Insights -- Northwest Montana's Business Journal
Insights delivers in-depth coverage of Northwest Montana’s business community, highlighting local entrepreneurs, industry trends, and economic developments.
Limited yield: High costs force Northwest Montana farmers to restrict wheat planting
But turning the grain into staple foods sold at the bakery and served on the dinner table is facing challenges, as…
Cheers to manufacturing
Here in Northwest Montana, manufacturing isn’t limited to timber and heavy industry — it includes the breweries and distilleries that turn Montana grain, fruit…
Business Newsmakers
Happenings related to business
Insights: Independent health care growing in Montana
As physician-owned practices nationwide have declined significantly in recent years — from 76% in the 1980s to just 35.4% in 2024 — Northwest Montana may be se…
Independent health care: Providers embrace entrepreneurial spirit
Across the U.S. in 2024, 42% of physicians reported working in a wholly owned physician practice, an 18-percentage point drop since 2012, according to a 2025 r…
Dr. Marisa Hoyne becomes the doctor her patients need with independent practice
Kalispell Direct Care is a clinic for adult primary care and obesity medicine that follows a direct care model, a membership-style payment that forgoes traditi…
Remote patient monitoring shows potential for rural health care
Rural Montana has long wrestled with barriers to healthcare: long drives to the nearest hospital, provider shortages, limited specialty care, and clinic closur…
Power of local manufacturing evident in Montana
While many industries have shifted toward mass production and global outsourcing, local manufacturing stays true to local values: quality over quantity, relati…
University of Montana spotlights top alumni under 25
These young alums are truly remaking the world with their incredible dedication to their careers and communities, said LeAnn Layton, UM’s associate vice presid…
Expanding Montana’s precision ag: MSU faculty studies water, soil and more in agricultural systems
Emerging opportunities in the realm of precision agriculture are countless, examining earth, sky and everything in between. At Montana State University, faculty are delving into many of them with the goal of improv…
Montana State alumnus launches food-focused startup
Chasing his curiosities is what led Wuinn Holland, after he graduated, to start his own business that blends his interests in agriculture, health and entrepren…
Business Newsmakers
Awards, honors, grants in Montana
State commerce department launches capital access program
The Montana Department of Commerce is launching the Opportunities in Rural Economies Loan Participation Program, a new capital access opportunity for rural Montana businesses. It will open for applications on Wedne…
Independent health care growing in Northwest Montana
There’s growing demand among patients for more choices in health care, and many providers in Northwest Montana are answering the call.
How Jim Lafferty brought his vision for a pickleball community to life in Montana
The Jewel Basin Center’s Two Rivers Pickleball club has 1,800 members, who welcome hundreds more each year during tournaments and visits, according to Lafferty…
Work hard, play hard: Sports events bring business to Northwest Montana
The tourism bureau has worked to establish or grow other events like those in fiscal years 2025 and 2026. Gould said they offer marketing support and event gra…