We all know Montana is nicknamed the “Treasure State.” For decades, many Montanans have worked the land, developed our abundant resources, and showcased our natural beauty to visitors from around the world. We are truly blessed to live in a place like Montana. Our vast natural wealth is one reason Montana’s economy has not been […]

You may have seen those odd-looking square barcodes in newspapers and magazines, on product boxes, etc. You might have even noticed them in the middle of the star-shaped signage in some Macy’s television commercials. They’re called “QR codes.” Why should business owners care about them? A smartphone can scan/read a QR code, which will take […]

Middle America knows it is getting squeezed. A decade after the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Stegall Act, greedy Wall Street firms made too many irresponsible bets that collapsed the housing market, sending unemployment skyrocketing. Plenty of politicians insist that government should not create jobs by spending public money to fix bridges, hire teachers, rebuild roads, […]

The United States Postal Service wants to close many of its doors and, if it does, few places will be impacted as much as Montana. On the list released in July of 3,753 post office branches that may be shuttered, 85 of them were located in our state. That’s about 2.3 percent of USPS’ target […]

As related in a recent Beacon (Sept. 12: “Amid Protests, Montana Welcomes Keystone”), we have now seen all of our major Democrats, including Gov. Brian Schweitzer, and Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester express their support for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. In explaining their decision, they list only the obvious short-term benefits of this […]

One of the things you have to be careful about is making your business too generic. The conversation… Them: Could I get you to comment on a booth graphic for my company? We are pretty simple here and need a banner for a trade show booth. Wondering if the fonts are ‘old’. Them: (Sends booth […]

Environmentalists are flogging Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg’s co-sponsorship of Utah fellow-Republican Rob Bishop’s National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, HR 1505. Bishop’s bill, which passed out of committee 26-17 on Oct. 5, is aimed at enabling Homeland Security to reach “operational control” defined in section 2(b) of the Secure Fence Act of 2006: “the […]

Don’t compare the Tea Party to Occupy Wall Street protesters. Don’t do it. They are nothing alike. That’s what I’m told, although the effort of one to distance itself from the other seems strange as it persists anyway. For one, we’re told, the Tea Party supports capitalism and Occupy Wall Street supports anarchism. The Tea […]

The Missoula County Commission and the National Wildlife Federation made a big political statement with their lawsuit to halt construction modules from being transported on Montana highways en route to the Kearl oil sands in Alberta. Now that the litigation has about run its course, let’s evaluate exactly what they accomplished. When it’s all said […]

Not long ago, we talked about reviewing the recent performance of your business and making adjustments based on what you find. We ended that conversation like this… Beyond the bumps, there’s something missing here. Reacting after the fact. Assessment and adjustment after the bleeding starts. Evaluating what’s going on because the calendar says so. Does […]

Hey townies, please vote for a change. Municipal turnout is typically very low with most locals not voting. But local races offer townies a big vote on the type of community they want fostered. When it all boils down, the deciding factor for most votes is still trust. Who do you trust as advocates for […]

There’s nothing worse than being labeled a land-grabber. Just ask President Barack Obama’s administration. When a Department of the Interior memo surfaced that listed 14 sites, including 2.5 million acres in Montana, under consideration for new national monuments, the outcry was immediate. Land-grabber! Interior Secretary Ken Salazar tried to squash the controversy. He said nothing […]

It is said that “facts are stubborn things.” So are the figures on which facts are based. The following example didn’t originate with me, but in revising and verifying it, I consulted the highly respected, bipartisan Concord Coalition. It is headed up by former Republican Sen. Warren Rudman of New Hampshire and former Democratic Sen. […]

A little more than seventy-five percent of the calendar year is behind you. Can the same be said for the year’s goals, income expectations, etc? Will you wait until the end of the year to plan your next six, twelve, eighteen months or are you doing it now? How often do you review the results […]

Some in our firearms paradise of Montana are upset about a memo from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), reminding dealers that pot users can’t own guns. Users of federal “Schedule One” controlled substances, with no “currently accepted medical use” in the U.S., are prima facie felons. While angel-dusters, meth-heads, and legal […]