At RightNow I visited 200 – 250 customers each year. I loved it, but I had to get on an airplane each time, because unfortunately, in a tech business with global customers, not everyone was in Montana. Traveling the state visiting Montanans is much more enjoyable. So far this year I have had over 100 individual meetings with Montana business and community leaders. My goal is to get to know folks that are driving our Montana economy.
What a joy it has been traveling the state and building relationships.
The unrealized potential in Montana is truly awesome. Montana has great folks willing to work hard, but there are barriers to creating more high-wage jobs here. Each industry, whether it is farming, ranching, mining, timber, oil, tourism, manufacturing or high tech, has its own opportunities, dynamics and impediments to growth.
In these meetings I’m mostly listening, learning, and building relationships.
I’ve taken on the challenge to increase Montana wages so that our kids can prosper here and not have to leave Montana to find a good job. There is no reason we are 49th nationally in wages (see this recent article from the Bozeman Daily Chronicle).
Here are some of the themes and ideas I have been hearing:
- Almost all of our growing industries mention hiring as a critical issue. We need to do more to expose Montanans to job opportunities available right here in the state. We also need to invest in education to be sure that Montanans have the skills necessary to get those jobs.
- Washington DC Federal over-reach and over-regulation are strangling our economy. As a state we need to push back hard on Washington and tell them to keep their fingers and oppressive rules out of our state.
- Our state government is not always easy to work with. For example, why does every small business in Montana have to go to multiple web sites with separate logins and passwords, just to pay payroll each month? We should be making it easier – not harder – for businesses to do business in Montana. Seems a more customer-focused approach, and a little technology enhancement, would benefit many.
- Everyone hates the Business Equipment Tax. Farmers, ranchers, high-tech execs and manufacturers. Our legislature has done a good job of reducing the impact of this regressive tax; now is time to finally eliminate it.
What else should be on this list? Please send me your items. Also, if there are people in your community you think can help us solve Montana’s chronic state-wide wage problem, I would love to talk with them. If there are people with different views, I’d like to talk to them too. Only by pooling all the good ideas can we move forward together.
