Business leaders push Great Falls, Montana’s location, financing as key assets

When Montana Milling looked at expansion sites for its organic-grain processing operations, Great Falls had a number of pluses, said Greg Thayer, CEO of the company.

The city is located on the east side of northcentral Montana’s bountiful grain-producing area called the Golden Triangle, opposite the company’s existing plant in Conrad on the west side. Semi-truck drivers often end up running deadhead, with empty loads, to reach that plant in the town of about 2,500. That’s much less likely to happen in Great Falls, Thayer said. It’s also easier to recruit skilled managers needed to run the operation in a larger city.

Another factor that cemented Montana Milling’s decision to build its 18,000-square-foot warehouse and 75-foot-high grain cleaning tower north of the Great Falls on Black Eagle Road was low-interest financing available through Cascade County, Thayer told the 100 or so attendees at the Invest Great Falls Economic Summit held Thursday at the Hilton Garden Inn.

By JO DEE BLACK • Tribune Business Editor

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