Teens learn business lessons at Mystery Ranch thanks to One Montana

If your dream is to stay in Montana but you need to find some way to make a living, a great way to do it is to start your own business, says Mystery Ranch http://www.mysteryranch.com/ backpack maker Dana Gleason.

At the Bozeman factory he co-founded, Gleason gave a tour Monday for 18 teenagers visiting from rural Simms High School and urban Bozeman High. Mystery Ranch employs 110 people in Bozeman and makes high-quality backpacks sold all over the world, used by everyone from weekend hikers to wildland firefighters and special ops warriors.

"Kids your age are Montana’s greatest export," Gleason told the students, because so many young people leave the state to seek careers. But today, thanks to technology, it’s easier than ever to be decentralized and, he said, "to get an idea and put something together, if you want to stay where you grew up."

By Gail Schontzler Chronicle Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/education/teens-learn-business-lessons-at-mystery-ranch/article_5b18b82c-a1f5-5277-8ae5-4558e66ba444.html

One Montana http://www.onemontana.org/

One Montana brings rural and urban interests together to ensure a resilient and prosperous Montana.

VISION: One Montana envisions a state where good ideas are more important than partisan ideologies and where we have the highest percentage of collaborations amongst business, agencies and communities of any other state in the nation. Montana will be an example to the rest of the country on how to create success without declaring winners or losers and how to use rural-urban partnerships to develop long lasting solutions

You can find what unites us rather than what divides us. You can create One Montana.