Volume 34 , Issue 5
www.buttechamber.org
Chamber Staff and the Montana Standard staff have been hard at work preparing the 2014 Butte -Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce Annual Report to the Community for publication. The Chamber uses this publication as its official relocation and recruitment guide when responding to inquiries or providing visitors with more information.
May 2014
Tuesday, May 13th - 12 noon Advantage Butte @ Perkins Monday, May 20th - 11:30 a.m. Executive Board @ Chamber Tuesday, May 20th - 8:30 a.m. CVB Meeting @ Chamber Wednesday May 21st - 12 noon Chamber Ambassadors Thursday May 22nd - 7 a.m. Board Meeting @ Perkins Thursday May 22nd - 7 a.m. Board Meeting @ Perkins Thursday May 22nd - 5:30 p.m. Business Card Social hosted by Marquis Vintage Suites
Marko congratulates KXLF’s Francene Archibald, who was showing off the prize she won at the Business Card Social at the Butte Plaza mall on Wednesday, April 30th.
Butte-Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce Visitors’ Center 1000 George St. Butte, MT 59701
Marko Lucich Executive Director mlucich@buttechamber.org Maria Pochervina CVB Director/TBID Executive Secretary mariap@buttecvb.com
Stephanie Sorini Marketing, Membership & Bookkeeping Director
marketing@buttechamber.org Cheryl Ackerman Receptionist/Staff Associate bsbchamber@gmail.com
(406) 723-3177
Shane McCarthy, Safeway
Don Peoples, Individual Member
Desiree Shogren, Comfort Inn of Butte
Cindi Shaw, Council of Commissioners
Ed Stepan, RED Silicon
Pat Fleming, Fleming & O’Leary Attorneys
Paul Tash, Tash Communications
Jim Woy, Anderson ZurMuehlen & Co., P.C.
Alana Ferko, Butte Plaza Mall
Lynn Lloyd, Montana Standard
Linda Granger, School Trustee/Highlands College
Kevin Dennehy, St. James Healthcare
Paul Babb, Northwestern Energy
Chris Ackerman, Cherry Creek Radio
Tami O’Connell, Stix & Stonz
Herb Kelsey, Farm Bureau Financial
Karen Corbin, KXLF TV
Judy Jonart, School District #1
Maura Uggetti, Copper Ridge Healthcare
Andy Zdinak, BLDC
Becky Sprunger, United Blood Services
Jeff Gorman, McDonald’s
Colin Higgins, Mackenzie River Pizza
Kristen Rosa, Butte-Silver Bow
Bob Bentley, Jr., Bentley Construction
Machelle LeProwse, JCP
Matt Vincent, BSB Chief Executive
Todd Tregidga, Montana Tech
Donald Blackketter, Chancellor Montana Tech
Pete Akey, Glacier Bank
Paula Ruark, Town Pump Hotel Group
Jim McKenzie, Newland & Co.
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Paula Ruark, President Town Pump Hotel Group
Pete Akey, President-Elect Glacier Bank
Jim McKenzie, Treasurer Newland & Co.
Ed Stepan, Vice President REC Silicon
Mark Hughes, Vice-President Super 8/CVB President
Desiree Shogren, Vice-President Comfort Inn of Butte
Paul Tash, Vice-President Tash Communications
Todd Tregidga, Vice-President Montana Tech
Tuesday, April 22, 2014 was the kick-off for the Chamber’s annual Beautify Butte Campaign. This is a collaborative effort among the Chamber, Butte-Silver Bow, BLDC, the business community and many individuals/organizations to clean up and green our great city. This task is too enormous to be successful for a few people to implement without the help and support of everyone. As the white snow covering leaves the landscape in the spring of each year, all the trash that has been snow covered is revealed on all the streets, alleys and empty lots. If we do not immediately pick up the trash, then Mother Nature, in the form of wind, conveniently redistributes everything onto other peoples’ yards and neighborhoods and all of a sudden, no one wants to take ownership of someone else’s trash.
This, in itself would do wonders for the appearance of our community and make the streets and neighborhoods cleaner and more appealing. Beautify Butte has many components that will be announced periodically during the months of April and May. Are we going to Beautify Butte or are we NOT going to do our share and wait for someone else to do it? In case we are waiting for that someone else, that person is each one of us. Let’s all take the lead in making this year’s Beautify Butte campaign the best one ever. Working together, we can make this happen! Thank you for joining the team to green up and clean up Butte! Sincerely,
Executive Director
But think about this! Has your trash from your dumpster or garbage cans become the problem of your next door neighbor or vice-versa? There are simple and easy solutions to this problem... if we all just do our part! First, if you have an outside dumpster or garbage can, do not overfill it. Make sure you have it covered with a lid or some other form of covering for containment purposes. Secondly, if your garbage does happen to spill over on to the ground, pick it up as quickly as possible before the wind has a chance to spread it throughout the entire community. This is a huge problem in our community, but one that can be conquered if we take it seriously.
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First Call Computer Solutions
Star Lanes
Business to Business and Managed Provider Services Jon Kuennen, Technology Advisor 305 West Mercury Street Butte, MT 59701 Phone: (406) 299 1198 www.firstsolution.com
Mile High Bowling Center, Inc. 4600 Harrison Avenue PO Box 3931 Butte, MT 59702 Phone: (406) 494-3898
Blackfoot Telecommunications Group
Bliss and Bling A fun place for you and your pet Virginia Williford, owner 319 S Montana Street Butte, MT 59701 Phone: (406) 490-5137 blissandbling@yahoo.com
Butte KOA Campground (under new ownership) JTC Adventures, LLC Tom Cervenak 1601 Kaw Avenue Butte, MT 59701 Phone: (406) 782-8080 www.koa.com
Advanced Telecommunication and Technology Services Debbie Dantic, Marketing Intelligence Specialist Phone: (406) 541-5181 Fax: (406) 532-5028 www.blackfoot.com
*new members become active and are listed when payment is received.*
Member businesses are once again invited to purchase a display ad on the Official 2014 Chamber of Commerce Butte-Silver Bow city map. In the pursuit of providing a map of the highest quality with up-to-date information and accurate detail of the Butte area, we are pleased to inform you that we’ve once again partnered with Spring Hill Press, a Butte-Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce Member, to produce the map, which will be in the same high-quality format as in years past. Representatives from Spring Hill Press have begun contacting members regarding advertising opportunities, which are exclusive to Chamber Members. Existing advertisers receive first right to renew their ad and placement. Spring Hill Press will produce all artwork for the ads at no additional cost to the client and will present proof copies prior to publication to ensure accuracy. Each advertiser will receive one complimentary copy of the map and the Chamber will distribute the map as requested by visitors, residents, businesses and potential new residents. Spring Hill Press continues to offer Online Maps that display the advertising until the next edition. Visit their website, www.springhillpress.com and find the Butte section to view last year’s map. Users can select a member business from the List of Advertisers and the map will pan to the selected location. Once the selected location has been displayed, the ad can be viewed and users can be automatically linked to the advertiser's website. All at no extra cost! Butte-Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce is the information clearinghouse for community information and receives many requests for maps, business referrals and relocation packets each month. A good city/county map is a primary request from inquiries. This map will allow member businesses to put their name, product or service in front of a large audience of prospective customers. For any questions pertaining to this project you can call Dick Bushman or Nita Hickman at Spring Hill Press at 1-800-627-8141 or Stephanie Sorini or Marko Lucich @ 406-723-3177
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April’s Business Card Social was hosted by the Butte Plaza Mall on Wednesday, April 30th. Alana Ferko and her staff were ready to go with a beautiful array of appetizers, beverages, drawings, and giveaways! Denise Kelly and staff from RE/MAX Premiere Real Estate were present and were featured with a cake by Butte’s own Justin.Credibly.Sweet by Justin DeShazo (so popular the only photo we got was when it was almost gone!) Thanks so much to the entire Butte Plaza Mall team! A wonderful time was had by all!
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Greetings, everyone! I attended the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Billings, April 13-15. As always, this conference was packed full of information and idea-sharing on tourism in the state. The highlight of the event was the presentation of the tourism awards at the final night banquet: Julie Shelton, Director of Sales from Fairmont Hot Springs Resort was awarded the Tourism Ambassador Award for her efforts in promoting tourism for the state. The World Museum of Mining was also recognized for the Tourism Infrastructure Investment Program grant they received. Congratulations to our local winners -- we are so proud of your accomplishments!!! The CVB, with approval from the Tourism Advisory Council will be partnering with Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest Service, CityCounty of Butte-Silver Bow, and the TBID to produce an Interpretative Trail Map of: Butte urban trails, Thompson Park, Maud S Canyon and the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. This map will be an interactive map for residents and visitors to download on their computers and mobile devices. We can expect to see this project completed in early summer. The CVB marketing plan was due to the state by May 1st. The marketing plan is a comprehensive plan on how the CVB will spend approximately $83,000 of bed tax revenue along with any rollover monies not spent in the previous fiscal period. This was the first time the marketing plans were submitted via a computer software grant program, which was an easier endeavor. The marketing plan will be reviewed and discussed with the TAC along with a short presentation during the early June meeting. The TBID held a special meeting in April to discuss funding for the Montana Folk Festival’s expansion to include an art car exhibition and film festival. The expanded event would include art car parade, film series and exhibit would be coordinated and curated by nationally recognized art car designer and artist Harrod Blank. Local hoteliers and I are still working on inviting meeting planners from around the state to visit Butte to see firsthand what we offer for their conventions, board meetings, continuing education, and strategic planning sessions. We want everyone to know: Butte is open & equipped for meetings. Part of this event will be to showcase Fairmont as our conference facility, along with some non-traditional sites for other functions. The trolley will be starting soon and our summer staff will be on site; all of this means that ready or not our summer season is beginning. As such, be sure to invite your friends and family to Butte for a visit, to take in our 20+ attractions in town and the amazing recreational opportunities just minutes away from our front doors. Happy Spring!
CVB/TBID
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This fall, Montana Tech and The Peak, Inc. are teaming up to offer a new course titled Safe Travel Abroad (MT391). Montana Tech graduates and community travelers, whether they are vacationing, completing an internship, or working in their chosen profession, have the potential to travel to some of the world’s most dangerous places. This course provides the traveler with the essential skills to safely travel abroad while mitigating the risks to their safety. Learn what to pack, where to stay, and how to secure your possessions. Recognize health issues, disease prevention, and safe food and water sources. Identify safe modes of travel and recognize the various traveler scams, criminal activities, and kidnapping risks. You will also have the opportunity to demonstrate an understanding of the course objectives during an allencompassing final field exercise.
Discuss the types of kidnapping, recognize the process, develop a personal vulnerability assessment, and mitigate their risk of being kidnapped.
Demonstrate the techniques to defeat common personal restraints such as rope, duct tape, zip ties, wire, etc.
Recognize and describe the various medical issues a traveler may face to include climatic injuries, bugs, bites, and bowels. Identify where to get help.
Recognize and utilize personal safety protocols (Female Specific)
Demonstrate understanding of all course learning outcomes/objectives during a final field exercise.
The course will be a combination of lecture, homework assignments, final field exercise, and intensive class participation/discussions. Classes will be held on Tuesday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the HPER. The course is capped at 15 so registering early is recommended. For information, call Mark Gollinger at The Peak Inc. at 406-494-7999.
By the end of this course, students will:
Prepare and utilize pre-departure vulnerability assessments and risk management programs.
Identify and familiarize themselves with the customs, laws, and cultural standards that may impact their travel.
Plan what to pack, where to stay, and how to secure your possessions. Recognize health issues, disease prevention, and safe food and water sources.
Identify safe modes of travel and the appropriate precautions while traveling in taxis, buses, trains, etc. Utilize survival navigation.
Recognize the various traveler scams, criminal activities, and potential trouble spots. Develop a personal security posture.
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July 3rd Fireworks July 4th Parade
May 16 & 17 @ Various Fields in Butte
July 11, 12 & 13
May 19, 20 & 21 @ Fairmont
July 24, 25 & 26
May 23 & 24 @ Bulldog Memorial
August 8, 9 & 10
May 30 & 31 @ Bulldog Memorial
September 12 & 13
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NBC-affiliates in our area confirmed that Southwest Montanans had a major case of Olympics Madness during the 2014 Winter Olympics. Butte/Bozeman affiliate KTVM saw the highest ratings out of ALL the network affiliates across the country in the two most highly-coveted demographics—those viewers between the ages of 18 & 24 and those between the ages of 25 & 54.
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PERIODICALS U.S. POSTAGE PAID BUTTE, MT
1000 George St. Butte, MT 59701
POSTMASTER: Send changes of address to: Chamber of Commerce, 1000 George St., Butte, MT 59701. Membership investment includes $3.00 per year subscription. The Progress (USPS 124-550) is published monthly by The Butte-Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce, 1000 George St., Butte, MT 59701. Periodical Postage Paid at Butte, Montana.
If you have ideas, suggestions, or submissions for The Progress, please send them in! We accept news & information, photos, information about events & functions, and more!
CONSTRUCTION Year to Date WATER
MONTH/YEAR
MONTH/YEAR
%
March 2013
March 2014
CHANGE
1,473,269.23 2,127,716.59
314,456.64 1,696,218.38
- 78.7 % - 20.3 %
13,750
13,792
+ 0.3 %
18,349 17,365 984 5.4
18,204 17,121 1,082 5.9
- 0.8 % - 1.4 % + 10.0 % + 9.3 %
13 2
14 2
+ 7.7 % 0.0 %
EMPLOYMENT Labor Force Employment Unemployment Unemployment Rate MAIL Tourism Requests General Information
We can’t promise that we can include everything that we receive, but we do promise to carefully consider all submissions.
bsbchamberprogress@gmail.com The Progress is the voice of our members and we are dedicated to keeping you informed and connected! The Progress is published monthly and delivered mostly electronically. For advertising opportunities, contact Stephanie Sorini.
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