Governor tours Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center
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RONAN — Very few people have the honor of having a state official observe their first day in a new business venture, but that’s exactly what happened to Greg Carter when Governor Steve Bullock walked in to observe food processing at Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center.
Carter, of the Mustard Seed Asian Cafe in Missoula, was bottling the first batch of salad dressing at the center, when Bullock walked in amongst a gaggle of his staff and representatives of Lake County Community Development Corporation who were clad in smocks and hairnets.
Bullock visited to show his continued support for the funding of food and agriculture centers.
Mission Mountain Food Enterprises is a project of the development corporation. It provides a facility where entrepreneurs from across Montana can use the center to process food products that meet FDA regulations for inspection and can be shipped throughout the United States.
It is one of only four state-funded centers licensed to operate a food processing facility.
During the tour Bullock saw staff making coined carrots for school lunches in the region, as well as other processing equipment.
“All of this is because of a CDC (community development corporation)?” Bullock asked.
“The LCCD has been the vehicle to make all of this happen,” said Jay Preston, owner of Access Montana, who has been involved with the LCCD for many years.
The work done at the food processing center is just one facet of the many programs run by the community development corporation.
The organization also makes loans and grants to local governments to improve infrastructure. They also help businesses in Lake, Mineral and Sanders counties to get running by providing planning resources and funding.
There were times since the LCCD formed in 2000 when private contributions helped fund it because public funding was difficult to come by. Business owners and representatives of the development corporation asked the governor to consider granting more funding to development corporations in future budgets.
“I hope you are satisfied to see how far we’ve come,” Preston said.
