Page 27 - Flathead Beacon // 3.26.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM MARCH 26, 2014 | 27

TECHNOLOGY
BUSINESSMONTHLY

{Building an

Economy on

High-Tech

Foundations}

RightNow Technologies founder Greg

Gianforte to give presentation in

Kalispell on April 1

By MOLLY PRIDDY of the Beacon

WHEN GREG AND SUSAN GIANFORTE MOVED TO BOZEMAN

about 20 years ago and started RightNow Tech-
nologies, a company that developed customer re-
lationship management software, in a spare room
in their house, critics said a high-tech company
such as theirs wouldn’t survive in Montana.
}
“They said, ‘You don’t have world-class talent,

venture capital, airline access or bandwidth,’”
Gianforte said in an interview last week. “None
of those things ended up being impediments.”
}
By the time Gianforte sold RightNow Tech-
nologies to Oracle for $1.8 billion in 2012, the
company had 1,100 employees worldwide and $225
million in annual revenue, and was the largest

commercial employer in Bozeman, with an average
wage of $86,000.
}
Now, Gianforte is taking on another role, one
of a high-tech cheerleader for the state of Mon-
tana. The Gianfortes recently founded Better
Montana Jobs, an organization dedicated to cre-
ating more high-paying jobs in the state.

}
“High-tech is not just for the geeks. In our
business in Bozeman, only about 10 percent of

Greg Gianforte. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO