LEWISTOWN — From a new German manufacturing company on the horizon to being a hub for the U.S. Air Force's missile modernization project, Lewistown could be in store for an economic development makeover in the next several years.
Civic leaders got a chance to gauge the economic pulse of the area on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, during the University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) roadshow.
"We do it each year — at the beginning of the year. We call it our Economic Outlook Seminar. We travel around Montana, kind of city to city," explained BBER economist Samuel Scott. "We switch it up a little bit each year, but we try to hit all the bigger towns and some of the smaller ones to get a good geographic spread. And we just talk about the economics of the state as far as what happened last year, kind of what we think is going to happen this year, answer people's questions, really get out there and do some outreach and listen to what people are experiencing throughout the state from a from an economics perspective."
"This is really...I think — it's a fun tour for myself to be on. Not only do I get to engage with the other presenters and learn a lot from them, both during that and then during breaks and things, but also a lot of the attendees at these workshops have, you know, bits of information that we wouldn't know if we didn't get out and visit with folks," MSU Extension economist Joel Schumacher her told MTN. "So it's always interesting to learn something from a local business owner or a chamber of commerce, you know, some friends in realty, from someone who's working in a local market. So all of those things, you know, we incorporate into some of the things that we're sharing at future communities, from learning from all these local experts as well.
The roadshow presents an economic outlook on a variety of industries affecting each community they visit.
"Ag commodities prices really aren't too bad, but there's been so much volatility. Yes, wheat prices were over 12 bucks for a while during the Russia invasion and so forth. So a lot of volatility. They look lower. Of course, they're a little bit higher today," BBER Director Patrick Barkey noted. "And lumber prices have come back down there on the metal side, these prices are actually pretty low.
The BBER roadshow is reaching out to rural communities, sharing their research, analysis and forecasting the economic climate in which we live and work.
