Invest in Montana event makes stop in Kalispell

Securities Commissioner Matt Rosendale and representatives from his office stopped in Kalispell on Thursday to talk with local residents about state resources that are available to connect entrepreneurs and investors.

The “Invest in Montana” presentation at Sykes drew about 35 people. Rosendale was accompanied by Deputy Securities Commissioner Lynne Egan and Wayne Gardella, district director for the Small Business Administration.

Egan, who has worked with the Commissioner’s Office since 1994, gave a general overview of the office and defined a security, which is basically an investment made in something with the expectation of a return on investment. She said in Montana, people invest in all sorts of things.

“We’ve had bulls be securities, and we’ve had bull semen be securities,” Egan said.

She went over the various ways entrepreneurs can raise capital, including through loans, selling ownership stakes in their company and the increasingly popular crowd-funding option.

She recommended those who take that route set a floor for minimum investments at $1,000 to make sure time dedicated to each investor was worth it. She said in Montana many businesses have found success through crowd-funding, including a distillery, a Christian radio station and a man who raises millions of crickets.

Egan said her office could help answer questions about what transparency is required for investors, and noted that not disclosing enough information could be a criminal offense.

Flathead businessman Kory McGavin, who launched Fly Stop with his wife, said the office helped him get his fly trap manufacturing business off the ground. Now he has patents, federal contracts and new product lines, and it all started with some help from the Commissioner’s Office, he said.

Gardella told the audience that 47 of the 50 FDIC-insured banks in Montana have had a positive relationship with the Small Business Administration. He said there are about $800 million in loans to small businesses in Montana that his agency helped facilitate.

Representatives from U.S. Sens. Steve Daines’ and Jon Tester’s offices were also in attendance.

Reporter Peregrine Frissell can be reached at (406) 758-4438 or pfrissell@dailyinterlake.com.