BLDC reports COVID loan payoff, hiring plan and grant bids to Butte-Silver Bow committee

Butte Local Development Corporation representatives told the Butte-Silver Bow Economic Development Committee on May 7 that one of three Anaconda Arco COVID loans has been paid in full, the organization will hire another loan-department employee and staff are pursuing several grant and business-attraction efforts.

The update, delivered by Kelly Sullivan of the Butte Local Development Corporation (BLDC), noted that three borrowers were associated with the Anaconda Arco COVID loan portfolio and that "he came in and paid off in full," referring to one borrower who paid his loan on Monday. Sullivan identified the three borrowers by name and business: Mark Huntington; Casey McConnell of North 46 (business name Table Mountain LLC); and Michael Windham, owner of It's Greek to Me. She said BLDC will present the names of the two remaining borrowers to the full governing body at a future meeting.

The BLDC presentation also covered staffing, planning and grant activity. Sullivan said BLDC will post a job next week to add a loan-department employee to handle increased workload. She reported 227 completed responses to the organization’s strategic-plan survey, exceeding a 225-response goal, and said staff would follow up with more than 40 respondents who asked for one-on-one input.

Sullivan summarized recent federal and state funding activity. She said BLDC’s current Economic Development Administration (EDA) partnership planning grant is "solidified through April of next year" and noted that when a partnership-planning award is made it is typically funded for three years. She also said BLDC is exploring additional revolving loan fund grants and has some EDA loan funds on hand but will seek more re-lending capital.

On business attraction and sector outreach, Sullivan encouraged committee members to attend a Headwaters Tech Hub event at Butte Brewing next week, saying the hub — which she described as a corridor-based effort focused on photonics and sensors — has received a roughly $40,000,000 EDA award and could present opportunities for Butte. She said Tim Van Reeken, identified in the presentation as the hub’s executive director, and Courtney McKee will appear for questions about possible local opportunities.

Committee members raised related items. Commissioner Eric Mankins asked whether the committee could craft incentives to attract businesses not currently present in the district; Sullivan suggested the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) and Karen Burns could address incentive options. Chair Bill Anderson said he would draft a communication to invite Burns to the committee next month "to answer some questions." That invitation was described as a staff/committee direction rather than a formal vote.

Committee member Russell Leary asked for an update on a loan connected to Praxis; Sullivan said she had a meeting scheduled the next day with Ray Rogers and that an earlier extension of Praxis’s payment deadline to April had elapsed. "I don't know if construction financing is in place," she said she believed it was not, and said she would seek clarity in the meeting.

Other items in the BLDC update included annual-award winners from BLDC’s April dinner, an Opportunities in Rural Economies grant application to the Montana Department of Commerce with a deadline that weekend, and a pilot monthly "top 10" BLDC bulletin to be emailed to committee members. Chair Anderson also noted the economic mill levy will be discussed at a future committee-of-the-whole meeting; he said the levy produced about $86,000 last year and was "just over a hundred thousand this year."

No formal committee motions on BLDC business were recorded at the May 7 meeting; the only formal action in the transcript was a routine motion to adjourn, which was approved. Sullivan and committee members identified next steps: BLDC will present remaining loan names to the full governing body, staff will follow up with strategic-plan survey respondents, BLDC will pursue the Montana Department of Commerce and EDA funding opportunities, and Chair Anderson will draft a communication inviting the URA’s Karen Burns to the committee.

The committee did not adopt new incentives or allocate funding at the May 7 meeting; several items — including the Praxis loan status, potential URA-based business incentives, and the outcome of the opportunities grant application — remain pending.