Annual Meeting Highlights | Amazon LEO (formerly Project Kuiper) Preview: What It Means for Montana
Members and guests gather at First Security Bank Missoula’s new mid-town location for the MHTBA and MJN Annual Meeting and reception on November 6, 2025.
November 21, 2025
By Melissa Paulsen
More than 60 members and guests gathered in Missoula on November 6 for the Montana High Tech Business Alliance (MHTBA) and Montana Jobs Network (MJN) joint annual meeting and reception and a preview of Amazon LEO (formerly known as Project Kuiper), the low-earth orbit satellite network coming online soon. The discussion centered on a shared goal: expanding opportunity for Montanans through better connectivity, better data, and stronger statewide collaboration.
Thank you to First Security Bank Missoula for hosting the events, and to CEO & President Scott Burke and Community Relations Manager Debbie Dantic for their leadership and support.
Scott Burke, CEO & President of First Security Bank Missoula, gives the opening remarks during the MHTBA & MJN annual meeting on November 6, 2025.
What MHTBA & MJN Delivered This Year
Led by Christina Henderson, Executive Director of the MHTBA and MJN, the annual meeting emphasized the organizations’ four core pillars of work: connections, knowledge, recruiting, and impact.
CONNECTIONS
The Alliance brought people together across Montana in 2025, from conversations with legislators and policy makers at Governor Greg Gianforte and First Lady Susan Gianforte’s historic residence in Helena, to a series of high-tech happy hours in Billings, Bozeman, Great Falls, Kalispell, and Missoula.
These local chapter events drew a broad mix of participants, including founders, engineers, educators, community partners, and investors, and—with support from the Montana Jobs Network—college students, and high school robotics teams. These gatherings helped students expand their career awareness and gave companies a meaningful way to engage with their future talent pipeline.
“We've invited these young people to meet real employers and hopefully launch their future careers,” Henderson said. “At its heart, the Alliance is about building trusted relationships that strengthen Montana's ecosystem.”
Executive Director Christina Henderson speaks with members, donors, and guests about the organizations’ yearly impact.
KNOWLEDGE
The Alliance strives to equip its members with insight into fields like AI and biotech that are reshaping Montana’s economy.
AI Working Group: Convened statewide conversations on how artificial intelligence is changing business, education, and workforce needs.
Montana AI-Initiative (2026): Launching with support from Glacier Bank under the leadership of CEO & President and MHTBA Board Member Randy Chesler. Henderson underscored the need for fresh data to benchmark Montana’s high-tech sector and guide where the state should focus as AI rapidly evolves.
“Reliable data helps all of us—policy makers, educators and business leaders—make smarter decisions for Montana's future,” she added.
SB 535: With the enactment of Senate Bill 535 into law, Montana’s advanced manufacturing and biotech industries are exploring new growth opportunities for vaccines and life science production. The bill is attracting second-stage high growth companies to the state, spurring job creation and economic diversification.
Henderson said the Alliance has worked with Senator Kenneth Bogner in Miles City to invite biotech industry leaders to review the rules and provide feedback to help shape policy that will support both innovation and safety in biotech.
A SB535 guide is coming soon from our partners at the Montana BioScience Alliance.
New Resources: The Alliance and Montana Jobs Network also published new tools and resources this year, including:
The 31 Hot Montana Jobs for 2025 report
An expanded Career Pathways Guide
Updated Great Places for Tech in Montana series
13 Tips for Pitching Your Startup for new founders
Visit the Alliance’s news blog for more free educational content and career resources.
RECRUITING & IMPACT
The Montana Jobs Network (MJN) traveled over 2,300 miles to connect with students and educators in eight different communities this year. Highlights include:
Hosting AI-Ready workforce sessions with practical guidance for students and educators
Presenting Hot Montana Jobs research to the Montana STEM Summit in Helena
Coordinating a Flathead Tech + Education Roundtable with the MHTBA Flathead Local Chapter and Two Bear Capital
Expanding tech career awareness at Browning High School in the heart of the Blackfeet Reservation with the Montana World Affairs Council for EconoQuest
Convening panels of industry leaders to speak with teachers on a three-city teacher professional development tour with the Montana Office of Public Instruction and the Department of Labor and Industry
See how else we’re empowering Montanans to launch high-paying careers in our 2025 Impact Report.
“Our hope with the Montana Jobs Network is to be that on ramp to opportunity for students,” Henderson explained. “To help them meet employers and provide content to show them where the opportunities are so they don’t feel shut out.”
Looking Ahead
Looking ahead to 2026, the MJN will expand its reach in rural regions, launch mentorship programs, and develop new digital tools to help Montanans build rewarding careers right here in the Treasure State.
Support Our Work: Consider sponsoring or donating to the Montana Jobs Network. Your partnership keeps this work moving forward and helps every community share in Montana’s growing prosperity. For more information, contact Christina Henderson at director[at]mthightech.org.
Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper): Key Takeaways
Beth Cooley, Head, State & Local Policy, Connectivity for Amazon presents on Amazon LEO, Amazon’s innovative new low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband service coming to Montana soon.
Amazon leaders Beth Cooley, Head, State & Local Policy, Connectivity, and Tim Ehlert, Regional Policy Leader, briefed attendees on Amazon Leo—a new 3,200+ satellite low-Earth orbit (LEO) network designed to bring fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved regions.
Why it matters for Montana
Nearly 64% of Montanans still lack reliable broadband, especially in rural and tribal regions.
Each gateway station covers up to five states.
What Amazon is Building
Three-part system:
Satellite constellation
Customer terminal (CT)
Ground network (gateway stations)
Cooley said the team prioritized both affordability and capability: “We wanted to make sure that if we're going to do this, we're going to have an affordable device and one that was going to pack a punch in terms of performance.”
Customer terminals:
7” X 7” – 100 Mbps, good for portability use cases
11” X 11” – 400 Mbps, core home model
30” X 20” – 1,000 Mbps, enterprise-grade
Amazon is also taking steps to minimize astronomical observations by working with the astronomical community.
“As we build in communities and become community members, we want to leave the community better than how it started,” Cooley said. “That's one of the core tenets of Amazon Leo.”
What’s Next?
As we gear up for 2026, the MHTBA and MJN are dedicated to growing our community and helping Montanans in all corners of the state benefit from opportunities in tech. Stay connected through our newsletter and social media channels to learn more about upcoming events, new content, and ways you can help shape Montana’s future.
About the Publisher: Launched in 2014, the Montana High Tech Business Alliance is a nonpartisan nonprofit association of more than 200 high tech and manufacturing companies and affiliates creating high-paying jobs in Montana. For more information, visit MTHighTech.org or subscribe to our biweekly newsletter.
The Montana Jobs Network (MJN), a 501(c)3 charitable nonprofit affiliated with the Alliance, empowers Montanans to launch high-paying careers. For more information, visit MTHighTech.org/montana-jobs-network.
About the Author: Melissa Paulsen is the communications coordinator for the Montana High Tech Business Alliance and Montana Jobs Network. She graduated from the University of Montana in 2022 with a BFA in creative writing and a minor in history.
