September 2003

State Roundups
Montana

Big Sky covers Ireland

Hot tubs, fishing tackle and local art, though perhaps not the most traditional of associations, are apparently nonetheless one winning combination for Montana in the global economy. This summer, the Montana World Trade Center—a Missoula-based entity that helps Montana's local businesses grow and enter international markets—organized a trade trip to Ireland for several Montana artists, hot-tub manufacturers and fishing tackle producers. While across the Atlantic, the trade center connected Montana vendors with government officials and European buyers. Already since the voyagers' return, local artists and businesses have made $500,000 in sales to the Emerald Isle. One Montana producer is shipping 25 hot tubs to Ireland in August. A fishing-gear company, employing three when it was sponsored by the trade center to go to Ireland, now hopes to expand to 12 positions by autumn.

Several on the trip stated that there were good markets in Ireland for their specialized products: Not only were the Irish apparently greatly taken with the Montana paintings (primarily landscape); they also, reportedly, associate Montana with top-notch fishing, creating a heightened demand for fishing tackle from the state. Vendors acknowledged another important factor driving demand for their products: the relatively weak dollar, bolstering Old World purchases of New World exports.

Montana faces first job loss in 16 years

The state Department of Labor and Industry recorded a loss of 300 jobs in the past year, making this the first time since 1987 that Montana has faced an overall decline in jobs. Paul Polzin, director of the Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research, said the state might have to brace for more bad news in the future, as the Department of Labor's report does not include the recent 467 positions lost from the July closure of a Montana sawmill or the additional elimination of 330 jobs expected in August with the shutdown of one of Kalispell's largest employers. Montana's decrease since last year means that the state now joins the national trend of decreasing jobs that has been in place since July 2001.

—Benjamin Knelman