Stevensville, MT- Bitterroot Tool & Machine (BTM) LLC, located in Stevensville has been awarded a $33,000 from the USDA, Rural Business Enterprise Grant program to obtain ISO 9000 Certification. The total project cost is $74,000.

The USDA has many programs that support and help to grow innovation in rural areas. The Missoula regional USDA office was very proactive in assisting the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority’s application on behalf of BTM.

BTM was founded on the basis of providing quality machine tools and parts for select industries. BTM continues to operate under a mission where the emphasis is on high quality, superior performance and outstanding customer service.

BTM produces aircraft parts for a company that sells to impressive multi-national customers, parts produced in Stevensville, Montana.

When BTM obtains their ISO Certification it will provide for increased productivity by opening the door for additional customers such as Delphi. 

The ISO Certification process will be led by Kreg Worrest, a Engineer with the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center (MMEC).

ISO 9000 is a series of international standards for organizations’ Quality Management System (QMS).  ISO 9001 is the requirements standard for company Quality Management Systems.  Independent, third-party registration provides assurance that the registered company complies with the requirements of the standard.  

MMEC has a 100% success rate of guiding clients through to ISO 9001 registration.  

As a supplier for the aerospace industry, BTM has experience with the expectations of customers who themselves are ISO 9000 registered.  Second-party audits from these suppliers attest that Bitterroot Tool and Machine has an existing quality management system that is well defined though not yet compliant with the ISO 9001 requirements.   

The company is well managed by founders Randy Jones and Rick Hixon. Together they have 40 years of precision and general machining experience. Randy has about 15 years of tool and die experience, operating surface grinders allowing him to grind form to .0001 tolerances.

In the coming year and a half four new jobs are projected to be added by BTM due to the ISO Certification. This request is for $33,000.

New positions at BTM will add to the number and diversity of higher paying job in the area. BTM provides some on the job training and plans to begin providing benefits in the next 24 months.

The Economic Development Administration recently awarded Ravalli County 1.6 million dollars for the development of the Ravalli Entreprenuership Center(REC). The center will be located on the Old Corvallis Road near the Glaxo Smith Kline facilities. This is an incredible project for the region and represents a lot of hard work and collaboration.

EDA reports "$1,621,440 to the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority and the city of Hamilton for a joint investment to support construction of the new Ravalli Entrepreneurship Center in Hamilton, Montana. The Center will enable Ravalli County to further its efforts to diversify the regional economy by growing the emerging regional technology and bio-medical clusters, offsetting economic dislocations associated with the downturn in the regional forestry industry. This investment is part of a $3,242,880 project that will help create 253 jobs and generate $11.8 million in private investment" http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/06/03/bnews//br43.txt

Montana was named as one of the top five state for entrepreneurial activity by the Kauffman Foundation. Data from the Census Bureau shows growth in the number of proprietor jobs (vs salary and wage jobs) in our region. The employment statistics known as NAICS breaks people into two catagories: Wage & Salary and Proprietors. Our region has shown that proprietor increasing their share of jobs. In 1970 Proprietor jobs were 17.5% of the total jobs in the three county region. In 2004, they were 25%.of the total jobs.

Today we live in a global market, we have access to technologies that allow us to do business almost anywhere. A recent article got me thinking about the availability of technology resources in our region and how can we better capitalize on them. How do we align our business services, workforce development, and inform our business community of the opportunities that are out their? Got ideas or examples that you would like to share send them our way.

December 6, 2007

Darby, MT- The Bitterroot Composite Lumber Company (BCLC), a locally owned corporation, announces the sale of public stock. BCLC will establish an extrusion plant in Darby, Montana that will combine wood fiber from small diameter timber and wood waste with recycled plastic to make a durable outdoor decking. With a sales pipeline in place, BCLC will market the sustainable decking product regionally under the brand name Montanadex.

“We are very excited to be finally through the process of getting certified with the Montana Secretary of State for the public sale of stock,” says company CEO and co-founder Corrine Gantt. “We have been working on this project for close to three years and it looks like we are going to make it happen.” 

There has been much talk in this region on the idea of a restoration economy. A book written by Storm Cunningham, Restoration Economy has a working definition of Restoration Economy:

"An economic period in which restorative development is the dominant mode(as opposed to either new development or maintenance/conservation)"

We have several millions of dollars being pumped into BREDD Economy by restoration, Milltown Dam Removal, Champion Sawmill Site, Fire Clean Up, Stream Restoration Work, Superior School Reuse... and I am sure there is more. New West blogger Joan McCarter recently talked to our governor about his thoughts on a restoration economy. Read the article

The Regional Wages and Benefits Forum took place October 29th, 2007 in the Governor Room of the Florence Building.The Forum presented to the peliminary results from a Wages and Benefits Survey of 1016 businesses in the three county region, Mineral, Ravalli, and Missoula Counties. The new Wage and Benefit Metric was showcased and demonstrated.  Approximately 40 people  participated in the 4 hour discussion.

Two panel discussions took place 1) Focusing on business owners and their sucesses and challenges in providing good wages and benefits to their employees; 2) A panel of community leaders discussing potential strategies and needs in the region to achieve better wages and benefits.

The Forum was filmed by MCAT and covered by the Missoulian.

Visit our Projects Page for links to the tool and the Power Point presentation

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