Welcome, Evergreen Chamber

Kudos to business owners and community promoters in the Evergreen area for starting their own Evergreen Chamber of Commerce.

This important area of the Flathead Valley deserves a voice in promoting a commercial corridor that contributes significantly to the local economy. If the first meeting is any indication, there’s some pent-up demand for a chamber. Organizers said 28 members signed up right away, and one board member commented the group could have as many as 150 members in three months.

Having its own Chamber of Commerce will allow Evergreen to promote events, tackle bigger projects and essentially take control of its own destiny.

That’s good news for everyone who wants to see the local economy grow.

A CRITICAL ELEMENT in telemedicine in Montana was dedicated Tuesday at Glacier Park Lodge.

In an interesting intersection of history and technology, a new fiber-optic network was dedicated at the 99-year-old lodge.

The network is a $15 million project put together by a consortium of five hospitals (including North Valley Hospital and Kalispell Regional Medical Center in the Flathead Valley) and two community health centers stretching from Northwest Montana to North Central Montana.

The new cable provides a major improvement in transmission speed that will allow much swifter transfer of important medical information.

The hospitals and clinics were assisted in this project by a variety of helpers ranging from the railroad to utility companies.

There’s still more to be done as other links of the network are completed, but the fiber-optic lines should serve as the backbone of a new and noteworthy addition to “telehealth” services.