and improvements have been made in order for us to better serve Montana’s food entrepreneurs and value-added agriculture projects. One of those changes is a new partnership with the University of Idaho’s Business and Technology Incubator at Caldwell to provide co-packaging services for their clients in return for much needed food science research and consulting for Montana businesses. Food science and product development has been a scarce commodity within the state and has created a stumbling block for marketing products nationally. Shelf stability, starches, binders and gums as well as assistance with formulation are now within our clients’ grasp. We are also offering the availability of “sensory testing” for those clients who want a real “third party” visual and taste evaluation of their products and labels.

MMFEC is a 13,000 square foot facility located in Ronan, MT providing a myriad of services to food entrepreneurs throughout Montana, including; product development, recipe expansion, nutritional analysis, bar codes for related food businesses, business planning, marketing assistance, commercial kitchen access and full co-packaging services. The center also houses a USDA approved meat processing facility and a gluten-free milling and packaging room, as well as being certified by the State of Montana for processing of organic foods. Processing at the facility can include everything from dry ingredient mixing and packaging, tea/herb bagging, sauces, jams / jellies, dehydration, hamburger patties and just about any food product you could imagine.

These facilities are available to everyone and assistance is available to help you navigate the regulatory obstacles involved with establishing a new food business. We encourage any interested party to give us a call and see how we can help create that product they have always dreamed of producing or consult with us on providing complete co-packaging services for your business that has outgrown your current capacity.

For More Information Contact: Tony Kavanagh, Lake County Community Development/ MMFEC 406 676-0676