Montana Startups to Watch in 2021
By Martina Pansze and Samuel Boudreau
The majority of Montana’s tech industry has weathered the economic turbulence of 2020 without devastating fallout. The Montana High Tech Business Alliance has identified 10 startups that are finding opportunity amid the pandemic and are poised for growth in 2021.
The Montana Startups to Watch reveal a number of key industry trends:
Montana entrepreneurs are using technology to solve problems in a wide variety of fields including fashion, construction, nonprofits, real estate, livestock, streaming video, student loans, manufacturing, hunting and fishing access, and intelligence.
Five of the 10 startups have raised angel or venture capital investment from firms including Two Bear Capital, Next Frontier Capital, and Frontier Angels.
70% of the highlighted companies are headquartered in Bozeman, underscoring its importance as Montana’s biggest startup hub for tech. Two companies are based in Missoula and one is located in Whitefish. Three companies relocated to Montana from out of state.
All of the startups are either SaaS companies or heavily rely on customized platforms for their solutions. This trend highlights the growing demand for innovative software solutions and intuitive UX.
Many of the startups have open remote positions not tied to a physical location, suggesting that the shift to working from home will continue after the COVID-19 pandemic blows over.
Here are our picks in alphabetical order:
2662 New York, Missoula and New York City
BlackHyve, Bozeman
LandTrust, Bozeman
Matchstik, Bozeman
MOBLHOM, Bozeman
Simple Livestock, Bozeman
Special Project, Bozeman
Stubenefits, Missoula and remote throughout Montana
TwinThread, Bozeman
VERAFĪ, Whitefish
We received nominations from industry partners across Montana, including Two Bear Capital, Next Frontier Capital, Goodworks Ventures, Blackstone LaunchPad, and Frontier Angels/Early Stage Montana. Our 10 finalists were selected based on the following criteria:
Steep revenue growth and/or are working in a high-growth sector
Poised to launch high-potential products or services
Own or are developing valuable intellectual property
On track to land major clients or enter new markets
Plan to expand operations or add a significant number of jobs in the next year
Have management teams led by experienced entrepreneurs or top experts in their fields
Co-founders Elie Sullivan, Charles Warren, and Susan Herlihy (not pictured) of 2662 New York. 2662 is creating a software plug-in meant to tackle ill-fitting clothing, carbon emissions from the fashion industry, and waste from never-worn clothing. Photo via Maria Karas for CoveyClub.
Location: Missoula, MT and New York, NY
What they do: A software plug-in to make the fashion industry more sustainable and ensure customers have a better understanding of how clothing will fit their body by allowing virtual try-ons.
Why we’re watching them: The apparel industry has been relatively untouched by transformative innovation.
2662 New York has used years of research and knowledge culled from company origins. In 2013, the founders created its first ready-to-wear collection to address a lack of fit in the marketplace and the negative implications for commerce. In addition, their interest in sustainability and acknowledgement of an industry behind the curve led them to question the viability of over production and excess inventory.
The fashion industry is responsible for approximately 10% of global carbon emissions—more than maritime shipping and global aviation combined.
A tech solution emerged at the crossroads of fit issues, massive inventory surpluses and unprecedented return rates -- the BodyFirst Profile. Developed in partnership with Harvard students specializing in user experience and interface, the BodyFirst Profile combines a series of pointed questions about shape with biometric data. Their plugin allows users to select an item and try it on virtually in multiple sizes, resulting in a purchase of their exact preference. Collecting data throughout this process ultimately will impact design and drive retail and production efficiencies.
The idea was developed by co-founders Charles Warren, Susan Herlihy, and Elie Sullivan after years of designing collections and discovering that fit preference was individualistic to the consumer. Once that was evident, they looked for the best method to lead consumers through inventory to their desired fit.
2662 New York anticipates that the BodyFirst Profile user experience and data collection will slow online returns—of which 80-90% is estimated to end up in landfills—and reduce the built-in expense for wasted or unsold clothing. The fashion industry loses around $500 billion of value annually due to their lack of recycling never-worn clothing.
2662 hopes to have their minimum viable product for the BodyFirst Profile in a year or less.
A native of Missoula, Warren is a graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York City and Paris. He is an experienced designer who opened a studio, created nine seasons under his own label, and had the honor of debuting at New York Fashion Week. Before creating 2662 New York, Sullivan was a former Wall Street executive, who marketed products to institutional investors including a Fund of Funds specializing in small private equity and venture investments. Herlihy received her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, and is also a former Wall Street executive and entrepreneur.
When asked about the advantages of moving to Montana, Warren noted the accessibility and support of the tech community. “In Montana we have been embraced and encouraged. Everybody we have approached has been receptive and the resources have been invaluable.”
Launched just last week, BlackHyve uses automation to manage the daily production process for construction projects. The software minimizes labor, time, and material expenditures in the industry. Photos via BlackHyve.
Location: Bozeman, MT
What they do: Automate production scheduling for construction companies
Why we’re watching them: Typically construction scheduling platforms require thousands of tasks to be entered manually including timing, subcontractor assignment, and budget. The input process takes 80 to 120 hours and requires constant maintenance and revision based on a project’s progress.
Bozeman-based startup BlackHyve is using automation to streamline the daily production process for construction project organizers and minimizes labor, time, and material expenditures. After 15 minutes spent loading data into the software, labor algorithms forecast the task sequence and manpower required to meet the schedule. BlackHyve’s AWS schematics-based platform adapts to changes by updating the projected completion times and costs. The beta version of the software went live on December 8 for five general contractor companies in Bozeman.
CEO and President Ryan Haught grew up in construction and built a custom app for his parents’ plumbing and heating company. Built through the Salesforce platform, the app managed the timecards and schedule of the business’ 150 employees.
Haught began working on the initial algorithms for BlackHyve six years ago before joining up with partners Josh Hill, Dan Frost, and Ryan Wilson to form the company in 2019. BlackHyve now has three developers led by Josh Hill, who has also worked at Bozeman’s Wisetail and Dasher.
The team has integrated a mix of scheduling methodologies in the platform so that the user keeps track of tasks’ percentage complete, which pushes and pulls the overall production schedule dynamically along with subcontractors progress. The software predicts how many laborers and resources are needed to complete a project by a certain date, organized by location batches such as a building’s first floor lobby.
Bozeman-based HomeStake Venture Partners invested in BlackHyve six months ago. In 2019, the company was part of the Early Stage Montana HyperAccelerator Cohort and Statewide Showcase.
Haught’s goal for BlackHyve, whose name is based on the organization and efficiency of bees, is to be $5 million in ARR three years from now.
LandTrust CEO and Founder Nic De Castro intends to show rural private landowners that sustainable land management and wildlife conservation can improve their bottom lines. Logo via LandTrust.
Location: Bozeman, MT
What they do: A platform to share private land for outdoor recreation.
Why we’re watching them: 70%+ of land in the contiguous 48 states is private land.
Designed as ‘Airbnb for outdoor recreation on private lands,’ LandTrust is an online platform for hunters and fishers to browse and pay for daily, weekly or seasonal access on private properties. LandTrust boasts around half a million acres of private land in 37 states and is growing weekly.
The platform has photos, available game species, and an availability calendar for each property listing. Many of the properties have lodging options for visitors that can be booked and managed through the site.
Listing prices can range from $25 to $500+ per day depending on the property size, amenities, lodging, and the species and abundance of wildlife. LandTrust derives its revenue from booking fees and is free to use for both landowners and sportsmen.
Established in April 2019, LandTrust raised an initial $450,000 seed round with Frontier Angels and other investors. LandTrust recently wrapped up an oversubscribed second $1.25 million seed round. During the second seed round, LandTrust landed an institutional partner, Heroic Ventures, that has previously invested in companies including Airbnb, The Dyrt, and Slack. In addition to Heroic, LandTrust added investors with deep ties into the hunting and conservation ecosystems.
LandTrust’s landowners have, on average, earned $2,300 in their first year with some earning upwards of $15,000. CEO and Founder Nic De Castro hopes the income stream will incentivize environmental upkeep for robust wildlife habitats and add to the bottom-line of rural landowners like farmers & ranchers. They currently employ 13 full and part-time employees with plans to expand.
De Castro has been in the tech startup industry over the past decade where he helped grow early-stage startups through his focus on enterprise sales and partnerships. He received his undergraduate degree in business administration from Boston University.
LandTrust plans to donate a percentage of every booking to organizations that protect hunting and fishing access, game species, and wildlife habitats. De Castro hopes that LandTrust will become one of many tools making private, rural land in the United States financially sustainable in order to protect critical landscapes and ways of life.
Casey Vermette is the founder of Matchstik, a non-profit giving platform launched in October 2020. Photo via Matchstik.
Location: Bozeman, MT
What they do: Build socially driven non-profit fundraising tools.
Why we’re watching them: After a soft launch in early October, Matchstik processed over $10k in donations in their first 8 weeks. The platform, which is focused on bringing new levels of impact to charitable giving, empowers organizations with best-in-class donation processing and campaigning while connecting their supporters to reward and recognition creating long-term value. Matchstik is onboarding nonprofits who seek to improve their digital fundraising efforts.
Matchstik has a handful of nonprofit users, including Big Sky Youth Empowerment and Arthouse Cinema & Pub that joined the platform on the ground floor for its launch. Founder Casey Vermette has aggressive goals for growth and is on track to secure 40 organizations using the initial product by the end of the year.
Vermette has always been an entrepreneur—before he earned a degree in business management with a minor in international business at the Jake Jabs College of Business at Montana State University, he started his own construction company at age 19. As a student he began working part time with Bozeman-based online learning platform Wisetail and has been with the company ever since as Director of Sales.
Matchstik has been founder-funded throughout early development but is actively fundraising for Growth Capital to onboard their full-time staff. Vermette plans to hire a Senior Engineer to prepare for the Matchstik app launch slated for early 2021.
Matchstick’s user experience has social media elements comparable to Venmo that encourage engagement and giving. The prototype also has features organizations can implement to recognize and thank their supporters.
Vermette is focused on addressing the gaps in technology within the non-profit sector. He thinks that too often, organizations are forced to use disparate systems that create an expensive and cumbersome process for both their donors and the organization itself.
“The current market for non-profit technology is cluttered with expensive and half-baked tools, most of which focus on how to take a dollar out of a non-profit rather than creating real value for their development efforts,” said Vermette. “We plan to centralize all charitable giving into a single socially-driven platform by late 2021.”
CEO and Founder Ashley McCullough (left) and Community Strategist Courtney Fitzpatrick (right) working on listings and outreach to potential clients. Photo via MOBLHOM.
Location: Bozeman, MT
What do they do: An online marketplace to find and lease midterm rentals.
Why we’re watching them: Since July 2020, MOBLHOM has doubled their revenue every month. The online marketplace specializes in midterm, fully furnished rentals for people who are looking to relocate or need housing more than 30 days but less than a standard year-long lease.
The startup’s software quotes ranged from $150,000-$500,000, but CEO and Founder Ashley McCullough was able to pull it off with $130,000 raised through a ‘friends and family’ seed round in 2018.
The company competed in Early Stage Montana 2019 and ended up as one of the 12 showcased finalists.
Self-dubbed as a ‘non-conformist’, McCullough received her MFA from Columbia University before becoming the Copy Chief for Athleta clothing. An avid traveler, McCullough recognized the importance of midterm rentals when her remote work allowed her to live around the US and abroad.
Categorized as a rental more than 30 days or a month, midterm rentals allow travelers and potential residents to experience a community without committing to a longer lease. Services such as Airbnb or VRBO, however, are geared toward shorter stays.
Since going live in August 2019, MOBLHOM has seen over 400% increase in website traffic. McCullough attributes this attention to COVID-19 and the normalization of remote working and learning.
The unique size and centrality of Bozeman allows McCullough to personally tour and certify rental properties and discuss midterm rental options with homeowners. MOBLHOM’s blog also spotlights some of the company’s properties and owners— providing a unique, personalized experience unattainable in larger cities and rental companies. McCullough currently works with Community Strategist Courtney Fitzpatrick on a part-time basis to meet and review potential renters.
The startup is looking to pursue another seed round and expand the one-person team, but McCullough confidently affirms that MOBLHOM will be profitable in another 6 months regardless of whether or not VC funding is raised. MOBLHOM grossed nearly $60,000 in rental sales this past October, taking a small percentage as a transaction fee. MOBLHOM’s intentionally low-margin business model will thrive even more on a larger scale.
MOBLHOM has over 50 properties listed in Boise, Missoula, Bozeman, Livingston, and Big Sky. McCullough sees potential in MOBLHOM for remote workers or homebuyers who need a place to live while they shop for a home.
Simple Livestock allows ranchers to list their cattle on a national scale. The platform charges a much lower transaction fee compared to competitors, averaging $40-$50 in savings per head. Photo via Simple Livestock.
Location: Bozeman, MT
What they do: Mobile platform to buy and sell cattle.
Why we’re watching them: In the past two weeks, Simple Livestock has listed more than 3000 head of cattle on their mobile app and gained more than 1,300 Instagram follows.
Founded in late 2019 and launched in May 2020, the product allows ranchers to input listing information such as breed, genetics, feed resources, and weight gain to market their livestock on a national scale.
Co-founder Walker Milhoan developed a passion for ranching at a young age by spending time on his grandfather’s Rifle, CO ranch and doing rodeos. After studying Ranch Management at Texas Christian University, Milhoan worked on a ranch in Stevensville and at Missoula Livestock while taking classes in Management Information Systems at the University of Montana.
For a class project, he developed a ranch management software platform. Milhoan collaborated with Rich Roth, a rancher out of Big Sandy, to fully develop the prototype and launch it as Ranchlogs. The company was one of only 20 startups selected for the Blackstone LaunchPad’s annual Demo Day in New York City in 2015. Ranchlogs has since pivoted to perform conservation audits for a branded beef company.
Simple Livestock was spun off from Ranchlogs when Milhoan met co-founder Brett Boeckel after relocating to Bozeman. Boeckel, who has a background in finance and serves as VP of Operations at Montucky Cold Snacks, was working on a project with a grass-fed beef label at the time and had connections with large packers. Between Boeckel’s knowledge of packing plant systems and Milhoan’s experience cattle ranching, the pair saw opportunity to advance tech in the industry with a scalable online marketplace.
Typically ranchers who are selling livestock operate through old-fashioned word of mouth or rarely-updated online bidding platforms. Simple Livestock charges a much lower transaction fee compared to these competitors, averaging $40-$50 in savings per head. Simple Livestock also offers a national customer network, opening access to larger scale buyers and ranchers for those who usually piecemeal multiple transactions.
Milhoan predicts that the COVID-19 pandemic will shift the relatively tech-adverse industry to be more aware of platforms like Simple Livestock’s. The app has also been a useful solution for communicating buyer needs when packing plants were forced to shut down during the pandemic.
Boeckel said the co-founders of Simple Livestock are developing a philanthropic component of the business that will focus on sustainable and regenerative ranch management practices.
The team includes CTO Sam Heutmaker and a newly-hired business developer Errol Rice, formerly the Executive VP of Montana Stockgrowers and a leader in the ranching industry.
Simple Livestock is in the process of securing seed funding and preparing additional sales and marketing features for 2021.
Special secured $2.3M in venture capital funding through a seed round led by Next Frontier Capital. The web version of the platform, which allows users to subscribe to independent film creators, was launched last month. Graphic via Special Project, Inc.
Location: Bozeman, MT
What they do: A streaming service empowering independent filmmakers and studios
Why we’re watching them: After spinning off from software engineering firm Triple Tree this year, Special Project, Inc. secured concept funding in March through a $2.3M seed round led by Next Frontier Capital.
The company’s product is a SaaS video streaming platform where users can subscribe to individual channels. Special, which is free of ads, launched its beta version in November 2020.
On the platform, creators set a subscription price between $1 and $999 for their uploaded content and receive 90% of subscription revenue regardless of subscriber count. This allows independent artists and studios to monetize their content directly to viewers rather than receiving fractional profits through ad revenue or distribution to larger commercial streaming services.
Unlike similar platforms like Patreon or Vimeo, Special Project enables videomakers full ownership of their subscriber data including earnings, analytics, and audience insights. Notably, the streaming service is also free of exclusive licensing deals—meaning that content can be previewed, marketed, or sold through other channels and creators retain full ownership of their work.
The venture was co-founded by Montana State University graduates Paul Burton and Sam Lucas, who launched Triple Tree out of the MSU Blackstone Launchpad when they were students. Triple Tree was a custom engineering firm featured on the MHTBA’s 2018 Montana Companies to Watch list and was featured in ‘Startup Alley’ at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco later that year.
With Special, Burton and Lucas offer a means for creatives to sustain themselves and be compensated for the value of the work. Unlike donation-based platforms such as Patreon, Special hosts content on the service and monetizes films directly.
“More than ever, creators are beginning to realize the incredible entertainment and educational value they are producing with their content,” said Lucas. “Creators can be charging for that content and independently building a sustainable creative business.”
Special Project enters into a rapidly-growing $60 billion SVoD (streaming video on demand) industry. The 6-person Special team plan to release mobile and Smart TV compatibility in 2021.
American Student Assistance found that over half of young workers worry about repaying their student loans all the time or often. Stubenefits’s software makes it easy for companies to set up and customize a Student Loan Repayment Benefit, taking some of the weight off young workers. Photo via Stubenefits.
Location: Missoula, Remote
What they do: Provide a platform for student loan repayment programs as an employee benefit.
Why we’re watching them: As of 2020, Americans owe around $1.68 trillion dollars in federal and private student debt. Stubenefits, a SaaS platform simplifying and automating student loan repayment benefit plans, empowers companies to invest in the financial health of their employees through compensation packages to pay off debt.
Established in January 2019, Stubenefits finalized its SaaS product in September 2020 and is currently relocating to Missoula. The product was designed with feedback and contribution from HR and benefit consultants, software engineers, UX designers, and potential customers.
CEO and Founder Charounson (“Char”) Saintilus has largely automated the process to set up and administer a student loan repayment benefit program on the Stubenefits platform, saving customers thousands of dollars in upfront costs. Hosted on Google’s infrastructure, the platform is built to scale and is suitable for organizations of any size. Within minutes, companies can use the self-service platform to establish a benefit program, invite employees to register, and set up their account.
Thanks to the cost savings brought on by the platform’s automation, Stubenefits’ Student Loan Repayment Benefit™ plans, depending on company size, costs only $5-$12 per employee per month.
Stubenefits offers both standardized and personalized plans unique to each business. For example, a Capped Contribution Plan enables an employer to pay up to a certain amount of the loan (e.g. $8,000.00), over time. A Full Contribution Plan enables an employer to make a regular contribution until the employee’s qualified student loans are paid off. Full Contribution Plans allow for smaller regular contributions than the potentially larger monthly contributions made in a Capped Contribution Plan.
Less than 10% of employers offer student loan benefits in the United States, but a study found that millennial-aged respondents were willing to stay at a job at least 36% longer (1.3 years) when an employer offers student loan benefits. Stubenefits currently has several customers in the pipeline and expects rapid growth.
Saintilus graduated from Florida State University in 2014 with dual degrees in Computational Biology and Biomathematics. Saintilus founded an IT consulting firm before graduating from college and later founded several tech startups. He is a former Mindtree and Capital One Engineer.
Stubenefits is currently raising a seed capital and establishing a remote sales team in startup-friendly Montana. “We were looking for an ecosystem that has been hugely supportive of the startup culture but that also wasn't overcrowded, per se,” said Saintilus. “And we found that Montana has been, for the last few years, one of the fastest-growing geographies when it comes to startup activity.”
TwinThread’s platform automates the manufacturing process by predicting machine performance. The startup secured $3.8 million in an August 2018 seed round led by Next Frontier Capital and an oversubscribed $5.3 million Series A round in February 2020. Photo via TwinThread.
Location: Bozeman, MT
What they do: Apply predictive AI to manufacturing data,
Why we’re watching them: By Fall 2019, industrial artificial intelligence and machine learning automation startup TwinThread Inc. secured $2.1 million in recurring revenue from pilot projects and early adopters—and that was before the company had officially launched this past Spring.
TwinThread works with manufacturing companies to track industrial assets in real time through sensor data. Their platform, which is integrated with Microsoft’s Office 365 suite and available on Azure Marketplace, enables manufacturers to gain insight into the performance and efficiency of their machines.
Customized predictive AI recommends adjustments, identifies solutions in the event of performance issues, and anticipates mechanical issues preemptively to increase uptime, quality, and yield. The technology compares assets and ultimately improves the output of a given process or enterprise at scale. In the consumer packaged goods industry, percentage points gained in machine performance efficiency often translate to millions of dollars in lifetime value. In order to prove value, TwinThread deploys a pilot project designed to identify short-term opportunities that deliver immediate action insights and quantified long-term value before operationalizing.
Next Frontier Capital led TwinThread’s seed financing of $3.8 million in August 2018 and an oversubscribed $5.3 million Series A round in February 2020.
Founder and CEO Erik Udstuen worked as an engineer to automate production of pulp and paper plants in the early ‘90s and started a software company that helped manufacturers track production quality. The venture was bought by General Electric in 2003, where the software continues to be sold today. Before pursuing TwinThread, Udstuen headed GE’s industrial software business where he used manufacturing data to improve energy efficiency.
Udstuen, who lived in Big Sky in the 2000s, relocated TwinThread’s headquarters from Charlottesville, VA to Bozeman this year. The company’s growing team includes 36 employees located throughout the US and Canada, including a sales office and customer success engineers.
TwinThread has secured brand names such as Colgate and Procter & Gamble in their customer base and connect over 1 million assets worldwide.
“These are very, very large companies in the scheme of things, Udstuen told the MHTBA in May, “but even they can’t afford to spend hundreds of millions of dollars putting together systems to collect all this data from their facilities and use it to improve. They really needed something that was much more cost effective and more scalable,” said Udstuen.
Replacing traditional and expensive due diligence reports, VERAFĪ offers higher quality reports at a fraction of the cost through their specialized software algorithm. Image via VERAFĪ.
Location: Whitefish, MT
What they do: An intelligence company for investment and key hiring decisions.
Why we’re watching them: Resumé fraud costs companies an estimated $600 billion in disruption and turnover. A traditional due-diligence personnel report is between $15,000-25,000, which only verifies claims about a key hire or investment opportunity. By automating the due-diligence process, VERAFĪ offers a higher quality report at a fraction of the cost.
VERAFĪ is a private intelligence company specializing in angel and venture capital investment and pre-hire due diligence. VERAFĪ leverages their proprietary software to harness third party data and provide clients with a comprehensive dossier beyond a standard background check. Their current client base includes the medical, investment, and legal litigation sectors and organizations like the Angel Capital Association.
A former Special Agent for the CIA, and Pararescueman for the US Air Force who attended Harvard, CEO Nic McKinley started VERAFĪ in direct response to the increase in investment and resume’ fraud cases he was asked to help investigate.
In 2019, McKinley expanded and rebranded his business, formerly Alethea, through seed funding from Two Bear Capital.
VERAFĪ’s software algorithm, on average, saves their clients 60+ hours of Google searches and fact-checking for a single report. VERAFĪ’s due dilligence protected a venture client from losses when they discovered that a potential investment’s founder was a white supremacist. Months later, a tech reporter uncovered the same information and fallout from headlines in the New York Times and Washington Post led to the startup’s downfall.
McKinley grew up in Billings and relocated to the Flathead Valley in 2019. He expects VERAFĪ’s 7-person team to hire 15 more software developers and intelligence analysts over the next 24 months. McKinley is optimistic about finding workers with the right skills locally.
“There's a lot of talk of lack of talent in Montana. That hasn't been my experience,” said McKinley. “There's great talent in Montana, all we have to do is invest in it. Companies thinking of moving to Montana who take the time to research local talent markets will find Montana talent and work ethic are often a cut above the larger coastal cities, and with local help from organizations like the MHTBA, finding the right people is not difficult.”
Since 2017, the Montana High Tech Business Alliance has released annual Montana Companies to Watch lists. These articles have highlighted the state’s fastest-growing and most innovative tech businesses.
In November 2020, we published a Biotech Companies to Watch list with the Montana BioScience Cluster Initiative highlighting 11 Montana companies working at the forefront of coronavirus research and testing efforts or creating technological solutions to the pandemic’s healthcare obstacles. Read our previous years’ lists:
2019 Montana Startups to Watch
2019 Montana High-Growth Companies to Watch
About the Publisher:
Launched in 2014, the Montana High Tech Business Alliance is a nonpartisan nonprofit association of highly-engaged 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.
About the Authors:
Samuel Boudreau is the Writer and Digital Content Coordinator Intern at the MHTBA. He graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies and Psychology and is currently pursuing his MFA at The University of Montana while teaching Introductory and Intermediate Writing Courses.
Martina Pansze is the Communications Director for the Montana High Tech Business Alliance. She graduated from Whitman College in 2018 with a degree in Film and Media Studies.