Trade office worth exploring

It is odd that the state of Montana since 1984 has had a trade office in Taipei, Taiwan, yet the state has never had a presence in Alberta or Canada, our top trading partner to the north.

That’s why Dee Brown, a Hungry Horse businesswoman and legislative candidate, has taken on the worthy cause of exploring whether a Montana trade center in Calgary would pay off for the state.

Alberta has a fancy tourism center located in West Glacier, but Brown envisions a more modest presence in Calgary that would focus on getting Montana products into Canada rather than on tourism.

Judging from the number of Alberta license plates roaming around the Flathead Valley, it’s obvious our neighbors to the north are well aware of Montana in the tourism sense. But for Montana businesses to get into Alberta markets may be an entirely different beneficial matter.

Of course, the devil is in the details. A trade office would have to produce results, and Brown acknowledges that legislation to establish it should include a provision to sunset the venture if it does not have verifiable value for the state.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer suggested that maybe a trade mission is a concept better suited for private entities, such as area chambers of commerce. And he may be right. Maybe a private consortium could even do a better job.

Brown, however, believes that a small share of state bed tax revenue would be a valid source of funding for a trade center in Calgary. It would kind of be like using Canadian money (from tourism) to help us hook Canadians on Montana products. That sounds like a win-win.

Schweitzer recently scaled back the Montana trade office in Taiwan, but for years the state was spending $175,000 a year on it, with questionable results. Establishing a trade presence in Calgary sure seems like a more logical pursuit. Let’s see where this goes.