Page 29 - Flathead Beacon // 3.26.14

FLATHEADBEACON.COM
BUSINESS MONTHLY
MARCH 26, 2014 | 29

TECH
has already started teaching 1,100 kids

Continued from page 27
across the state about coding.
About 50 of those students are in the
our expenses were spent on software de- Flathead, Gianforte said, and as whole,
velopment. Most of the expenses were all of the CodeMontana students have
payroll expenses related to accounting completed more than 40,000 computer
staf, sales, and marketing administra- coding exercises since last September.
tors,” Gianforte said. “High-tech cre- A vibrant, high-tech community
ates opportunity for people of all stripes. would also afect other local businesses,

The geeks are like the seed corn: without he said, because the dollars lowing from
them none of the other businesses grow.”
robust payrolls would ripple into the lo-
Gianforte will be in Kalispell on cal economy in various ways.
April 1 to discuss Better Montana Jobs, Gianforte estimates that 25 more
with a public presentation at Sykes LEFT: Adam Paugh, co-owner of Quadrocopter, de- businesses like RightNow Technolo-
Diner in Kalispell at 6:30 p.m. Also on scribes the workings of a Ready to Fly (RTF) copter at gies throughout the state would create
April 1, Gianforte will meet with ive lo- the company’s facility west of Columbia Falls.
15,000 more high-paying jobs and about

cal businesses for an entrepreneurship ABOVE: Jim Bryer, left, does a inal paint inspection $120 billion of economic value over 15
mentor session, and over lunch will sit on a Deployable Tactical Operations System vehicle at years.
down with about 20 local businesspeo- Nomad Technologies in Kalispell.
But what has Gianforte found to
ple for a roundtable about Flathead Val- BEACON FILE PHOTOS
be the biggest impediment to creating
ley-speciic ideas.
high-paying jobs?
The Flathead is already home to “Skeptism,” he said. “People say, ‘Oh ufacturing can solve that problem,” sity of Montana.
successful technology companies, such yeah, but Bozeman’s diferent; it can’t Gianforte said.
Those earnings are about $35,000
as Nomad Global Communication So- happen here.’ High-tech and the Inter- High-tech manufacturing includes more than the average manufacturing

lutions, Avail-TVN, ViZn Energy and net remove geography as a constraint.”
any business where you need advanced job, he noted, and preparing the popula-
Quadrocopter, and Gianforte believes Businesses need to sponsor intern- skills on the shop loor for the manufac- tion for more skilled labor will require
there is more room to grow.
ships or mentorship programs, he said, turing process, he said, such as at Proof education and participation from local
The visit to Kalispell is part of a larg- and the education needs to be available Research.
businesses.
er tour Gianforte is making of the state to people of all ages. If local economies “Those are good-paying jobs,” Gian- One of the major pieces of the puzzle
for the Better Montana Jobs project. can get on board with the idea of pro- forte said. “Good jobs require diligence, is education, and Gianforte said two-
Part of the project is a plan to increase moting high-tech, it could move Mon- work ethics, and skills.”
year schools such as Flathead Valley

wages, which includes promoting high- tana out of 49th place, he said.
The average high-tech job in the Community College will be key in train-
tech, organizing businesses, helping en- “The message is, ‘Hey, it’s possible in United States in 2012 paid nearly ing workers. It’s also important to en-
trepreneurs, and preparing the younger Montana,’” Gianforte said.
$95,000, Gianforte said during his pre- sure the younger generation is up to date
generation.
For more information, visit www. sentations at various Economic Outlook in their technology skills, he said, and
“We’re 49th in the country for wage bettermontanajobs.org.
seminars from the Bureau of Business one of the partner organizations with
scale, and high-tech and high-tech man-
[email protected]
and Economic Research at the Univer-
Better Montana Jobs – CodeMontana –

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