Senator Baucus Announces Software Giant Oracle’s Top Brass to Headline 6th Montana Economic Development Summit – September 16th & 17th in Butte

Nothing is off the table — No politics — The private sector should drive solutions

Senator Continues ‘Montana Solutions Jobs Tour’ in Bozeman with MSU President and Local Business Leaders

Montana U.S. Senator Max Baucus continued his ‘Montana Solutions Jobs Tour’ with a stop in Bozeman today, where he announced the President and CFO of Software Giant Oracle, Safra Catz, will join the list of headliners for his 6th Montana Economic Development Summit. Oracle began doing business in Bozeman in 2011 after being drawn to Montana in part because of the national exposure of past Summits. Laef Olson, Vice President of Oracle Cloud Operations, is based out of Bozeman and joined Baucus at today’s event.

Bozeman is the second stop in the ‘Montana Solutions Jobs Tour’ intended to spark a statewide conversation and action plan for bringing more good-paying jobs to Montana ahead of Summit September 16th & 17th in Butte. Several Bozeman Business leaders joined Baucus along with Montana State University President Waded Cruzado and other University officials for a roundtable discussion on job creation as part of today’s stop.

"Time and time again we have proven that handshakes turn into deals and deals turn into jobs – that is what our Summits are all about. It’s my job to get the right investors in the door, and from there Montana businesses blow them away with all the exciting things they are doing across the state," Baucus said. "Attracting software leaders like Oracle sends a clear signal that Montana has the tech-savvy workers needed to launch cutting edge startups that support good-paying jobs."

In October 2011, Oracle purchased RightNow Technologies, a leading provider of cloud-based customer service, based in Bozeman and has since announced plans to make Bozeman it’s "cloud finance hub," – the headquarters for all accounting of Oracle’s cloud-related business, which is the company’s fastest growing sector (Read More). http://www.baucus.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=861

With more than 380,000 customers-including 100 of the Fortune 100-and with deployments across a wide variety of industries in more than 145 countries around the globe, Oracle offers an optimized and fully integrated stack of business hardware and software systems (Read More). http://www.baucus.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=860

Baucus is joined along the ‘Montana Solutions Jobs Tour’ this week by President and CEO of the Montana Chamber of Commerce Webb Brown and local Chamber members. The Montana Chamber is partnering with Baucus and businesses across the state to put on this year’s Summit.

"Montana businesses are on the cutting edge of technologies in everything ranging from cloud computing to our natural resources. With Max’s help, we’re going to get some of the biggest names in business right here in Montana to help connect our folks with the resources and investments they need to take their companies to the next level and boost jobs across the state,"Brown said.

Baucus was in Harlowton and Billings yesterday, where he announced ConocoPhillips Chairman and CEO Ryan Lance will also be among a list of heavy hitters to deliver keynote addresses at this year’s event. Baucus will continue to unveil headliners at stops along the ‘Montana Solutions Jobs Tour’ planned in Great Falls, Helena, Missoula and Butte this week.

Montana businesses are encouraged to register for the Summit and check for updates:

· Online:http://www.MontanaJobsSummit.com

· On Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/MontanaJobsSummit

· Follow on Twitter: @MTJobsSummit

Additional Background on Economic Development Summits:

Montana Economic Development Summits are considered the most highly regarded jobs-focused events in Montana. The most recent Summit in 2010 attracted more than 150 businesses and 2,500 participants and featured nearly 40 panels and breakout sessions with entrepreneurs from around the state, business leaders from around the country and ambassadors from around the world.

The Summits feature a top-tier list of keynote speakers along with dozens of panels and breakout sessions designed to bring Montana businesses together with the biggest names in their industries:

· Past headliners have included: Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, along with panelists ranging from Cabinet officials like the U.S. Energy Secretary to Ambassadors from some of Montana’s largest trading partners.

The Summits have a long track record of providing Montana businesses with the connections and resources necessary to create new good-paying jobs:

· Following Baucus’ invitation to top GE officials to visit Montana and participate in his 2007 Economic Development Summit, GE built its Center of Excellence processing center in Billings which currently employs more than 200 workers.

· At the 2010 Summit, GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt met the owners of SeaCast manufacturing in Butte. The resulting partnerships have helped SeaCast grow from 21 to more than 70 employees. And the latest partnership they announced in January is expected to add even more. (Read More) http://www.baucus.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1205

· After attending the 2007 Summit, international grain exporter Bunge build two state-of-the-art, high-speed shuttle loading facilities for Montana-grown grains along the Hi-Line in in Chester and Kyntire Flats. (Read More) http://www.baucus.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=282

· LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals of Bozeman has secured more than $28m in venture capital investments since meeting with investors at Baucus 2007 Summit. (Read More) http://www.baucus.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=414

Baucus has issued three ground rules for the Summits:

1. Nothing is off the table. Think outside the box and do not worry if an idea seems too big, or impractical. Only by thinking big, can we succeed big.

2. No politics. Nothing of consequence ever comes without working together. If folks cannot work together, they will not achieve the goals they have set out. Politics should not get in the way of good ideas.

3. The private sector should drive solutions. Businesses across Big Sky Country are on the cutting edge of innovation – from alternative energy, to the medical industry, to groundbreaking technologies. While the public sector has a role in creating incentives and supporting education and infrastructure, the best ideas come from the American entrepreneur. It is those ideas that will help us create good-paying jobs here in Montana.