Missoula Business Winter 2021

INSIDE: Montana's angel investors • Garlington, Lohn & Robinson marks 150 years • ATG builds for a bigger future

Winter 2021 • Vol. 2 Issue1

Subaru of Missoula's new digs Dealership to feature three-acre dog park

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MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

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New owners, new life for iconic Old Post bar and restaurant in Missoula DAVID ERICKSON Missoula Business A storied restaurant and bar, The Old Post in downtown Missoula, is back from the dead and the new owners have eagerly started to welcome the community into the freshly-renovated space.

Kimberly Durham and her husband Tom, along with general manager Rob Evanger, opened in December after a very intensive interior remodel project. They've got a brand new kitchen, bathrooms, bar and dining space full of reclaimed wood and historical artifacts to show off.

"We feel really grateful to be back in the city of Missoula," explained Kimberly Durham, who attended law school at the University of Montana. "We loved The Old Post 20 years ago and are just glad to be back. We hope that Missoula will love The Old Post again."

Kimberly Durham is the former Meagher County Attorney and she and her husband owns a successful bar and restaurant, Bar 47, in White Sulphur Springs. Her children own The Jawbone bar and restaurant there as well.

Durham said when she was in college, The Old Post was her favorite local watering hole and restaurant. Now, she and her husband have brought in a couple chefs in from Las Vegas and have introduced a Cajun and American menu.

The buttermilk honey fried chicken sandwich is made from scratch and comes with seared pineapple, and the

Index:

crab cakes have been extremely popular so far, she said. Some items are an homage to the old Old Post Pub. "We brought back the drunken goat salad, which has fried goat cheese balls," she said. "We have reinvented it and we think it's better than it was before.

The Bar 47 nachos are on The Old Post menu, and our fish tacos are the best in town."

Tom Durham believes the whole menu is great but the burgers will be a main draw.

"Missoula is a burger town kind of, and there's so many great places to get a great burger so why come here right?" he said. "But it really is a great burger."

"The bacon in our bacon cheeseburger costs more than our prime rib and it's really, really good," Kimberly Durham added.

Evanger said the chicken jambalaya has been popular, as has the chickenfried pork chop.

They've got an espresso machine, and the alcoholic drink menu features "adult milkshakes" like the Mexican grasshopper made with cream de menthe.

The restaurant will be serving breakfast and brunch seven days a week starting in January.

The previous version of The Old Post Pub closed down unexpectedly in Oct. of 2019 after 30 years in business, and its future was uncertain.

The Durhams said there was "a

Economic indicators Growing Missoula: Subaru of Missoula Tech check: Angel investors Industry focus: GLR celebrates 150 years In the works: ATG Up close: Heart doctor proposes mental training Giving back: Family Promise Chamber update: Helping businesses in 2021

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Kimberly and Tom Durham, the new owners of longtime Missoula restaurant and bar The Old Post.

ton" of deferred maintenance. Eventually, they ended up tearing out almost everything and putting in a brand new kitchen and totally redoing the bathrooms and large portions of interior infrastructure. The Durhams say Tim France, who owns Worden's next door and the building that houses The Old Post, helped them out a lot. They ended up having to borrow money from family just to get open, because they weren't able to have customers in to bring in revenue. Banks wouldn't loan to them because they were starting a restaurant in the middle of a pandemic, and costs kept mounting. But they persevered.

"We just feel really grateful that Tim France took a chance on us to revive

the Old Post and we feel really grateful to be back in the city of Missoula," Kimberly Durham said.

She was living above The Old Post and was headed toward another venture in the legal industry when she got the idea in her head to restart her favorite bar. They had to purchase a liquor license from the now-shuttered Native Wings on Reserve Street, and they used a fair amount of salvaged materials from the old Missoula Mercantile they bought from Home Resource.

The building is roughly a century old, so they had their work cut out for them.

"It's really cool to revive this old iconic Missoula bar," Evanger said.

On the cover:

Subaru of Missoula's new location on Expressway Boulevard.

Publisher Advertising Business editor

Jim Strauss Toni LeBlanc David Erickson

For questions about news or pitches, contact David Erickson, david.erickson@missoulian.com, 406-523-5253.

For advertising information, contact Toni LeBlanc, Toni.leblanc@missoulian.com, 406-523-5242.

NO PART OF THE PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRINTED OR REPRODUCED WITHOUT PERMISSION. Š2021 LEE ENTERPRISES, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN MISSOULA, MT, USA.

MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

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Economic indicators

2020

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$345,000

Median sales price of homes in the Missoula Urban Area from January 1 through Nov. 30, 2020, according to the Missoula Organization of Realtors.

2019

Rank of Missoula among all U.S. cities where unemployment rates bounced back the most from January 2020 to October 2020, according to a Wallet Hub study of U.S. Department of Labor statistics.

$315,000

Median sales price of homes in the Missoula Urban Area from January 1 through Nov. 30, 2019 according to the Missoula Organization of Realtors

160%

96

How much housing prices have increased in Montana since 1991, adjusted for inflation, according to the Federal Housing Finance Authority.

50%

How much housing prices have increased in Montana since 2011, adjusted for inflation according to the federal Housing Finance Authority.

139

Average days homes in Missoula County were on the market in November of 2019 before they sold according to the Missoula Organization of Realtors.

Average days homes in Missoula County were on the market in November of 2020 before they sold according to the Missoula Organization of Realtors.

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BEN ALLAN SMITH photos/Missoulian

Subaru of Missoula's new location is on Expressway Boulevard near the airport.

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MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

Growing Missoula

Subaru of Missoula moves to new location (with a dog park)

CORY WALSH Missoula Business estern Montanans’ fondness for two things — Subarus and dogs — will come together at the new Subaru of Missoula location.

The dealership completed its move from Strand Avenue to a new building

W

at 5175 Expressway recently.

“We were pretty efficient in the old building and so the services are all the same, it just should be a little smoother and a little nicer,” said Mike Springer, the general manager, who added that it provides more space to hire more employees.

Besides selling and serving a staple of Montana roadways, the dealership has

plans to open a 3-acre private dog park for customers and employees, which felt like a way to preserve some nature in the area.

“We purchased enough property for it, and just didn’t want to asphalt it all,” Springer said.

So they’re going to make a place for dogs, which customers bring to the store

every day as-is, to run around. They’re planning on putting in a walking trail and shelters and plant about 140 trees The work should be completed in the spring.

Pet facilities aside, the new location, which has been planned for years, was a necessary move.

“We needed more room, and better MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

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facilities for customers,” Springer said.

The new property provides about 4.5 times the space outside, plus 2.5 times more space indoors.

Regarding the visible popularity of Subarus in the area, he said that in general, every brand of automaker has certain areas or markets where they excel.

“Montana, specifically western Montana, has a high desirable population for Subarus,” he said And that demand for Subarus has always outpaced supply.

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MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

“We’ve never been able to reach the maximum of what we could actually sell because we just can’t get enough,” he said.

He attributes it to the brand’s long emphasis on safety and the pricing, which is comparable to other cars that only have two-wheel drive.

Subarus have “a true all-wheel drive,” and not two-wheel drive with some assistance in the rear tires. “All four wheels actually work independently and any one of the wheels on a Subaru can drive the car,” he said.

Despite the pandemic, sales in 2020 “almost perfectly matched and mirrored 2019,” he said. Outbacks and Foresters remain the most soughtafter models with Crosstrek in a close third. Customers come from “all over,” including Whitefish, Helena, Butte and the Salmon, Idaho, area for instance.

The dealership, which has 32 employees, offers all the services it did at the prior location. They sell new Subarus, used Subarus and other brands.

They offer all services, maintenance and

repairs and warranty work, and sell and repair tires.

The new facility does allow them to do windshield repair or replacement in conjunction with glass shops around town. In the past, vehicles had to be taken off-site.

During the pandemic, the dealership has observed all local and state precautions, and business has stayed strong.

“We recognize that we're in a very nice market and we appreciate it,” Springer said.

2020 Hospitality Hero of the Year Bob-Be Sparks Holiday Inn Missoula Downtown

Heroes of Hospitality recognizes and celebrates the incredible individuals who make up Missoula’s hospitality industry.

When COVID hit Missoula, Bob-Be was “already a step ahead” of the brand’s international cleaning guidelines and “when complimented on her awesome job, she gives all the credit to her team”!

Destination Missoula, the TBID and Stockman Bank want to thank everyone who participated in Heroes of Hospitality and are optimistic about the coming tourism season because of the wonderful individuals who will be welcoming and serving visitors in Missoula.

To learn more about Heroes of Hospitality and this year’s nominees, visit: destinationmissoula.org/heroes-of-hospitality MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

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Tech check

Angel investing aims to boost Montana economy by funding tech startups

DAVID ERICKSON Missoula Business

Taylor Margot 12

Pat LaPointe

MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

With the pandemic causing a boom in tech workers and software engineers deciding they want to move out of expensive, crowded cities to places like Montana, it’s possible that the next generation of Facebooks, Amazons and Airbnbs will be launched from living rooms in the Treasure State.

There’s also a group of so-called

“angel investors” in Montana who are trying to fund the early stages of tech startups here to add jobs and rev up the state’s economy in the wake of the recent economic crisis.

Frontier Angels is a Montanabased investment network that holds meetings all over the state where they hear pitches from companies looking for funding. It’s a bit like the popular TV show “Shark Tank.”

“It’s all about creating jobs,”

explained Pat LaPointe of Frontier Angels. “It’s all about private investors putting money to work in companies to help them get off the ground. It’s about proving mentorship, training and getting them the connections they need to hire more people and add more highquality paying jobs.”

LaPointe said angel investing is when investors seed money into a company that’s very early in its

development. It may not even have any revenue coming in or a product ready to sell to customers.

“There’s a point in the lifecycle of many companies, particularly companies trying to develop new technologies, where very early on they’re trying to get off the ground and they need to hire people and invest in research, software development and lab work,” LaPointe explained. “For a lot of tech startups that can take 1-3 years. It’s not like a restaurant, where day-1, customers can buy things. For medical device and bioscience companies it can take four to eight years before they’re generating revenue.”

The role of the angel investor, he said, is to provide promising entrepreneurs with attractive business plans the capital they need to make the first few hires and other investments.

One such company Frontier Angels has boosted financially is Charmed, a Missoula-based communications technology startup founded by CEO Taylor Margot.

The company has developed a keyboard for Android or iPhones that interfaces with online dating apps.

“Instead of letters there are ideas,” Margot explained.

“We had experts in (artificial intelligence) come up with a way to produce entire sentences if you tap a particular button. For example, if you type ‘curious’ it will generate text and suggest a way to ask a question. We are at the frontier of the intersection between humangenerated language and AI-generated language.”

Margot said that in the online dating world, a consistent problem users have with various apps is they don’t know what to say first.

“You’re staring at a blank screen and need to get the ball rolling,” he said. “That problem is ubiquitous and consistent. For those daters, that ‘cold start’ is highfrequency and high stakes. One fun stat is our keyboard was used over 60,000 times in November.”

LaPointe said another benefit of Frontier Angels involvement in startups, besides the infusion of cash, is they are connected to mentors who have been in the industry for years.

“If we’re going to invest, $200,000 to $400,000 in a given company, we want to make sure they’re surrounded by people that can recognize patterns and opportunities and threats facing businesses,” LaPointe

said. “We’ve been down this road before. We’ve had moments of sheer panic. We’ve been in high-risk situations building our own businesses trying to make payroll. We’ve seen patterns. That’s what angels are really good for.”

He said about 15-20% of Frontier Angels’ investment capital goes to Montana companies, but in an “ideal world” that number would be 100%.

LaPointe met Margot at the John Ruffatto Business Startup Challenge at the University of Montana. He encouraged the young entrepreneur to participate in Early Stage Montana, a tech accelerator nonprofit that works to boost startups.

Margot is the poster-child of how Montana has become an attractive hot spot for new technology startups because of its access to outdoor recreation and lack of crowds.

“I was born in Palo Alto and was a corporate lawyer in San Francisco for too many years,” he said. “That’s exactly why I am in Montana, and what drew me to Montana to start a company here. Also, because there are resources like Pat.”

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Industry focus

BEN ALLAN SMITH/Missoulian

Garlington, Lohn and Robinson's Cyan Sportsman, chief operating officer, and Randall J. Colbert, managing partner, sit for a portrait at their offices in Missoula. The law firm turned 150 years old this December.

GLR: Missoula law firm marks 150 years MICHAEL MERLO Missoula Business Few Missoula businesses have as long a history as Garlington, Lohn & Robinson.

The local law firm turned 150 years old this December and has had hundreds of partners spanning that century and a half.

Chief operating officer Cyan 14

MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

Sportsman said that when she started at Garlington, Lohn & Robinson in 2017, she gravitated towards the job because of the organization’s roots in community.

“It’s pretty amazing to me, first of all, that we can track stuff all the way back to 1870,” she said.

The law firm moved into its expansive new building downtown in 2011.

Managing partner Randall Colbert started with the firm as an attorney in 2003 and said that he noticed right away the respect that predecessors built that gave newer attorneys a foundation to build from.

“Part of it is being appreciative to be able to step into a firm that has such great predecessors that established a

framework where clients have confidence in attorneys," he said. "We’ve had very strong ethical attorneys that had great reputations with the courts, with opposing council."

“I think the practice of law has bad apples and that tends to get a lot of press and I know when I started here, doing an ethical practice was just paramount," he

continued. "Without question that’s just how we practice."

That ethical practice, he said, goes hand-in-hand with how the firm works with clients and in courts. It’s something that they keep an eye on while hiring new attorneys as well.

“When we hire people, that’s instilled with them,” he said, and it was the same thing when Colbert himself got hired: “I think it’s just passed down because that’s the expectation.”

Garlington, Lohn & Robinson began practicing in 1870 and remains one of the largest law firms in the state.

It started when attorney William Stephens teamed up with Walter Bickford in the late nineteenth century, according to Missoulian archives. Since then, the firm has borne the names of other eminent Montanans: Frank Higgins, who became the mayor of Missoula and lieutenant governor of Montana; William Murphy, chairman of the Western Montana National Bank and a counsel for Anaconda Copper Mining Co.; Albert Whitlock, an early dean of the law school in Missoula; Harry Pauly, a rancher and businessman.

James Garlington, who died in 1995, joined the firm in 1935 and led its reorganization in the 1950s. Attorneys Sherman Lohn and Ty Robinson had previously been Garlington’s students, and completed the firm's current name.

Lohn died in 2007 and Ty Robinson died in 2018, but their legacy still lives on, Sportsman said.

“Ty Robinson was the attorney for the Mercantile downtown,” she said, referring to the historic department store that's now a hotel and retail complex at the corner of Higgins Avenue and Front Street.

Colbert said that it was Jim Garlington who played an instrumental role in getting the new Montana Constitution drafted in the 1970s.

In January, the firm will have 13 partners, 11 associates, and 4 contract employees. While the state goes through its second pandemic wave, most of those employees are working remotely and weren’t able to celebrate the planned 150th anniversary.

From left: Randall J. Colbert, Robert C. Lukes, Justin K. Cole, Elijah L. Inabnit, Cyan R. Sportsman and Jared S. Dahle.

Former partner Bill Jones also spoke about the historical significance of the firm’s history. After being retired for the last 10 years, he still goes over to the firm twice a week to see how clients and attorneys are getting along.

“A law firm is only as good as the youngest people coming in,” he said. “And whether they recognize the historical nature of the Garlington firm and appreciate it, I like to discuss those things with them.”

Jones said that the people who have been senior partners at the firm continue to take leading roles in the community like their predecessors William Murphy and William Stephens. Their names and others from the firm show up today on street signs in places like the Slant Street neighborhood, he said.

Colbert said that Ty Robinson had also come into the office after he retired. In a previous article Robinson spoke on how the work of attorneys is about people and humanity.

“You’ve got to have keen judgement,” Robinson told the Missoulian. "You have to practice a high standard of ethics. And a good lawyer recognizes you sometimes have to go the extra mile. Law is a service industry."

Photo provided by Garlington, Lohn & Robinson MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

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In the works

Missoula tech company to add enough space for 350 more employees

TOM BAUER, Missoulian

The new Cognizant's Advanced Technology Group offices in Missoula's Old Sawmill District house most of the company's nearly 200 employees in Montana. ATG's Tom Stergios said the company made no cuts as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

DAVID ERICKSON Missoula Business One fast-growing tech company in Missoula has weathered the recent economic storm and is actually breaking ground on a huge new facility with enough space to add hundreds of workers.

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MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

Cognizant's Advanced Technology Group has agreed to lease 40,000 square feet of space in two currently-underconstruction new buildings in the Old Sawmill District near downtown.

Construction is expected to be complete by the spring of 2022, and the new facilities are being designed to

accommodate more than 350 additional employees over time.

Tom Stergios, the senior vice president of strategy and corporate development at Cognizant ATG and the general manager of the Missoula Solutions Center, said it's a momentous occasion for the company.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to continue to grow Cognizant ATG here in Missoula," he said. "From our start here 10 years ago as a three-person office, to our expansion with Cognizant and the launch of the All-In Missoula program, we’ve had the privilege of deepening our roots here. We now have more than 200

associates that live and work here, and we are so pleased to know we are laying a foundation for additional growth.”

The building is being developed and will be owned

by OSD Tech Campus A, a company formed by the owners and investors of the Old Sawmill District, Ed and Leslie Wetherbee.

“We have building permits for two new commercial buildings,” Leslie Wetherbee told the Missoulian in early 2020. “They’re going to be beautiful. They’re going to be a showcase for Missoula. We’ll have a sky bridge between them, and one will have a rooftop deck.”

Quality Construction of Missoula is the general contractor on the new buildings.

The new buildings will be directly across Wyoming Street from the current Old Sawmill District’s Cambium Place commercial building. It’s the first time the developers have built something on that side of the Old Sawmill District, an area near that Clark Fork River that was once home to a lumberyard.

Wetherbee said that the new riverfront urban park neighborhood is “revitalized from an abandoned Superfund industrial site.” The new buildings will

incorporate green designs.

“Central to this revitalization project is a focus on occupant well-being and minimal impact to the planet,” Wetherbee said. “Plans include the progressive use of carbon-capture materials, passive solar, green roof spaces, and recycled building materials. Within the buildings, a focus on abundant natural sunlight, several connections to the outdoors, unique interior air handling, and optimized use of the connected trail system for daily commuting add up to a happy, healthy, and productive work environment.”

Advanced Technology Group was acquired by Cognizant in 2018. The company employs tech consultants and says "implementing quoting, contract, commission and billing systems is the core" of what it does.

Stergios has never been shy about expressing ambitious hiring plans, and Cognizant announced in 2018 it planned to add 25,000 employees across the country over the next five years.

The company started the All-In Missoula (AIM) program, a partnership with Missoula College and the University of Montana, which is focused on "preparing Montana-based college graduates for technology

consulting roles, and has contributed significantly to the Cognizant ATG’s expansion this past year" according to Cognizant corporate communications manager Becky McKelvey.

To date, Cognizant ATG has hired 75 graduates of the program since its start in 2019, with a fourth cohort of professionals currently in training, she said.

Missoula mayor John Engen and former Montana governor Steve Bullock welcomed the new building as good economic news.

“I am very excited to learn that Cognizant ATG is at it again, putting Montanans to work with fulfilling jobs while expanding in two new buildings to accommodate future employees,” Bullock said in an email. “We are grateful for Cognizant ATG’s leadership and growth, as well as the company’s continued commitment to Montana.”

Engen said he's grateful for the company's investment in Missoula and its own future.

“Cognizant ATG continues to be a dedicated partner in growing Missoula’s economy and providing employment that supports families in our community," he said.

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17

Up close

Missoula doctor hopes to implement mental-skills training in cardiac programs

KURT WILSON, Missoulian

Dr. Dan Spoon, an interventional cardiologist at the International Heart Institute of Montana at Providence St. Patrick Hospital.

David Erickson Missoula Business If mental training and performance psychology works for athletes like Tiger Woods and Lebron James to reduce anxiety, a Missoula doctor reasoned, then it could work in high-stress medical situations. And, he says, it could be applied in the business world as well.

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MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

Dr. Danny Spoon, a cardiologist at the International Heart Institute inside St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, has performed hundreds of complex, highrisk heart procedures in his career. And unlike making a free-throw or a long putt, those situations are literally life-ordeath propositions.

Spoon recently was published in

the prestigious American College of Cardiology with an article entitled "Mental Skills Training in Cardiology."

"My thing is, being a longtime athlete and someone who starting training in the surgical domain at Harvard, in medicine there is a lack of acknowledgement in the mental aspect of these procedures," Spoon explained. "There's a lot of

stress and risk and dealing with a lot of things that are coming up and that are unpredictable. A lot of what allows me and my partners to do complex and high-risk things around the region is the ability to deal with that mentally."

And there isn't a lot of formal training in the medical world on the mental aspect of the profession, he said. He'd

like to change that. He's proposed creating a curriculum for residents in training as well as for practicing interventional cardiologists.

"The mental aspect of sports is well-established," he said. "Michael Jordan, Lebron James and Kobe Bryant all had the same sports psychologist. When you look at what allows people to consistently perform under pressure at the highest ability level, the mental approach separates the good from the great."

Spoon says in his published article that familiarity with mental skills and recognizing their potential value are the first steps to construct formal pathways for their assessment, customization, and implementation in cardiology. "(Spoon) is part of a new push in medical training where not only do these physicians have to be incredibly skilled technically, but have to be trained psychologically, too, or they become burned out and turn to bad coping mechanisms," explained JoAnn

Hoven, communications manager for Providence Montana, the nonprofit that operates St. Pat's.

Spoon lists six mental skills that people should understand: Mental toughness, arousal (anxiety level), attention focus, mental imagery, internal monologue and cohesion. He said if people just understand those concepts (the explanations are in his paper) then they'll be instantly more prepared for a heart surgery or a boardroom presentation or a sales call or a job interview.

"Implementation of these types of things starts with an awareness of the nomenclature, when you look at trying to define different aspects of mental skills training," Spoon said. "For example, when one goes into a complex case, you automatically have an arousal level, a level of anxiety before a high-risk event. Just knowing arousal exists, and making a note of it, can set you on a different trajectory."

In the paper he published, Dr. Spoon created a hypothetical scenario in which a doctor has high anxiety

levels before a high-risk procedure, and then several things unexpectedly happen right before the event to disturb the plan.

"Contrary to surgical specialties, where psychophysiological stress is well-described and strategies for stress reduction such as mental skills training are explored, data on the mental optimization and well-being in cardiology are scarce," Spoon said.

The goal, Spoon said, is to build upon the legacy of the late Dr. Carlos Duran, a founder of the International Heart Institute who pushed for it to be a place with a reputation for research in the industry. Spoon said mental skills training works for CEOs, airline pilots and special forces members.

"The more we learn about this and its implementation, the more beneficial this is going to become to a lot of people in different specialties," Spoon said.

MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

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Giving back

Volunteers work to make food for those experiencing homelessness as part of Family Promise Missoula.

Family Promise Missoula builds community educators

Rebecca Pettit Missoula Interfaith Collaborative

In a time of deep divisiveness and fear of the other, Family Promise Missoula represents a beacon of hope and possibility. For 10 years, local congregations have hosted within their places of worship four different Missoula families at a time, providing meals, warm beds and friendship to people without a home of their own.

Missoula’s Family Promise program was founded 10 years ago in response to the ever increasing number of families experiencing homelessness. Local data indicates as many as 50 families go

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MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

without a home in Missoula on any given night – staying in hotels, on a friend or family member’s couch, or even in vehicles and tents. In 2016, Family Promise merged with Missoula Interfaith Collaborative because of their alignment in mission and shared connection to communities of faith. In the meantime, Family Promise Missoula has grown to include 28 diverse institutions, including not only churches but also non-faith groups such as local businesses and service clubs.

“We started Family Promise because while the social service agencies were doing everything that they could, there

continued to be a waiting list for services.

While on these lists, families often turned to faith communities for support.

Family Promise was created to meet this unmet need in the community, but we continue to see families in need.” said Becky Bishop, director of Family Promise Missoula.

Two years ago, Family Promise Missoula and YWCA Missoula joined efforts to address family homelessness in Missoula. Hours of conversation, planning and gifts totaling $8 million dollars helped bring to fruition a new family housing center. With a planned opening for spring 2021, the Meadowlark

will significantly expand the number of families who are supported with emergency housing.

“When a group of church members gathered in 2010 to dream about caring for homeless families, little did we imagine that within 10 years a beautiful new facility would take shape to move that mission forward. The Meadowlark is a sign for all of us that the Missoula faith communities will continue their commitment to homeless families through Family Promise,” said Sister Mary Jo Quinn, Blessed Trinity Catholic Parish.

In addition to bridging relationships between Family Promise volunteers and

the families they serve, Family Promise Missoula is also exemplar of how people from different religious, political, and ideological backgrounds can indeed work together to address important social needs.

“I joined Family Promise because I like the idea of working with caring people from a whole myriad of faith backgrounds. I stayed with Family Promise because of the deep connections I made across the program,” said Lorraine Carlson, Family Promise Coordinator at the First United Methodist Church.

Family Promise volunteers are committed to checking their ideologies at the door; religious affiliation is not a requirement to receive services.

Embracing a culture that aims to clarify and understand values shared across the spectrum of faith and ideological backgrounds is a pivotal component of the volunteer experience.

“I had just moved to Missoula when I learned about Family Promise at my church. I learned that 28 faith

communities and organizations came together to support families who were temporarily experiencing homelessness and knew that this was faith in action.

Now I am part of a community that is far larger than my home congregation”

through the rotation of congregations; the congregations will now rotate their volunteer hosting work around the families in the new facility. Volunteers will continue to provide meals and sleep overnight in the facility. They will also

"The Meadowlark is a sign for all of us that the Missoula faith communities will continue their commitment to homeless families through Family Promise.” said Vicke Schend, Family Promise Coordinator at St. Paul Lutheran Church.

The completion of the Meadowlark represents the next chapter in the Family Promise Missoula story. Family Promise Missoula will no longer host families

continue to build strong supportive relationships with families housed there – relationships that continue even when families move out of the center into permanent housing in the community.

“When families move into their own

place we provide each family with a welcome basket; we provide everything from cleaning supplies, bathroom items and kitchen items. Additionally, many of us stay in touch with families and are there to provide support as they need it – much like an extended family” says Nancy Marks, Family Promise Coordinator at Immanuel Lutheran Church.

“When Missoulians pass by the Meadowlark, I hope that they will be reminded of faith-filled people – how we love one another and care for all of our neighbors,” said Quinn.

To learn more about Family Promise Missoula, or to sign up to volunteer, email mic@micmt.org or call (406) 207-8228 Rebecca Pettit is the director of development and community engagement for the Missoula Interfaith Collaborative.

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Missoula Chamber update:

Chamber looks forward to helping businesses in 2021 The last year has been one of change. Businesses have had to find new ways to operate and they have faced unprecedented challenges. Through it all, the Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce has worked to advocate for businesses and their ability to operate and serve their customers.

We have also served as a resource for area businesses regarding the tools available to them to help weather this storm. Our website has featured a list of grant and loan programs to help small businesses keep employees on the payroll and make up for lost revenue. We have shared information with legislators at the local, state and federal level about the difficulties COVID-19 has created for the business community. That allowed several businesses to open back up and safely serve their customers. That allowed them to pay their employees and keep their doors open.

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MISSOULA BUSINESS • WINTER 2021

SARA DIGGINS/MISSOULIAN

Early on in the year as businesses began to reopen, some faced more strict restrictions for operations. As they had questions or comments about the regulations they were facing, the Chamber did what it does best: made connections.

We reached out to the Missoula CityCounty Health KIM Department LATRIELLE and shared Missoula Area with them the comments Chamber of we’d received.

Commerce We worked Chief Executive to set up a Officer virtual meeting between businesses with concerns and the department’s community liaison.

That meeting helped businesses better understand the local mandates, and the health department understood the challenges those mandates created.

Burns Street Bistro manager Hannah Eller wipes down the menus at the restaurant in April. The establishment was one of many to switch to a takeout model, encouraging patrons to order ahead and pay with a card if possible.

Some of the hardest-hit businesses throughout the pandemic have been restaurants and bars. These businesses have long been places we gather to connect with friends and neighbors.

They’ve had to radically change the way they do business and then once allowed to re-open, they’ve worked hard to follow health department guidelines to create adequate spacing and increase sanitization efforts. As regulations increased, the Chamber once again connected owners and operators with the health department. They were able to work together to find ways to meet public health goals and ease the challenges facing restaurants.

In addition to connecting restaurants and bars with health department officials, the Chamber also hosted an industry roundtable discussion. We brought together a group of restaurant and bar owners to discuss the challenges they’re facing and how they’ve handled them.

This allowed them to connect with others in their industry and share best practices.

As we begin a new year, we will continue to host industry roundtable sessions with other sectors of the economy to help them connect and find ways to thrive in the challenges they face.

The Chamber serves as a voice for its members in the business community. As challenges arise, we advocate for businesses and help them connect with decision-makers to find solutions that benefit everyone. A strong business community is vital to a thriving community. In addition to the jobs they provide, local businesses support community groups, nonprofit organizations and schools.

In the same way that businesses are important for the success of Missoula, so too is the success of the University of Montana. The Missoula Chamber has partnered with the University for the “Heart of a Grizzly” campaign. Show

your support for UM by displaying a “Heart of a Grizzly” sticker in your window, on your laptop or water bottle.

You can even buy apparel displaying your support. This collaborative effort shares the message that local businesses and the University of Montana are intertwined.

Neither can succeed without the other.

As we kick off 2021, the Chamber remains hopeful for the promise of the new year. Like many people, we look forward to the day we can gather again, network and connect with others. We will continue to advocate for business and be a resource for the community. We will continue connecting businesses with government leaders and officials to find solutions to issues in the community.

Working together, we can keep Missoula a great place to live, work and play.

Kim Latrielle is the CEO of the Missoula Area Chamber of Commerce.

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