RAVALLI COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
Julie Foster
Julie has been the Economic Development Authority, Executive Director in Ravalli County since December of 2005. Julie has been a technical assistant for cooperative development with the Montana Cooperative Development Center since April of 2004. Julie is a 21 year veteran of small entrepreneurial Montana business. She is the founder and Director of Montana Jobs Newtork (MJN) and Come Home Montana. Professional and personal interests include technology, innovative economic development, cooking and outdoor recreation with friends and family. I hope to continue learning from friends old and new; to turn ideas and knowledge into action whenever possible, and cultivate an environment for entrepreneurship that can flourish in our Montana communities. I have a wonderful family, my best friend and husband Steve and a Jack Russell Terrier, Charlie. 274 Old Corvallis Road Suite A Hamilton, MT 59840 (406) 375-9416 – office (406) 363-2402 – fax Julie Foster Call the RCEDA Office at 406.375.9416 or email RCEDA General Information for additional information
Homepage: http://www.rceda.org
Posts by Julie Foster
Entrepreneurship Center holds grand opening
Jan 27th
Bitterroot Star March 27, 2010 By Michael Howell
Although the doors of the Ravalli Entrepreneurship Center have been open for a while a grand opening ceremony was held last week to celebrate the new facility.
The 10,000-square-foot facility, located north of Hamilton on Old Corvallis Road, was designed by local architect Lee Kierig and sits on four acres of land donated by the Ravalli County Council on Aging. The $1.5 million building is not only the home of the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority, it also houses the Bitterroot Community College extension of the University of Montana and the Job Service. The More >
Entrepreneurship Center officially opens
Jan 26th
Ravalli Republic January 26, 2010 by Jeff Schmerker
Call it official — the Ravalli County Entrepreneurship Center is now open for business.
Officials, supporters and clients turned out last week to mark the occasion with speeches, tours and snacks.
Opening of the $3.4 million center marks the end of a multi-year effort to bring a small business incubator to the county. One tenant – Falcon Asset Management – is ready to move in and the county hopes that other businesses will use the center as a launching pad.
“Even in the best of times we need to be building for the future,” said More >
RCEDA ready to offer small business loans
Jan 6th
Ravalli Republic January 6, 2010 by Jeff Schmerker
While the county’s microloan program is about to begin operations, so is another loan system designed to boost small business owners.
The Ravalli County Economic Development Authority has $600,000 in U.S. Department of Agriculture loans to issue. The loans are part of USDA’s intermediary relending program.
While $335,000 of the money available is from USDA, another $165,000 comes from the Montana Board of Investments and a further $100,000 from the Ravalli County federal stimulus program.
“We have $600,000 ready to lend out,” said Julie Foster, director of the economic development authority. Whereas microloans are being targeted More >
Setting up shop
Jan 6th
Ravalli Republic January 6, 2010 by Jeff Schmerker
An empty cubicle waits for a new hire at Falcon Asset Management in the Ravalli Entrepreneurship Center. The company has a patent-pending process to manage so-called “distressed” assets. WILL MOSS – Ravalli Republic
The city of Hamilton is lending support to the opening of a major new local business.
The city in December agreed to help channel state Department of Commerce business development funds to Falcon Asset Management Group.
The $235,000 grant is meant to help the company hire and train new workers; the company has applied for the funds but not yet received them.
Brenda Jurgens, More >
Commerce officials defend loan program
Aug 21st
Ravalli Republic August 21, 2009 by John Cramer
In a contentious meeting Thursday with Ravalli County commissioners, Montana Commerce Director Tony Preite defended his department’s handling of a new federal and state stimulus program for the timber industry.
Preite also denied that his long-time friendship with Dick King, president of the Missoula Area Economic Development Corporation, was unduly influencing the DOC’s decision-making.
Preite told the commission he requested the meeting in response to their critical comments last week in a Ravalli Republic article, which he said prompted a flurry of calls to the DOC from across the state.
After an hour and More >
RCEDA’s new center moving forward
May 25th
Ravalli Republic May 25, 2009 by John Cramer
Four gold shovels will break ground Tuesday on the Ravalli Entrepreneurship Center, but the project’s foundation was laid more than a decade ago.
In the 1990s, the Bitterroot Valley’s population skyrocketed and community leaders envisioned a local economy that was less dependent on agriculture and logging and more invested in technology, information and consumer services.
Come Tuesday, the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority will break ground on the REC, a $3.2 million facility designed to usher in a new era of economic development, employment and education. Construction started last month and the 10,000-square-feet building’s More >
Tax Increment Finance Districts
May 6th
On May 4th, a public meeting for the land owners of a proposed Urban Renewal Tax Increment Finance District located in the Old Corvallis Road area was held in Hamilton. The power point presentation and map are available through the links in this post.
An Urban Renewal District is a mechanism for providing needed infrastructure to the area and does not restrict the use of private property.
Types of Improvements that could be Undertaken in the proposed District
GlaxoSmithKline supports Montana effort
Mar 9th
International pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline is supporting a local Montana effort to start a business incubator, the Ravalli Entreprenuership Center, to foster the Bitterroot Valley’s fledgling biotech industry.
“We’ll be assisting the RCEDA with vetting applicants and assessing proposals to make them more solid, to make sure they have rigorous review and a solid business plan,” said Michael Covarrubias, site director of GSK’s Hamilton operation. “We expect that most of them will need money. The RCEDA can introduce them to investors, and our hope is that some could be funded.” For Julie Foster, head of the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority, Covarrubias’ More >
Supporting Economic Development in Hamilton
Nov 21st
RCEDA would like to thank the City of Hamilton for their continued support to RCEDA as we provide the tools entrepreneurs and small business needs to create, expand, and maintain strong, healthy companies with good paying jobs in Ravalli County and the City of Hamilton.
Affordable benefit plan seminar for employers
Nov 18th
December 9, from 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM a seminar on “Benefits You Can Afford to Give” will be sponsored by the Bitterroot Job Service Workforce Center (JSEC). Benefit plans and the positive impact they have on your business and employees will be discussed along with many other topics. Please see the flyer for more details. Speakers are Jane Foster with Edward Jones and Adam Sangster with Apex Human Resource.
During the Ravalli Business And Expansion (BEAR) meetings with local business owners our teams always hear about the concern and frustration the businesses have in tyring to put benefit plans together for More >
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