Business

PABLO — Consumer rates at Mission Valley Power have changed as of April 1. What that means for different groups of consumers has left some confused. Jean Matt of Mission Valley Power explained the changes, and the ways in which they impact everyone.  The power company had a rate study conducted earlier this year by the FCS Group out of Washington to determine the company’s financial needs and propose changes to meet those needs. The first step was to determine the revenue requirement for the company to function, determine cost of service class allocation, and design rates to achieve the target revenue. According to Matt, this has been the company’s first rate chang...

LAKE COUNTY — Mission Valley Power gave an annual report to Tribal Council that week that included information about a possible rate hike that would help the power company manage rising costs of materials needed to help keep the lights on for the Flathead Reservation.  According to General Mana...

LAKE COUNTY — Two local medical centers, St. Luke Community Healthcare in Ronan and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Polson, are renewing efforts to get staff and contractors fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by March 15, the date set by a federal vaccine mandate recently upheld by the Supreme C...

News from the Office of the Governor HELENA — Governor Greg Gianforte announced that Montana entrepreneurs have a new tool to grow their businesses. Approved by the governor in December, the Montana Down Payment Assistance Program is a public-private partnership between the State of Montana and Mo...

News from the Montana Department of Revenue HELENA — The 2021 Legislature passed House Bill 303, changing how Montana taxes business equipment. The new law increases the business equipment tax exemption from $100,000 to $300,000 for Tax Year 2022. Businesses whose statewide market value of equi...

POLSON — On Feb. 10, a new medical spa will have its grand opening in Polson.  Located inside Bella Vita Salon, the joint companies of Skin Beautiful and Skintegrity406 were established by two women brought together by chance. Julie Yonker had moved to the area from her home in Scottsdale, A...

News from the MPSC HELENA — The Montana Public Service Commission has opened an investigation into the adequacy of legacy telephone systems owned and operated by CenturyLink Communications, LLC, and its affiliated Montana carriers. Many rural Montanans rely on these legacy systems for phone servic...

News from Paddy Fleming MSU News Service BOZEMAN — Despite struggling with worker shortages, disrupted supply chains and increased shipping costs, Montana manufacturers fared relatively well during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic and could see a return to pre-pandemic activity this year...

From MSU News Service BOZEMAN — A new study from a Montana State University researcher and his colleagues provides evidence that the labor market tightened for the nursing workforce throughout the first 15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic, a period marked by falling employment and rising wages acro...

POLSON — A local gymnastics gym, Head Over Heels, has reopened after being shut down due to the pandemic.  What began as a few private classes at the Mission Valley Christian Academy in the summer of 2010 by owners Jessica and Jason Edwards and their four children, grew to a full-fledged busine...