Butte Local Development Corp. reports $1.3M available for loans, outlines Sonata land deal and grant work with Montana Tech

Kelly Sullivan, with the Butte Local Development Corporation, updated the Butte‑Silver Bow Economic Development Committee on the organization’s lending pipeline, grant partnerships and business‑recruitment efforts.

Sullivan said the BLDC has one new loan application scheduled for the loan committee on Oct. 15 and “our total available to lend right now is $1,300,000.” She said two brownfields loans are in the pipeline — one for a nonprofit and one for a privately owned business — and that the BLDC has submitted a new five‑year work plan required by the Economic Development Administration for its revolving loan fund.

The session also covered business‑attraction work. Sullivan said she and a colleague attended the Headwaters Tech Hub summit in Bozeman and are partnering with Montana Tech on a grant application “that could be put towards germanium usage in Butte.” She said Montana Tech is leading the technical work on the application and that germanium is being considered for semiconductor uses. Sullivan added that a prospective operator visited Butte to explore an underground‑mine tour at the Montana Tech Underground Mine Education Center and that state Department of Commerce representatives and Montana Tech leaders were involved…