Pictured from left to right: Kate Pace, MJN Board Chair and COO for Craton Consulting; Christina Henderson, Executive Director of the MHTBA and MJN; Paddy Flemming, Director of the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center (MMEC); Derek Eaton, Managing Director for IIInigence; Kelly Schwager, MHTBA Board Chair and VP Global Communications for Oracle; Josh Spitzer, COO for onX; David Mayer, CEO of Endpoint Utility Corp; and Tom Stergios, Founder of Craton Consulting. Board members enjoyed dinner and drinks at the 1028 Steakhouse in Winifred, Montana on Thursday, December 5, 2024.

December 19, 2024

By Christina Henderson

Members of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance (MHTBA) and Montana Jobs Network (MJN) board visited Winifred School on Dec. 5-6, 2024, and held 2025 strategic planning meetings in the high-tech boardroom. On Thursday evening, board members gathered for dinner and drinks at the 1028 Steakhouse in Winifred, Montana.

Board members stayed at the Winifred International Suites Hotel, which featured a world map on the floor highlighting the town of Winifred in central Montana, about 40 miles north of Lewistown, pop. 174.

Winifred native Norm Asbjornson, founder of the HVAC company AAON and namesake of the College of Engineering at Montana State University, renovated the hotel with rooms styled after global metropolises like Paris, London, San Francisco, and New York City. Asbjornson has invested in countless other projects in his hometown, including a recent $40 million expansion of the local K-12 school.

Winifred High School Students Learn About High-paying Tech Careers

On Thursday, Dec. 5, MHTBA and MJN board members spoke with 9-12 grade students at Winifred School about career opportunities in technology fields and learned about students’ interests and future goals.

• One sophomore sought the boards’ help in bringing STEM programs to his school in aviation and robotics.

• A young woman planning to study engineering at Montana Tech next year asked which field of engineering she should pursue. Board members advised flipping the question and beginning with the problems she wants to solve in order to determine a field of study.

• Board members also recommended the Alliance’s Hot Jobs lists as a good resource for identifying high-paying, high-demand career fields in Montana.

The visit to Winifred was an early stop on the MHTBA and MJN's travels across Montana, with a goal of reaching the entire state with tech career opportunities in the next year.

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 is the charitable nonprofit arm of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance and works to empower Montanans to launch high-paying careers.

About the Author: Christina Henderson has served as executive director of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance since its launch in April 2014. She holds an English/Education degree from the University of Iowa and an MBA from the University of Montana