LETTER: Gianforte is best for governor

My wife and I have lived in Montana for 16 years. We have been a small business owner in a small town and today work for myself and family. I have spent the last 30 years in industrial automation and most recently with robotics. I can tell you that industrial automation is the fastest growing segment. Our great state has many talented and dedicated people who can have great paying jobs if we invest in our education.

Greg Gianforte understands that we need to do more in our education system to give more and more kids the opportunity to earn a high wage and most importantly earn a high wage in Montana. High technology industry is already 15 percent of our economy and growing seven times faster than other sectors.

Greg has a history of advancing programs to get more students involved in these fields. CodeMontana gave all middle-school and high-school students the availability to access the computer science curriculum! Looney the Robot is a robot presentation to get kids interested in technology and robotics. This is presented to 15,000 middle- and high-school students in Montana per year. The Joy and Beauty of Computing was set up for high school delivery and piloted in many public schools. Montana STEM teachers have also been trained at MSU to certify them in The Joy and Beauty of Computing Curriculum.

I had the pleasure of meeting Greg in Thompson Falls a few months back. Greg understands that Montanans face many challenges right now, specifically the importance of focusing on and improving education. We can prepare our kids to have jobs that can keep them in our great state. Greg is the only choice for governor. I urge you to vote for Greg Gianforte and Lesley Robinson in November.

—Barry Meyer, Plains