The Ravalli County Economic Development Authority has received permission to embark on an ambitious expansion plan for its entrepreneurship center.

The organization will likely use $4.5 million in revenue bonds to build a 16,400-square-foot building adjacent to the current entrepreneurship center in Hamilton. The building will be home to a research and development unit for GlaxoSmithKline.

The county already has $2.6 million available in state money; on Tuesday, commissioners gave permission for EDA to ask the state for an additional $1.9 million in bond capacity.

The bonds will be sold to private investors like banks, said Julie Foster, director of the economic development authority. The 6 percent bonds will be tax-free, thanks to support from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. One investment house has already said it would buy the bonds.

EDA will pay the loan over 20 years using a lease from GSK, which will move 25 jobs from its Hamilton headquarters to the new building; taxes, utilities and upkeep on the building will be paid by the tenant. No groundbreaking date has yet been set. Tax-free status for the bonds comes from the federal government through the county’s designation as an economic recovery zone, said Klarryse Murphy, the county’s chief financial officer.

“This is a designation that is meant to help us recover economically,” she said.
| MORE > link to full Ravalli Republic article |

The Ravalli County Economic Development Authority (RCEDA) is a legal Port Authority entity under Montana Code, and a 501 (c)(3) non-profit designated organization.

The RCEDA will, either alone or in cooperation with others, enhance the Bitterroot Valley by securing funding for programs and facilities development from public and private sources.

RCEDA will support growth of existing companies and nurture new company formation, operate business incubation and entrepreneurial support services. RCEDA will work to expand early-stage business capital resources for young companies, and help to create the infrastructure for a “knowledge-based community”.

Ravalli County Economic Development Authority
Ravalli Entrepreneurship Center
Julie Foster, Executive Director
274 Old Corvallis Road
Suite A
Hamilton, MT 59840
(406) 375-9416

Currently, the county’s $700,000 revolving loan fund administered by county commissioners and the economic development authority is meant for Ravalli County businesses only.

But what if, for example, a meat processing plant was proposed for Lolo – and Bitterroot ranchers were to be the main supplier?

County commissioners on Thursday modified rules to the revolving loan fund so that they meet new statutory requirements. The county is in a certified regional development corporation with Missoula County and now each county can make loans to businesses in the other.

As before, all loans must be approved by the county commission. Currently, the $700,000 available for loans is all in use.

“This means that we are loaning as a region for the regional benefit,” Julie Foster, director of the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority, told commissioners. | MORE > link to full Ravalli Republic article |

The classes include a superior group of professionals including a local marketing expert, CPA, attorney, and a bank branch manager. The course provides well over $1,000 worth of private consulting.

RCEDA also has engaged the support of its two tenants in the Ravalli Entrepreneurship Center: the Bitterroot Job Service and the Bitterroot College Program of the University of Montana.

The classes include QuickBooks Basics, August 3 and 10; Excel Basics, August 5 and 12; Business Plan I, August 13; Business Plan II (Financials), August 20; and Marketing Basics, August 27. The class on September 10 has two parts, Human Resources and Incorporation. The session ends with Traditional and Alternative Financing, September 17.

The price for all the courses is $159.50. The classes can be purchased separately, $44 each for QuickBooks and Excel, and $15 each for the other 5 classes.

To sign up you can stop by the RCEDA at 274 Old Corvallis Rd, Suite A in Hamilton (across the street from the back of Massa Home Center), call at 375-9416, email; alice@rceda.org or visit www.umt.edu/bcp/registration.aspx to register.

Sen. Max Baucus told a group of county residents Tuesday that erasing federal government deficits would likely be done by balancing spending reductions with tax raises.

Additionally, Baucus told a group of about 40 gathered at the Ravalli County Entrepreneurship Center, he’d back a series of changes to tax law to benefit small businesses and self-employed individuals through payroll deductions and speedier property devaluations. | MORE > link to full Ravalli Republic article |

Ravalli County residents will have a couple of opportunities to talk with Montana’s congressional delegation this week.

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus will hold a community meeting today in Hamilton to discuss economic development in the Bitterroot Valley.

On Thursday, Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg will host a general listening session at Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital in Hamilton.

Baucus’ meeting will start at 1:30 p.m. at the Ravalli County Economic Development Office located at 274 Old Corvallis Road in Hamilton.
Julie Foster, executive director of the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority, said this will be Baucus’ first visit to the new office building since it opened its doors last November.

Baucus was instrumental in helping the center obtain a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, Foster said.

“We’re excited to have him here,” she said.

The total cost of the new center – which is already full – was $3.2 million.

Baucus unveiled legislation this week to help small businesses access capital, stimulate investment in small businesses and promote entrepreneurship, said a press release from Baucus’ office. | MORE > link to full Ravalli Republic article |

The RCEDA has had a tremendous response to its Building Bitterroot Business classes held at the Ravalli Entrepreneurship Center (REC).

“All the classes were about at capacity” reports John Schneeberger, REC Facility Director. “The surveys filled out by the participants were also very favorable.”

The Building Bitterroot Business classes were started in response to a need identified by the RCEDA for basic business planning and technical assistance. The Ravalli County EDA was able to offer these classes with help from a Rural Business Opportunity Grant provided by the USDA Rural Development program administered out of Missoula.

“We’ve been trying to get this type of business training going in the valley for a couple of years now and are very excited that its finally happened,” says Julie Foster, Executive Director of the RCEDA. The next round of classes begins May 4 and includes computer accounting and spreadsheet, as well as a five-part series on basic business planning. The classes are held in the Bitterroot College classrooms in the back of the Bitterroot Job Service in the REC. For more information contact the RCEDA at 375-9416, john@rceda.org, or stop by the REC at 274 Old Corvallis Road in Hamilton.

Key Points

Marketplace is changing; more expectations of recognized quality management systems to attract business.
Don’t go it alone; business resources are available to assist small business to reach crucial goals.
Overnight shipping services make doing business possible from rural America.