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prospective students, contacting them as sophomores instead of when they’re juniors, and improving the speed with which applications are processed and applicant questions are answered.
The fall headcount at UM is 10,329 students, down from 10,999 last fall and down 22 percent since 2010.
Crady says the university has an extraordinarily positive reputation out- side the state and is more a ordable than many schools. He plans to focus his initial e orts on increasing freshman enrollment, because that impacts enroll- ment for four or ve years.
He also notes the campus, dorms and classrooms aren’t overcrowded.
HELENA
5. Montana Insurer to Shut Down in
2017
O cials for a Montana health insur- ance company say the company will shut down next year.
Ryan O’Connell of New West Health Services said last week the company will cease operations after it ful lls its requirements for this year’s insurance plans.
Company CEO Angela Huschka says the company is not able to be nancially successful with health insurance indus- try’s increasing complexity and new challenges.
The company will continue to process claims from this year in 2017.
New West has 15,000 customers, including 14,000 with Medicare Advan- tage coverage. It employs 84 people in Helena, Kalispell and Billings.
Policyholders can choose another health plan beginning next month.
In 2012, New West sold its 10,600 hospital employee policies to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana and its com- mercial health insurance business to Paci cSource.
HELENA
6. Montana Unemployment Ticks Up
Slightly
August’s employment numbers show that Montana’s unemployment rate increased by one-tenth of a percent, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry.
State unemployment grew to 4.3 per- cent in August, up from 4.2 percent in July. The national unemployment rate stayed at 4.9 percent, the same level it’s been since June.
“As mentioned in this year’s Labor Day Report, Montana’s economy experi- enced job growth through the beginning of 2016,” Montana Labor and Industry Commissioner Pam Bucy said. “Employ- ment data suggests that employment growth has moderated from last year’s pace due to weakness in the energy sec- tor, but Montana’s unemployment rate remains low.”
Flathead County’s unemployment rate hit 4.7 percent, up slightly from July’s 4.6 percent. Lincoln County hit 7.9 percent unemployment in August, increased from 7.8 percent, while Sanders County saw an increase from 6.8 percent to 7 per- cent from July to August.
Lake County sat at 4.8 percent unem- ployment in August, an increase from July’s 4.6 percent, and Glacier County continues to rank as the county with highest unemployment at 9 percent in August, which is a decrease from July’s 9.2 percent.
The DLI released the 2016 Labor Day Report on Sept. 6, detailing Montana’s positive economic record for the last year, with strong GDP growth and the highest recorded real wage growth in 2015. Preliminary estimates from 2016 suggest employment growth has moder- ated in 2016, slowing from the rapid pace in 2015. Employment growth in 2015 was twice the historic average pace.
LIVINGSTON
7. Report: Yellowstone River Closure
Cost Park County $360,000
Though the nal 17-mile stretch of the Yellowstone River was reopened last week, the University of Montana esti- mates that Park County lost hundreds of thousands of dollars while the river was closed.
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports that preliminary gures from a Univer- sity of Montana Institute for Tourism and Recreation report say the closure of the popular stream cost Park County between $360,000 and $524,000, based on past spending data from non-resident visitors.
The report says the loss was the equiv- alent of between ve and eight full-time jobs.
The Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks on Aug. 19 banned all recreation on a 183-mile stretch of the river from Gar- diner to Laurel to prevent the spread of a parasite that was killing tens of thou- sands of mountain white sh.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
8. Investigators Pursue Park
Harassment Claims
Government investigators are due in Yellowstone National Park this week to look into an employee’s claims of sexual exploitation of female workers and nan- cialmisconduct.
The investigation by the Department of Interior Inspector General’s O ce fol- lows reports of widespread sexual mis- conduct at Grand Canyon, Yosemite and other national parks across the country.
The claims regarding Yellowstone come from an equipment operator named Robert Hester.
Hester submitted a statement to the U.S. House Oversight and Govern- ment Reform Committee saying sexual exploitation of female employees was rife in the Yellowstone’s special projects divi- sion. He also alleged the misuse of gov- ernment credit cards.
Yellowstone Superintendent Dan Wenk that the investigation would focus initially on the special projects division and expand as needed.
Wenk says no one else has stepped for- ward with claims similar to Hester’s.
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