Economy

According to Commissioner Swanson, Montana experienced an extraordinary year marked by remarkable job growth, declining unemployment rates, and an upswing in wages for middle-income households.

I remember years ago a Best Buy employee was fired for stopping a crook who walked out of the store with some electronics and the store fired him. That was the last time I ever shopped at Best Buy.

On Thursday morning we caught up with Shelby Mayor Gary McDermott and longtime Shelby attorney Don Lee who both have extensive experience in the oil and gas industry. Don Lee tells us that helium exploration is being referred to as "the new Gold Rush." And check out what they're finding in Montana's Golden Triangle.

With 7.16 people per square mile, Montana DOES have more cows than people. Farming and ranching is still incredibly important across the entire state. (We've got 2.51 cattle per person, BTW.)

Billings, Montana is on a list for Top 5 housing markets once again. The Wall Street Journal and Realtor.com just released their list of "The Top 20 Emerging Housing Markets for Summer 2022. Plus, our chat with Dr. Pat Barkey from the BBER about housing and the strength of the Montana economy.

After a year off due to COVID restrictions, Montana will once again host the annual Pacific Northwest Economic Region Summit August 15 through 19 at Big Sky.

While we were on our break I saw tons of commercials of people buying cars for Christmas. Who does that?

Senator Jon Tester wants to raise the debt limit again claiming economic disaster if we don't borrow more to pay our debt. I am thoroughly convinced this man has lost it; borrowing more money to pay debt that we cant pay. In the words of governor Bullock, he must hate 4 year olds...

Sugar beets account for between $70 Million and $100 Million per year of Billings' regional economy. This year however it could be on the lower end of that range as harvests have been so good this year that there is a sugar glut in the U.S...

Many residents of Billings resent their tax dollars being used to construct paved bike paths. Some believe they are being built to someone’s idea of “greenhouse gas” requirements. Others see the City of Billings with a budget shortfall and consider bike lanes as a luxury when we should be tightening our belts just like families have been during a down economy...

Now that the end of the year is approaching, gas prices in Montana continue to fall.

Part of my indoctrination to my new hometown of Billings is the smell of the processing of sugar beets. Some people don't like the smell but to me it has the aroma of roasted corn. Roasted corn smells sweet and so do all the jobs sugar beets add to our economy...