T h e E d u c a t i o n I s u e - DLI Homedli.mt.gov/Portals/57/Publications/dli-msm-122012.pdf ·...

AUTUMN 2012

The Education Issue

Top 10 private manufacturersCollege graduates make national gains

Montana’s first schoolGovernment operating at the speed of business

INS

IDE

:

The past eight years have been filled withsome incredible highs and lows. Montana sawits lowest unemployment rate in recent historyand what seemed to be an insatiable demandfor timber. Then the 2007 recession hit crippling the national and the state economy.Although Montana didn’t escape unscathed,we were able to weather the storm and out-perform the rest of the nation.

The unemployment trust fund remainedsolvent during the economic downturn. Montana was among a handful of states thatdid not have to borrow from the Federal Government to pay unemployment benefits;Montana ended fiscal year 2012 with the sec-ond highest ending fund balance in state history, with more than $453 million dollarsin the bank. The ending fund balance is theamount of undesignated, unreserved fundsremaining at year end after the state pays itsobligations. Our state is in a great position forgenerations to come.

The Treasure State is known for its abun-dance of natural resources, and despite thedecrease in demand for timber, many of thoseresources are still sought after. The energysector along with emerging industries such asinformation and advanced technology, healthservices, value-added agriculture, tourismand communications are strong and growing.As the demand for our natural resourceschanges from timber, to oil and gas, wind, andother forms of green energy, so does the education needs of our workforce. Our work-force is our number one resource and as oureconomy continues to grow and new jobscome to the state, it is vital that workers havethe training and education they need forthose jobs.

We have several successful programs thatare geared towards giving Montanans thetraining and education they need to succeed.In fact, some of those programs such as our

On-The-Job Training, Jobs for Montana’sGraduates, and Pre-Apprenticeship and Apprenticeship programs have gained national attention and are setting the standardfor other states.

In this issue of Main Street Montana we arefocusing on education rather than a geographical location as we have in the past.We’ll take a look at the rise of enrollment inMontana’s two year schools; how programslike YouthBuild are making a difference in thelives of our youth; the success of the Governorand First Lady’s Math and Science Initiative;how the Incumbent Worker Training Programis benefiting workers and their employers; thelargest increase of college graduates in the nation; and we’ll take a nostalgic look at Montana’s first school.

—Keith Kelly, CommissionerMontana Department of Labor & Industry

2 | Fall 2012 Main Street Montana

A note from the Commissioner

Main Street Montana is a bi-annual publication produced by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry.

If you would prefer to receive your subscription electronically or wish to discontinue receipt, please send an email to [email protected].

Editor: Casey Kyler-WestDesign: Luke Duran, Element L Design

www.MainStreet.mt.gov

32,000 copies of this public document were printed at an estimated cost of $0.37 each for a total of $12,003.00 for printing and $.00 for distribution.

AUTUMN 2012

In this issue:2 A Note from the Commissioner

4 The Wonders of Math and ScienceGovernor Brian Schweitzer and First Lady Nancy Schweitzerchampion math and science so more Montana students canhave exciting opportunities and good-paying jobs.

5 Choosing the Right PathCareer Pathways are bridging the gap between worker’s skillsand education and the needs of employers who hire them.

6 College Students: The Little Engines That CouldHigher education does more than prepare students for theircareers; it gives them the opportunity to give back to theirlocal communities.

7 Whipping up a Second ChanceThe women at Passage’s Pre-Release Center are whipping up a second chance in life after incarceration and gaining national attention.

8 Preserving Montana’s Cultural HeritageMontana has a rich history, the Office of Public Instruction ismaking sure students learn that history and understand thecontemporary issues facing Montana’s Indians.

9 Building a Better FutureAt risk youth are building homes for struggling families and abrighter future for themselves.

10 In Montana, Small Changes Spur Nation’s Biggest Jump in College GraduatesMontana is increasing its proportion of population with college degrees faster than any other state in the nation.

13 First Montana School a Lesson in How EducationHas ChangedA humble log cabin marks the beginning of Montana’s Schools.

14 Montana’s Top Ten Privately Owned ManufacturersMeet the manufacturing companies that call Montana home.

21 You Can Help Prevent UI Benefit OverpaymentsDid you know as an employer, you can help prevent Unemployment Insurance Benefit overpayments?

22 Living HistoryBannack State Park celebrates 150 years of history by allowing students to live history.

25 GED Testing Changing in 2014The GED Testing Program will change in 2014, what thatmeans for Montana.

26 Government Operating at the Speed of BusinessThe Department of Labor and Industry’s Business StandardsDivision launches eBiz Solutions to engage customers.

27 State-of-the-Art TourismMontana stays relevant in a vastly evolving digital landscape.

dli.mt.gov Main Street Montana | 3

Bannack State Park page 22

ou may not know that GovernorBrian Schweitzer and First LadyNancy Schweitzer met at Montana

State University in Bozeman where they wereboth pursuing science degrees—Brian studiedsoil science and Nancy studied Botany. Theircareers took them around the world working onlarge-scale agriculture and irrigation projectsbefore they landed back in Montana. Since becoming Governor and First Lady, they havechampioned math and science education sothat more Montana students can have excitingopportunities and good-paying jobs.

The First Lady is particularly interested inhow hands-on learning can keep kids inter-ested through the critical period in upper elementary and middle school. Programssuch as A World In Motion® (AWIM) simulatethe work of a scientist or engineer as studentsbuild and test gliders, fuel cell cars, and more.Furthermore, the SAE Foundation providesthe AWIM curriculum and materials at nocost to classroom teachers. Facilitating opportunities and awareness of programs likeAWIM has been a large piece of the Initiative.

Montana’s big backyard is an excellentoutdoor classroom that easily sparks the curiosity of students to discover and explorethe way the world works. Outdoor educationis a major focus of many educators, sciencemuseums, summer camps, and afterschool

programs in Montana. The First Lady workedwith the Montana Department of Transporta-tion to create a series of geologic interpretivesigns. Each sign shares a story of our state’sgeologic history with students, families, andtourists traveling across the state. When asign is officially launched, a local classroomjoins the First Lady to learn about the geologyin their own backyard.

Volunteers play another important role in the Governor and First Lady’s vision. Volunteers help create that “spark” for studentsby bringing their everyday experience into theclassroom. They also showcase careers

available in the students’ own communityand share how they got there. Volunteers area central component of Nancy’s Garden,which provides gardening curriculum andmaterials for Montana classrooms. Teachersare encouraged to connect their classroomgarden to the community with volunteers,such as Master Gardeners, and service learning,such as partnering with a community garden.

Ultimately, the Governor and First Ladyhope these early efforts will inspire moreMontana students to take challenging coursesin high school and pursue degree programs inmath and science. There is already somegood news that Montana is making headway.A report released earlier this year announcedthat Montana has raised the percentage ofadults who have finished college by morethan 6 percent over the last three years—afaster rate than any other state.

With more Montana students completinga college degree, it’s important they knowabout the many good-paying, high-demandjobs in Montana that require math and scienceskills. Over the past three years, STEM jobpostings in Montana outnumbered unem-ployed people by nearly 3 to 1. GovernorSchweitzer has prioritized energy developmentand attracting new and expanding businessesto the state. Montana is also home to an increasing number of biomedical and tech-nology companies like the McLaughlin Research Institute and TerraEchos.

With opportunities like these for Montanastudents to be leaders and changers in aglobal economy, it’s an exciting time to bestudying math and science in Montana! Tolearn more about the Governor and FirstLady’s interest and the many partners, pleasevisit: mathscience.mt.gov.


The Wonders of Math and ScienceThe Governor and First Lady’s Math & Science Initiative seeks to spark an interest in math and science when studentsare young. BY CASEY KYLER-WEST

Clockwise from above: The Governor and First Lady conducta science experiment with HelenaMiddle Schoolers. Fourth Gradestudents participating Nancy’sGarden. The First Lady and Jagdebut a geologic interpretive signnear Harlowton.

Y

id you know that by 2018 more thantwo-thirds of the 47 million projected job openings will require

some level of postsecondary education ortraining, including industry certification? According to a recent study by the Center forLaw and Social Policy (CLASP), at currentrates of credential attainment, the UnitedStates will fall short by tens of millions ofpostsecondary credentials over the next coupleof decades. Not only is the U.S. falling behindits competitors regarding postsecondary credential attainment rate, it is also strugglingto meet domestic demand for skilled workers.Highly educated baby boomers are reachingretirement age, and the U.S. is not producingcollege-educated workers fast enough to replace them.

The Treasure State will also be impactedby the shortage, which is why Montana’s education and training, workforce and economic development stakeholders areworking to respond by establishing astatewide systemic career pathways and

related bridge programs as important strategiesfor meeting employer workers skill needs andworker career advancement needs. “A systemicapproach to career pathways reaches out to apreviously untapped labor pool and con-tributes to sustaining a vibrant state economy,”Said Margaret Bowles, State Director of AdultEducation.

In August 2010 the Montana Departmentof Labor and Industry was awardeda Career Pathways Technical Assis-tance award co-sponsored from theU.S. Department of Labor, Employ-ment and Training Administrationand the Department of Education,Office of Vocational and Adult Education.The award helped to support and to providecareer pathway information systems and toforge effective partnerships with educationand training providers, business and industry,economic development, community basedorganizations, and other stakeholders to en-sure programs result in employment and career enhancing credentials.

Career pathway programs attempt to integrate and better align adult literacy andbasic education, and pre-collegiate develop-mental education with postsecondary career

and technical education certificate and associate degree programs, and potentiallywith the baccalaureate degree. Industry sectorsthat are appropriate for pathway developmentare those that need skilled workers and contribute to the economic growth of the region. Employers are engaged by way ofidentifying competencies for pathway curriculaand validating pathways design and credentials.As with other technical college programs, theCareer Pathway curriculum incorporates

“learning by doing” opportunities throughprojects, laboratories, simulations, work experience, and internships.

Because of their flexibility, two-year col-

leges play an integral role in the educationand training arena. Two-year colleges areable to quickly create programs that cater to a specific industry’s needs or demands. Forexample, Montana’s energy industry is grow-ing; some of the occupations within that industry include: welders, diesel technicians,and energy technicians. A two year-school canmeet the technical training or certificationneeds for those types of jobs without neces-sarily having to change its entire curriculum.

“We’re working to help provide a future work-force for the state”, said John Cech, DeputyCommissioner for Two-Year and CommunityCollege Education.

Some of Montana’s recent progress toward the development of these career pathway opportunities include: Montana Career Clusters/Big Sky Pathways, a statewidecollege and career initiative under the Carl D.Perkins and Technical Education Act of 2006.In 2008, with a Workforce Investment Act Incentive grant fund, PEP Talk for PersonalizedEmployment Plan was developed as a new career planning tool to provide resources, andpersonalized support to develop long-termemployment plans that capitalize on personalinterests and strengths.

Montana Career PathwaysBY LEiSA SmiTh, Executive Director, State Workforce Investment Board


D

“We’re working to help provide afuture workforce for the state.”

ontanans have a strong sense ofcaring for others and toward thecommon good. From barn raisings

and river clean-ups to fighting forest fires andbuilding neighborhood parks, Montananshave a long history of leaning on the strengthof their communities. Where does that senseof civic responsibility come from? And, moreimportantly, what are the most effective waysto foster civic responsibility in younger people?Certainly our families, teachers, and spiritualleaders provide guidance about the importanceof citizenship and how everyone can andshould contribute to the betterment of society.Higher education can play a vital role too; and be a strong “civic engine” for our citiesand towns.

Colleges and universities have a uniquecapacity to enhance Montana’s economic andintellectual capital. The benefits of higher education are well-known. Campuses contin-uously discover, create, and disseminate newknowledge. Faculty, staff, and students rou-tinely conduct research that drives technolog-ical innovation, new patents and businessopportunities. Data consistently reveal thedisparity in personal income potential betweenthose with a college education and thosewithout. While colleges have great potentialto produce knowledge, understandings, skilledworkers, new technologies, and inventions;colleges can also produce graduates who areexcellent citizens— ideally, ones who think,act, speak, and write articulately, carefully, andcritically. Our state needs engaged citizenswho contribute to our collective civic healthand vibrancy. Fostering good citizens requireshelping students make the connections between the content of their courses and theways in which they can each contribute tostrong local economies, social and politicalwell-being, and collective action that willsolve our most pressing problems.

As incubators for developing engaged citizens, college campuses can prioritize civicengagement. The National Task Force on

Civic Learning and Democratic Engagementrecently outlined four areas in which collegescan make a civic investment: 1) Foster a civicethos across campus and educational culture;2) Make civic literacy a core expectation; 3)Practice civic inquiry across all fields of study;and 4) Encourage civic action. Today, Mon-tana colleges are intentionally building andsustaining civic-minded campuses that serveas good neighbors, partners, and strong civicengines of our communities.

Integrating civic areas into academiccourses through service-learning is one wayour colleges educate students and make a difference in communities and foster good citizenship. Service-learning is a teaching technique that places students in an organizedservice activity that meets identified commu-nity needs. Professors help students reflect onsocietal problems and take part in solvingthem. Data show that students engaged inservice-learning report a better appreciationfor diversity and ethical decision-making,

increased complex problem solving skills,better critical thinking and analytic reasoning,intercultural competence, and solid knowledgeabout civic participation. Students who complete service-learning courses generallyearn higher grade point averages and are morelikely to graduate than students who do not.

For examples, please contact MontanaCampus Compact , www.mtcompact.org or406-243-5177 and become a Facebook

“friend” of MTCC at www.facebook.com/mt-compact.


College Students: Little Engines that CouldHigher education plays a vital role in fostering civic responsiblity. BY DEAn mCGovERn, Executive Director, Montana Campus Compact

MTop: University of Great Falls students lending a hand on an Alternative Spring Break service project. Above: Highlands College Professor Bill Ryan’s studentswork to build a Habitat for Humanity Home in Butte.

culinary arts apprenticeship programat the correctional facility offerswomen the opportunity to learn the

skills needed to secure meaningful employ-ment in the food service industry. The programis working so well that it is receiving nationalattention. The U.S. Department of Labor’sOffice of Apprenticeship has awarded Passagesand its culinary arts pre-appren-ticeship program the 2012 Trailblazer and Innovator Award.This award is given to programsthat have “a significant impact onthe history of registered appren-ticeship in the 21st century.”

“The pre-apprenticeship pro-gram at Passages is the first of itskind, and to see it receive this kindof national recognition is a tributeto the women who complete theprogram and the mentors whowork with them,” said LaborCommissioner Keith Kelly.

The Program was developed after severalmonths of collaborative efforts with StateSenator Kim Gillan, the Department of Corrections and staff from Billings Job serviceOffice. At the time, Pre-apprenticeship was anational concept that was loosely used andnon-defined for training programs that offered education and/or on the job experiencethat could lead into apprentice-able occupations. The Montana Apprenticeshipand Training Program was the first in the nation to develop “registered pre-apprentice-ship” which includes responsibility guidelinesfor the training entity; stated educational andon the job training requirements; a pre-apprenticeship agreement that is signed by allparties to the training program and a certifi-cate of completion that recognizes the number of hours of training and educationobtained by the applicant. The completioncertificate provides credibility that the trainingprogram adheres to the basic industrial trainingstandards required by the occupation.

The culinary arts program is a mixture of

kitchen and classroom training for eighthours a day. Program participants workalongside and supplement the efforts of afood service operation that produces over1,000 meals daily. Up to 15 inmates can train ata time, but the participants prior to application,must have completed and passed multipledrug and alcohol assessments, personal

counseling and educa-tional requirements, toqualify for the program.Once a participant com-pletes the program, they are required to obtain successful employment outside of the pre-release for a minimum of sixmonth prior to release on parole.

Since it began two years ago,the program has had 13 graduatesand the recidivism rate amongthose women is less than half ofwhat it is for the overall femaleoffender population. Almost all of

the women completing the program have jobsand three-fourths of them are using the skills

they learned to work in the food service industry. “Recidivism reduction is one of thekey elements of what we do in corrections,”said Corrections Director Mike Ferriter. “Theamazing outcomes of the participants in thisprogram speak to the quality and value of thistraining program. I have always believed thatdeveloping vocational skills and meaningfulemployment opportunities are one of themain stepping stones for success, this projectsolidifies my belief.”


Second ChancesSecond chances can be hard to come by, but for the offenders atthe Passages Women’s Center in Billings a second chance mayalso be a career. BY mARK mAKi, State Director Apprenticeship and Training Program

A

US. Department of LaborSecretary Hilda Solis (left), with Megan Jessee, andMark Maki.

Program participants presenting samples of their dishes at award reception in Billings.

he Indian Education Division at theOffice of Public Instruction servestwo purposes: The first is to assure

that Indian students and communities receivea quality and equitable education. The secondis to assure that ALL students leave the publiceducation system with an understanding ofthe rich history and contemporary issues ofMontana’s Indians.

The 1972 Montana Constitution providesthe foundation for our efforts to implementIndian Education for All in Montana’s schools.The delegates to the Constitutional Conven-tion included language in the Constitution affirming the need for the state to recognizethe “distinct and unique cultural heritage ofthe American Indian.” Article X, Section 1 (2)goes onto say that the state is “committed inits educational goals to the preservation oftheir cultural integrity.” We are the only statein the country that has such a provision intheir constitution.

In 1999, the Montana Legislature passedinto law, MCA 20-1-501, “Indian Educationfor All”. The law clarifies the intent of the con-stitutional amendment from 1972 by saying;

“Every Montanan, whether Indian or non-Indian, be encouraged to learn about the distinctand unique heritage of American Indians in aculturally responsive manner;

There are ongoing efforts to fully imple-ment Indian Education for All. One of the ini-tial efforts was in 1999 when OPI broughttogether representatives from all the tribes inMontana and created the 7 Essential Under-standing Regarding Montana Indians. Thesedefine broad concepts tribes have in commonand form the basis for all of our curriculum efforts and initiatives.

The Indian Education Office at OPI continues developing resources and strategiesfor implementing Indian Education for All.Some of these efforts include developing

model curriculum and support materials foruse by Montana schools. We will also provideprofessional development for Montanateacher’s to educate them about historic and

contemporary American Indian issues. Indian Education for All recognizes a

continuum of awareness and understanding ofIndian issues, and promotes an environmentof respect, empathy, and cultural sensitivity. Itis a hopeful indicator of the changing paradigmof public education—rather than aiming to inculcate nationalism through a culturally homogenized curriculum, IEFA attempts tostrengthen democracy by fostering relation-ships and including multiple perspectives. It isan ongoing, collaborative, time-intensiveprocess that is, slowly but surely, transforming

educators, students, and communities. “I lovelearning this stuff along with my students. Isee Montana in a whole new way. And I’m fromhere! I only wish we had had this emphasis onIndian Education when I was growing up”,said an Elementary teacher in Bozeman.

Montana students and teachers benefitfrom this inclusive, educational approach. InMontana, all students, Indian and non-Indianstudents alike, have their cultural heritagesvalued and their life experiences validatedthroughout their educational journey. Studentsare learning a comprehensive history, appre-ciate American Indian perspectives, and recognize the fact that we are all Montanansand must work together and understand eachother to promote our democratic ideals for all citizens.

For more information, including the Essential Understandings, visit the IndianEducation website: http://opi.mt.gov/Pro-grams/ IndianEd/


Indian Education for All Connecting cultures and classrooms, and closing the American Indian achievement gap.BY LYnn hinCh, Indian Education Division, Office of Public Instruction

T

Students from Pretty Eagle School in Hardin, learning Crow hand games

“I see Montana in a whole new way. ...and I’m from here!”

ationally, the purpose of YouthBuildis to assist at risk youth in obtaininga high school diploma or GED and

obtaining occupational skills in construction.As part of the training, students build or rehabilitate affordable housing for low-incomefamilies. Career Training Institute is one oftwo YouthBuild programs in Montana. Youth-Build Helena is a three-year project is fundedby the US Department of Labor.

In its first year, 2011-12, YouthBuild He-lena served 29 youth between 16 and 24. Ofthose nearly 80 percent were high schooldropouts with the remaining students comingfrom the local alternative school.

Students participated in educational con-struction and volunteer activities throughoutthe year. Because so many of the students arehigh school drop outs, the main emphasis ofYouthBuild is to re-engage those students ineducation that leads to a GED or high schooldiploma. Students complete their secondaryeducation through the Helena School Districtat the Adult Learning Center, Project for Al-ternative Learning or Access to Success.

The first year was a success. Between October, 2011, and May, 2012, a 1,008 squarefoot, two-bedroom home with a single caregarage was built by YouthBuild students underthe instruction of a construction trainer fromHelena College-University of Montana. Students learned every aspect of construction,starting with safety and tool use, as well as indepth, hands-on instruction on foundations,framing, drywall, roofing, window/door installation, painting, flooring, trim and much,much more. YouthBuild students receivedOSHA 10, First Aid and CPR training as well.

Many students earned a Home Builder’s Institute Pre-Apprenticeship and MontanaDepartment of Labor and Industry Pre-Apprenticesip certificates. Just as importantas construction skills, YouthBuild instructorstaught the importance of teamwork, conflictmanagement, problem solving, work ethic,having a positive attitude, time managementand good communication.

A public-private partnership has been instrumental to the program’s success. Mountain West Bank in Helena made a lotavailable in the Glacier Point subdivision forthe YouthBuild program allowing the programto teach construction skills onsite. PowerTownsend provided discounted tools and materials, as well as a generous cash donation.The Lewis and Clark Extension Service staffdonated their time to teach students how tolay sod and landscape the yard.

By May, 2012, the house, complete with asingle car garage, landscaped yard and under-ground sprinklers, was ready for an owner.Laurie Koutnik, a local realtor with LandmarkCompany, offered her services at no cost tothe program. Finding a qualified buyer was aunique challenge. YouthBuild regulations require that the house be sold to a low-incomefamily as defined by Housing and Urban Development. The house was sold after onlytwo months on the market.

It’s important to mention that studentswere also engaged in volunteer servicethroughout the year. The worksites includedHabitat for Humanity ReStore, historic Kleffner Ranch, Helena Housing Authority,Lewis and Clark Historic Preservation, RockyMountain Development Council, SalvationArmy, Toys for Tots and others. The volunteerlabor of YouthBuild students at Kleffner ranchwas traded for the opportunity to have theYouthBuild graduation party in the historicbarn at the ranch in May.

Overall, 72 percent of the students suc-cessfully completed the core YouthBuild pro-gram. Of these four attained a GED, fivereceived a high school diploma, nine earnedHBI PACT certificates and ten earned MontanaDepartment of Labor and Industry pre-ap-prenticeship certificates. A few students con-tinue to work toward their GED or diploma in2012 while others have attained employmentor entered post-secondary. YouthBuild students continue working with CTI for up to12 months after their participation ends. Staffassists students with career and post-secondary counseling, job search, job reten-tion and mentoring.


N

Building a Better Future In YouthBuild programs, young people re-engage in education and develop job skills bybuilding affordable housing in their communities. BY LiSA nEWmAn, Career Training Institute, Helena

Above: YouthBuild Students work on a house located in theGlacier Point Subdivision. Below, the completed home.

The students in this room are on academicprobation, have poor grades or are strugglingto adjust to college. All are at risk of droppingout. They’re being exhorted to keep trying,lured here by dinner, entertainment, prizes,even $50 apiece in cash, for coaching in timemanagement, study skills and test-taking.

Thanks to this event, along with a relent-less barrage of free tutoring, “success advising”and other support, an estimated three-quartersof these potential dropouts will buck the oddsand stay in school, up from barely half whoonce did.

They’re accomplishing something else,too: helping Montana increase the proportionof its population with college degrees fasterthan any other state.

While policymakers and university officialsin other states continue to haggle over suchthings as making it easier for students totransfer their academic credits from oneschool to another, Montana has simply andquietly done them. In the process, it has raisedthe percentage of its 25- to 64-year-olds whohave finished college by more than 6 percent

over the last three years, the biggest improve-ment in the nation, during a time when the restof the country barely edged up on this measureby 1 percent. Fifteen states actually lost ground.

The economic stakes of this are huge. TheUnited States has fallen from first to 16th inthe world in the proportion of the populationwith college degrees, and the GeorgetownCenter on Education and the Workforce projects a shortfall of three million college-educated educated workers by 2018.

There’s even greater urgency in Montana,where per-capita income is 41st among the 50states and the number of jobs in agriculture,forestry and mining is declining while there’sbeen a surge in demand in higher-skill fieldssuch as engineering. Yet Montana’s populationis the fourth oldest in the country, with hugenumbers of baby boomers nearing retirementand needing to be replaced by younger workers.Unless it can increase its ranks of collegegraduates, Montana will be short 96,000 ofthem by 2018—in a state with a population ofabout 1 million people—according to projec-tions by Georgetown researchers.

“This is about making sure we have ageneration that is knowledgeable, that will

contribute to the workforce,” said Carina Beck,Montana State’s director of career, internshipand student employment services. “Becauseif we don’t do that, we’re in trouble.”

So are many other states. But they’ve beenparalyzed by budget cuts and mired in argu-ments over how to fix the problem. Nationwide,barely half of four-year college students graduate within six years, and fewer than onein five at two-year community colleges finishin three. Only 38 percent of Americans havecollege degrees, when about 60 percent ofjobs are expected to require them by 2018.

Montana’s success in closing this gap hasn’tresulted from some secret formula, said JudyHeiman, who has worked with Montana officialsas an outside consultant on this issue. It’s comefrom a willingness in this no-nonsense statesimply to adopt the ideas that education advocates have been urging for years—butthat policymakers, university administratorsand faculty elsewhere continue to debate.

By comparison, after she laid out somesuggestions to the governor’s education advisor,Heiman recalled, she was taken aback at hisabrupt response.

“Let’s get ’er done,” he said, as if preparingto herd cattle on a ranch.

“There really is that sort of approach there,”she said—“that this is what we need to do, solet’s just do it.”

Montana started its push to churn outmore degree-holders by bolstering its systemof two-year colleges. Like other states, it hadto overcome perceptions that two-year collegesare little more than trade schools for studentswhose grades aren’t good enough to go tofour-year universities—a matter made worsein Montana, where many of them were, infact, vocational high schools before beingtransformed, in the mid-1990s, into so-called

“colleges of technology.”The state legislature allocated enough


College CreditIn Montana, small changes spur nation’s biggest jump in college graduates. BY Jon mARCuS

nside the student union at Montana State University,freshmen and sophomores dig into pizza and espressobrownies and listen to motivational speeches whilethe marching band belts out the fight song “We’ve gotthe vim, we’re here to win!”I

“This is about makingsure we have a generation that is knowledgeable,that will contribute to the workforce.”

money so that the two-year colleges couldfreeze tuition, even as the cost of publichigher education nationwide skyrocketed.Today they’re about half the price of four-yearuniversities, which makes them attractiveplaces to earn the first two years’ worth ofcredits needed for a bachelor’s degree.

Those who want to learn practical skillsthat require training and for which there aregood jobs in Montana, such as welding andadvanced machining, are given informationabout workplace demand and how muchmoney they’re likely to make when they graduate. Those who want to move on to afour-year university and get that bachelor’sdegree can see their futures plainly, too, sincethe state has standardized the names andnumbers of 90 percent of the undergraduatecourses at its public colleges and universities,making credits easy to transfer.

The inability to transfer credits is a hugereason why many students in other states nevergraduate, education experts agree. Yet facultyoften resist accepting credits from other insti-tutions, even within the same university system,because of concerns about quality control.

Montana is one of only seven states thathave taken the seemingly simple step of givingidentical courses the same names and numberssystem-wide. And there was resistance eventhere.

“It took some fist-banging,” said TylerTrevor, associate commissioner for planningand analysis in the Montana University Sys-tem. “It pisses off some old-school faculty. It’sabout control, and it’s about faculty control.”

Yet before they were brought into compre-hensible alignment, Montana’s various publiccolleges and universities had 11 differentnames and numbers for an identical introduc-tory English course, and 22 for introductoryalgebra, said Trevor. “And they were all thesame class.”

All of these changes have helped to doublethe number of students enrolling in Mon-tana’s two-year colleges—an increase so greatthat the college of technology in Missoula hadto put carpentry students to work addingmodular offices and classrooms. And a muchhigher proportion of them are making it tograduation than before.

“I wish I could roll out some 10-step pro-gram with a long name in academic terminol-

ogy” to account for this, said Bingham. “But,no. We concentrate on the one person. Andwe cut out the extras.”

That’s another ironic advantage Montanahas going for it: not a lot of extras. The state hashistorically invested comparatively little inhigher education. It’s 43rd in per-capita supportfor colleges and universities, with some of thenation’s lowest salaries for faculty and staff.Montana’s entire public higher-educationsystem has fewer students than some individ-ual university campuses in other states—47,500 in all, even after a 13 percent increasein enrollment over the last three years. (TheOhio State University, by contrast, has more

than 64,000 students.) And, unlike other states,for better or worse, Montana has few obscure,low-enrollment programs, focusing instead onpractical disciplines like engineering.

“We never strayed from the basics,” saidDonald Blackketter, chancellor of MontanaTech.

Blackketter’s university, which sits on ahill overlooking the onetime copper-mininghub of Butte, with a statue of the copper baronMarcus Daly at the entrance, specializes insuch disciplines as natural-resource engineer-ing, restoration and ecology, and health care.It has an enviable 97 percent employmentrate among recent graduates.

“We don’t offer degrees in which you can’tget a job,” Blackketter said.

That’s an outgrowth of the no-nonsensenature of this frontier state, said Gov. Brian

Schweitzer, a Democrat, who has a bumpersticker on his office door that reads, “Montanais for engineers.”

“I understand that we need a certain numberof philosophers, and I understand that it’s important to have a certain number of peoplewho study history. But we’re not currentlycreating a lot of jobs in those areas. So wehave to look at what curriculums we reallyneed,” said Schweitzer, a soil scientist bytraining. “People who are getting degrees inphilosophy and history, God bless them, it’swonderful that they’re critical thinkers. But now they’re going back to a college oftechnology to get a life skill to get a job.”

The state has taken other steps to increasethe proportion of its population with degrees.It lets some students get college credits out ofthe way while still in high school, having cutthrough red tape that would have barred university faculty from teaching them becauseof public-school teacher-certification require-ments. It has expanded distance learning toreach far-flung rural residents, with morethan 700 courses and 90 degrees availableonline. Twenty percent of Montana’s collegestudents are enrolled online.

There are still significant challenges.High-paying jobs in the booming easternMontana oil fields threaten to divert potentialstudents, slowing the enrollment surge. Only3 percent of adults over 25 take collegecourses, the lowest rate in the West. Andwhile it may be doing better at increasing thenumber of college graduates than every otherstate, Montana is still projected to fall short ofthe number it needs by 2018—but not for lackof trying.


this story was produced by the Hechinger Report, a foundation-supported nonprofit based at TeachersCollege, Columbia University, that covers education issues for national newspapers, magazines,broadcast outlets, and websites. It originally ran on NBCNews.com.

Right: Montana State Universitycampus in Bozeman.Below: Montana Tech in Butte.

or most people, attaining a post-sec-ondary degree is a means of develop-ing the skills and abilities, generally

referred to as human capital, and necessaryto work in their desired occupations. The development of human capital also provides agood explanation for why individuals withhigher levels of educational attainment tend toearn more, and are less likely to be unemployed,than workers with lower educational levels.

At the state and national level, there isconsiderable evidence that an individual’s educational attainment level has a significantimpact on their earnings, indicating a significant increase in the individual’s humancapital. According the U.S. Census Bureau,the median earnings for an adult in theUnited States with only a high school diplomawas approximately $26,350 in 2010 (Figure 1).At the same time, the median earnings forsomeone with a Bachelor’s degree in theUnited States was more than $47,000, nearlytwice the median earnings of the high schoolgraduate. The same income pattern holds for Montana, with the median earnings ofBachelor’s degree holders being 1.5 times theearnings level of a high school graduate. For both the United States and Montana, individuals without a high school diplomaearned the least, with median annual earningsof $18,413 and $17,117 respectively.

In addition to higher earnings, individualswith higher educational attainment levels alsoexperience significantly lower rates of unemployment. Based off the U.S. Bureau ofLabor Statistic’s Current Population Survey,the unemployment rate for the United Statesin 2011 averaged 8.9%. During this same time,however, individuals without a high schooldiploma had an average unemployment rate of14.1%, more than 5 percentage points higherthan the unemployment rate of the U.S. work-ing population (Figure 2). At the other end of thespectrum, individuals with at least a Bachelor’sdegree had an average annual unemploymentrate of only 4.3%. The disparity in educationalattainment unemployment rates also appearsto apply to Montana’s labor force. In 2010,

workers without a high school diploma had anaverage unemployment rate of over 17%, whilethose with at least a Bachelor’s degree had anunemployment rate of only 3.1%.

While the quantity of educational trainingremains a significant factor in determining anindividual’s economic future, the degree fielda person enters also has a significant impact.At the national and state level, individualswho graduate with degrees in Engineering,Computers, or Health Care earn significantlymore than people who graduate with other

degrees and may also have lower rates of unemployment. As people struggle to findways to improve their economic conditionsduring these economically uncertain times,increasing the amount of formal educationthey possess is one of the many options thatshould be considered. Additional informationon the returns to education in Montana canbe located in the Department of Labor andIndustries publication “’Degrees of Success’Earnings by Education Degree Types in Montana and the United States.”


Education and Labor Market Outcomes Given the high cost of a college education, many people do not get a post-secondary degreesolely as a leisure activity. So why do millions of people pay thousands of dollars each year toget some type of formal training after high school? BY AARon mCnAY

F $70,000

$56,000

$42,000

$28,000

$14,000

16%

12%

8%

4%

0

Fig. 1:Median Earnings by Education Level(25 Years and Older, 2010)

Fig. 2: Unemployment Rates by Educational Attainment Level(United States, January 2000 – July 2012)

united Statesmontana

Less than high school graduateHigh school graduate (includesequivalency)

Some collegeor associatesdegreeBachelor’sdegree Graduate orprofessionaldegree

Less than high school degreehigh school, no collegeLess than a Bachelor’s degreeBachelors’ degree or higher

2002200

3200

4200

5200

6200

7200

8200

92010 2011 2012

Montana’s First School A lesson in how education has changed. BY Tom CooK, Montana Historical Society

Prof. Dimsdale, begs to inform the public that he has opened aSCHOOL on Idaho street, behind Mr. Lomax’s Corral.

With this ad in the Montana Post in Virginia City in 1864Thomas Dimsdale announced the opening of the first publicschool house in Montana Territory. He also was the publisherof the territory’s first newspaper.

“Having been long and successfully engaged in tuition, hefeels sure that the friends of Education will support him in hisattempt to establish a really good school in Virginia City. All the branches included in the curriculum of the best Seminaries will be taught in the most approved manner,”Dimsdale undoubtedly wrote about his own school and talents.

The “terms” were advertised as $1.50 a week. The addidn’t say if that included the cost of slate, chalk or books.

The small cabin that served as the first school house wasmoved by historic preservationist Charles Bovey to nearbyNevada City where it still stands today. Lucy Darling had taughtstudents in Bannack earlier, but she did so out of her home.Mission schools also were opened for Native Americans earlier.

Mary Ronan, who lived in Virginia City, in her memoirwrote that the Dimsdale school was founded in 1863 so thereis some dispute about when it actually began.

Ronan said this about Dimsdale and his school which she

attended: “He was an Englishman, small, delicate-lookingand gentle. In his school all was harmonious and pleasant.While his few pupils buzzed and whispered over their readers,arithmetics and copy books, the professor sat at his makeshiftdesk near the window of the log school house writing, writingduring intervals between recitations and at recess, alwayswriting. When, during 1864, his Vigilantes of Montana wasbeing published in the Post I thought it must have been thecomposition of those articles which had so engrossed him.”

Education came hard in frontier Montana. On a winterday in 1864 while coming home from Dimsdale’s school,Ronan came across a crowd of people gathered on WallaceStreet. “The horror of what I saw is photographed on mymemory. The bodies of five men with ropes around theirnecks hung limp from a rough beam.”

It gives a harsh definition of homework. At any rate, education has come a long way in Montana from those earlydays of Dimsdale’s school.


Above: This notice in the Virginia City Montana Post in 1864 announced the first public school building in the Territory.

Left: The log cabin in the center of this photo is believed to be the first public school house in Montana.

ompare Montana’s work injury statis-tics to the rest of the U.S., and it’seasy to see why injury-related costs—

from workers’ comp insurance to medicalbenefits—are high here. Industry for industry,job for job, more workers are hurt in Montanathan in most other states—even states likeWyoming, Idaho and the Dakotas, whichhave an industry mix similar to Montana’s.

Quite simply, in Montana we injure ourworkers more frequently than most of the restof the nation. SafetyFestMT is trying tochange that by making free, high-qualitysafety training accessible for thousands ofMontana workers across the state.

At the Montana Department of Labor &Industry, we believe quality training is key tochanging our workplace injury statistics, andthat’s why we have partnered with Work-SafeMT to provide solid education to helppeople work safely, whether they operate acrane or sit at a desk. Sending workers tosafety training on a regular basis shows thatan employer is serious about worker safetyand health. Bringing employers and workerstogether around safety starts a dialog and enables people to share ideas which willchange the way Montanans think about safety.This change in thinking will lead to a changein our safety culture and fewer workers beinginjured or killed while on the job.

Employers often cite two major barriers tosending employees to safety training events—convenience and cost. We know that if wewant to make safety training commonplacewe need to start by making it convenient. Forthis reason, each year we hold several eventsaround the state—from Missoula to Glasgow,Billings to Great Falls and even Sidney.

And, training is provided at no cost to par-ticipants. Classes are led by top instructorsand many count toward OSHA cards. TheSafetyFestMT agendas are designed with

flexible schedules that allow participants topick and choose the classes they attend basedon relevance and need. Participants can attend just one class or as many as they cansqueeze in during the week. Depending onwhere the events are held, we hold as many as95 classes in a five day period that cover a widevariety of topics and industries; everything

from safety culture to ergonomics, grain handling to fall protection, and much more.

Quality, relevance and accessibility.That’s the training Montanans need. And it’sthe training we deliver.

For more information go to www.safe-tyfestmt.com or contact Kara Graetz at406.444.1642 or [email protected].


Playing it SafeFree workplace safety trainingoffered to all Montanans.BY GEoRGE KoChmAn, Executive Director, WorkSafeMT

C

“The training was first class. We can start to apply the lessons next week.”Curt Jevning, Ravalli County Road & Bridge Dept.

Overall great convention; free training of this caliber is hard to come by.”Karla Maier, Korman Marketing, Bozeman

“I actually had about 16 or 17 people I was able to get to the training. I can’t say enough good things about it.” John Mikkelson, Roseburg Forestry, Missoula

“Training at this price is rare and invaluable to the safety and successof our company. Members of our team that have been in our industry for over 13 years learned new safety information relative to their jobs.”Benjamin Wild, Montana Milling, Great Falls

SafetyFestMTevents in

Billlings andMissoula

here is a fresh economic developmentbreeze blowing through our city.After an in-depth analysis of

Missoula’s economic strengths and weak-nesses, an asset inventory, and extensive interviews with community members localbusiness leaders launched the Missoula Eco-nomic Partnership (MEP) in 2011.

Fast forward to today: MEP’s JamesGrunke, President and CEO, and Brigitta Miranda-Freer Director of Business Develop-ment, have formed strategic partnerships andcreated an effective economic developmentnetwork weaving together strands of City,County, University, Chamber of Commerce,the Montana Community Development Corp(MTCDC), key businesses, the Missoula JobService, and several other entities into a tightknit group. This network promotes and supports business expansion, retention, recruitment, as well as infrastructure invest-ment and workforce development. One ofMEP’s key operating principles is collaboration,bringing other organizations’ strengths to thetable—in a focused and targeted manner.

The Missoula Job Service remains one ofthe main beneficiaries of this strategy offorming and maintaining key partnerships.Recognizing workforce availability and devel-opment as the primary factor for attractingand retaining companies, MEP asked us to sitat the table—together with the Missoula College and Lifelong Learning Center—

whenever a new company prospect or site selection firm comes to town. We have participated in intensive discussions aboutworkforce readiness, provided in-depth labormarket information, conducted targetedworkforce research, and supplied MEP with awide variety of relevant data.

Having earned MEP’s respect throughhigh performance, we not only resumed ourrole as the leading Business Expansion andRetention (BEAR) partner (conducting thevast majority of outreach through our staff ),but thanks to a flood of referrals, we maintaina booming Incumbent Worker Training busi-ness and receive a large number of inquiriesfor On the Job Training (OJT) opportunities.

Current projects for our community’s partnership include building broad support forthe Missoula College to become a modern facility that meets 21st century needs and standards for workforce education and training;securing a couple of excellent new businessprospects that could help create 400-500local jobs in manufacturing; attracting a lowcost air carrier; and supporting entrepreneursthrough mentoring and identifying additionalsources of financial capital. We at the MissoulaJob Service look forward to maintaining andbuilding on these close community relation-ships for a better economic future for all.

To read more about the 2011-2016 MEPStrategic Plan, please visit missoulaworks.org/uploads/PDFs/MEP-Strategic_Plan.pdf

Why Hire a Veteran?BY DAn BERnhARDT, DLI Veterans Employment Program Coordinator

By now, there is a good chance that you haveseen the Top 10 Reasons to Hire Veterans either in a magazine, website, or an e-mail.The interesting thing about this list is when Iask a group of employers to create their owntop list; it doesn’t take long for them to comeup with a list very similar to this one.

What surprises me, however, is thatmore employers do not mention the financialbenefits of hiring veterans.

For example, through the Department ofLabor, businesses that hire certain veteransmay be eligible for a tax credit up to$9,600! Additionally, through the VA Vocational Rehabilitation and EmploymentProgram, there are opportunities for employers to be reimbursed up to 50% of aveteran’s salary for up to six months…in addition to the tax credit. An employer mayalso be able to pay a veteran an apprentice-ship wage while the VA supplements thatveteran’s salary up to the journeyman wage.

Peak your interest? If you have any additional questions, please feel free tocontact your local job service office.

TOP TEN REASONS:H Ability to learn new skills and concepts.H Strong leadership qualitiesH Flexibility to work strongly in teams

or work independentlyH Diversity and strong interpersonal skillsH Ability to work efficiently and diligently in

a fast-paced environmentH Respect for procedures and accountabilityH Hands on experience with technology

and globalizationH Strong personal integrityH Strong sense of health, safety and

property standardsH Triumph over adversity


It’s All About PartnershipsStrategic community partnerships foster local economicgrowth. BY WoLF AmETSBiChLER, Missoula Job Service Office Manager

T

Missoula Job Service Office Staff Members

dli.mt.gov Main Street Montana | 1716 | Fall 2012 Main Street Montana

TOP 10 MANUFACTURERS IN MONTANA Advanced Silicon Materials LLC

Located in Butte, Advanced Silicon Materials is a subsidiary of the Renewable Energy Corporation. An international company, REC has manufacturing locationsall over the world.

Advanced Silicon Materials in Butte produces polysilicon and silane gas for the electronics market.The company uses silane gas as the precursor materialfor polysilicon manufacturing. This allows AdvancedSilicon to keep its costs down and significantly reducethe environmental impact. The plant in Butte employsroughly three hundred people.

Applied Materials Inc.In December 2009 Applied Materials Inc., acquiredSemitool in Kalispell to address emerging opportunitiesin the high-growth wafer packaging market and providecomplementary systems and technology for advancedsemiconductor manufacturing

Applied Materials provides innovative equipment,services and software to enable the manufacture of advanced semiconductor, flat panel display and solarphotovoltaic products. In other words, its technologiesmake innovations like smartphones, flat screen TVs and solar panels more affordable and accessible toconsumers.

Applied Materials began in 1967 as a small industrialunit in Mountain View, California, now more than 40years later it is a global leader with locations all overthe world. Today the company operates in four reportable segments: Silicon, Display, Energy and Environmental Solutions and Applied Global Serviceand employs 14,600 people around the world, morethan 500 are located in Montana.

BCI Coca Cola Bottling CoWhen Atlanta Pharmacist John Pemberton combinedhis caramel colored liquid with carbonated water fromJacob’s Pharmacy in 1886 he had no idea that 114 yearslater his simple concoction would turn into a soft drinkicon consumed by millions around the world. In the earlydays patrons of Jacob’s pharmacy could buy a glass ofCoca Cola for nine-cents a glass. Now consumers canbuy cans, bottles, and cups of the classic soda, alongwith a slew of other products.

Today there are more than 300 bottling partnersdistributing Coca Cola and other Coke products to localgrocery stores, restaurants and street vendors aroundthe world. BCI Coca Cola Bottling Company in Missoulahas more than 100 employees who distribute Coke tobusinesses in and around the Missoula area.

Cenex Harvest StatesWith 7,000 employees around the world and more than1,000 in Montana, it’s no wonder that Cenex HarvestStates (CHS) is one Montana’s top ten manufacturers

A company as diversified as its employees, CHS iscommitted to providing essential resources that enrichlives around the world. Those resources include energy,grains, food and food ingredients, crop nutrients and

livestock feed. Grain delivered to the CHS elevators in Cut Bank

is transported by rail to customers in the U.S. andaround the word, primarily along the Pacific Rim. CHSoperates petroleum refineries and pipelines as well asmanufacturing, marketing and distribution of Cenex ®brand refined fuels, lubricants, propane and renewableenergy products. In addition to those who work in Glacier County, numerous CHS transportation driversare involved in moving crude oil from the area to the refinery in Laurel.

A Fortune 200 company, Cenex Harvest States isowned by farmers, ranchers and cooperatives, alongwith thousands of preferred stockholders, across theUnited States.

ConocoPhillipsThe American Oil Company, ConocoPhillips, got its startback in 1875 as the Continental Oil and TransportationCompany. At the time the company distributed coal, oil,kerosene, grease and candles in the west. In 1929, morethan two million shares of stock were sold to the MarlandOil Company and the name was changed to the Continental Oil Company.

Today ConocoPhillips has 19 oil refineries aroundthe world, including one in Billings, which has been operating since 1949. The Billings refinery employsroughly 300 people on a permanent basis, but it canemploy up to a thousand contract employees dependingon the season and the projects. Refinery Plant ManagerMike Wakowski says, “We’re always looking for goodemployees; we do a lot of hiring through Job Service.”There is a wide spectrum of jobs performed at the refinery,but most of them are technical and engineering positions.Several of the refinery’s employees come from the Collegeof Technology with a two year degree, something therefinery finds invaluable. The Billings refinery has alsobeen recognized by its parent company ConocoPhillipsas one the top business units in the world.

Exxon CorporationOver the last 125 years ExxonMobil has evolved from aregional marketer of kerosene in the U.S. to the largestpublicly traded petroleum and petrochemical enterprisein the world. Operating in most of the world’s countriesthe company is best known by its brand names: Exxon,Esso and Mobil.

The Billings refinery began operations in 1949 asthe Carter Oil Company and produced 20,000 barrelsof crude oil today. After the installation of the first fluidcoker in the world, the refinery has grown to include 18processing units and produces 60,000 barrels of crudeoil a day and 450 million gallons of gasoline a year. TheBillings refinery is one of seven ExxonMobil refineriesin the United States, and employs 250 people.

Interstate Brands CorporationAcquired by Hostess Brands, Inc. in 2009, InterstateBrands Corporation operates as a wholesale baker anddistributor. Hostess is among the nation’s largest and

best-known providers of fresh baked bread and sweetgoods in the U.S. with annual sales of $2.5 billion (est.).The company has 36 bakeries and 570 bakery retailoutlets nationwide.

Interstate Brands Corporation was founded as awholesaler selling bread loves wrapped in gingham byRalph Leroy Nafziger in 1930 in Kansas City Missouri.Through the years the company grew and acquiredother baking companies, until it was acquired by Hostess.Interstate Brands Corporation employs more than 100people in Montana.

Meadow Gold DairiesYou’ve seen the milk cartons, tubs of butter and ice

cream in the store, but did you know that Meadow GoldDairies is more than more than 120 years old? WhenGeorge Haskell and William Bosworth lost their jobswith the bankrupt Fremont Butter and Egg Companyduring the silver panic of 1893; they decided to strikeout on their own. The two formed a partnership and initially purchased butter, eggs, poultry and producefrom local farmers for resale to manufacturers and distributors. Later they began churning their own butterand distributed it to grocery stores. In 1907 the companyopened its first ice cream plant and by 1923 the firstfluid milk plant opened in Denver.

Today Meadow Gold is a subsidiary of Dean Foods,and has employees all over the country. With two

locations in Montana, Great Falls and Billings, MeadowGold Dairies provides more than 100 jobs.

Plum Creek TimberPlum Creek is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowners in the nation, with approx-imately 6.6 million acres in major timber producing regions of the U.S. Plum Creek produces lumber, plywood and medium density fiberboard in its woodproducts manufacturing facilities in the Northwest.

Forestry, land sales, manufacturing and real estatecontinue to be important Plum Creek activities in Mon-tana. Despite being hit by the Recession, Plum Creekstill employs more than 1,200 people across 19 states

with approximately 700 of those employees in Montana.

RY Timber Inc.RY Timber produces 16% of all the structural lumbermanufactured in Montana. The company operates twosawmills, one in Townsend and the other in Livingston.Ron Yanke of Boise started the company when he purchased Sequoia Forest Industries from the WickesCompany more than 20 years ago. The Townsendsawmill came with the purchase and in 1996 the Livingston operation was acquired.

RY Timber employs more than 200 individuals in its Montana operations. The company produces anaverage of 162 million board feet a year.

Sidney Sugars, Inc.CHS, Inc.

Exxon Corporation

Applied Materials

RY Timber, Inc.

Conoco Phillips

Meadow Gold Dairies

Coca-Cola

Advanced Silicon

Plum Creek Timber

ontana has long had a workplaceinjury problem. In fact, in 1993,the Montana legislature created

the Montana Safety Culture Act (MSCA) toaddress it. More than a decade and a half later,almost no one realizes it exists.

As a Montana business you pay higherworkers’ compensation premiums than youwould in most any other state in the nation.And the number one reason for the high costis simple: In Montana, workers get hurt moreoften—in all industries but one. (See chart)Studies show that safety and injury preventionis the number one method for controllingworkers’ compensation premiums. Collectively,Montana businesses could save $145 millionper year by getting Montana’s workplace injuryrates in line with national averages.

You can help reduce your workers’ com-pensation costs by implementing an effectivesafety program as outlined in the MSCA.

Montana’s economy is diverse. Because ofthat, the MSCA allows some flexibility of inter-pretation and application and encourages youand your employees to come together to createand implement an effective safety program thatmeets the specific needs of your workplace.

There are 6 requirements that all employ-ers must meet under the MSCA:

Provide all new employees with a generalsafety orientation containing informationcommon to all employees and appropriate tothe business’s operations before they begintheir regular job duties. Provide job-specific or task-specific

safety training appropriate for employees before they perform that job or task withoutdirect supervision. Offer continuing, regular, refresher

safety training.Develop awareness and appreciation of

safety through tools such as newsletters, periodic safety meetings, posters and safetyincentive programs.Provide periodic self-inspection for

hazard assessment when the safety program isimplemented, new work sites are establishedand thereafter as is appropriate to businessoperations—but at least annually.Include documentation of performance

of activities listed in 1-5 above for three years.Employers with more than five employees

must meet all the requirements listed in 1-6above as well as these additional requirements:Implement and maintain policies and

procedures that assign specific safety responsi-bilities and safety performance accountability.Implement and maintain procedures

for reporting, investigating and taking correc-tive action on all work-related incidents, injuries, illnesses, fatalities and known unsafework conditions or practices.Shall have a safety committee in place

that complies with certain requirement outlined in the MSCA.

Implementing the Montana Safety CultureAct is a win-win scenario: workers go homesafe at the end of their workday and workers’compensation costs will be reduced. Andother good things happen as well: productivityincreases, employees are more engaged,turnover decreases and product quality im-proves.

Helping Montana businesses implementthe Montana Safety Culture Act is the goal ofthe Montana Safety & Health Bureau, whichoffers consultation services for a variety of in-dustries, at no cost. Call 406.444.6401 and askfor help. Safety consultants will walk throughyour facility observing work processes and rec-ommend improvements. They will identifyhazards and provide suggestions for eliminat-ing problems before an employee is injured.

For a copy of the Montana Safety CultureAct including suggestions for implementation,contact George Kochman at 406.444.0982 [email protected].


Putting the ‘Act’ into ActionUnderstanding the Montana Safety Culture Act. BY GEoRGE KoChmAn, Executive Director, WorkSafeMT

M

ConstructionAgriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

ManufacturingHealth care and social assistance

Management of companies and enterprisesRetail trade

Arts, entertainment, and recreationAccommodation and food services

UtilitiesTransportation and warehousing

Wholesale tradeAdministrative and waste services

Educational servicesOther services

MiningInformation

Real Estate and rental and leasingFinance and insurance

Professional and technical services

MONTANA

UNITED STATES

RATE PER 100 FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES

Nonfatal occupational injury and illness incidencerate by private industry5-year average, 2006-2010

collection,” said Director of National Sales andMarketing for Elichai Fine Jewelry, John Hykes.

Administered by the Montana Departmentof Labor & Industry and operated in partner-ship with non-state agencies, the Program relies on local partnerships. Partners vary bycommunity, and include the Montana Department of Labor and Industry’s Job Service offices, workers, labor, businesses, theBusiness Expansion And Retention (BEAR)program, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), and Montana Manufactur-ing Extension Centers (MMEC) throughoutMontana.

The state-funded grant program servesMontana’s employers with $1,289,428 author-ized per biennium. In state fiscal year 2012,the program granted 100% of its availablefunding. The program is poised to do so againthis fiscal year, and eligible grant applicationsare funded on a first-come-first served basis.

To learn more about the IncumbentWorker Training Program contact your localJob Service Office.

ncumbent Worker Training is a grantprogram designed to increase the skillsof Montana’s Workforce. The ultimate

goal is to assist local businesses in preservingexisting jobs for Montana residents. An important segment of Montana’s Workforcethat has been overlooked for skill developmentis those workers who are currently employedby small businesses but who need to upgradetheir skill level to remain competitive andproductive in the work place. Montana businesses employing 20 or fewer workers inone location but not more than 50 workersstatewide may be eligible for the grant. Grantlimits and match requirements vary dependingon each employer’s unique situation.

Workers benefit because they acquiretransferable skills, talents, and knowledgewhich make them more valuable in the work-place; and are positioned for advancementwithin the business. For small businesses likeHobson Insurance grant funding allows themto send their employees to training that theywould otherwise not be able to. “We live in a

small community, so to be able to send ouragents to obtain the certifications that allowthem to sell a wider range of products to ourclients”, said co-owner of Hobson Insurance,Kristy Longfellow-Hodic.

Equally important, Montana businesses—large and small—must have highly skilledworkers in order to remain competitive in theglobal economy. “This program is a key reasonwhy my business has grown from a local publication to a national media platform,”said Elke Govertsen, Founder of MamalodeMagazine. “It gives us a chance to compete ina global economy."

Montana’s businesses understand thathaving the highest-skilled workers is increas-ingly important for meeting their customers’demands for products and services. “With theLaser training program, we were able to speedup production and repairs of fine jewelry andsell more finished ones to the wholesale trade.Shortly after the training, we have alreadybeen able to add one more employee to meetour growing sales demand for our jewelry


Doing a lot with a Little: Investing in Montana’s WorkforceIncumbent Worker Training increases the skills of Montana’sWorkforce. BY ChRiS WiLhELm, Program Manager, Incumbent Worker Training Program

I

Elichai staff participating in Laser Training

Mamalode Founder Elke Govertsen

“We have been able to do somuch with the IncumbentWorker Training Program.If I was to give a number to it,I could safely say that RMRhas seen an easy $400k increase in sales with over 25% of that going directly to employee wages.”PAuL DonALDSon, Rocky Mountain Rigging Productions

ontana held its own throughoutthe 2007 Recession; however,some Montana communities

were hit harder than others by layoffs and dislocations. Three workforce regions that include Anaconda, Billings, Bozeman, Butte,Dillon, Helena, Lewistown, Libby, Livingston,Missoula, Polson and Thompson Falls saw joblosses exceeding 14,000 in the construction,manufacturing, and mining industries. Thisled to job losses in retail, accommodations,and arts and entertainment.

On June 30, 2010, Montana was awardeda National Emergency Grant totaling$889,009. The primary goal of the grant wasto serve the long-term unemployed and wasexpected to put 50 people back to work. It provided On-The-Job-Training (OJT) to thosewho had been unemployed for 22 weeks orlonger; had lost their job since January 1, 2008;and were interested in upgrading their skillsthrough OJT.

David Booth, an Air Force veteran whoserved in Operation Desert Storm, was unem-

ployed for more than three years before landing a job at Specified Fittings inStevensville through On-The-Job-Training. “Ihad been applying everywhere…gas stations,home repair shops, coffee houses, and every-one said I was over-qualified. Then I saw thiscompany was coming to town, but I knew Ididn’t have the skills to do something so com-plicated. I am so thankful to have this trainingprogram, and without it I would not be here.”

By the end of the initial grant period Montana exceeded the goal of placing 50workers into an OJT by enrolling 80 workersinto the grant and placing 79 of them into anOJT. The grant was extended by the U.S. Department of Labor to June 30, 2014 and anadditional $1,265,009 was awarded to theState. Montana plans to place an additional 65participants into OJT.

The grant not only helps workers by payingthem as they learn; it has an added benefit toemployers. Those employers that choose toparticipate in the program will be reimbursedup to 90% ($16.87 per hour) of the wages paidto the worker during the training period. Thetraining period is dependent on the skills theworker brings to the job and the complexityof the job itself.

As of September 21, 2012, 92 workers havebeen able to take advantage of the grant andbe placed in an OJT. Becuase of this grant,workers are being trained in industries and occupations including manufacturing, elec-trician, medical billing/coding, bus driving, information technologist, embroidery produc-tion, HVAC, cabinet makers, and management.

Businesses and dislocated workers thatare interested in participating in the programcan contact their local Job Service Office.

Left: David Booth, an Air Force veteran who now works at Specified Fittings


On-the-Job TrainingAn OJT grant to Montana benefits both employers and jobseekers BY SuzAnnE FERGuSon

M

silly take on a once popular TV showtheme song, but it shows how Unemployment Insurance (UI) is

supposed to work with the partnership of UIand employers.

Sometimes claimants are paid UI benefitswhen they shouldn’t be or can be receivingmore benefits than they are entitled. This canoccur when the details of the employee’s separation were not fully provided by the employer or the claimant was not meeting eligibility requirements—and it is discoveredafter the fact. Nationally, it is estimated thatmore than 11% of UI benefits were paid improperly, usually because of inaccurate ormissing information.

For example, let’s say Jed is not laid off dueto lack of work, but was fired for missing toomany days to go hunting. When asked by UI,his former employer responds that he was letgo but does not indicate the reasons thatcaused Jed’s separation. Benefits could be allowed due to the lack of detailed information,or inaccurate information, provided by his

former employer. Later if the decision to allowbenefits is reversed, due to the employer appeal, the claimant will have an overpayment.In a discharge, the burden of proof falls to theemployer and if the cause for discharge is notshown (including proper documentation suchas warnings and policies), UI benefits may beallowed. All of the facts provided initially canavoid extra work, cost for employers and prevent overpayments for claimants.

The UI division continues to take steps toaddress the integrity of our program and reduce improper payments to claimants inMontana, but we need your help. We under-stand as a business owner, you have many issues requiring your attention to keep yourbusiness healthy. However, we also trust youdo not want former employees allowed to receive benefits who should be disqualified.We ask that you:Report all new hires and rehires to the

State Directory of New Hires by the due date.Respond promptly to any “Claims

Investigation Earnings Audit” request from UI.

Provide timely, complete and accurateEmployee Separation Information.

The benefits of increasing UI program integrity to both your business and the UI department are many:Helps to prevent or minimize UI tax

increases.UI benefits go only to those who truly

qualify.Better and proper use of money your

business pays to UI.UI benefit dollars spent by claimants

support the local economy.Keeps the employee in the area for

rehire when you may need them.Your active partnership is vital to improve

the efficiency and integrity of the UI program.No one wants a former employee improperlydrawing UI benefits. Improper payment ofbenefits is a serious problem that has a financialimpact on individual employers and can result in higher UI tax rates to all employers.

Finally, UI is an insurance benefit to thosewho properly and honestly deserve it. If Jedtruly was laid off, make sure we know that so we can get him paid. If he was not, pleaseprovide us the detailed facts to make a propereligibility decision for everyone’s benefit.

Let’s work together to get the resultsclaimants and employers deserve—properpayment of UI benefits only to those who aretruly eligible.


Overpaying?How You as an Employer can prevent Unemployment Insurancebenefit overpayments. BY JJ CoGGEShALL, UI Program Operations Analyst

A

(Sing to the tune from The Beverly Hillbillies:)

This is story ‘bout a man named Jed. Ol’ construction worker, keepin’ his family fed. Then one day he got laid off for good, and into hisbank account came money for his brood. UI that is... Buy some stuff. Get goods you need. Now don’t you know ol’ Jed’s no worse for wear. His kinfolk said “Jed you can stay right there!”

“Hometown here is the place you ought to be.”So he loaded up his truck and got busy as a bee.

Job huntin’ that is... Regularly seekin’ work.

ontana’s state parks are amongits premier recreation destina-tions—whether natural resource-

based, water-based or cultural. Many are alsoimportant living history lessons for youngMontanans. Take Bannack State Park insouthwest Montana, for example.

Instructors at Helena’s Project for Alterna-tive Learning, Renee Driesson and Jeri Rittelsay state parks give students “essential hands-on learning that is highly motivational andaids them in retaining what they learn.” Recently PAL students participated in BannackState Park’s first “Living History Weekend.”

“Students were very enthused that day—we’ve found Montana State Parks to be criticalpartners in teaching students how we gotwhere we are, how industry grew in Montana,how the natural world works,” Driesson said.

When John White discovered gold onwhat is known today as Grasshopper Creek,July 28, 1862, he set events in motion that

ensured this little drainage in southwesternMontana near Dillon would be a destinationfor the next 150 years.

Bannack’s gold deposit was rich and easyto work with gold pans, sluice boxes and rockerboxes. News of it drove hundreds of peopleinto the area—3,000 total by spring 1863.

The new town was named Bannack, afterthe Bannock Indians inhabiting the area, whenthe post office opened that November.

The following year, under the leadershipof Sidney Edgerton and fueled by the goldrush, Bannack became the first capital of a newly formed Montana Territory, andEdgerton its first territorial governor.

Bannack’s early citizens made history withevery new day. The events and personalities ofthat time are among the state’s most colorful.

Sheriff, Henry Plummer, a legend of theold west, is an example. Plummer was hangedand buried in Bannack for what was believedto be his role in a long string of robberies and

murders. Some people at the time thoughtPlummer used his position as sheriff to feedinformation to area thieves and then share intheir spoils. Historians today aren’t so sure. Itis safe to say the truth is long shrouded in ahaze of gold fever.

As the mining progressed on GrasshopperGulch, shenanigans, thievery, gun fights, backbreaking labor, bravery, debauchery and highliving made timeless stories—the real treasureof this place. The stories bring the town, one of the best preserved “ghost towns” in thenation, alive.


Living HistoryBannack State Park is celebrating its 150th anniversary since the discovery of gold. BY DiAnE TiPTon, Montana State Parks

M

“We’ve found MontanaState Parks to be criticalpartners in teaching

students how we got wherewe are, how industry grew

in Montana, how the natural world works.”

Today Bannack, a Montana State Park,welcomes a “rush” of visitors every summer.People of all ages are eager to explore the lushstream-side location in the rolling hills ofsouthwestern Montana that has so much tosay about Montana history. The town site, inaddition to the some 50 historic structures, includes a visitor center, modern latrines, twocamping areas and a group-use shelter thatcan accommodate large groups among thecottonwood and willows that line GrasshopperCreek. Visitors can fish, camp, picnic, bicycle,hike, view wildlife and do photography in the area.

Visitors delight in touring the silvered oldbuildings, sitting on the merry-go-round inthe school house yard, visiting the cemetery,and panning for a little “color” themselves.They leave steeped in stories and images ofMontana’s earliest decades when gold ruled.

Living history interpreters on occasion re-enact daily life in Bannack’s heyday withmeticulous attention to accuracy in the details of their costumes and props. BannackDays and the new fall Living History Weekend are great times to experience thisform of theatre turned teaching tool.


BANNACK DAYS Third weekend in July. A fun-packed celebration of pioneer lifeand Bannack’s glory days. It includes “living history” reenactments of commonevents in the lives of the early citizens of Bannack.

LIVING HISTORY WEEKEND Meticulously prepared living history interpreters costumed themselves as central characters Bannack’s history—the school teacher,boardinghouse owners, saloon keepers, grocers and miners. They researched andreproduced historic details to enhance the learning experience—including Confed-erate Civil War uniforms representing the many civil war soldiers who chose theWest over the Civil War. Other eye–catching details were the “sugar cones” madeto illustrate how sugar was transported and sold in the town’s early days, authenticlabels designed, printed and put onto cans that lined the grocery shelves, and authentic foods and weapons of the period.

BANNACK GHOST WALK Friday and Saturday night, the third weekend in October,the ghosts of Bannack own the streets and shops. The Bannack Ghost Walk is a reen-actment of significant events throughout the town’s history, both spooky and fun.

GUIDED SCHOOL GROUP TOURS Learning activities are based on scavenger hunts,gold panning, genealogy, Montana history and mining. Guided tours of the town siteand gold mill are available by appointment.

www.stateparks.mt.gov

Clockwise from left: Kids try their luck at panning for gold at the annual Bannack Days celebration; The building in theforefront was a rooming house and behind it a combinationschool and Masonic Lodge; Bootlegger cabin and otherbuildings at Bannack; Treats are served to visitors at Bannack Days.

Annual Events at Bannack State Park

our years ago, three state agencies—the Department of Labor and Indus-try, Office of Public Instruction, and

the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education—came together to collaborate onhow to best use funds from a Workforce Investment Act Incentive Grant. Each agencyidentified a common goal in helping adults develop realistic employment goals. The teamwanted to produce a product that was easy touse, sustainable after the grant period ended,available for personal use at home at no cost,and resulted in better outcomes for job seekers.The result is called PEP Talk. PEP Talk standsfor Personalized Employment Plan and meetsall the goals set forth by the team.

PEP Talk was created and launched in2009 just as the recession was starting to impact the state and many people foundthemselves unemployed. Staff from workforceagencies across the state (Job Service, AdultBasic Education, 2-year colleges, etc.) attended hands on training during the fall of2009. With increasing workloads due to therecession, workforce agencies found that PEPTalk could help them serve more people withfewer staff and started introducing PEP Talkto individuals in their communities.

PEP Talk is a simple 3-step process: aware-ness, exploration and planning/goal setting. Itis designed to take a person through the

process quickly using tools that are availableonline. The PEP Talk Blueprint is a guide to

“walk” a person through the 3-step process.The Montana Career Information System isused throughout the PEP Talk process tocompile a list of occupations that match theresults of the skills and interest assessments,create a portfolio, and explore occupationsand training opportunities. A series of shortvideos were created to help people throughthe process on their own. PEP Talk also en-courages users to include their families in theawareness process using simple tools likeSKILLS Worksheets and cards.

PEP Talk is also being used in the work-force agencies across the state as part of theirregular services. These agencies use PEP Talk

in group settings and one-on-one. It has beenintegrated into Adult Basic Education as away to move adult learners beyond earningtheir GED into a career pathway. Miles CityAdult Basic Literacy Education (ABLE) offers

“Dinner and a Career” using PEP Talk as partof the session. This program has resulted in an increase in job placements and enrollments in postsecondary education andtraining. The Missoula ABLE is using PEPTalk with groups of displaced workers. It is being used in the Flathead Job Service withclients with limited computer experience.The bottom line is that PEP Talk is flexibleenough to meet the differing needs of localcommunities.

The most important outcome of PEP Talkis the personalized employment plan. Theemployment plan contains a long-term goal,the short-term goals necessary to reach thelong-term goal, and the details to accomplishthese goals. All of the PEP Talk materials including the videos are available at www.careers.mt.gov.


PEP Talk Helps the UnemployedBY AnnETTE miLLER, Information Resources Supervisor

F


GED Program Undergoing a Major RedesignBY LEiSA SmiTh, Executive Director, State Workforce Investment BoardAnD mARGARET BoWLES, Vice Chair, State Workforce Investment Board, Director Adult Basic Education, Office of Public Instruction

high school diploma or General Education Diploma (GED) is justthe beginning of advancing path-

ways to individual career success and self-suf-ficiency. They also contribute to the growth ofMontana’s economy. The States’ economicfabric hinges on new ideas, technical skillsand leadership attributes that will ensure ourability to compete globally and continue towork toward a sustainable future.

However the GED program is undergoingthe biggest redesign since 2002. The non-profit General Education Developmenttesting program has been purchased by a for-profit company, Pearson Vue Testing. Beginning in January of 2014 the test will nolonger be a pencil and paper test. Test takerswill need to have key boarding skills as the testwill now be computerized to include essaywriting. The new process will still include testbatteries, however, test takers will no longerbe allowed to bank batteries they’ve passedwhile they work on passing the remainingtests. The cost is also changing; currently

Montanans pay $55 to take the test, howeverthe cost is expected to triple.

With all the changes on the horizon theFuture ForGED Initiative is reaching out tocommunity, faith based, education and busi-ness leaders to help assist in encouraging,mentoring, and supporting youth and adultsin their communities who need to pursue thisimportant step in earning their GED’s. TheInitiative is a state campaign sponsored by theState Workforce Investment Board and itsYouth Council. The campaign goal is to decrease the number of Montanan’s lackinga high school credential and to increase thenumber of Montanan’s having earned GED.

You might be asking yourself how that im-pacts you and your business, here’s how: In 2010, Montana’s average unemploymentrate was 7.2% however, for individuals withless than a high school diploma or GED, unemployment showed itself at 11.5%. Astudy by John Hopkins University estimates

the cost to society in lost wages and increasedpoverty at $250,000 per drop out. Wolfe-Harris Center for Clinical Studies showed in2011 alone, tax payers shouldered more than$93 billion in direct costs and lost tax revenueto support young adults disconnected fromschool and work. Over the lifetime of theseyoung people, taxpayers will assume a $1.6trillion burden to meet the increased needsand lost revenue from this group.

In Montana, the state tax revenue wouldincrease by more than $1.8 million annuallyfrom increased wages and levels of spendingif Montana decreased the number of adultswithout a high school credential. Lifetimeearnings lost from Montana dropouts for oneyear amount to over $830 million. (OPI, 2009).Revenue such as income taxes, sales taxes,and property taxes decline while expenditureson Medicaid and corrections increase.

Please help us in our quest to raise aware-ness and promote the Future For GED Campaign. For more information find us onFacebook or montanagednow.mt.gov.

A

montanagednow.mt.gov

he Business Standards Division is responsible for public safety and welfare by enforcement of codes for

safe buildings as well as supporting the stateboards responsible for administering occupational and professional licensing laws.The division recognized that licensees andcontractors were seeking alternative methodsto engage with the department and often theexpectations of these citizens were shaped bytheir experiences with high performance organizations outside of government.

The division’s eBiz Solution, launchedover a year ago, has allowed control to beshared with the public who become engagedas customers and not simply citizens within adefined regulatory framework. Citizen customers applying for various permits and licenses are able to make initial application,follow workflow progress, make required payments and upload any necessary submittaldocuments from any computer, tablet or

smart phone. Additionally, they are schedulinginspections, submitting updated record information, checking results of exams andinspections and running reports in support oftheir business directly from the eBiz Solution.They are becoming interactive with theagency to reduce processing times and to improve their own effectiveness and relevancy in a world of unpredictable economics. In short, they are choosing themethod, speed and level of interaction theyprefer for that transaction at that time.

In the division’s Building Codes Bureauthe eBiz Solution has empowered inspectionpersonnel located all across the state with apotent mobile platform transforming their effectiveness and relevancy in the built environment. These inspectors are “partnering”with design professionals, contractors,builders, and trades people by providing fast,effective and meaningful service at the pointof delivery through 50 “mobile offices” estab-

lished as a result of the eBiz Solution. Whetherit’s jobsite field-issued permits, off-hours busi-ness capability or real-time inspection resultsdelivered directly to their smart phones the de-partment’s customers are utilizing the eBiz So-lution to keep pace with their own customer’sexpectations, requests and requirements.

In the division’s professional licensing bureau, this flexibility and interaction is allows those applying for and renewing occupational licenses to do so at the time ofday and in the method that works best for thebusy licensee. In addition, the inspection or investigation of distant facilities or complaints in support of board licensing orcompliance functions are utilizing the samemobile platform where results are transmitteddirectly to the licensing record in real time aspart of the workflow.

Public demands for innovative methods,greater transparency, and government to re-invent itself to be more responsive to theneeds of citizens have led the Business Standards Division to invest in the eBiz Solution. The citizen access opportunities of-fered by the eBiz Solution allow governmentto operate at the level and promptness thatthe department’s business partners demand,in other words, government operating at thespeed of business.


Government Operating at the Speed of Business

BY DAvE CooK, Bureau Chief, Building Codes Bureau

“There’s an App for that,” a common phrase these days that oftentranslates to making life easier, faster or more convenient. This iscertainly the case for citizens working with the Business StandardsDivision of Montana’s Department of Labor and Industry.

T

periencing a place for themselves” said Elf-strom. “Users are able to discover the back-road gems and nuggets that make Montana sospecial as they travel and they now have a re-source to add stories from the road” he adds.

MTOT has created a digital iPad Magazinewhich debuted in the spring. Designed to meetthe needs and wants of tech savvy travelersGet Lost in Montana: The Magazine featuresa coffee-table book style in a format designedspecifically for the device. “This is not a repur-

posing of the website or the printed visitorguide. Rather we decided to move the focus tojournalistic photography and narrative story-telling which brings Montana’s unspoiled nature, charming small towns and unique experiences to the reader”, said MTOT Publi-cations Manager Bev Clancey.

The Montana Film Office has also devel-oped a mobile app to better assist the film industry in both scouting locations as well aswith on-the-ground logistics. It is a compre-hensive guide to Montana crews, services andover 2,500 remarkable locations from aridplains to quintessential American towns, tojaw dropping mountainous vistas, all geomapped for unprecedented access.

echnology continues to evolve rapidly and travel brands that wantto remain relevant to their audience

must learn to adapt swiftly. As the state entityresponsible for inspiring travel to Montana,the Montana Office of Tourism (MTOT) recognizes the importance of their role instaying technologically-current.

Bridging numerous programs withinMTOT, the office maintains a presence in amultitude of electronic environments in orderto remain responsive to our consumers. “Wehave learned as an office and even morebroadly as an industry that travel and tourismhas a growing dependence on digital resources in order to reach our travelers most effectively” said MTOT’s InteractiveMarketing Manager Thurston Elfstrom.

MTOT began with the development of itsmobile site, m.visitmt.com, with the first iteration of the site launching in March 2011. Itwas designed to provide a resource of easy tonavigate Montana travel tools for mobile usersprimarily for use while “on the ground” inMontana. After being in the marketplace fornine months, MTOT conducted a useability

study of the site. Information gleaned fromthis research is being implemented into a re-launch of the site slated for November 2012.

“The mobile site redesign recognizes thatMTOT’s role is not only to provide the planningtools and resources to execute travel in the statebut also to provide motivation for travel toMontana” said MTOT’s Web Designer NormDwyer. One new component of the site is a tripideas section which brings inspirational contentto visitors looking for ideas in-state or whileplanning their vacation. In addition, the newsite will provide users more opportunity to engage with the content while enhanced functionality allows users to visitm.visitmt.com for their trip planning needs andserves as a travel companion while in Montana.

In addition, this past winter, MTOTlaunched the GET LOST (in Montana) mobilesite, with apps for iPhone and Android follow-ing in early summer, to complement the ubiq-uitous GET LOST in-state campaign.“Montanans have embraced the Get Lostcampaign ethos of sharing what they loveabout the state and the new app gives themthe tools to do it on the ground as they are ex-


State-of-the-Art TourismMontana stays relevant in a vastly evolving digital landscape.BY SARAh LAWLoR, Montana Department of Commerce Communications Manager

TWhERE To GET ThE APPS:Get Lost in montana: Magazine issues #1 and #2along with the app are available now, both free inthe iTunes App Store. A third issue will be avail-able in March 2012.

The GET LoST (in montana) app is located in theiTunes App Store, (for iPhone,) and the GooglePlay (for Android.) And of course, if you go tohttp://getlostmt.com on your smartphone, youwill get the mobile version of the sites.

The Film office app is available to download forfree from the iTunes App Store.

Left: Get Lost in Montana digital magazine shown on an iPad.Below: Screen shots from Montana Office of Tourism smartphone apps.

PRESORT STANDARDU.S. POSTAGEPAIDMONTANA DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND INDUSTRYHELENA MTPERMIT NO. G-59

PO Box 1728Helena, MT 59624-1728

www.dli.mt.gov

Main Street Memory

Main Street, Lewistown. The first school house is on the right side with school children in yard next to theschool. A fence surrounds the school and yard. Main Street is in front of the school. Judith Mountains arein the background. Photographed circa 1888 by William H. Culver. Courtesy Montana Memory Project.

T h e E d u c a t i o n I s u e - DLI Homedli.mt.gov/Portals/57/Publications/dli-msm-122012.pdf ·...

Documents

Transcript of T h e E d u c a t i o n I s u e - DLI Homedli.mt.gov/Portals/57/Publications/dli-msm-122012.pdf ·...