By Gerard
O'Brien of The Montana Standard - 11/17/2004
Nearly 70
Butte and southwest Montana citizens involved in economic development
brainstormed common goals to revitalize the regional economy Tuesday
morning.
The
session is the first step in a new public-private effort called Butte on
the Move. It focuses on moving the local economy forward through citizen
action while joining the other, larger Montana cities — called Montana
on the Move — as a political force to lobby the upcoming Legislature.
Not surprisingly, common themes emerged during the five-hour session at
the Thornton Building in Uptown Butte.
The groups narrowed the themes to three key goals: Set a vision for
southwest Montana to plan for the future while prioritizing projects to
be accomplished; promote Butte by active marketing; improving its
infrastructure and look at becoming more of a regional center; and
develop the workforce to help diversify the economy through education.
On the last item, Allen Ellmaker, chief executive officer of Synesis7,
said during an earlier panel discussion that he may be in need of 50 to
100 new employees in the next six to nine months. A trained workforce in
Butte is essential, he said.
Ellmaker's computer software and networking firm is located in Butte,
partly due to the warm reception it received from local officials, he
said.
"We will need access to trained people, be able to recruit the
higher-end technical people to Butte and need access to financial
equity," Ellmaker said.
He said Butte should not overlook making the city more amenable to women
— a cleaner looking town with varied shopping opportunities.
Susan
Patton, vice chancellor for academic affairs at Montana Tech, said that
Tech receives three to four calls a day for mining engineers or related
fields of study. Internationally there's a shortage of 400 jobs
annually, she said.
"We just can't fill those jobs graduating 80 students a year,"
she said. "If only we had the jobs here for those graduates."
Tech's south campus has evolved to fill the needs of the community, as
well, instituting a radiology degree, informatics degree and a
full-blown nursing program to better serve St. James Healthcare.
Dan Kemmis, former Missoula mayor and director of the Center for the
Rocky Mountain West (a sponsor of Montana on the Move), said that
"cities that work well attract entrepreneurs."
Butte is in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, a "third coast"
and locale for the most growth in the next 15 years.
He pointed out how important communication is among the economic
development entities.
"People are hungry for solid information. If they can get that,
they can act on it," he said. "They can create an opportunity
for creative action."
Tuesday's participants will regroup in early January to hammer out
specific goals and objectives.
