Ronan Chamber of Commerce President Katie Elliott said during a monthly meeting on Thursday, March 7, 2024, that the local economy is growing following slowdowns of 2023.
“We have a lot of really great momentum happening in our town,” Elliot said. “That’s in part because of revitalization efforts from the chamber, the city, and Mission West. We are seeing a lot of amazing people step up to help our community grow.”
The Montana Department of Transportation began work on US Highway 93, a year ago, widening 1½ miles of the highway that cuts through the heart of Ronan.
The construction lasted nine months, and chamber board member Whitney Liegakos said many stores along the corridor were impacted.
“A number of them said it was a heavy hit to their bottom line,” Liegakos said. “There are now multiple lanes. This summer, if those lanes are all full, people are going to need to make a concerted effort to get into those businesses and we really hope that they will and encourage them to.”
Liegakos warned that projects like this often can have unintended consequences.
“I would say that anytime a town is impacted like this, there are ripple effects to nearby small towns,” Liegakos said. “We’re a gateway to Glacier, a gateway to Missoula, we need people. We rely on people stopping during the tourist season so we definitely saw a reduction last Summer.”
Elliot said the economy overall in the town has bounced back, as evidenced by the several new businesses that have recently taken up shop.
“We definitely have some new restaurants and retail experiences,” Elliot said. “We also have new business services, which is really awesome because often people would have to go outside of our town for things like that.”
Along with the new stores, Elliot asked for people to visit Ronan on June 22, 2024, to take in the Summer Solstice Brew Festival.
