Dear Members,…

Montana High Tech Business Alliance is highlighting 15 Montana companies to watch in 2017. To form this list, we looked for startups and growth companies that fit at least one of our criteria.

KOA is the world’s largest system of independently owned and operated campgrounds

Yellowstone Bank hosted more than 70 guests for the Montana High Tech Business Alliance's reception and CEO Roundtable in Billings on April 21, 2016.

Few Montanans know that Israel – a country of around eight million people beset by frequent terrorist attacks and wars - is a global high-tech powerhouse. Israel is second only to Silicon Valley in the number of start-ups and venture capital investment.

At the Montana High Tech Business Alliance the stories we’re excited to tell in 2016 – about the state of the industry, high-growth companies, and scores of new employees hired - all point to a state on the rise.Here’s a sneak peek at five positive trends I see in the year ahead for Montana businesses.

Situated on the top floor of the historic Mary Innes School in Dillon is a technology company that does business internationally with Fortune 500 clients, employs local residents, and has grown 45 percent per year since it opened two years ago in the town known for farming, ranching, and blue-ribbon trout streams.

Technology boot camps and training programs are springing up around Montana to address the #1 barrier to growth for the state’s high tech and manufacturing firms: finding skilled technology workers.

In December 2014, the Alliance Board met for an extended strategy session to set our mission and goals for 2015. Our mission for Montana's High Tech and Manufacturing companies is summed up in three verbs: Connect. Promote. Accelerate. Here are some of the ways the Montana High Tech Business Alliance is delivering on that mission so far this year.

In November 2014, the Alliance commissioned a survey from the UM Bureau of Business and Economic Research of 101 members with high tech and manufacturing operations in Montana. The results are in!Member responses allowed us to capture - for the first time ever - data measuring the size and growth potential of Montana's high tech sector.

In 2015, remote work options will allow more Montana workers to find high-paying jobs where they want to live and Montana companies to hire the specialized skill sets they need.