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Montana’s Economic Development Funding is at Risk. Your Support is Requested and Vital to Montana’s Future

Montana Economic Developers Association (MEDA) is reaching out to its membership and partners to address the looming loss of programs and funding in Montana’s Legislative House.

As you no doubt know, House Bill 2, for the past 30 years, has been Montana’s appropriation bill. HB2 was recently tabled and has been revised and refurbished into six separate bills.

MEDA is alerting its membership and partners that in two of these six bills, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (HB804) is severely impacted as are programs and funding in the Department of Commerce (HB805).

Of particular concern is the reduction in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development which reduces the amount of funding for marketing Montana in business recruitment by 94% from that submitted in the original House Bill 2.

Also of concern are the reductions in the Department of Commerce which reduce biennial economic development funding as follows:

§ State Tribal Economic Development Commission – $79,288 in cuts

§ New Worker Training Funds – $4,000,000 in cuts

§ Main Street Montana* – $247,044 in cuts

§ Made in Montana Program – $200,000 in cuts

§ Indian Country Economic Development funding – $400,000 in cuts

§ Fund of Funds (Venture Capital) funding – $217,139 in cuts

§ Community Technical Assistance Program* – $332,196 in cuts

* 100% elimination of program

All of these programs contribute to the fabric of a strong economic development program effort for the State.

To send a message of concern to the House, MEDA is compiling a “Book of Evidence” and asking our members and partners to express their support for HB2 funding levels and programs.

Email your letters (see suggested examples below) to [email protected] or fax them to 406.563.5476.

Thank you,

***

Date

House Appropriations Committee
Members of the House of Representatives
State Capitol
Helena, MT 59620

As an organization actively involved in economic development in Montana, I want to express my concern for the actions that have been taken within the House Appropriations Committee that negatively impact the economic development capability of the State of Montana.

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development, in coordination with a number of state departments, especially the Montana Department of Commerce, is an integral part of the economic development activities at the local level throughout the state of Montana. We have had the opportunity to work with both the Governor’s Office of Economic Development and the Department of Commerce and find their efforts to be professional and very effective.

The budget recommendations submitted to the Legislature by the Governor of Montana have my support and that of others in the economic development community. Reductions in the appropriations submitted in House Bill 2 will be harmful to the economic development activities of the State and its local areas. We depend upon a strong State level effort to help us be successful at the local level. Economic development is about partnerships and stripping away capacity at any level will cause serious loss of effective economic development.

We are particularly concerned about the reduction in the Governor’s Office of Economic Development which reduces the amount of funding for marketing Montana in business recruitment by 94% from that submitted in the original House Bill 2. The combination of direct marketing money reductions and the impact of the reduction of one FTE from the office result in House Bill 804 financing only 6% of the previous amount.

We cannot support the reduced spending levels built into House Bill 804 when it comes to economic development. We urge the committee and, if necessary, the members on the floor of the House of Representatives to resurrect the funding embodied in the original House Bill 2 by the Governor.

Only by doing that can we insure that the active and effective partnership economic growth that currently exists will remain productive for the good of the citizens of the state and its communities.

Sincerely,

***

Date

House Appropriations Committee
Members of the House of Representatives
State Capitol
Helena, MT 59620

As an organization actively involved in economic development in Montana, I want to express my concern for the actions that have been taken within the House Appropriations Committee that negatively impact the economic development capability of the State of Montana.

The Montana Department of Commerce is an integral part of the economic development activities at the local level throughout the state of Montana. We have had the opportunity to work with the Department of Commerce and find their efforts to be professional and effective.

The budget recommendations submitted to the Legislature by the Governor of Montana have my support and that of others in the economic development community. Reductions in the appropriations submitted in House Bill 2 will be harmful to the economic development activities of the State and its local areas. We depend upon a strong State level effort to help us be successful at the local level. Economic development is about partnerships and stripping away capacity at any level will cause serious loss of effective action.

We are particularly concerned about the reductions in the Department of Commerce which reduce biennial economic development funding as follows:

§ State Tribal Economic Development Commission – $79,288 in cuts

§ New Worker Training Funds – $4,000,000 in cuts

§ Main Street Montana* – $247,044 in cuts

§ Made in Montana Program – $200,000 in cuts

§ Indian Country Economic Development funding – $400,000 in cuts

§ Fund of Funds (Venture Capital) funding – $217,139 in cuts

§ Community Technical Assistance Program* – $332,196 in cuts

* 100% elimination of program

All of these programs contribute to the fabric of a strong economic development program effort for the State. These reductions will be harmful on the main streets of every Montana City or town, including ours.

We cannot support the reduced economic development spending levels for the Department of Commerce that are currently in House Bill 805. We urge the committee and, if necessary, the members on the floor of the House of Representatives to resurrect the Department of Commerce Economic Development funding embodied in the original House Bill 2 by the Governor.

Only by doing that can we insure that the active and effective partnership economic growth that currently exists will remain productive for the good of the citizens of the state and its communities.

Sincerely,

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