PowerHouse Montana taps into the state’s best kept secret—
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By Sarah Korn, the Women’s Foundation of Montana
Jeff Ament, the bassist for Pearl Jam and a Big Sandy native once said, “the best kept secret about Montana is the women.” At the Women’s Foundation of Montana, we believe this to be true—Montana’s women and girls are our most untapped resource. The Kauffman Foundation’s Index of Startup Activity has identified Montana has the most entrepreneurial state three years running, and many of those entrepreneurs are women. “I think in no particular order, there is sort of a pioneering spirit here in Montana,” Paul Gladen, director of the University of Montana Blackstone LaunchPad told the Missoulian. “People are always being resourceful and figuring out how to do stuff.” According to Prospera Business Network, 35,449 businesses in Montana are women owned, about 32% of all businesses. Considering Montana doesn’t have any cities widely considered to be a major start up hub like Seattle or San Francisco,
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this number is impressive. Indeed, the resourceful, start-up mindset seems to be inherent in many Montanans. Montanans like to get things done and when you live in a state as vast get those things done yourself. The Women’s Foundation of Montana is committed to creating a brighter future for Montana’s women and girls through strategic grant making, research, policy work, and initiatives, such as PowerHouse Montana. PowerHouse Montana (www.powerhousemt.org) is an online platform with the aim of building networks of self-starting women all over the state, whether they own their own business or not. Women can sign up for free as volunteer mentors, and send messages through the website sharing opportunities and resources with the aim of lifting each other up. “In some areas, we have come very far, but in others, we are still behind,” Women’s Foundation of Montana Program Director Jen Euell says. “When we invest in women, it doesn’t just benefit the women. It benefits our children and ultimately, the
community.” Statistics show that women typically invest a greater portion of their income in their families and communities, and by helping women achieve economic independence and take control of their own financial futures we are helping make Montana thrive. When communities are spread so far apart from each other, it can be challenging to build in-person networks, so the digital sphere is where the real magic happens.
Currently PowerHouse Montana has over 200 volunteer mentors from 17 counties signed up on the website, and the number is only growing. “Meeting people from across the state is an invaluable networking experience,” says Glendive PowerHouse Jen Rahr of Deer Creek Design.
Mentorship is one of PowerHouse Montana’s key components, as research shows that it has hugely beneficial impacts on women entering the workforce, remaining in the workforce, and moving up