October, 2012 REDRED NewsletterNewsletter A NON-PROFIT COUNTYWIDE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPOR A T I O N INSIDE THIS 2012 RED Annual Meeting I S S U E : We are pleased to invite RED Annual Meeting 1 Club. The social will begin at you to our annual meeting 6:00 PM, with the dinner begin- banquet. The evening will en- CEDS 1 ning at 6:30 PM. tail an overview of the 2012 Please mark your calen- New Employee 2 activities that our office has dars and plan to attend this an- accomplished, as well as a nual event. The invitations, MRED 2 great meal. RSVP’s, and ballots will be arriv- The event will be held ing soon. Please mail or fax your th Eastern MT Coalition 3 on Monday, November 5 , RSVP as soon as possible in re- 2012, at the Sidney Country spect for the caterers. Per Diem Rates 4 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) Energy Open 4 We updated the CEDS, Throughout July, Mi- including all changes and chelle and Leslie worked on challenges to our communities, the CEDS. This document is an and presented it to the Rich- overall look at our economy, land County Commissioners, how things have changed, the City of Sidney, and the and where we’d like to go as a Town of Fairview for approval. community. Every 5 years the Each governing body had the plan must be totally updated, opportunity to review and sug- presented to the governing gest changes to the docu- bodies for approval, approved, ment. and then submitted to the Eco- It is with great pleasure Leslie Messer at the RED office. nomic Development Admini- that we received unanimous stration for final approval. approval letters from the Rich- We utilized the informa- land County Commissioners, On August 20, 2012, tion gathered from surveys and the City of Sidney, and the our office received a letter input from our membership, the Town of Fairview. The CEDS was from John Rogers, Montana governing bodies, interested then sent off to the MT Eco- Economic Development Ad- parties, as well as residents nomic Development Admini- ministration Representative, from Crane, Fairview, Lambert, stration, and onto the Denver congratulating us on our up- Savage and Sidney. regional office. dated plan. P a g e 2 RED Newsletter New Employee, Amber Henwood Amber Henwood School Network, a state- the Sidney area in January was hired as the Project wide network for after 2011, mainly to complete her Assistant for Richland Eco- school programs. degree. Since she’s from Miles nomic Development on City, and now residing in East- August 13, 2012. Amber ern Montana again, she states was born and raised in that she feels it’s like coming Miles City, Montana. She home. graduated with a secon- Amber is excited to be dary education degree. working in the Richland Eco- Amber’s work experi- nomic Development office, ences led her to Western and very interested in being Montana where she involved in the growth of the worked for Greenway En- Amber Henwood area. terprises, a government Please feel free to call contract agency, as well or stop by to meet Amber and as the Montana After Amber moved to welcome her. Montanans For Responsible Energy Development (MRED): Colstrip plant and litigation case, and the upcoming legislative ses- sion. There will be several bills on the docket making a run for the impact money. During the meeting, Leslie was able to answer questions and On Aug 8 th , Leslie at- give specifics as to how the City of tended the annual meeting Sidney and Richland County of MRED in Colstrip. This Commission are working together meeting is an overview of all to address the growth challenges the activities that the grass- to our region. roots group has conducted over the past year. Items discussed were: possibly changing the group’s name, issues with the Drilling Rig at Sunset. P a g e 3 RED Newsletter New Eastern Montana Impact Coalition Formed Richland Economic Development recently helped form a new coali- tion of economic develop- ment groups in eastern Montana to assist counties and communities impacted by rapid natural resource development. The new group, enti- tled the Eastern Montana Impact Coalition, is a col- Eastern Montana Coalition Presentation: (From Left to Right) Liz Ching, Senator Baucus’s Office; Jim Atchison, SEMDC; John Rogers, EDA; Martin DeWitt, GNDC; Leslie Messer, REDC; and Jason Rittal, EPEDC laboration of four groups: South Eastern Montana Economic dustry to encourage development and as- “This is a great Development Corpora- sistance during this period of strong energy opportunity to tion (SEMDC) of Col- development. The coalition has identified leverage federal strip, Eastern Plains Eco- community planning and grant writing as and state nomic Development two areas of top priority. funding with (EPEDC) of Terry, Great “This is a great opportunity to lever- private sector assistance to Northern Development age federal and state funding with private help minimize Corporation (GNDC) of sector assistance to help minimize impacts, impacts, yet Wolf Point, and Rich- yet maximize benefits.” noted Jim Atchi- maximize land Economic Devel- son, SEMDC Executive Director. “This coali- benefits.” opment Corp (REDC) tion will assist with plans to leverage financ- - Jim Atchison of Sidney. Currently ing, lower risk, and put additional assis- these four organizations tance into the communities being im- serve 16 eastern Montana counties pacted by rapid natural resource develop- via numerous economic and commu- ment.” he added. nity development programs. The group has been collaborating The purpose of the coalition is for the past few months on a joint applica- to leverage scarce resources and co- tion that would involve the federal Eco- ordinate services that work positively nomic Development Administration (EDA) and proactively for counties and and MT Department of Commerce funds communities, as a means of encour- needed to build capacity in the region for aging proper planning, assisting with planning and resource coordination, financing for the rehabilitation and in- which is a crucial step to providing addi- stallation of infrastructure, working tional resources within the region. with developers to create housing, and coordinating with the energy in- P a g e 4 RED Newsletter Per Diem Rate Increase In April, our office ministration into the rates. ducted an investigation was notified by the new We pointed out that and increased the per hotels of the challenges diem rates for our the hoteliers were facing local hotels from trying to match the state’s $77 per night to per diem rate for state $96 per night dur- and federal employees. ing the year ex- After researching due to the influx of industry cept for the months of the situation, RED wrote travelers; we believed it April and May, when it is letters to Senators Max warranted an increase in $90. The new rates went Baucus, Jon Tester, and the per diem rates, to be into effect October 1 st . Congressman Denny Re- more competitive. hberg asking them to push In September, we for an investigation from were pleased to discover the General Services Ad- that the GSA had con- “One...importa Energy Open Conference in nt outcome of Colstrip the On Aug 9 th , political candi- received well, and the audi- conference dates, administrators from cities ence was especially interested was the and counties, as well as indi- in the cooperation between the importance of viduals interested in the respon- city and the county in their stabilization to sible development of our natu- preparations for the growth. our economy ral resources attended the con- One of the important by the creation ference at Colstrip. relevant outcomes of the con- and retention Day one included presen- ference was the importance of of family tations from the Public Service stabilization to our economy by supporting Commission, the Governor’s En- the creation and retention of jobs.” ergy Office, and comments family supporting jobs. from legislative representatives. Leslie was asked to pre- sent the “Oil Impacts to the Overall Economy of Richland County.” This information was P a g e 5 RED Newsletter The RED Membership Drive will be held in December. Thank you to all of the Richland Economic Development Membership for 2012. 1st Bank Hauge, Mark Safflower Technologies 1st Choice Collision Center Healthy Smiles Seitz Insurance Agency Action Auto HUB International Insurance Sharp & Sassy Ameriprise Financial Interstate Engineering Inc Sidney Area Chamber of Amestoy Consulting, LLC JD Farms Commerce Amunruds RV, Inc James Steinbeisser Sidney Country Club & Pro B & B Builders Jensen Agency Sidney Elks Lodge Beagle Land Company Jerry Nypen Sidney Health Center Beagle Properties Jim’s Catering Sidney Herald Bell Ridge Farms Johnson Hardware & Furniture Sidney Job Service Best Western Golden Prairie John Stockhill Jewelers Sidney Liquor Agency #50, Inc Inn & Suites KFC Sidney Millwork Company Beth Redlin Kalberer's Heating Inc. Sidney Paint & Glass Big Sky Siding & Windows Kirby Dassinger Sidney Realty, Inc Blue Rock Products Kringen Construction Inc Sidney Red-E-Mix, Inc BOSS Office & Computer Leonard & Jean Odenbach Sidney Rental Products Lone Tree Inn Sidney Shuttle Brenner, Averett, & Co., PC Lower Yellowstone Irrigation Sidney Sugars, Incorporated Bubba Brown’s BBQ Project Sidney Tax Service C & L Chariots Lower Yellowstone Rural Smith, Lange & Halley, PC Candy Bouquet Electric Association South 40 Castle Rock Consortium Inc. Lucky Buckle Stanley Lindblom CenturyLink M & C Beverage Steinbeisser & Sons, Inc Checkers M & M Café Stockman Bank CHMS, PC Mark Rehbein Taco Johns City of Sidney Martini Siding & Windows Territorial Landworks, Inc Con’s Weed Control Matt Rosendale Sr. Thrivent Financial Cross Petroleum Service Merchants Bank Tri-County Implement, Inc D & M Water Service Microtel Inn & Suites Uintah Engineering & Land Dave McMillen Mid-Rivers Communications Surveying Doorbust’n Portables & Septic Miller’s Corner Union Gateway, Inc Dowl HKM Miller’s Garbage Service Upland Kennel Dr.