Governor Schweitzer joins boycott of Western Montana Regional Economic Development Summit

Gov. Brian Schweitzer http://governor.mt.gov/ has decided against attending what was billed as Montana’s first regional economic summit on Friday because commissioners from five of seven western Montana counties plan to boycott the event.

The summit was touted as the public debut of a regional collaboration among local and state government and private industry in Montana, a project prompted by the recession’s hammering of companies, workers and elected bodies from Missoula to Kalispell.

But the looming boycott prompted the event’s sponsor, the Missoula Area Economic Development Corp. http://www.maedc.org , to concede Wednesday that the proposed partnership has gotten off to a rocky start.

By JOHN CRAMER of the Ravalli Republic

Full Story: http://missoulian.com/articles/2009/07/30/news/local/news04.txt

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Missoula Area Economic Development Corp. aims for regional blueprint http://matr.net/article-34636.html

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Missoula Jobs Director Wolf Ametsbichler, worries about Missoula work force, wages and economic future http://matr.net/article-34153.html

Emergence of Workforce Development as a Crucial Aspect of Montana’s Economic Development http://matr.net/article-34085.html