come home to Montana

We just mailed out over 15,000 invitations to Montana State graduates who no longer live in the state, inviting them to come home and bring their job with them via telecommuting.  We have been exporting our kids for too long and we need to create opportunities so that they can return home.  This project is a joint collaboration with the Montana Chamber of Commerce, the Montana High Tech Alliance, the MSU Alumni Foundation, Mitchell’s Garage, and BetterMontanaJobs.  The invitations include Montana telecommuting success stories and tips for making telecommuting possible here – even how to talk to your boss about transitioning to a telecommuting job.  You can view a digital version of the invitation and guide hereConsider sending it to your kids or grandkids who don’t live in Montana anymore.

In conjunction with the invitations, I’m about to embark on a journey, to share in-person the opportunities that telecommuting brings to our communities around the state.  I’m calling it the “Bring our Families Back” tour, and it will focus on the ability to have a high-wage job in any Montana community through telecommuting.  These jobs mean that our kids and grandkids (or other friends and family) who have had to leave the state to find good-paying jobs can explore the opportunity to come back to this great state, and bring their jobs with them.

Oracle alone has over 1,300 jobs open today that can be filled from any Montana community, and that is just one company.  Others national companies that are willing to allow their employees to work from anywhere are listed in the telecommuting guide as well.

Over the next two weeks I plan on visiting communities all over Montana, sharing and discussing with them how telecommuting can work in their area.  The areas I will visit include Missoula, Polson, Lakeside and Somers, Kalispell, Columbia Falls, Thompson Falls, Superior, Hamilton, Deer Lodge, Helena, Butte, Dillon, Three Forks, Boulder, Townsend, White Sulphur Springs, Harlowtown, Lewistown, Conrad, Shelby, Havre, Glasgow, Wolf Point, Sidney, Glendive, Miles City, Billings, Livingston, Laurel and Red Lodge.  Please join me for a discussion at one of the events in your area – we have over 30 scheduled so far!

For too long we’ve been exporting our most precious resources, our kids and grandkids.  Raising the awareness of telecommuting will show that our graduates can live virtually anywhere in Montana and work for Fortune 500 companies with global client-bases.  This tour will make the opportunity for bringing them back front and center – showing that, with the internet, our kids can make a good wage and still live here, in Montana, by their families.