Trade center idea gets positive response

Dee Brown is encouraged by a meeting held this week to discuss the potential for the state to establish a trade center in Calgary.

Brown, a Hungry Horse businesswoman and candidate for state Senate District 2, organized the Tuesday meeting that was attended by about 15 people at the Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish.

“I think there was a pretty positive response from the people who were there,” Brown said.

The main purpose of establishing a center would be to clear the way for the export of more Montana products to Alberta.

“There was a builder from Whitefish who was very interested in being allowed to transport products into a new market where the price of building materials is astronomical,” Brown said.

Another person at the meeting pointed out that Alberta has a visitor center in West Glacier but Montana has no presence in Calgary.

Brown said she wants to approach the Legislature with a proposal next year that would involve the use of bed tax revenue rather than general fund tax dollars. She also would want a sunset provision to “let the office go away if it wasn’t producing anything.”

“I do know that with $14 million in the Travel Montana budget there has to be some wiggle room,” she said.

According to Brown, the state spends about $275,000 annually on international trade. The state established a trade office in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1984 that cost $175,000 a year before it was recently scaled back by Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

Asked about his thoughts on a Calgary trade office, Schweitzer told the Inter Lake editorial board this week that private entities often are better suited for those kinds of pursuits.

“These things have a way of getting out of hand,” he said, citing the Taiwan trade office as an example.

Brown agrees that they deserve scrutiny, and she questions what benefits the state got from its investment in Taiwan.

“Where is our bang for the buck?” she asked. “Right now, I know our bang for the buck is north of the border.”