Greg Gianforte

I love mentoring Montana entrepreneurs.  Last month I completed my 240th session in the past year or so.  Mentoring allows me to live vicariously through these wild-eyed, passionate, never-say-die visionaries who want to create something of value for themselves and their communities.

As entrepreneurs succeed their businesses create high-wage Montana jobs and make our economic pie larger, so many get a bigger slice.

Let me tell you about a few of my heros:

Luke Mauritsen’s company Montana Instruments in Bozeman builds a machine that looks like a high end latte maker, but he sells it to physicists all over the world for more than $100,000 a pop.  What does it do?  It produces VERY VERY low temperatures for researchers.  He has a huge backlog of orders and is growing quickly. Go Luke!

Doug Warner’s company DropTrip is the world’s first crowdsourced shipping social network. Shippers get to save money sending and receiving their things through a network of vetted travelers, and travelers get to make money helping shippers get their stuff from point A to B.  People can save money shipping and make money traveling!

Chad Nybo’s company CrossTX is a cloud based coordination of care platform that offers a secure way for health care providers to coordinate their patient’s care across the healthcare continuum.  Unlike fax, phone, and sticky notes, CrossTX provides patient treatment coordination processes that improve outcomes while maintaining a complete record of a patient’s episode of care, all in real-time.  Basically, if an appendectomy is performed on you at your local hospital, and they use CrossTx, your appendix will be the only thing missing when you leave.

These are only a few examples – stay tuned for more inspiring examples of the great work Montana’s entrepreneurs are doing, building successful companies and creating a stronger economy for our state.

If you think “Montana high-tech” is an oxymoron, think again.  High-tech has fueled an engine of economic growth in southwest Montana.  Many new entrepreneurs have been inspired by our success at RightNow and gone on to create their own high-tech firms in the state.  The Montana high-tech revolution has begun.

You can look at my previous post to read about the impact high-tech has had on our state’s economy.  But if we really want to capitalize on the opportunities high-tech provides, we need more computer science grads.

Computer science jobs create jobs for all types of people, including accounting, sales marketing, and administration, to name a few.  Those jobs in turn create jobs in construction, real estate, restaurants and retail.

Without CS graduates though, many successes Montana’s high-tech companies, including RightNow, have enjoyed would not have been possible.

That is why we announced this week a $1 million gift to the Montana State University Computer Science department.  We are thrilled to be investing in MSU. We need more computer science graduates to fuel our Montana high-tech revolution.

The grant to the university’s computer science department will create more resources and opportunities for Montanans to get great jobs, right here in the state, and not have to move away to find a job that can support their family.  We look forward to steadily increasing numbers of computer science graduates from MSU and, consequently, better job opportunities for all Montanans.

I, for one, don’t want to have to get on a plane to see my grandkids. I don’t think others do either.

If you are looking for more reasons to believe in the value of high tech and manufacturing in our state, check this out.  The Montana High Tech Business Alliance just released a statement today, sharing data from a recent survey that confirms the success and potential of these industries in bringing high-paying jobs to Montana families.

Among other things, this survey found that high tech and manufacturing wages are twice the median earning per Montana worker.  Plus, the projected growth of high tech businesses is 8-10 times the projected statewide growth rate.  Well done to the business owners and workers in these industries!

Our next step is to continue creating opportunities that train skilled workers to meet this growth.  With programs like the Gianforte Manufacturing Scholarships and computer science development at high schools and universities around the state, we are already seeing students taking advantage of chances to step into these fields, creating a brighter future for their families and Montana.

The survey was done by UM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research.  Click to read the full report or press release.

A startling fact was disclosed last week at the University of Montana’s Montana Economic Outlook Seminar.  Last year, across all 56 counties in Montana, 40% of total payroll growth occurred in Gallatin County alone.  Wow!  Payroll in Bozeman and the surrounding areas expanded over $100M in a single year from Q2 of 2013 to Q2 of 2014. Think about that.  Bozeman even beat the Bakken for wage increases last year.

As it turns out, high-tech startups are the primary reason for Gallatin County’s growth.  We must support all private sector industries in Montana, but the advent of the Internet brings a new and unique opportunity to the state.  This incredible expansion of wages and prosperity for Montanans in Gallatin County reinforces what we have been saying for some time: High tech represents a huge opportunity for high-wage job creation in every Montana community.  When we encourage and support our entrepreneurs, and make sure Montanans are prepared for these high-wage jobs, we can duplicate Gallatin County’s success around the state. Plus, high-tech jobs create opportunities for people of all backgrounds and skills.  As a consequence of this expansion in Gallatin County, unemployment here is some of the lowest in the state.  I understand that even jobs at our local McDonalds in Bozeman pay $12/hour due to the labor shortage and the availability of options for people looking for work. Plus, these new high-wage job earners build homes, creating construction jobs, and they go out to shop and dine, enhancing main street and other local businesses.  Everyone benefits when more money is brought into a community.

(I should also note that this growth occurred without any special government program or special tax breaks.  It was just the pure and simple private sector success, resulting from hard work, risk taking, and the invincible Montana work ethic.)

Better jobs are possible in Montana.  Gallatin County proved it this past year.

So how do we keep this economic activity going in other communities in Montana? We’ve already begun.  We launched the Montana High Tech Business Alliance nearly a year ago and already have over 140 member firms from all over western Montana.  Member companies like Goomzee and ATG in Missoula, ViZn Energy in the Flathead, Printing for Less in Livingston, and Helix in Dillon, in addition to the next generation of high-tech startups in Bozeman, represent the seeds for massive future growth in opportunities for all Montanans.

Better jobs are possible in Montana.  Gallatin County proved it this past year.  Personally, I want to see other counties around the state give Gallatin a run for its money.  Based on the talented entrepreneurs I have been meeting all over the state, I think that is exactly what is going to happen.

This blog post is the third of three in a series and is excerpted from an excellent article I recently received written by Bekhi Spika of Spika Welding in Lewistown. An abbreviated version is presented here with her permission.  Click here to read the first post in this series, and here to read the second post.

You may have heard that US manufacturers are facing a shortage of skilled workers — a shortage so severe that in 2011, 600,000 jobs went unfilled. What’s the big deal, you ask? Plenty of kids graduate from high school and college each year. Surely they’ll fill that gap.

Actually, they won’t unless we do something about it. As a 2011 report by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute discovered,

• with Baby Boomers approaching retirement, 50% of the current manufacturing workforce will be putting down their tools and picking up their margaritas within the next 10-15 years!
• Despite the fact that 70% of Americans view manufacturing as the most important industry for a strong economy and national defense, and despite the fact that 90% of all manufacturing jobs have medical benefits with average wages upwards of $70K…
• Youth between 18-24 ranked manufacturing as only the 5th industry in which they would choose to begin their careers, trailing behind technology, energy, healthcare, and communications, and leading only financial services and retail.

With the need for workers so great, and the benefits of working in manufacturing so apparent, what are the steps we can take to bulk up the skilled workforce in our industry?

3. Change Technical Degrees Into Stackable Certifications

Oftentimes US high schools default to putting their students on the path of college prep diplomas, which means they require a certain number of credits for math, science, history, English, etc. in order to be prepared to enter a 4-year degree program. But this program is catering to a demographic that learns best in a lecture-based curriculum with academia as the focus.

The demographic of students that can rewire their light switches at home but receive Cs and Ds in school is being grossly ignored. And high schools are churning out many of these hands-on students who will go to college for a year then drop out because they 1) still hate history class and just aren’t wired for academia, 2) aren’t satisfied with the prospects of getting a degree just to sit behind a computer at a desk job, or 3) don’t see the point in earning a 4-year degree since 46% of workers who graduated from college in the past two years say they are underemployed and working in jobs that do not require their college degrees.

We need to train our young workforce quickly and without unnecessary academic classes. Get rid of the 1-year certificate or 2-year diploma programs. Start teaching students through stackable credits — classes offered to students to quickly achieve an industry certification at a community college and oftentimes leads directly to employment. These classes don’t last a quarter or a semester. You don’t have to take biology or Spanish history to earn the certificate. Above all, the students become hugely attractive and marketable in an industry that is desperate for skilled workers.

Conclusion

With the evolution of technology and the changing workforce in the manufacturing industry, there will plenty of new and changing positions in which the skilled workforce will need to adapt. Manufacturing itself is adapting to its own ever-changing landscape — every year brings new challenges and opportunities. And it needs people to step up.

To learn more about opportunities for pursuing a technical degree in manufacturing, check out our post on the Gianforte Manufacturing Scholarships.

This blog post is the second of three in a series and is excerpted from an excellent article I recently received written by Bekhi Spika of Spika Welding in Lewistown. An abbreviated version is presented here with her permission.  For the first post in this series, click here.

You may have heard that US manufacturers are facing a shortage of skilled workers — a shortage so severe that in 2011, 600,000 jobs went unfilled. What’s the big deal, you ask? Plenty of kids graduate from high school and college each year. Surely they’ll fill that gap.

Actually, they won’t unless we do something about it. As a 2011 report by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute discovered,

• with Baby Boomers approaching retirement, 50% of the current manufacturing workforce will be putting down their tools and picking up their margaritas within the next 10-15 years!
• Despite the fact that 70% of Americans view manufacturing as the most important industry for a strong economy and national defense, and despite the fact that 90% of all manufacturing jobs have medical benefits with average wages upwards of $70K…
• Youth between 18-24 ranked manufacturing as only the 5th industry in which they would choose to begin their careers, trailing behind technology, energy, healthcare, and communications, and leading only financial services and retail.

With the need for workers so great, and the benefits of working in manufacturing so apparent, what are the steps we can take to bulk up the skilled workforce in our industry?

2. Reach Out To Kids and Women

It’s obvious that the way to capture the mind of a person is to introduce them to an idea at an early age. Our nation needs to focus energy on fostering the talents of hands-on students from the time they begin school. By identifying their interest early on in more technical industries, we can filter them into robotics clubs or welding clubs as soon as they’re in middle school or junior high. Manufacturers need to be promoting manufacturing through plant tours and scholarships. We need to encourage the kids who want to work with their hands to pursue a technical diploma from high school instead of the standard college-prep diploma (assuming the high school has a technical diploma track…many do not). We need to encourage our educators to build both high school and college curriculums to certify students in different skills so that when they enter the workforce, they have some marketable skill — particularly a skill that the Baby Boomers are vacating — such as machining, operating, craft working (such as welding), distributing and other technical positions.

Additionally, efforts to promote women in manufacturing need to be doubled, if not quadrupled. How many women are there in our communities that need jobs after their kids graduate high school? How many women enjoy working with their hands but are stuck behind a computer all day? Many of these women resort to receptionist positions or fast-food jobs — jobs that oftentimes are not challenging and offer little to no advancement opportunities — because they don’t know where else their skills can be utilized. Little known fact: Women are actually great assemblers and welders because women pay close attention to detail. They oftentimes understand communication better. If they were equipped with local continuing ed classes or certificate programs that could gain them the basic skills needed to cut metal or assemble and fit a product together, they could easily take over the manufacturing industry.

Stay tuned for the next post, which discusses a third way we can close the skills gap in today’s workforce.

To learn more about opportunities for pursuing a technical degree in manufacturing, check out our post on the Gianforte Manufacturing Scholarships.

This blog post is the first of three in a series and is excerpted from an excellent article I recently received written by Bekhi Spika of Spika Welding in Lewistown. An abbreviated version is presented here with her permission.

You may have heard that US manufacturers are facing a shortage of skilled workers — a shortage so severe that in 2011, 600,000 jobs went unfilled. What’s the big deal, you ask? Plenty of kids graduate from high school and college each year. Surely they’ll fill that gap.

Actually, they won’t unless we do something about it. As a 2011 report by Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute discovered,

• with Baby Boomers approaching retirement, 50% of the current manufacturing workforce will be putting down their tools and picking up their margaritas within the next 10-15 years!
• Despite the fact that 70% of Americans view manufacturing as the most important industry for a strong economy and national defense, and despite the fact that 90% of all manufacturing jobs have medical benefits with average wages upwards of $70K…
• Youth between 18-24 ranked manufacturing as only the 5th industry in which they would choose to begin their careers, trailing behind technology, energy, healthcare, and communications, and leading only financial services and retail.

With the need for workers so great, and the benefits of working in manufacturing so apparent, what are the steps we can take to bulk up the skilled workforce in our industry?

1. Remind Kids That Manufacturing Is “Sexy” 

Honestly, our young workforce is idling in the stubborn misperception that manufacturing is stuck in the early 1900s with dangerous working conditions, dark buildings and dirty environments.

But as Time Magazine pointed out in an article last year, “Today’s U.S. factories aren’t the noisy places where your grandfather knocked in four bolts a minute for eight hours a day. Dungarees and lunch pails are out; computer skills and specialized training are in, since the new made-in-America economics is centered largely on cutting-edge technologies.”

Manufacturing companies are defined by creating new products either directly from raw materials or components. This means bakeries, candy stores, and custom tailors are all part of manufacturing. You can be a welder, sewer, medical appliance technician, jeweler, dental laboratory technician or water treatment worker among many, many other positions. Montana’s manufacturing positions alone run the gamut from Spika’s need for machinists for maintenance platforms to Red Oxx’s sewers of sturdy luggage to Great Harvest’s bread bakers.

We need to encourage people who want hands-on, innovative positions that don’t require them to sit at a computer all day to come into manufacturing. Manufacturing is, above all, a skill and in some instances, an art. And it’s sexy.

Stay tuned for the next two posts, which discuss more ways we can close the skills gap in today’s workforce.

To learn more about opportunities for pursuing a technical degree in manufacturing, check out our last post on the Gianforte Manufacturing Scholarships.

You’ve seen the fact: manufacturing jobs are some of the highest paying in the country.  Yet in Montana, there is a big gap between the number of available jobs in the manufacturing sector, and the smaller number of qualified workers available to fill them.

That’s why the Gianforte Family Foundation is giving $500,000 over the next two years in scholarships to lower-income students and veterans pursuing manufacturing or industrial education at a two-year college in Montana. This program is designed to help these Montanans get the training they need to access these high-wage jobs, giving them a leg up and simultaneously growing the manufacturing sector in Montana.

The scholarships are available immediately, for use in this coming 2015 spring semester, and are offered at the following Montana colleges: Bitterroot College of UM in Hamilton; City College of MSU Billings; Flathead Valley Community College; MSU Northern; Highlands College of Montana Tech in Butte; Little Bighorn College at Crow Agency; Fort Peck Community College in Poplar; Miles Community College; Dawson Community College; Great Falls College of MSU; Helena College of UM; Missoula College of UM; and Gallatin College of MSU in Bozeman.

I’m very excited to be part of this initiative to strengthen Montana.  These scholarships will provide access for more students to learn and work in this growing, high-paying sector, in turn allowing them to build up their respective businesses, and moving the whole state forward to a healthier economy for our future.

In case you haven’t heard, there are even more opportunities now for entrepreneurs and small businesses in Montana!  I’m thrilled to announce $100,000 of additional support for Bootstrap Montana from the Gianforte Family Foundation and friends and alumni of Montana State University’s colleges of business and engineering.

These funds will be used to provide interest-free loans to qualifying entrepreneurs and small businesses in Montana.

This is another round of what has already proven to be a highly-successful program.  The Gianforte Family Foundation initially funded the MSU program in 2007, and since then the program has given around 30 loans, generating Montana success stories that include Bear Mountain Designs, Foundant Technologies, and Roughstock Distillery, to name a few.

With each success story, we get to witness growth that results in new jobs in Montana, and a stronger economy as a result.  Plus, applications for loans are reviewed by MSU students and faculty, providing great hands-on experience for the students and encouragement for them to start their own ventures.

In Bootstrap Montana, we’ve built a model that works to create jobs and opportunities.  With this additional support and the next round of applications, we’ll see the program and local economies continue to grow for the future, strengthening our economy and our state.

Winston Churchill said “Some regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Only a handful see it for what it really is – the strong and willing horse that pulls the whole cart along.”  

Churchill was correct: private enterprise is how wealth is created in our society.  Government initiatives, bail-outs and subsidies do not create wealth, they consume it, placing an even larger burden on the true wealth creators.

 In 1929 federal spending was 3% of our national income. Today federal spending is over 30% and total government spending (federal, state and local) exceeds 60% of national income according to the Heartland Institute.

Yet success in business is often villainized.  We need to encourage, support and celebrate our entrepreneurs. To do otherwise would be to literally bite the hand that feeds, clothes and shelters us all.