The high level of entrepreneurship activity in Montana is founded on dense networks of active local support organizations that are well-perceived and utilized…

Conversations about entrepreneurship often focus on Silicon Valley, Boston or other major metropolitan areas, yet Missoula and Bozeman, Montana enjoy some of the highest levels of entrepreneurship in the nation in terms of startup and high-growth companies, as well as spinoff activities, according to a report funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.Missoula and Bozeman rank 9th and 12th highest in startup rates among 394 areas in the U.S., and the proportion of high-growth firms is particularly high in Bozeman, higher than Denver (9th in the nation) and almost compatible with Washington, D.C. (1st in the nation), according to the report.

Access to capital is the second biggest barrier to growth for Montana’s high tech and manufacturing firms, according to a Montana High Tech Business Alliance survey conducted in February 2015.

First Interstate Bank welcomed more than 130 guests to their downtown branch for the Montana High Tech Business Alliance's reception in Missoula on October 22, 2015. Sue Larew, Vice President at FIB and member of the Alliance Board of Advisors, gave the opening remarks. One third of Alliance member firms are located in the Missoula area.