Billings Business December 2015

5 MINUTES WITH

MARTHA ROWE PERSONAL COACH

MONTANA ENERGY REVIEW

UNLIKELY COALITION SCUTTLED KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE

DECEMBER 2015

STAYING

SHARP

Montana Mobile Sharpening helps customers keep a keen edge

Plus: Former theater building has new life as high-tech office space

BILLINGS BUSINESS 401 N. BROADWAY BILLINGS, MT 59101-1242

CONTENTS

December 2015

An indispensable business resource On the Cover

FEATURES

Byron Longenecker, left, and Jeff Gray run Montana Mobile Sharpening.

Razor sharp ................................................................................................................................... 6 Montana Mobile Sharpening helps customers keep a keen edge

Photo by BOB ZELLAR/ Gazette Staff

Carmike 7 gets a new look, purpose .................................................................................

Former theater building has new life as high-tech office space

14

Billings Logan International Airport ................................................................................ 16 Officials make a pitch for direct flights connecting Billings, Dallas From customer to owner ....................................................................................................... 17 Downtown store gets a remake as Bumps ‘n Bundles Settling into a new location ................................................................................................

Renovated Herberger’s store features images from Montana history

18

XXXXX

Montana Energy Review................................................................................................................................................................................. 19 From customer to owner: Downtown store gets a remake as Bumps ‘n Bundles, page 17

Unusual coalition helped scuttle Keystone XL pipeline

Energy briefs..................................................................................................................................................................................................................23 COLUMNS

Economic Development.................................................................................................................................................................................10 Brittney Souza - BillingsWorks aims to match workers with Dream Careers

24 Hour Emergency Flood & Fire Restoration Services Commercial & Residential

Flood or Fire, we will restore your property from beginning to end.

Complete Reconstruction Licensed • Bonded • Insured

Sales Moves...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Preferred by Major Insurance Companies.

Better Business.........................................................................................................................................................................................................24

406-628-0178

Jeffery Gitomer - How deep is your brand? Amazon sets the standard

Erin T. Dodge - Fake online reviews are another way that scammers deceive the public

Strategies For Success ................................................................................................................................................................................42

Joe Michels - Knowing what your customer wants is the key to profitability

—24 hour contact line—

www.alphaomegapros.com

BILLINGS BUSINESS EVERY MONTH

From the Editor................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4 By the numbers................................................................................................................................................................................................................5 The local economy at a glance

Chamber News.............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 11 John Brewer - Improved air service will help Billings economy grow

Five Minutes with...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 Five minutes with Martha Rowe, Page 12

Business Briefs...........................................................................................................................................................................................................39 The Listings..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 43

December 2015

to area business owners, managers and decision makers for $19.95 per year.

To subscribe, please send payment, name, business name, mailing address and phone number to:

Martha Rowe - Martha Rowe Coaching

Success Stories........................................................................................................................................................................................................40

2

Billings Business is mailed each month

Billings Business 401 North Broadway Billings, MT 59101

December 2015

3

the editor

IN STILLWATER COUNTY, THIS ARTS

DECEMBER 2015 • VOLUME 22 • NUMBER 3

VENUE COULD FUEL THE ECONOMY Among many unusual things you might see during a visit to Tippet Rise Art Center near Fishtail is a John Deere tractor pulling a Steinway piano.

On a barren hilltop, a massive steel sculpture named “Beethoven’s Quartet, 2003,” by Mark di Suvero, pierces the sky. Sculptures by other worldrenowned artists are scattered across the landscape.

Sheep and cattle graze just as they have for decades on this 11,500acre working ranch.

Meanwhile, ranch managers are working to revive the land with sustainable practices, and new buildings are also designed with sustainability in mind.

Tippet Rise represents a marriage of agriculture and culture, two diverse pursuits that complement each other quite well, supporters say.

The arts development, scheduled to open next year, is the creation of longtime philanthropists and artists Cathy and Peter Halstead. The center offers unique sculpture and world-class music performed in the shadow of the Beartooth Mountains.

Intimate outdoor concerts take place beneath an innovative acoustic shell named Tiara. When inclement weather threatens, concerts can be offered inside the Olivier Barn, a 150-seat timber-framed structure that features flawless acoustics.

After five years of planning, Tippet Rise will soon announce its concert series for 2016. Pianist Christopher O’Riley, best known as host of the NPR program “From the Top,” recently performed at the center and is musical director.

The center plans to offer weekly concerts from April to October, and monthly performances from November through March.

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December 2015

Alban Bassuet, director of Tippet Rise, was asked if Tippet Rise aspires to attract a national, or perhaps international audience.

While it’s possible that the center will draw concertgoers from far and wide, Bassuet also anticipates some of the most loyal customers will be local residents, including people from Billings, Red Lodge and Bozeman.

Hundreds of workers visited the site each day earlier this year when major construction was in progress. That brought complaints from some neighbors who worried about dust and noise. But Bassuet is confident that locals will come to recognize the center as an integral part of the community.

“For a while, people didn’t quite understand,” Bassuet said. “People were coming from New York, and there were lots of trucks,” he said. “But now what we are feeling is that people are interested in the economic development possibilities. There are some strong ties starting and people are really excited.”

Tippet Rise will soon begin hiring as it prepares for the 2016 season. Bus drivers, tour guides and other support staff are among those to be hired.

Education remains a top priority. School children from Nye and Fishtail recently visited the site and interacted with sculptor Stephen Talsnik, who is building a wooden free-form structure named “Pioneer.” Tippet Rise also provides accommodations for visiting artists.

We’re chasing something very pure, the juxtaposition of art and nature,” Bassuet said. “People there live with beauty under their eyes every day.

We want to dignify that, as far as we can with artists who want to play with the overlay of the landscape.

The best audience is our neighbors, because they will appreciate it in an immediate way.”

mike gulledge tom howard COPY EDITOR chris jorgensen GENERAL MANAGER allyn hulteng PUBLISHER

EDITOR

SALES

dave worstell ryan brosseau RETAIL SALES MANAGER shelli scott ADVERTISING SALES karen anderson ADVERTISING SALES milt lang ADVERTISING SALES arcadea scott ADVERTISING COORDINATOR linsay foley

SALES & MARKETING DIRECTOR

MAJORACCOUNTS,CLASSIFIED,DIGITALSALESDIRECTOR

SUBSCRIPTIONS Billings Business is mailed each month to area business owners, managers and decision makers.

To subscribe for $19.95 per year, please send payment, name, business name, mailing address and phone number to: Billings Business 401 North Broadway Billings, MT 59101 ADVERTISING For retail advertising call Karen Anderson, 657-1492; Milt Lang, 657-1275; or Arcadea Scott, 657-1244. For classified advertising, call 657-1212.

Advertising deadline for the February 2015 issue is 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 7.

You may send material to ads@billingsbusiness.com or FAX to 657-1538.

NEWS If you would like to submit a news tip, story idea, announcement about your business or press release, please e-mail it to: editor@billingsbusiness.com website: www.billingsbusiness.com Information published herein does not reflect the opinion of Billings Business. Contents are the property of Billings Business.

Personal

By the Numbers

Business

LocaL and regionaL economic trends

real estate Member FDIC

agriculture Shiloh & Grand 655-3900

ANOTHER SWEET HARVEST

Downtown 655-2400

14th & Grand 371-8100

Worden 967-3612

Airport boardings

National park visitors

7

10

6 8

Montana’s 2015 sugar beet harvest has wrapped up, and it’s another good one.

Montana farmers averaged 32.8 tons per acre, with 18.2 percent sugar content.

Source: Western Sugar Cooperative

5 In ten thousands

Hilltop & Main 896-4800

In hundred thousands

King Ave 655-2700

www.stockmanbank.com

6

3 2

4

Billings housing starts

4

1 0

2

June

New single-family home building permits 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0

60 50 40 30 20 10 0

July

June

August

June to October 2014

September

331

358 0

2014

June to October 2015

Bozeman

Missoula June to September 2014 June to September 2015

July to October 2014 July to October 2015

Source: Montana Department of Transportation

4 3

100

2

50

May to September 2014 Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture

June to September 2014 June to September 2015

5

150

August September

June to September 2014 June to September 2015

6

200

July

Sept.

7%

(per cwt.)

0

Aug.

Unemployment

Montana Beef Cattle

(per bushel)

Oct.

Glacier National Park

2015

Ag prices

June

Sept.

Source: National Park Service

Montana winter wheat

May

Aug.

July to October 2014 July to October 2015

YTD Through Oct. 31

October

July

Yellowstone National Park

Source: City of Billings

$8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Billings

July

1 0 May

June

July

Mayto September 2015

August September

April

May

Montana

June

July

Yellowstone County

August

September

U.S.

Source: Montana Department of Labor and Industry

December 2015

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Razor sharp

Montana Mobile Sharpening gives an edge to restaurants, home chefs

By TOM HOWARD Ask any chef who has spent hours portioning beef tenderloins into fillets or deboning prime rib roasts.

It’s not easy to do your job safely and efficiently without a knife that’s sharp enough to shave the hair off your arm.

The constant demand for sharp knives in the food service industry prompted Byron Longenecker to start Montana Mobile Sharpening. He once worked in a butcher shop and understands how important it is to have a sharp knife.

Billings chefs give Longenecker and his business partner, Jeff Gray, a warm welcome whenever they park their yellow trailer outside a restaurant or commercial kitchen.

Longenecker believes that Montana Mobile Sharpening is the first business of its kind in Billings.

Longenecker and Gray can put a keen edge on a kitchen knife in a matter of minutes, using specialized sharpening equipment that they bring to the customer.

They can also refurbish knives with broken tips or marred by big gouges. Restaurants, schools, nursing homes and home cooks are their customers.

Since launching the business last summer, they have diversified into a new market. They now sharpen clippers and scissors for pet groomers, veterinary clinics and hair salons.

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December 2015

Byron Longenecker, left, and Jeff Gray run Montana Mobile Sharpening.

BOB ZELLAR/Gazette Staff

ABOVE: Montana Mobile Sharpening also does hair clippers and scissors.

RIGHT: Jeff Gray talks about Montana Mobile Sharpening.

PHOTOS BY BOB ZELLAR/Gazette Staff

“We use four or five different machines,” each designed to sharpen a specific cutting instrument, Longenecker said.

In addition to visiting customers, Montana Mobile Sharpening makes appearances at different businesses, including Lucky’s Market and Shipton’s. The company’s Facebook page provides updates.

Much like doctors who practiced medicine during the horse and buggy days, Montana Mobile Sharpening makes house calls for residential customers. Longenecker once attended a house party where the hostess served wine and asked her friends to bring along their dull kitchen knives.

He ended up sharpening dozens of knives that night, he said.

Sharpening scissors and hair clippers is expected to be a growing part of the business, and Longenecker has also received interest from industrial customers who are seeking sharpening services for drill bits and other equipment.

But rather than trying to be all things to all people, Montana Mobile Sharpening has limited its scope.

“We don’t do lawnmower blades,” Longenecker said.

Sometimes an unusual blade will come along.

Longenecker invested a few hours sharpening a

“

When a customer sees you face to face, you build a relationship.”

— Jeff Gray Montana Mobile Sharpening

Please see Sharp, 8 December 2015

7

Jeff Gray checks a sharpened knife in the Montana Mobile Sharpening trailer.

Sharp

provide the service. Bringing the service directly to customers saves overhead — there’s Continued from 7 no need to buy or lease shop space. It also provides for more replica samurai sword that was efficient turnaround. designed as a piece of decorative Some chefs use a mail-order art, not a prized weapon. He sharpening service. But that can ground the sword to a 30-demean waiting for days or weeks gree bevel, which is typical while your knives are in transit. for a knife. Because the sword Customers for Montana Mobile was about 4 feet long, he had to Sharpening usually don’t have re-arrange the equipment in the to surrender their knives for trailer. more than a few minutes.

Before launching Montana “Who wants to package their Mobile Sharpening, Lonknives and mail them out when genecker spent many hours you can get immediate service?” Longenecker said. researching the best way to

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December 2015

Customer service is a constant focus.

“When a customer sees you face to face, you build a relationship,” Gray said. “We like to spend some time with our customers, especially the chefs.

The chefs have a real appreciation for their knives, even though the day workers might not have quite as much appreciation for them.”

Gray said sharpening requires practice. “Anybody can draw the knife through the machine. But there’s an art to it. You have to have a feel for it,” he said.

“

BOB ZELLAR/Gazette Staff

We like to spend some time with our customers, especially the chefs. The chefs have a real appreciation for their knives, even though the day workers might not have quite as much appreciation for them.”

— Jeff Gray Montana Mobile Sharpening

Welcome to Cardiac, Thoracic & Vascular Surgery

Dr. Morasch joins these physicians who provide coordinated care for patients in the Department of Cardiac, Thoracic & Vascular Surgery, and through the multispecialty Vascular Care Team.

Mark Morasch, MD, FACS Vascular Surgeon

Billings Clinic welcomes Dr. Mark Morasch to our multispecialty vascular team.

Dr. Morasch received his medical degree from the Loyola University School of Medicine in Maywood, Illinois, where he also completed his internship and residency in surgery. Dr. Morasch completed his fellowship in vascular surgery at Detroit Medical Center/ Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

Prior to coming to Billings, Dr. Morasch served as Professor of Surgery and Professor of Radiology and also held an endowed professorship in Clinical Research at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Zachary Bland, MD Interventional Radiology

Robert Hancock, MD, BCh Vascular Surgery

Alexander (Sasha) Kraev, MD Cardiac, Thoracic & Vascular Surgery

Kathleen Maxfield, MD Vascular Surgery

J. Scott Millikan, MD, FACS, FACC Cardiac, Thoracic & Vascular Surgery

David Yandell, MD Cardiac, Thoracic & Vascular Surgery

Dr. Morasch is board certified in surgery and vascular surgery and is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. His extensive experience in vascular surgery includes special interests in complex open and endovascular cases.

For more information, call 435-8272 or 1-800-332-7156

billingsclinic.com/vascularsurgery

December 2015

9

SPONSORED BY THE BIG SKY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

B ILLINGS W ORKS AIMS TO MATCH WORKERS WITH DREAM CAREERS Billings continues to have a thriving economy with businesses doing extremely well.

However, we also have the hurdle of enough highquality workers available for the jobs in our market.

Brittney Souza is director of BillingsWorks at Big Sky Economic Development.

Contact here at 869-8416 or brittney@bigskyeda.org.

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December 2015

Reading the headlines in Billings recently, our unemployment number dropped to 2.8 percent in Yellowstone County.

That’s one of the lowest numbers in the history of our county.

Billings continues to have a thriving economy with businesses doing extremely well. However, we also have the hurdle of enough high-quality workers available for the jobs in our market.

Last year, the State of the Workforce survey and report laid the foundation and focus for the program, and now is the time to move from talking about workforce challenges to implementing strategic and thoughtful solutions.

BillingsWorks, a community collaboration of public and private partners, is working every day to get over this hurdle and now we are proud to say we have a full-time dedicated professional championing this initiative. This collaboration and now a new director continues the tradition of our county being at the forefront of innovation and growth.

On Dec. 8, during the BillingsWorks council meeting, 7:30 a.m. at City College, the BillingsWorks website will be unveiled along with the new talent attraction campaign: Your Dream Career is Here. This

will be one the first talent attraction campaigns done for a city in Montana, and a major goal of BillingsWorks.

The campaign will begin by spreading the word throughout Billings, and encouraging people to share information and the website link to people they know who have moved away from Montana. The next step will be a direct email, targeted campaign aimed at people who grew up in Montana and now live outside the state. It will provide information encouraging them to think of Billings if they are looking for an opportunity to “come home” to Montana for their dream career.

The BillingsWorks website will also feature resources and a toolkit for businesses that are not being able to find employees. In a tight labor market where employees are hard to find and quality employees are on the market for a short period, this toolkit will help businesses ensure their recruiting and hiring process are working quickly and accurately.

BillingsWorks has also been involved with our area education partners and we are excited to see new programs, certificates and trainings being implemented that will help better train our workforce for current demand. Addition-

ally, BillingsWorks will be implementing a robust internship program, helping businesses offer a better experience in their work and learn environment.

Completing these next steps for BillingsWorks is imperative for our community’s workforce develop-

ment. Be watching for our State of the Workforce survey coming out in January.

Feedback from this survey will be critical to measure progress, understand where improvements can be made and which training and education gaps must be addressed.

We will update the community on the progress at our State of the Workforce event scheduled for April 14, 2016. Thank you to all of the community partners for their continued support and we look forward to delivering workforce solutions in the coming year.

RemaRkable

B i g S ky Econ omi c D e velopm ent B u s in e s s G r owt h S er v i ce s We offer a complete suite of services to help your business grow.

This includes assistance with government contracting, small business consulting, tax incentives, workforce training dollars, loans for capital projects, workforce development, and our newest service business outreach for Veterans and their families.

Call us today at 256-6871 to learn more or visit our website at www.bigskyeconomicdevelopment.org

406.256.6871 WWW.BIGSKYECONOMICDEVELOPMENT.COM

Upcoming Chamber/ CVB Functions More details and RSVP: www. billingschamber.com or call 245-4111 SPONSORED BY THE BILLINGS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

December Business After Hours Wednesday, Dec. 9, Central Wellness, 1010 Central Ave. Suite. 1 5-7 p.m. Cost is $8.

January Business After Hours

I MPROVED AIR SERVICE WILL HELP B ILLINGS ECONOMY GROW Billings is a stable, yearround business community in need of connectivity to the southeast United States.

Each year more than 850,000 people pass through Billings Logan International Airport. The facility is the front door to our community and drives a significant part of our economy. A community with good air service encourages business and family relocation while delivering customers to our door through business relationships and non-resident travel.

The Billings Chamber, in partnership with Big Sky Economic Development, Visit Billings, Billings Logan International Airport and other private business partners, has developed a three-part plan to improve air service in Billings:  Increase direct destination service while maintaining our existing service  Improve the airport facility experience  Increase passengers through awareness efforts

Increase direct destination service

John Brewer, CAE, is president of the Billings Chamber of Commerce/Convention and Visitors Bureau. Contact him at (406) 245-4111 or john@billingschamber.com

Billings is a stable, yearround business community in need of connectivity to the southeast United States. In early November, representatives from Billings met with route planners from American Airlines to propose direct service from Billings to Dallas. Currently American is not in Montana and offers only seasonal service in Wyoming to Jackson Hole.

American Airlines planners were very impressed by the

presentation and the prospect of doing business in our region. The decision could take up to a year.  American is the largest carrier in the world and Dallas/Fort Worth is the fourth busiest airport in the U.S. Dallas is the city visited most frequently on a daily basis by Billings residents without a current direct flight. American service to Dallas would increase Billings’ connectivity to the entire southeast United States, Mexico and South America. Dallas, as the hub for American, would open 44 additional one-stop destinations from Billings.

Wednesday,Jan. 13, Sanderson Stewart, 1300 N.Transtech Way 5-7 p.m. Cost is $8.

Ag Appreciation Banquet Presented by Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative Friday,Jan. 15, Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark $45 each or $450 for table of 10.

date more airlines, enlarging holding rooms, providing larger restrooms, expanding concession areas and offering concessions postscreening. The expansion would significantly enlarge Improve the airport the screening area, making it  A proposed $45 million large enough for six screenremodel and expansion is ing lanes. City Council will focusing on enhancing the be asked to approve the traveler experience by updesign contract in spring of grading technology, improv- 2016, with construction in ing the check-in process, 2017. possibly adding another aircraft gate to accommoIncrease passengers Service Committee will be meeting with Delta, United and Horizon to discuss their growth plans in our marketplace.

 To effectively grow our air service, Visit Billings launched a seasonal campaign called “Fly Billings.” Print and electronic marketing messages are currently running throughout our region to encourage travel through hotel discounts, park and fly packages and more. These types of campaigns, along with marketing in Minneapolis, Chicago and other currently served markets, will boost travel.

Presenting Sponsor

Airline Guarantees  Although research and forecasting through a professional airline consultant shows American would be profitable if they offered twice daily Billings-Dallas service, communities our size typically must share in the financial risk, especially in a startup market.

For that reason the private business sector in Billings offered American $750,000 as a revenue guarantee. That means if American falls short of projections in their first year, private local supporters (not government entities or taxpayer dollars) would pay the difference up to a predetermined threshold.  In addition to our meeting with American, the Billings Chamber Air

BillingsChamber.com

2016 AG

APPRECIATION BANQUET

January 15th | Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark Doors open 5:30 p.m. $45 each or $450 for a table of ten (includes prime rib dinner, prizes and more).

ENTERTAINMENT BY:

Seth Turner & the High Desert Drifters Call 256-2422 or BillingsChamber.com for tickets.

December 2015

11

Martha Rowe

An encore Music educator changes course to life coaching

career

By TOM HOWARD

Music has been a source of joy in Martha Rowe’s life for as long as she can remember. She moved to Billings three years ago after retiring from a career as a music professor, voice coach and accompanist at New Mexico State University.

Rowe wasn’t quite ready to leave the work force, and began thinking about taking her career in a different direction. “The last thing I wanted to do was open a voice studio, so it was a transition time for me,” she said.

A friend had urged her to read a book by Martha Beck, a sociologist and best-selling author who has been described as America’s life coach. Beck said mentoring students was one of her greatest joys. “I felt such a connection to that,” Rowe said. After going through her own period of introspection, Rowe became more interested in life coaching. She completed a nine-month program with Beck and recently started her own coaching business, martharowecoaching. com.

Here, Rowe discusses her new venture.

Singers often employ a voice coach to help improve their performance. To what extent does your music background overlap with your current career in coaching?

That’s certainly something that I’ve thought about. I’ve always been a naturally supportive person, and I’ve enjoyed helping other people reach their best place. When I was a voice coach, I always listened really carefully to the details to find that one beautiful note, that one beautiful sound, that every singer could make. That helps you think that’s the true voice. With life coaching you also listen really carefully, and I ask a lot of questions. You get curious, and when you get to the core of that person, you can do some good work.

Who are your clients?

It varies. Some of my clients are going through a transition. Maybe their spouse has died or they’ve had a job change and they’re wondering what’s next.

They’re not clear for what’s next. Every coach is dif-

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December 2015

ferent. There are people I work well with, and others that I’m not so good for. If somebody wants a cheerleader, I’m not their person. But if somebody wants to do some deep work, and really learn to trust themselves, those are the people I want to help.

Business executives often turn to coaches to help them hone their communication skills and leadership abilities. Do you do a lot of executive coaching?

The reality is, it’s all about personal development, whether’ it’s somebody in an executive situation or a young mother who’s frazzled, or somebody who is going through some kind of major transition. It always comes down to the same core issues.

What are those?

It’s things that cause limiting beliefs and make us feel stuck as though we can’t move forward. There are false assumptions, faulty beliefs — things we have bought in to all of our lives and they’re not true — and fears. It’s thinking, “What’s going to happen if?”

Those things tend to lock us into place and not be able to move into what’s most satisfying.

Do you need a credential to be a life coach?

There are life coaches who have had no training.

I studied with Martha Beck Inc. She is recognized by the International Coaching Federation. Those of us who went through her program often went on a weekly conference call. Sometimes it would be with an entire group of coaches. Sometimes we would break into smaller groups or coach the coach and coach the master coach. Martha would work with us.

We had lots of work to do, lots of reading, practice, and lots of training, What qualities should a good life coach have?

Deep listening. Curiosity. If you hear something, you ask: “Say more about that,” because you realize there’s something that’s intriguing about what they said.

Transparency. You want to be really honest about the fact that you do not have the answers for them.

Authenticity is important, too. You have to let people know that we all have the same struggles.

Martha Rowe is a life coach.

CASEY PAGE/Gazette Staff

SALESmoves

H ow deep is your brand ?

A mazon sets the standard Amazon’s brand is so deep that someone would have to spend billions of dollars to compete, and even then, there would be no guarantee of success.

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book of Selling.

REach him at 704-333-1112 or email salesman@gitomer.com

How deep is your brand?

You can say anything you want about Amazon, but you cannot doubt the power and the depth of its brand.

It owns way more than its name in the marketplace.

The brand name you know best is “Amazon shopping” when you’re comparing a price at a bookstore or an appliance store, or a hardware store, or for that matter, any store. You take out your smartphone and you compare Amazon pricing to whatever you’re thinking about buying. And at that moment, you make a snap decision to either buy at the store or buy with your phone.

NOTE WELL: Amazon shopping is just the tip of their brand-iceberg. The depth of its brand goes way beyond its name because when you purchase from Amazon, you refer to it in one of two ways: You either “One-Click It” or you “Prime it.”

“One-Click” means you purchase with your credit card without having to enter anything or do anything other than click your smart phone.

“Prime It” means you get it in two days, freight free.

Think about that for a second. You don’t even say the company’s name. Amazon is known by the services that they provide. OneClick for my credit card, and prime for two-day free shipping.

That is the definition and the power of brand depth. It has created services that are so powerful that the company is literally known by the name that they have attached to the service.

OK, so much for Amazon.

What are you known for?

What name is attached to your brand or your business that you have or are creating a reputation for?

OK, you don’t have one.

So my next question is, what could you become known for? Could it be same-day shipping? Could it be a better guarantee? Could it be free freight? Could it be a live person answering the phone 24/7? Could it be one-hour service response time?

Whatever it is, it has to be something that sets you apart, far apart, from your competition.

Amazon’s brand is so deep that someone would have to spend billions of dollars to compete, and even then there would be no guarantee of success.

There’s a new company on the horizon, jet.com, trying to compete with Amazon. It has a huge budget, but Amazon owns One-Click and Amazon owns Prime.

It will take years and billions to dent that marketplace. Amazon also has very low margins making it even more difficult for someone to build profit and equity to market enough to gain a sizeable share.

And regardless of who enters the market against Amazon, it has a customer comfort level in dealing with it and social ratings to prove it. You feel safe and secure, they are 99.9 percent reliable, and it’s likely that you have received hundreds of its packages. Even its boxes are branded.

So for you, Amazon is a great brand to study. A great company to use as a model for services that you’re try-

Courtesy photo

ing to provide to your customers in order to secure their long-term business, their loyalty, and help build your reputation by posting positive things about their experience with you, your products, and your services.

And, oh yeah, make a buck.

More than 100 books have been written on branding. I wonder if Jeff Bezos has read any of them.

If you look at other dominant brands, like Apple, or Google, or eBay, they own

their space and their keywords, because they have consistently provided products and services that people know and trust, and have a sophisticated online presence.

Whether it’s iTunes, or eBay’s But It Now, or Google, they own the phrases and words that connects and creates recognition of their brand.

What words, phrases, and services are associated with you that disassociate

you from your competition?

MAJOR CLUE: If you’re still fighting price, it means there’s little or no difference.

The best thing you can do right now is take a close look at every aspect of your business, your products and your services, and determine at least one area where you have the potential for recognition and market dominance.

Focus on that with every ounce of your social power.

December 2015

13

PHOTOS BY LARRY MAYER/Gazette Staff

David Veeder points to a mechanical floor during a tour of the former Carmike 7 building on Overland Avenue. Veeder has remodeled the building into high-tech office space.

Former theater building has new life as high-tech office space

By TOM HOWARD

The former Carmike 7 theater building includes more than 300 parking spaces.

14

December 2015

David Veeder stepped away from practicing law 18 months ago, capping a successful career that spanned more than three decades. As an encore, he’s concentrating on another long-time passion: commercial real estate development.

Veeder’s real estate portfo-

lio includes properties in Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa. His newest venture is a high-tech renovation of the former Carmike 7 movie theater at 2255 Overland Ave. Veeder purchased the stockade-like block building in 2012 after Carmike moved to more modern venues at Shiloh Crossing and Central Avenue.

When he was asked what got him interested in commercial real estate, Veeder provided a simple answer.

“It’s a way to make some money and get some leverage without a huge amount of risk,” he said.

After purchasing the one-time movie house, Veeder took his time trying to decide what would be the best use for the property.

“One idea was to tear it down, but finally I concluded that I wouldn’t do that. The foundation and the walls were in perfect condition.”

David Veeder

These faucets double as automatic hand dryers.

One mirror in the restroom features a television behind the mirror.

PHOTOS BY LARRY MAYER/ Gazette Staff

“One idea was to tear it down, but finally I concluded that I wouldn’t do that. The foundation and the walls were in perfect condition,” Veeder said. One reason that the building survived with minimal sagging and shifting is that it was built during the summer of 1988, when drought gripped the Billings area and fires raged in Yellowstone National Park.

The lack of rainfall eliminated settling that could have resulted from building on wet soils, he said.

With help from architects, engineers and other professionals, Veeder decided to upgrade the building to Class A office space capable of handling modern professional businesses that use a lot of technology.

He considers the property a good addition to nearby office and commercial development.

The building that once housed seven movie screens now features 25,000 square feet of office space that’s wired for doing business in the information age. The flexible design is capable of handling one large tenant or several smaller firms.

Key to the design is a modern me

chanical floor capable of handling miles of electrical wiring, computer cables, phone lines and heating and cooling ducts.

Walking through one section of the building, Veeder said the space would be well suited for an engineering firm, or even an operations center used by a financial institution.

The wide interior expanses were intentionally left open. That means cubicles and dividers can be added to suit tenants’ needs.

“I built it for somebody who may be in Billings now, or somebody who maybe isn’t even here yet,” Veeder said.

Adapting the building into office space required jack-hammering out the sloped theater floors. A flat concrete subfloor was poured 18 inches below the final floor level to make room for the mechanical floor, sometimes known as a computer floor. The assembly consists of 2-foot-square steel panels, each fastened at the corners to heavy steel supports.

“It’s a pretty slick system,”

Veeder said, mentioning that similar floors are used in the new Billings Public Library, the GE Capital operations center and other technologyintensive businesses.

Because the building was originally designed for screening movies, it was a box without windows.

In an effort to improve the working environment and to take advantage of natural light, Veeder added dozens of windows. Steel beams were added above the windows to provide extra support.

Thermal efficiency was another priority. With additional insulation, walls are rated at R32 and the roof is rated at R60. A new energy-efficient heating and cooling system was also added.

The design includes three conference rooms, a small reception area, and many new restrooms.

The building’s exterior is fitted with low-maintenance surfaces, “There could be up to 150 people working here. And if you have that many, you’ll be glad you have additional restrooms,” Veeder said.

Demand for office space boomed

in 2012 and 2013, partly in response to the Bakken oil boom. Sine then, the demand has cooled somewhat, said Drew Smith, principal with NAI Business Properties in Billings.

“We had a real good run on leasing office space in ’12 and ’13, and some of 2014,” Smith said. “Things have been slower lately, but Billings is growing, and we could see things moving.”

This former movie theater has plenty of space to accommodate offices.

December 2015

15

Officials make a pitch for direct flights connecting Billings area with Dallas

By TOM HOWARD The ball is in your court, American Airlines.

Local officials who have been working to persuade the Texasbased airline to provide direct air service between Billings and Dallas came away optimistic after a recent meeting with airline officials.

On Nov. 9, representatives from the Billings Chamber of Commerce, Big Sky Economic Development, Visit Billings and Billings Logan International Airport met with route planners from American Airlines at the company’s headquarters in the Dallas Fort Worth area. They came to the meeting prepared to offer at least $500,000 to assure that the airline would be profitable if it expands to Billings.

It may be a few months before the airline decides whether to expand its service to Montana, local officials said.

“There were some ‘aha’ moments for them that made Billings look a little bit more attractive,” said Steve Wahrlich, owner of the Best Western Clocktower Inn and chairman of the Tourism Business Improvement District. The local contingent touted Billings as a business hub that’s a frequent destination for people working in a variety of industries, including energy, finance and health care, Wahrlich said.

He said officials from Bozeman have also met with American Airlines, touting their community’s proximity to Yellowstone National Park. Although Billings still actively promotes local tourism, its business focus sets it apart from the Bozeman market, Wahrlich said.

“From a pure business standpoint, Billings is a good spot if you’re looking to grow,” Wahrlich said.

John Brewer, president of the Billings Chamber of Commerce, was confident that the visit made an impression on American Airlines officials.

“We dug deep into our econ-

16

December 2015

Billings Logan International Airport could one day see scheduled air service to and from Dallas.

omy and the potential for Billings,” Brewer said. While nobody from the airline had ever been to Billings, Brewer believed that the presentation made an impression with them.

“The overall impression was that they had their eyes opened to what the potential is in Billings,” Brewer said. “The big takeaway is that we’re a business destination that’s not driven by the fluctuations in the tourism economy.”

As part of the presentation, officials said that the population of Billings has grown by 20 percent since 2000. The community is expected to add 17,000 new jobs between now and 2022. Likewise, the community’s gross domestic product has increased by 3.6 percent annually over the past five years, twice the national average, Brewer said.

Brewer said many communities have become more aggressive

in their attempts to expand air service. Airline officials said that they meet with two or three communities per week, and all of them are interested in expanding their air service, Brewer said.

As for the next step, Brewer and Wahrlich said Billings will provide more information, if it’s requested. Meanwhile, Billings officials will continue to meet with officials from airlines that already serve the community, Brewer said.

LARRY MAYER/Gazette Staff

“From a pure business standpoint, Billings is a good spot if you’re looking to grow.”

— Steve Wahrlich, owner, Best Western Clocktower Inn

Downtown store gets a remake as Bumps ‘n Bundles

By BILLINGS BUSINESS As a new mom, Becky Salyer enjoyed shopping at Ca-Layla.

But when she learned that the downtown boutique that caters to mothers and babies was up for sale, she jumped at the chance to buy it.

Salyer and Ca-Layla owner Tina Stinson negotiated, then reached an agreement earlier this year. Salyer rebranded the store as Bumps ‘n Bundles.

There’s a practical reason for the store’s new name. CaLayla was named for Stinson’s daughters, so changing the name made sense, Salyer said.

Many of the products that Ca-Layla carried will continue to be offered in the new store.

Moving forward, Salyer plans to add more baby items and maternity clothes.

In addition to the retail store

at 219 N. Broadway Suite B, Stinson operated a photo studio that specializes in photographing newborns. Her style often featured sleeping babies snuggled into boxes or baskets, or nestled into their fathers’ muscular arms.

Salyer, who is also a trained photographer, is continuing that side of the business with Captivate You photography.

Salyer has 10 years experience in retail management, and welcomes the challenge of running her own business. On most days, customers will be able to meet her daughter, 18-monthold Juliette, at the store.

“She does a good job of greeting people,” Salyer said.

For more information on Bumps ‘n Bundles, go to bumpsnbulndles.com, send email to info@bumpsnbundles.com, or call 406-534-1767.

Becky Salyer’s downtown store, Bumps ‘n Bundles, was formerly known as Ca-Layla.

TOM HOWARD/Gazette Staff

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Renovated store features historic photos

By ERIK OLSEN Officials from the Herberger’s say their newly remodeled store in Rimrock Mall will be crowdpleaser.

“You will not be disappointed with the new shopping experience,” store manager Elizabeth Donlin said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

About 100 people gathered outside the new Herberber’s on the mall’s south end for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. The group included store employees, corporate officials from the Herberger’s midwestern headquarters, area business and community leaders and about 20 shoppers waiting in line.

The $2.3 million Herberger’s expansion is a big win for Rimrock Mall, as underscored by the visit from Robert Hense, senior vice president for development for the mall’s Chicago-based owner, Starwood Retail Group.

The mall had desperately needed to fill the vacancy when Scheels Sporting Goods left about 13 months ago for Shiloh Crossing on the western edge of town.

Retailers Claire’s and Foot Locker moved to different locations in the mall, giving Herberger’s 60,000 square feet.

“This new statement that Herberger’s is making is a huge catalyst for what we would like to do in this shopping establishment,” Hense said.

He hinted at future announcements for new stores and expansions at Rimrock, Montana’s largest mall, but offered no specifics.

Facing rising online and mobile shopping competition, designers of the Herberger’s store aimed for a uniquely Montana look to boost foot traffic. About 25 local photos line the walls, including a series of three generations of ranchers shot by local photographer Carmen Day Price for her documentary on the Homestead Act. “When we go into a local mar-

18

December 2015

Herberger’s store manager Elizabeth Donlin speaks at a ceremony celebrating the opening of the store’s new location in the Rimrock Mall.

ket, one of our strategies is for the customer to feel a part of the community when they come into the store,” said Brad Hurt, Herberger’s vice president of visual presentation.

Customers said in November they liked the look.

Audra Baird, 31, of Billings, was first in line to get in the store with her 5-month-old daughter, Madelyn. A longtime Herberger’s shopper for women’s and kids’ clothes, Baird said she like the look of the new store.

“It’s great. They’re a growing

company. It’s good for the mall,” she said.

Billings Mayor Tom Hanel called the store “beautiful,” and credited the 100-plus local employees for the opening.

“That says a lot not only for the company name, but for the employees. … I know that you’re going to do very, very well,” he said.

Herberger’s came to Rimrock Mall about 30 years ago as an early anchor tenant. The store is owned by Bon-Ton Stores Inc., which has dual headquarters in

Milwaukee and in York, Pa. The Herberger’s expansion follows the September opening of Lane Bryant, a plus-size women’s clothing chain, across the hallway. Starwood, which bought Rimrock Mall three years ago, has also improved the facade and added seating in the hallways.

Officials at Herberger’s announced the expansion in May after Swedish retailer H&M announced it would open its second Montana store in the mall. H&M will move into the former Herberger’s space next year.

CASEY PAGE/Gazette Staff

“You will not be disappointed with the new shopping experience.”

— Elizabeth Donlin, store manager

MONTANA ENERGY REVIEW

Associated Press

Gene Karpinski, left with microphone, president of the League of Conversation Voters, speaks during a gathering in front of the White House to celebrate President Barack Obama’s rejection of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

Unusual coalition helped scuttle Keystone XL pipeline

By NICHOLAS BERGIN | McClatchy Newspapers

An unlikely gang of compatriots — urban environmentalists, ranchers in cowboy hats, preachers, politicians and an Omaha tribe schoolteacher — filled a small bar in Lincoln’s Railyard earlier this month for an impromptu celebration.

They hugged, exchanged handshakes and high-fives. After nearly a decade of rallies, letter writing, concerts, cookie baking and testimony, they had won.

President Barack Obama had rejected the Keystone XL pipeline.

“Nebraska is usually dismissed on the national stage as flyover country,” Rev. Kim

Morrow of the Nebraska Interfaith Power & Light said that Nov. 6 night.

“But what we have found is that like the story of David and Goliath, the fight against the Keystone pipeline has shown the world (that) the people who love their land possess Please see Keystone, 20 December 2015

19

Keystone Continued from 19 the five smooth stones to slay the giant.”

Obama didn’t mention Nebraska in his seven-minute explanation for denying the cross-border permit for the project, but in the nearly decade-long odyssey that led up to the announcement, events often pivoted around the Cornhusker State.

Nebraskans fought the Keystone XL on two fronts, in the state courts and in public opinion circles, with allies from other states, countries and native nations. While legal challenges tied up the project, Nebraskans protested in Washington, erected a barn on the proposed pipeline’s path and mailed thousands of pens to Obama urging him to sign the paperwork rejecting the Keystone XL. Keystone XL came to represent more than 1,179 miles of 36-inch diameter pipe, said John Hibbing, political science professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

It became a symbol of the oil industry, rising environmental concerns in the United States and how those in the State Department and White House felt about both issues.

“Three groups managed to make everyone in America understand the significance of this fight. One was activists on both sides of the (United States and Canada) border.

Second were farmers and ranchers in Nebraska and third were climate scientists,” Bill McKibben, an author and co-founder of the national environmental advocacy group 350.org, said in a phone interview.

“Together they built an unbeatable and unusual coalition.”

In the mind of those who supported the pipeline, like state Sen. Jim Smith, those activists did the nation a great disservice by blocking a project that would bring jobs, energy security and closer economic ties with Canada. Smith said the denial of the pipeline didn’t come as a surprise in the end, despite the State Department’s review that found the pipeline would not significantly impact climate change and would be safer than transporting oil by rail.

“We have a radical environmental agenda being supported at the administration level,” Smith said. “Nebraska was a convenient excuse for the president.”

Nebraska Farmers Union President John Hansen, who opposed the project, said pipeline fighters had one surprising, if unwilling, ally.

“You have to give credit where credit is due ... One of the single greatest assets we have had since day one is the fact that TransCanada is its own worst enemy,” Hansen said.

In a perfect storm of legal wrangling, activism and political machinations, Nebraska brought the $8 billion project to a halting crawl and in the process turned the

20

December 2015

Associated Press

A stake in the ground wrapped with tape marks the route of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in Tilden, Neb. More than three-fourths of Nebraska’s landowners have signed agreements to let pipeline developer TransCanada run the oil line through their property.

Keystone XL into a household term in both the U.S. and Canada.

It’s a performance the state is unlikely to be able to repeat.

Part of what made it possible for Nebraska opponents to drag the process out was the same thing that allowed TransCanada to get the original Keystone pipeline built with ease — a complete lack of state statutes governing the approval of oil pipeline routes prior to 2011. It’s likely that by the next time a company opts to build a major oil pipeline across Nebraska the state will have streamlined its route approval process.

Calgary, Alberta-based TransCanada announced plans for its first Keystone pipeline in 2005, got its cross-border permit three years later and began pumping oil by 2010, all without state input.

The company had every reason to expect the same thing when in 2008 it announced plans to build the larger Keystone XL pipeline.

That’s the year Randy Thompson — the Merrick County farmer and rancher who would become the public face of the pipeline fight — got his first phone call from a TransCanada land agent. The agent wanted to meet with Randy and his two siblings to

talk about their mom’s land.

The agent wasn’t very forthcoming, Thompson said, but they got the idea TransCanada wanted to build a pipeline.

“We said we’re not interested.”

At the time, Thompson’s political experience stopped at the election booth. He mostly voted Republican. Then his mother got a letter from TransCanada warning that if she didn’t sign an easement agreement the company would start eminent domain proceedings.

Thompson took the letter as a threat. It inspired him to write his first letter to the editor. Then he called a television station.

He had to dial three times before he could overcome his nerves and talk to the news editor.

“To my surprise, they actually sent a reporter out here,” Thompson said.

He wasn’t alone. Farmers and ranchers on the route began to hold meetings, contacted elected officials and attended public comment sessions held by the State Department.

They asked what will happen once the pipeline outlived its usefulness, criticized a TransCanada request to run the pipeline at higher than normal pressure levels and decried the dangers it posed to the environ-

mentally sensitive Sandhills and the Ogallala Aquifer.

Mary Pipher, a Lincoln author, and several friends organized informational meetings about the pipeline and the bitumen (heavy-grade crude mined from Alberta’s tar sands) it would carry to the Gulf Coast.

Pipher said most people felt the pipeline was inevitable, but they felt compelled to be heard.

“This is Nebraska. We were not going to be radicals,” Pipher said. “We’re not going to be running around swearing and causing trouble, not that frankly I see anything wrong with that, but we were going to try to cause the kind of trouble that works for getting change.”

Jane Kleeb, a Florida transplant and political organizer, took up the cause after hearing farmers and ranchers speak about their concerns at a State Department public comment meeting. Her group, Bold Nebraska, would become the state’s lead organizer fighting the pipeline and a fixture in the national debate.

It was Kleeb who, sitting at a York truck stop, asked Thompson to become the face of the Nebraska opposition with his trademark white cowboy hat, Carhartt jacket and blue jeans. His image would adorn T-shirts,

posters and signs urging Nebraskans and the world to “Stand with Randy.”

“I was willing to do whatever it took.

These guys and the way they treated landowners were atrocious. They really pissed us off big time,” Thompson said.

Pipeline fighters began holding demonstrations, including about 300 people gathering in front of the Governer’s Mansion one night in August 2011 to shine flashlights through the gate and send a message to Gov. Dave Heineman.

“I don’t consider myself a protester,” Deanna Dirks of Hastings said that night.

She attended the event with her sister, Denise, and Denise’s husband, Sam, of Lincoln. “I consider myself a conscientious citizen trying to do what’s important.”

Then came the September 2011 football game against Fresno State at Memorial Stadium. A highlights video of the Huskers’ 1978 conference championship team appeared on the giant HuskerVision screen.

When the logo for the video’s sponsor appeared — TransCanada — people booed.

Soon after, Athletic Director Tom Osborne issued a statement saying the Husker athletic department would end its sponsorship agreement with the company.

“I want to make it clear that the athletic department has no position, either pro or con, regarding the proposed TransCanada pipeline,” he said.

It was a tipping point in the fight to move the pipeline out of the Sandhills, Thompson said.

Soon after, Heineman called a special session to address the proposed pipeline route, and senators produced two bills.

One gave review and regulatory authority of pipelines to the Nebraska Public Service Commission. The second, which was part of an agreement struck to move the pipeline out of the Sandhills, allowed the Keystone XL route to be reviewed by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and approved by the governor.

Less than two months later — on Jan. 18, 2012 — Obama, under pressure from Congress to make a decision on the pipeline, denied TransCanada’s permit application for the first time saying there wasn’t adequate time to review the new route.

The next day, Smith introduced a bill (LB1161) in Nebraska’s Legislature, developed with input from TransCanada lobbyists, to amend the state’s new pipeline law to let any major pipeline application bypass the Public Service Commission and instead request approval from the governor, following an environmental impact review.

It passed and Heineman gave Keystone XL’s revised Nebraska route the thumbs-up on Jan. 22, 2013.

While TransCanada had an approved route, the law passed by Nebraska senators became the center of two constitutional challenges brought by landowners that halted the permit review process for months.

The first challenge failed in January

when the Nebraska Supreme Court fell one vote short of the five needed to address issues of constitutionality, allowing the law to stand by default.

Soon after, landowners filed new lawsuits attacking the constitutionality of the state law that gave TransCanada the power of eminent domain.

With speculation growing that Obama planned to deny the pipeline permit, TransCanada sought to use Nebraska as an excuse to postpone the process.

The company withdrew its eminent domain cases and filed to get its route in Nebraska reapproved by the Public Service Commission, a process that would take up to a year to complete. TransCanada asked the State Department to pause the permit process, which would have pushed a decision past the 2016 election. Opponents speculated TransCanada wanted to stall

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in hopes that a Republican would win the White House, or that fervor over the pipeline would die down.

State Department officials denied TransCanada’s request to postpone the cross-border permit review and Obama outright rejected it soon after citing the urgency of climate change and the need for the U.S. to lead on the issue.

That night, as the pipeline fighters celebrated their victory on Canopy Street, Kleeb talked about how they took on TransCanada and won.

“It was not only because of Bold Nebraska, or only because of 350.org, or only because of the Sierra Club, or only because of farmers, or only because of ranchers, or only because of our native brothers and sisters,” Kleeb said. “We won because we were an unlikely alliance who were not going to let TransCanada bully us.”

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MONTANA ENERGY REVIEW More millionaires linked to Bakken BISMARCK, N.D. — North Dakota added 79 millionaires to its tax rolls based on annual income last year, but a state Tax Department official said the number could drop this year as depressed crude prices cut into oil production and royalty payments to mineral rights owners.

The number of resident tax returns reporting $1 million or more in adjusted gross income climbed by 7.6 percent to 1,120 in tax year 2014, up from 1,041 on 2013 returns. The state had 406 “income millionaires” in 2009, according to tax department figures.

That’s not a per-individual count of millionaires, because the numbers reflect all individual income tax return types – those filing individually, married filing jointly and married filing separately, Deputy Tax

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Commissioner Joe Morrissette said.

The average adjusted gross income reported on resident returns jumped by 2.5 percent to $73,359 last year, up from $71,538 the previous year. Since 2009, average adjusted gross income has climbed by 40 percent, or more than $21,000, according to figures from tax department research director Kathryn Strombeck. year’s income Last growth in part reflected strong oil prices and production that have since waned.

$1 million grant aids Montana Tech Montana Tech has announced a $1 million gift to the university from Ryan Lance, a 1984 graduate of Montana Tech, and his wife, Lisa.

The gift is from The Ryan Lance Family Fund, a donoradvised fund maintained at the Ayco Charitable Foun-

dation. The gift will bring the university’s goal of a Living & Learning Center a major step closer to becoming a reality.

“Ryan and Lisa’s leadership gift in support of the Living and Learning Center is inspirational,” said Montana Tech Chancellor Don Blackketter. “This gift is a reflection of their extraordinary commitment to Montana Tech. Many generations of Montana Tech students will be impacted by this gift.”

Lance, a Great Falls native and Tech petroleum engineering graduate, is the chairman and chief executive officer of ConocoPhillips, the world’s largest independent exploration and production company based on proven reserves and production of liquids and natural gas.

“I want to thank Ryan and Lisa for being a part of the solution in advancing our extraordinary univer-

sity,” said Joe McClafferty, vice chancellor for advancement and university relations and president of the Montana Tech Foundation.

“Their support and leadership of the Montana Tech Foundation is incredible.”

Lance’s leadership and passion for Montana Tech was a major key in the successful fundraising for the Natural Resources Research Center and overall advancement of the Foundation.

He currently serves on the Foundation Board of Directors and is serving in a leadership role in the Montana Tech Foundation’s comprehensive campaign. He has previously contributed to the Digger Turf project, the Natural Resources Building, the Annual Fund, the Petroleum Department, and scholarships at Montana Tech.

The Living & Learning Center (LLC) on the Montana Tech campus will serve as a multidisciplinary build-

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Pipeline safety bill introduced Sen. Steve Daines, RMont., has introduced bipartisan legislation to help ensure the safety of the nation’s pipeline network.

The legislation, known as the Securing America’s Future Energy: Protecting Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (SAFE PIPES) Act, would reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration through 2019.

The SAFE PIPES Act is also sponsored by U.S. Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Cory

Booker (D-NJ) and Gary Peters (D-Mich.).

The SAFE PIPES Act would reauthorize PHMSA from Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 through FY 2019. Key provisions of the bill include: Improving inspection report turnaround times and requiring dialogue sooner from PHMSA to an operator following an inspection Adding river crossing considerations to integrity management review Providing direct hire authority so PHMSA can better leverage its resources to fill vacant inspector positions Ensuring coordination and collaboration on safety research, development and technology between PHMSA, industry, and public sector stakeholders.

Encouraging the establishment of a national database for PHMSA to share data with state agencies

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BETTERbusiness

Fake online reviews are another way that scammers deceive the public By knowing the red flags of scams, you can avoid those targeting your business.

Erin T. Dodge is an editor for the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Washington, Northern Idaho and Montana in Spokane.

Contact the bureau at spokane.bbb.org.

24

December 2015

A fake escrow company, claiming to be located in Great Falls, lulls consumers into thinking they are using a safe transaction service for large eBay and Craigslist purchases, such as vehicles.

Instead, the escrow company is a front for scammers.

The perpetrators of this scam have used several methods to avoid detection.

They use many business names, so that if one has been discovered as a sham, they have others they can use.

The scammers also use forum websites to up their credibility, posing as concerned consumers looking to vet the escrow companies’ legitimacy. Of course they also pose as satisfied consumers and tout how great the escrow services are, using terms like “safe” “secure” “legitimate” and “real deal.”

As if that weren’t enough, they have copied these forum discussions over to several different forum websites for their different business names. The forum posts show dates at least as far back as 2011 and users with forum join dates as far back as 2006. It isn’t clear if the scammers are in control of the forums themselves or if they have simply been running this scam for many years.

For businesses with an eye on search engine optimization, you probably see why the forum trick is so powerful for these scammers. The forum posts help the scammers seem legitimate because when an unwitting consumer does an

online search on the company, these forum posts rise to the top.

Though the perpetrators of this scam have been hard to nail down, some of their business names have an “F” rating at www.bbb.org due to complaints and scams.

To learn more about these scammers, you can read the scam alert at http://go.bbb. org/1O3sSj7.

Lessons for Your Business For some it may be tempting to think that the lesson from this story is to use fake forum posts to boost your company’s SEO. However, such actions could irreparably damage a company’s credibility and reputation once discovered, far outweighing any short-term gains.

Instead, the following lessons are much more helpful for businesses that follow sound business practices that start with trust.

First, it is a good idea to be aware of how others are talking about your company online. Scammers may use a business name that is very similar to yours. Competitors may post negative reviews on review sites, in forums or social media. By regularly searching for your own company online, you can find situations like these to report and repair.

Social media could be another avenue for scammers, competitors and consumers to talk about your business, services or products.

By actively listening and

Courtesy photo

Before jumping into the fray on social media or in forums, it is a good idea to have a plan in place.

responding you can manage and control damage to your reputation and respond to complaints in a positive way that can build your reputation.

Before jumping into the fray on social media or in forums, it is a good idea to have a plan in place. Decide who can respond, what they are allowed to say and what they can offer in the way of customer support. A logical, well thought-out plan can help you avoid making the situation worse at a time when fight-or-flight mode could be triggered by a negative comment.

Another lesson is to be responsive to complaints filed at the BBB or other organizations or agencies.

Scammers with poor ratings

have indefensible conduct.

Legitimate businesses with poor ratings may simply not understand how those ratings can harm their business, and so fail to respond or follow through.

By responding to complaints, following through on promises and accepting the process as a part of doing business, you can turn situations that are potentially harmful to your business and reputation into positive ones.

A third lesson to be aware of is that scammers may target businesses using similar tactics to those targeting individuals. For example, never conduct business with another company or a consultant who wants you to pay via wire transfer or pre-

paid credit or debit cards.

And never trust someone who has sent you an overpayment and asks you to transfer the access payment back to them or to a third party.

By knowing the red flags of scams, you can avoid those targeting your business.

Trust, honesty, integrity and transparency are four of the pillars for every BBB Accredited Business and others that exemplify good marketplace standards. If trust and ethics are a part of your business culture, consider the services from the Center of Character Ethics from BBB at www.bbb.org/ eastern-washington/center-for-character-ethics/ for company-wide support.

VW offers amnesty to whistle-blowing employees Associated Press FRANKFURT, Germany — Volkswagen is telling employees they can come forward with information about how the company cheated on U.S. emissions tests and they won’t be fired.

In a move to get to the bottom of the scandal more quickly, Volkswagen brand manager Herbert Diess told staff in a letter that the company won’t seek damages or fire employees for what they might reveal.

Workers could be transferred to other duties, however, and the company stressed it cannot get anyone off the hook for ongoing criminal probes.

In the letter, Diess says the offer was being made in the interests of “full and swift clarification” of the scandal, which has seen revelations trickle out over weeks.

Volkswagen is facing fines, expensive recalls and lost sales after U.S. authorities found it had equipped diesel cars with software that turned off emissions controls and pepped up performance when the vehicle was not being tested. Under normal driving conditions, the vehicles strongly exceeded limits for nitrogen oxide, a pollutant that

can cause health problems. The company has said there were also “irregularities” in its measurement of emissions of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas scientists say contributes to global warming.

The company says up to 11 million vehicles worldwide have the software that helped cheat on the U.S. emissions tests.

Volkswagen is under pressure to speed up its reaction to the scandal. CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned, but his replacement, Matthias Mueller, is a longtime company employee, as is the board chairman, Hans Dieter Poetsch. That has led to questions about whether insiders can clean up the mess.

The company, based in Wolfsburg, Germany, has hired an outside executive to oversee legal compliance, and has brought in U.S. law firm Jones Day to investigate.

German prosecutors are also looking into the matter.

Volkswagen’s step is similar to one taken

by German industrial firm Siemens AG as it cleaned up a bribery scandal in 2008. A new CEO, Peter Loescher, announced a monthlong amnesty, later extended for one more month, explicitly excluding former directors.

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special advertising section

TimeSquare Furniture & Mattress: Young business heads to shiloh Crossing

By Brenda Maas Photos By Larry Mayer

Corrugated steel and reclaimed barn wood accents at the business counter give the store an upscale vibe.

Growing pains do not need to be painful.

Business partners and owners of TimeSquare Furniture & Mattress, Chris Kennedy and Brian Anderson, can vouch for that statement.

Just two short years after opening a store at 985 S. 24th St. W. the TimeSquare team has moved into a new, larger store at 856 Shiloh Crossing Blvd.

“It’s pretty straightforward,” said Kennedy of the move.“We’ve outgrown our space on 24th Street.”

Customers will find unique, hard-to-find items plus enjoy perusing the wide selection at TimeSquare Furniture & Mattress in Shiloh Crossing.

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December 2015

special advertising section The new facility, which totals 24,000 square feet, includes a 6,000-squarefoot mezzanine that features dining and bedroom suites. Comparatively, the original TimeSquare building contained only 16,000 square feet for all of TimeSquare’s inventory. Additionally, the new store boasts 23-foot-high ceilings within the steel-frame structure, allowing more vertical display area.

For example, the west side of the store has three levels of sofa displays, offering customers a maximum selection.

Additionally, the open-frame construction style precisely fit what Anderson and Kennedy envisioned.

“I had a pre-drawn plan already,” noted Kennedy. “Michael Burke of HGFA elaborated on it and made it right.”

With polished concrete as simple, durable and trendy flooring, the industrial look fits exactly what Kennedy and Anderson were looking for. Corrugated steel covers the face of the main business counter while the wall behind dresses up the space with reclaimed barn wood for a touch of class within the open industrial vibe.

“Those pieces just fit the building,” noted Anderson. “It all works.”

The place to be

When it came to location, the duo did their due diligence.

“We looked at about five different locations,” noted Kennedy.

The lot had to be big enough with the right amount of traffic. Several locations fit one but not both requirements.

“We prayerfully considered each one,” said Anderson of their choices.

They eventually settled on a lot on the western edge of Shiloh Crossing between Rio Sabinas and McDonald’s.

“Shiloh Crossing is THE place to be,” said Kennedy. “The Cornings are particular on making this a first-class shopping center and it fits our needs perfectly.”

Go with rep

When it came to construction, Kennedy and Anderson turned to Jones Construction.

“We chose Jones because of their quality reputation to do great work and to get it

TimeSquare carries livingroom furniture and accessories from contemporary to rustic, custom to common, along with dining and bedroom sets, mattresses, décor and accents.

done on time,” said Kennedy.

The project broke ground in April of 2015, and the business moved in late November of 2015.

“We wanted to be in by the holidays, to maximize the experience for our customers,”

Congratulations TIMESQUARE furniture & mattress We are proud to be your general contractor!

Top left: Visitors drive up to a dramatic wood beam and stone overhang that leads them through the entrance. Far left: Carefully manicured lawn and stone landscape surround the facility. Top right: a vaulted wood beam and wrought iron truss ceiling above the entrance to the clinic.

Right: A stone fireplace is the centerpiece of the lobby.

Design / Build Commercial / Industrial Tilt-up Concrete

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29

special advertising section said Anderson, “and that’s what we are doing,” The eight-month timeline worked out perfectly, according to Kennedy.

“Jones did such a good job that anything that could have been obstacles really never became an obstacle,” said Kennedy. “We gave them our parameters and it worked out perfectly.”

Must haves

The open, steel-frame construction of the new store allows for vertical display and storage, maximizing the customer’s visual experience.

Congratulations

Michael & Sherril Burke 30

December 2015

“Chris and Brian had a pretty clear vision of what they wanted,” said Michael Burke, an architect with HGFA Architects and 35-year veteran. “They were looking for an upscale space that would optimize display space while still remaining light and airy.”

At the top of the “must have” list, the mezzanine is large enough to house both dining and bedroom displays, plus inviting enough to draw the customer into the space.

The grand staircase meets that objective in a very big way—literally.

The width and breath of the stairs indicates that there’s something upstairs that is exciting, something worth looking at. With a large, stunning presence and curved format, the “GoneWith-the-Wind-esque” stairway figuratively begs

a guest to climb and peruse the second level.

The effect is dramatic.

Burke points to that particular design feature as an example of collaboration in sync.

Kennedy and Anderson brought the idea to the table and Burke kept working with it, drawing and turning it until they said ‘That’s it!’

Another objective, placing the mattress shop, a business within the business, at the front of the store, was easily accomplished with design plus three-quarter walls to separate the 4,000-squarefoot zone. Carrying three major reputable mattress brands, Sealy, Serta and Simmons, Anderson noted that customers have choices based on budget and needs.

“We run the full range of prices with the intention on making mattress shopping easy,” he said.

In the zone

Anderson points to five different zones within the large facility as a way to help the shopper differentiate their selections while the massive space still keeps the environment open and trendy.

Simultaneously, the footprint and vertical space allow TimeSquare to carry enough inventory that

special advertising section • Opened in January of 2013 at 985 S. 24th St. W. • Moved to 856 Shiloh Crossing Blvd. in December of 2015 • Locally-owned by Chris Kennedy & Dan Anderson • 13 full-time employees • Carries variety of mattresses, living, dining and bedroom sets plus accessories and rugs • Partners with local designer • Open Mon-Sat (see webpage) and closed Sundays

The grand staircase makes a bold statement inside the new TimeSquare Furniture & Mattress Store, inviting shoppers upstairs with a subtle suggestion that something fun and exciting awaits.

By design the 6,000-square-foot mezzanine houses dining and bedroom sets and is open on both ends for views below and endless streams of natural light.

customers can often shop, purchase and receive all their items on the same day.

“We might have a shopper from out of town who brought a trailer and wants to take his purchase home today,” noted Anderson. “At the same time, we have customers who are very particular and have the patience and time to design their custom piece. We’re experts in serving both types of customers.”

Anderson, who runs the day-to-day operations of TimeSquare, points to nine small décor vignettes as something new from the former location.

He explained that the spaces help customers visualize how accessories can be used and how certain items look together.

The vignettes will change frequently for fresh looks.

Two large loading docks and a staging area sit at the rear of the store. Additionally, the business space contains public restrooms, four offices and a large, airy breakroom for TimeSquare’s 13 full-time employees. With plans to add five to seven more in the next 18-24 months, Kennedy and Anderson have their business acumen pointed toward even more growth in the coming years.

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special advertising section

Yellowstone Family Dental

State-of-the-art dental facility featureS innovative technologieS and ‘at-home’ feel

By Brittany Cremer Photos By Larry Mayer

Architecture—inviting lines enmeshed with creature comforts—can help alleviate anxiety.

The talented staff at Yellowstone Family Dental knows this and has applied the concept to their new, state-of-the-art dental facility located at 1045 N. 27th St. Dr. Matthew Larsen, DMD

Dr. Chase Pearson, DMD Located at 1045 N. 27th St., Yellowstone Family Dental is centrally located and adjacent to Billings’ medical corridor.

32

December 2015

special advertising section Understanding that patients can sometimes feel apprehensive about a visit to the dentist— whether it’s a routine check-up or root canal—the owners of Yellowstone Family Dental wanted to absolve that stress by designing an inviting, appealing office that places client comfort and quality care in the forefront.

What’s more, the company motto evidences the businesses’ commitment to their patients, to have dental needs met in an environment “where you feel like family.”

Suite of services

Dr. Matthew Larsen, DMD and Dr. Chase Pearson, DMD offer comprehensive dental care for the entire family, including routine checkups and hygiene appointments, crowns, implants, dental bonding and dentures.

Serving the community since 2003, the facility was originally located at 1690 Rimrock Rd. “The former office was not efficient in that it was designed with two offices connected by a long hallway,” said Sarah Bishoff, patient care coordinator for Yellowstone Family Dental. “We had initially looked at options to renovate, but

A tranquil water fountain with the business’ logo is located adjacent the reception desk. Patients, and employees, benefit from the soothing sounds.

Top left: Visitors drive up to a dramatic wood beam and stone overhang that leads them through the entrance. Far left: Carefully manicured lawn and stone landscape surround the facility. Top right: a vaulted wood beam and wrought iron truss ceiling above the entrance to the clinic.

Right: A stone fireplace is the centerpiece of the lobby.

Design / Build Commercial / Industrial Tilt-up Concrete

Congratulations

Yellowstone Family Dental We are proud to be your general contractor!

252-6298 • 123 Regal Street www.jonesconstructionmt.com Since 1952 December 2015

33

special advertising section this location opened up and plans moved forward to design from scratch.”

In just seven short months, the pre-existing building was demolished and the state-of-theart practice took form.

Jones Construction served as the general contractor on the build, and Bryce Terpstra was the project manager.

“We were actually only closed for one day between the transition,” Bishoff said. “Lots of hands were involved in the process, but it went very smoothly.”

Cozy welcome

Conveniently located along the east side of 27th Street adjacent the medical corridor, guests to Yellowstone Family Dental will immediately note upon entry that the practice doesn’t “feel” like a dentist’s office.

“And that was the point,”

The dental operatories feature ergonomically-designed seating, ample light and a ceiling-mounted TV so patients can watch their favorite programs while they have their dental work done.

Congratulations Yellowstone Family Dental

Michael & Sherril Burke 34

December 2015

special advertising section Bishoff said, “to counter the notion that the dentist’s office has to be a cold, sterilefeeling environment.”

Instead, an inviting palette of caramel, charcoal grey, crème and terra cotta paints the entry. To the right, a well-appointed beverage nook with complimentary coffee and water invites guests. Plush, leather furniture, designed in living-room style alcoves, welcomes.

The raised ceilings with contemporary pendant lighting evokes an almost art gallery-like sentiment, with a cozy fireplace and tranquil fountain rounding out the ambiance.

Tiled in alternating hues of dove grey and slate, the reception area is further accented with a floating grey “cloud” that adds dimension and interest to the space.

Have little ones in tow? No problem.

A smartly-appointed children’s nook is furnished with cozy bean bag chairs, books, toys and flat screen TV with Disney programming.

Tech talk

Integrated technology was a unifying theme in constructing the new building.

“The doctors are committed to offering the most up-to-date and sophisticated technology available,” Bishoff said.

Ultimately, this translates into an enhanced experience for the patient.

Staff is equipped with earpieces that allows them to communicate patient needs and appointments instantaneously.

“Essentially, the headsets are an enhanced walkie-talkie system,” Bishoff said.

Flat screen TVs are also peppered

Cheerful family portraits of staff are peppered throughout the facility.

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special advertising section throughout the practice—each operatory outfitted with two: one for the viewing/ interpreting X-rays and diagnostic testing and the other for the patient’s enjoyment.

Positioned directly overhead, the patient can choose to watch TV, listen to music or watch a favorite movie on Netflix. Awash in natural light, the operatories also feature comfortable, ergonomically-designed seating.

An on-site lab offers convenience for both patients and staff. Able to craft same-day crowns, patients won’t have to wait for moldings to be sent off.

Four additional hygiene operatories line the north side of the building, each accented with cheerful photos of staff and their families.

Separate conference rooms and a client discussion room are separate from the exam rooms, providing a more private environment to discuss complicated procedures or financing.

Unfinished business

The second floor of the facility was purposefully left unfinished, able to shift and grow to the needs of its patients and staff.

There is also a vacant dental operatory available downstairs in the main corridor should the need arise for an additional dentist.

“The success in this project was contingent upon optimal planning,” Terpstra said.

“There were a lot of moving parts and a lot of coordination.”

An added layer of construction complexity is also factored into any medical build, but Terpstra said the owners and staff were incredibly efficient and easy to work with.

“From the get-go, they wanted the space to exude that ‘at home’ feeling,” Terpstra said. “The end result definitely reflects that.”

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Small business health insurance marketplace struggling to catch on Associated Press After nearly two years in operation and millions of dollars spent in development, the small business

health insurance exchange created by the Affordable Care Act is struggling to catch on.

Nationally, about 85,000 people, from 11,000 small

businesses, have coverage through the online marketplace known as the Small Business Health Options Program, or SHOP, according to the latest federal data

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released in May. Those totals do not include employers that began coverage in 2014 and have not yet renewed their coverage through HealthCare.gov for 2015.

That’s less than 1 percent of people with coverage in the U.S. small group insurance market that in 2013 had about 16.7 million people enrolled in health plans, reported Mark Farrah Associates, a market data firm.

The Congressional Budget Office in January estimated 1 million people would enroll for coverage through SHOP in 2015. No one expected the SHOP exchange to have a large enrollment, but industry officials say its early response has been substantially smaller than expected.

“When you look at the cost and look at the take up rate, it certainly raises questions” about whether SHOP has been worthwhile, said Alissa Fox, senior vice president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. “We never thought the business equation made sense.”

Employers with fewer than 50 full-time workers are eligible to buy coverage on SHOP. The federal govern-

ment even offers businesses an incentive, a tax credit worth up to half of an employer’s share of their workers’ premiums. Among the conditions: The firm must employ fewer than 25 workers and their average salary cannot exceed $50,000. The credit is hardly used in highcost areas of the country where salaries are higher.

Similar to the health insurance marketplace for individuals, the federal government operates the SHOP exchange in 34 states and 16 other states plus the District of Columbia run their own small business exchanges.

The state exchanges also capture a small share of the small business market, based on more current figures compiled by Kaiser Health News. As of early October, five state-run SHOP exchanges — Idaho, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington — had sold coverage to fewer than 200 employers. New York and California have the highest enrollments, and together those two states account for about 6,500 employers and nearly 50,000 people.

The Obama administration hoped SHOP would

call the experts call the

make it easier and cheaper for small employers to offer coverage to employees and for their workers to have a choice of plans.

Unlike the federal- and state-run health insurance exchanges for individuals that limit sign-up to a certain period during the year, the SHOP exchanges allow companies to enroll at any time.

But several factors account for the paltry enrollment in SHOP, say insurance brokers, insurers and state officials. Brokers say SHOP has fewer health plans and more expensive coverage policies than can be purchased outside the exchange.

Several states only have one insurer on their SHOP exchange, including Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and Nebraska, according to consulting firm Leavitt Partners.

Many small employers have stuck with plans they purchased outside SHOP because the Obama administration gave them the option to remain with their existing policies until 2017.

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Business Briefs Local Commerce at a Glance

SBA seeks nominations

ers, chambers of commerce, and local business leaders to nominate Montana based Nominations are now successful small business open for the SBA 2016 Small entrepreneurs,” he said.

Business Awards. These For 2016, the nomination awards recognize businesses criteria have been streamlined and business owners across and simplified. In years past the state for their successes there were multiple forms, and contributions to their letters and documents recommunities. quired; now the nominees are This year the Montana only required to submit one SBA will recognize honorees form and questionnaire. in the following categories at The deadline for submitan award event next spring: ting nominations is Jan. 11, Small Business Person 2016. Nomination guidelines of the Year. and forms are available on Small Business Exporter Montana SBA’s website, www. of the Year. sba.gov/mt or via e-mail (no Woman-Owned Busicalls please) to crystal.baker@ ness of the Year. sba.gov.

Veteran-Owned Business of the Year.

Yellowstone Kelly Millennial Entrepreneur donors honored — under 35.

Perched atop Swords RimWinners in the Small rock Park is a gravesite many in Business Person and Small Business Exporter categories Billings have never seen. Nor are they aware of the grave’s will represent Montana and go on to regional and national occupant, Luther Sage “Yelcompetition. Nominations in lowstone” Kelly, an adventurer these two categories can also who roamed, hunted, guided, be submitted online at http:// and helped lay the groundwork for U.S. government expediawards.sba.gov. tions and expansion in Eastern “Small businesses contribute to local economies by Montana and the Yellowstone Valley. Now the Billings bringing innovation to their community is cultivating community, providing employment opportunities, and awareness and raising funds to overhaul the location, producattracting talent who invent ing an interpretive site more new products or implement appropriate for the veteran of new solutions for existing three wars and famous fronideas,” said Wayne Gardella, tiersman.

Montana SBA district director. “We encourage our lendThe funding goal for the

project is $500,000, with $166,110 pledged so far. The following donors are recognized for their contributions to the Yellowstone Kelly Interpretive Site project: Jim and Lin Roscoe, Steve Wahrlich, Harry and Marcial Clausing, Bill and Anne Cole, Kris Carpenter, Mike and Cheri Anderson, James and Megen Stevenson, Sanderson Stewart, The Billings Parks Department, the Billings Chamber of Commerce and an anonymous donor.

The finished interpretive site will include a recognition area acknowledging the contributions of those donors that made the project possible. A gravesite viewing area will allow visitors to rest on benches, observe Kelly’s gravesite, and take in the scout’s scenic overlook of Billings. Trails will connect interpretive nodes that tell the history and explain the importance of Yellowstone Kelly to Billings. Upon completion the renovated site will instill a sense of honor and respect, restoring the legacy of one of this region’s most distinguished explorers.

Visit the Yellowstone Kelly website to learn more or donate to the project at yellowstonekelly.org.

Airlines boost bag fees

If you fly Frontier or Spirit Airlines, the two ultra-low-

fare carriers have a holiday surprise for you: higher bag fees.

Denver-based Frontier is following the lead of Spirit by hiking bag fees for the holiday period, from Nov. 19 through Jan. 5.

At Frontier, the fee of $25 to $30 for the first checked bag will increase by $5 to $10, depending on how early you pay and whether you pay online or at the check-in counter. The hike extends to the second and third checked bags.

Spirit began raising fees for the holiday last year, saying it wanted to encourage fliers to pack lighter during the crowded travel season. This year, the bag fees at Spirit are going up $2, starting Dec. 16 through Jan. 4.

Spirit Airlines’ website discloses how much fliers must pay in bag fees only after they type in their travel itinerary.

Frontier is expanding the fee hike to other popular travel periods.

According to Frontier’s website, the $5-to-$10 bag fee boost will also make an appearance from Feb. 11 through April 4, about the time most colleges let students out for spring break. The airline will also increase bag fees for the summer travel season, from June 9 through Aug. 16.

In a statement, Frontier Airlines said travelers can avoid the fees by buying a package deal that includes

free bag check, roomier seats and priority boarding, among other extras.

The hike by Frontier should be no surprise. Frontier is in the process of converting to an ultra-low-fare model, following the example of Floridabased Spirit Airlines, which offers bare-bones fares but charges fees for many services or products, including $3 for water.

were talking about how words could eventually be stripped from the logo to make it more universal.

The company’s crowned mermaid has become “the universal symbol for coffee,” said Lemley, who no longer works with Starbucks.

The “brewhaha” started recently when Starbucks unveiled its holiday cup for the 2015 winter season.

In years past, the cups — which have always had a red Cup flap illustrates background — have featured Starbucks’ muscle a variety of designs, including The fact that people even snowflakes and reindeer. care what the Starbucks’ holiThis year, however, the day cup looks like is a testacompany chose to go with a ment to at least one thing: The simple, two-toned red that coffee giant has successfully fades from bright on top to interwoven its brand into the deep at the base. very fabric, culture and history That has brought accusaof humankind, says David tions that the company was Lemley of Seattle’s Retail sending an anti-Christmas Voodoo, a brand-strategy and message. creative-marketing company.

Former TV and radio evan“I think Howard Schultz gelist Joshua Feuerstein shared and his team are sitting back several posts with his 1.8 in their chairs and high-fiving million Facebook friends and each other, ‘cause they’re the followers, calling for a boycott good guys and buzz is buzz,” of Starbucks. He helped spark said Lemley, who worked with a social media frenzy that Starbucks in the 1990s to went viral and even reached build the now-internationally into politics when Republican recognized brand. presidential candidate Donald Lemley says the increasTrump joined the fray and ingly spare and simplified discussed a possible boycott. design of both the year-round Lemley noted that the Starbucks logo and the holiday company has a “Christmas cup are intentional.

Blend” coffee and was also Twenty years ago, brand the first to introduce the strategists for the Seattle com- now-ubiquitous concept of a holiday cup. pany — including Lemley — December 2015

39

Business Success StoriesBriefs Recognizing People Local and Commerce Achievements at a Glance

Souza joins BillingsWorks

Brittney Souza has been hired as director of BillingsWorks, a workforce development initiative funded by a collaboration of private businesses and public SOUZA entities in Billings.

Housed within Big Sky Economic Development, Souza is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the BillingsWorks Action Plan.

Previously, Souza worked in the IT staffing and recruiting field. She brings experience in recruiting and hiring initiatives, labor market, and retention. Reach her at Brittney@ bigskyeda.com.

Mandeville joins RiverStone

Hayley Mandeville joined RiverStone Health in October as a public health associate through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The two-year CDC

Insurance Continued from 38 all the new requirements of the health law, including so-called “essential health benefits.” These additional

40

December 2015

program allows Associates to work in various public health programs while they are mentored by public health professionals. Mandeville comes to Billings from Medfield, Mass. She graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, with a Masters of Public Health with a focus in Health Policy and Management. She will spend her two years at RiverStone Healthworking on Community Health Improvement projects

Montana Women’s Prison and continues to maintain a private practice.

RiverStone duo become certified

Kim McNamara was named Counselor of the Year by the Montana Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors at their annual meeting in Butte in October. The award is based on professional accomplishments, tenure, diversity of practice and other criteria.

McNamara has worked as a licensed addiction counselor for 28 years and as a chaplain with RiverStone Health Hospice Services for three years. She spent a decade as an addiction counselor at the

Two care coordinators at RiverStone Health have completed training to become Certified Application Counselors for the Health Insurance Marketplace. As Certified Application Counselors, they offer balanced, unbiased information to help people compare Marketplace insurance plans or apply for Montana HELP Plan, Medicaid or Healthy Montana Kids coverage. Open enrollment in the Marketplace runs through Jan. 31. Coverage can start as early as Jan. 1, if individuals enroll by Dec. 15.

Beverlee Grauman was an eligibility worker with the Office of Public Assistance for 22 years and also worked as a patient advocate at St. Vincent Healthcare before becoming a RiverStone Health Care Coordinator.

Olivia Brown graduated from Montana State University Billings in 2013

benefits can drive up the cost of policies, making it harder for the SHOP plans to compete.

Another factor that slowed enrollment in SHOP has been software problems in several states that made it hard for em-

ployers and employees to sign up. In addition, the SHOP exchange run by the federal government launched in October 2013 was only available if employers contacted an agent or broker. Its full website was not running until fall

McNamara named counselor of year

with an associate’s degree in English. She studied medical transcription before joining RiverStone Health as a Care Coordinator.

First Interstate names VP

Tyler Crennen is the new vice president and commercial banker at First Interstate Bank Billings West Branch.

Crennen received a bachelor’s degree in business finance with a minor in economics from Montana State University in Bozeman in 2008. He began his career as a bank examiner for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in Utah and moved back to Billings in 2011 to join First Interstate Bank.

technical excellence and project delivery while continuing in his role as CMO. Mercer received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at North Dakota State University and began at Morrison-Maierle as an engineering intern in Billings. He has also opened a branch in Tucson, Ariz., and served as interim natural resources market group leader in Helena.

EBMS announces job changes

the certified self-funding specialist professional designation from the Health Care Administrators Association.

Fosjord has worked at EBMS since 2005. She oversees the organization’s internal audit function, as well as the flexible spending account, health reimbursement arrangement and health savings account administration. Fosjord also holds a flexible compensation specialist designation and is on the Malcom Baldridge Board of Examiners.

Warmer gets CCIM designation

Jason Mercer, PE, chief marketing officer at Morrison-Maierle, was selected as the new water/wastewater market group leader. He will be responsible for leading all aspects of the water/wastewater market group, focusing on business development,

EBMS, a nationallyrecognized administrator of corporate health benefit plans with a corporate office in Billings, announces the following promotion and certification: Stacey Loucks was recently promoted to strategic account executive. Loucks began her career with EBMS in 2004 and has served as the corporate legal assistant, HIPAA privacy officer and compliance officer. She recently received a Montana Producer license.

Vikki Fosjord, director of internal audit and consumer reimbursement, has earned

2014.

“With all that stacked up against it, it does not surprise me that the numbers are so low,” said Kevin Lucia, a research professor at Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, who studied the rollout.

Kevin Counihan, the Obama administration’s top insurance exchange official, acknowledges SHOP will only be a “niche product” and most policies will still be sold outside the marketplace.

Still, he expects as more

employers and insurance brokers learn about SHOP, that its enrollment will grow. Asked in an interview about low enrollment, he said: “It doesn’t really bother me … something like this takes time.”

Mercer selected to lead group

George A Warmer, a Certified Commercial Investment Member and managing partner at Coldwell Banker Commercial CBS, was awarded the CCIM designation by the CCIM Institute during its Annual Governance meetings in Austin, Texas. Warmer was among 244 commercial real estate professionals who earned the designation by passing the institute’s comprehensive examination, the final element in the designation process.

Farm animals in demand for live Nativity scenes during Christmas season Associated Press Some farmers have extra reason to rejoice at Christmas: Tis the season for renting out animals for live Nativity scenes and other holiday events.

Growing up in rural Burlington, Wisconsin, one of Larry Squire’s favorite Christmas traditions was helping to set up a Nativity scene in his uncle’s barn.

“We borrowed the animals from all over the neighborhood,” he recalled.

So several years ago, Squire brought the tradition to Cargill United Methodist Church in his current hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin, renting animals from petting zoos and small farms. The church rents two pens’ worth of animals to stand next to a makeshift stable alongside volunteers dressed as Mary, Joseph, angels and the three wise men.

“It’s a beautiful thing.

There’s a calm and peacefulness that comes from having the animals there,” Squire said.

Farm animals, reindeer and camels are in high demand between Thanksgiving and Christmas, said Megan Powell, event coordinator at Honey Hill Farm, a mobile petting zoo with locations in Berry, Kentucky, and Utica, Ohio.

“We will do 25 to 30 events in one weekend,” Powell said. “It’s not uncommon for us to sell out.”

Renting animals for Christmas programs helps pay for their food and upkeep, she said, and has been a huge growth area for the business.

“Churches love it,” Powell said. “We didn’t create the demand. We just became overwhelmed by it.”

Jodi Collen, an event planner at Augsburg College in Minneapolis and president of the International Special Events Society, explains it this way: “As event professionals, it doesn’t take

Gazette Staff

A pony is seen at the entrance to a live nativity scene at the Open Bible Christian Center in Billings on 19th Street West in December 2009.

you long to say, ‘I’m organizing a Nativity and I can get a donkey — why wouldn’t I get a donkey?’”

Honey Hill works with dozens of churches, schools and businesses to provide sheep, donkeys and goats for live Nativity scenes, said Powell, whose mother started the business about 15 years ago with a pony that she rented for birthday parties. “It really took off and she started adding animals.”

Rentals start at $325 an

hour for a group of animals, depending on which ones are requested and for how long.

In most cases, Powell said, visitors are allowed to touch and pet the animals.

“We do have a camel,” she said. “But we only have one — so he goes really fast.”

Few petting zoos and traditional farms raise camels, and they are harder to incorporate into programs and exhibits, said Bob Hudelson of Lost River Game Farm in Orleans, Indiana. He raises

foxes, skunks and other exotic animals.

“There are a lot of camels out there — just not a lot of tame camels,” he said.

Many churches want them, however: “The three kings definitely had camels on their journey to see Christ,” Hudelson said.

“With the camel, you get more of a feel of the story.”

Customers also want reindeer, said Powell, who does not raise them but has thought about it.

“The demand for reindeer is really high,” she said.

From his farm in Knoxville, Tennessee, Kyle Wilson rents reindeer to malls, Christmas tree farms, zoos, hospitals and other businesses throughout the South. His prices start at $1,500 for a pair of reindeer for four hours.

“I currently have 21 reindeer but that’s not enough,” he said. “I started 15 years ago and each year I have had a record year.”

Families love to see Santa arrive with reindeer, said Amy Boyles, marketing manager of Kingsport Town Center in Kingsport, Tennessee.

“It’s an added thing for our community and kids,” she said. “How many people get to see a reindeer? It gives them a bit of a wow factor.”

She has already booked “Dasher” and “Dancer” to appear with Santa during the mall’s Black Friday sale.

December 2015

41

STRATEGIESfor success

K nowing what your customer wants is the key to profitability In any business where customers come to your store or facility, one must ensure that the store is warm and welcoming to all customers.

Joe Michels, Ph.D., P.E., C.P.I., is principal of Solomon Bruce Consulting LLC. Contact him at 406-672-6387 or at solomonbruce.com.

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December 2015

A new retail business owner told me a story the other day that I found most interesting. His business caters to a wide variety of clients, some with small children. The business had only been open a couple of weeks when people started asking, “Where is the baby changing station?”

Well, as you might have guessed, the owner did not have any installed in the restrooms.

Of course, it did not take long to have a contractor come and install baby changing stations in the restrooms. However, as we sat and discussed this question, the business owner said that because his child was older, he never thought about that question when he designed his new facility.

In any business where customers come to your store or facility, one must ensure that the store is warm and welcoming to all customers. Access for people with disabilities is a big deal. Can someone who is mobility impaired be easily accommodated in your business?

If you have customers with small children, a baby changing station is a “must have” feature in all of your restrooms. What about a water cooler or water fountain?

Making the shopping experience as convenient as possible is the key to retaining and gaining new customers. A high-end jewelry store probably would not have a baby changing station installed in customer restrooms.

However, a store that has

Making the shopping experience as convenient as possible is the key to retaining and gaining new customers.

a lot of children-related items, i.e., clothes, toys, games, may very well address children’s needs in the restroom.

This issue of the baby changing station portends a larger question: “Who is our customer? Do we provide the services or products that the customer desires?” This question is one that business owners continue to struggle with. Knowing who your customer is, what he or she desires in terms or

service or product will go a long way in ensuring that you provide value to each customer.

These days, change happens at the speed of light. Just the other day, Macy’s announced that it was closing 32 stores that were lower-performing and not meeting profit expectancy targets. The Macy’s CEO stated that online vendors had some impact in the corporate decision to reduce the physical presence of the

store. The retail sector has experienced significant turmoil in the past five years because customers’ buying habits have changed.

Are you doing everything you can to retain current customers and attract new customers? Is your social media presence as rich and robust as it needs to be? Do your customers use social media?

If you cannot honestly answer these questions, then this is one area which

Courtesy photo

you may wish to begin exploring. No longer can one believe that social media does not impact their particular business. We all want and need new customers. We have to make that experience as easy and simple as possible, ensuring that we not only have the right product, but also the right customer service amenities, such as baby changing stations, that make our store or environment warm, inviting and welcoming.

Business licenses The following licenses were issued to businesses in October 2015.

The information is collected from the City of Billings.

Tri-Jack Design Products Co., 1113 Central Ave., 652-2555 Lost Creek Refuge, Laurel, 850-4382 Q Nails & Spa, 111 S. 24th St. W., Suite 30, 969-5215 Stacey Overhuls House Moving, Columbus, 321-1507 Marina Gallo Treatment Massage, 531 Judith Lane, #14, 6331479 Lofing Electric LLC, Columbus, 322-5574 ALC Construction, 915 Miles Ave., 672-4042 Divine Rootz, Laurel, 628-6351 JDL Enterprises, 804 N. 25th St. 671-1888 Rock On 2 Health LLC, 1502 38th St. W., #9, 853-1011 Underdog Shoeshine, 713 Ave. F, 860-9737 Genco Construction, 937 N. 24th St., 647-6706 D&S Gutters & Roofing, 2938 Millice Ave., 538-4511 Billings Helpers LLC, 1747 Cheryl St., 647-1326 Legendary Roofing & Exteriors, 507 Jemstone Drive, 694-7498 A2Z Mechanical & Household Services, 837 Broadwater Ave., 661-3177 Top Notch Towing & Recovery LLC, 251 Sugar Ave. Inventimark LLC, 2206 Clark Ave., 371-3535 A&J Enterprise, 6600 Hesper Road, 697-9945 Jiffy Lube, 1023 Main St., 248-8000 Kimberly Construction, 210-1/2 Broadwater Ave., 200-0779 D&M Home Inspections LLC, 120 Shaw Circle, 696-1236

John Szwedkowicz, 95 Cache Drive, 565-8368 Black Diamond Casino, 100 24th St. W., 656-0815 Bear Grass Resources, 821 N. 27th St., #248, 850-1832 Marker Construction, 2310 Wyoming Ave., 321-1388 Guadalupe Garcia, 2010 Lewis Ave., 690-6966 Petlantis LLC, 3127 Central Ave., Suite 1, 702-9474 Jay Erekson, 541 Park Lane, 245-5918 Wild Purls, 1206 24th St. W., 245-2224 PKC Construction Co., Kansas City, Mo., 913-782-4646 Caruso Construction LLC, 42 Almadin Lane, #B4, 200-1193 Tony Trombetta, 1711 Sagebrush Road, 671-4960 Revel Coffee, 2590 Holman Ave., Suite D, 534-9621 Hammers Contracting LLC, 1491 Sourdough Lane, #4, 927-7528 Frank’s Custom Concepts, 2323 Belknap Ave., 855-2606 SGM Services, 1765 Morocco Drive, 671-9979 H&H Contracting, 964 Pegasus Place, 208-1921 Kibler & Kirch, 104 N. Broadway, Suite 201, 384-0280 Alex Nauman Music, 2906 First Ave. N., 670-9046 Berkeley Inc., 316 N. 26th St., Suite 51002, 333-7377 Aggie & Harry, 1178 Sierra Granda Blvd., 670-8052 Universal Protection Service LP, 490 N. 31st St., 845-356-8390 JT Exteriors LLP, 615 Custer Ave., 690-3951 Ruthann August, 1204 17th St. W., 200-4567 J&S Heating and Cooling, Ballantine, 696-3686 Siding Guys ETC, 523 Lake Elmo Drive, 690-6252 Streamline Design, 2604 Keel Drive, 698-6207

Mountain Vertical Contractors LLC, 1430 Country Manor Blvd., Suite 2, 371-5588 Bug Out Pest Control, 434 N. 15th Ave., Forsyth, 351-1716 A&E Property Services, 3121 Reflections Circle, 696-1956 Mommaids, 2934 Lewis Ave. Israel Andrade Lopez Strictly Drywall, 1926 Mullowney Lane, #36, 860-9841 Taj Enterprises, 300 S. 24th St. W., 860-5646 On-Site Truck Repair, 1245 Cook Ave., 876-2207 Sunny Shades Inc., 300 S. 24th St. W., 918-852-9111 Daniels Roofing, 715 Wyoming Ave., 860-1895 Faeries For Nature, 525 Steve St., 647-1734 Fringe Salon & Boutique PLLC, 3127 Central Ave., Suite 5, 5343435 Overstocked FLU/MLU, 824 Shiloh Crossing Blvd., 656-6875 Monarch Heating and Cooling LLC, Bozeman, 579-7524 Reliable Renovations, 364 Sahara Drive, 697-4786 Colossal Construction, 629 Custer Ave., 861-8663 L. Johnson Construction LLC, Red Lodge, 426-8051 Tom’s Toys, Laurel, 325-1866 Izlo Diecast And Toys, 1148 First Ave. N., Suite C, 672-1074 Angie Hoefer, 2619 St. Johns Ave., Suite F, 208-7108 Mann Mortgage, 100 N. 27th St., Suite 250, 294-5300 Taz Construction, 243 Custer Ave., 850-5218

Montana patents Below are listed U.S. patents issued to Montana inventors Sept. 15-Oct. 13, 2015. For assistance in patent filing, call Billings patent attorney Antoinette M. Tease at 406-294-9000.

Jonathan Y. Walther and Jeffery M. Hollenback, both of Missoula: Traffic management system. 9,135,817. Sept.

15. Superior Traffic Systems, LLC of Missoula.

Alan Wanderer, David Yakos and Seth Carlstrom, all of Bozeman: Adjustable in-situ device to stabilize and maintain positioning of eyewear on a user. 9,140,906. Sept. 22. Huggoptics, LLC of Bozeman.

Bradley Benjamin of Bozeman, Susan Yount of Ames, Iowa, and David Andrew Haila of Clive, Iowa: Systems and methods for automated taxonomy

concept replacement in an XBRL document. 9,146,912. Sept. 29. Workiva Inc. of Ames, Iowa.

Raymond Robert Kavarsky Jr., of Bozeman, Christopher M. Doyle of Waterbury, Vt., and Scott T. Keller of Waterbury Center, Vt.: Snowboard binding and boot. 9,149,711. Oct. 6. The Burton Corporation of Burlington, Vt. Vladimir Gorokhovsky of Bozeman, Brad B. Heckerman of Missoula and Yuhang Cheng of Missoula; Wear resistant vapor deposited coating, method of coating deposition and applications therefor. 9,150,951. Oct. 6. G & H Technologies LLC of Missoula.

Lee E. Cannon and John P. O’Donovan, both of Bozeman: Gaming system and method for offering simultaneous play of multiple games. 9,153,100.

Oct. 6. IGT of Las Vegas, Nev. Lee E. Cannon and John P. O’Donovan, both of Bozeman: Gaming system and method for offering simultaneous play of multiple games. 9,153,101.

Oct. 6. IGT of Las Vegas, Nev. Matthew B. Jore of Ronan; Lincoln Jore of Ronan; Michael A. Kvam of Polson; James D. Jore of Polson; David Samsel of Missoula; James David Duford of Polson, and James S. Smith of Lyons, Colo.: Systems and methods for improved direct drive generators.

9,154,024. Oct. 6. Boulder Wind Power, Inc. of Louisville, Colo.

Gilbert Fregoso and Yuval Charles Avniel, both of Missoula: Ornamental design of focused tissue boring tip with water vent. D740,423. Oct. 6. American Eagle Instruments Inc. of Missoula.

Gilbert Fregoso and Yuval Charles Avniel, both of Missoula: Ornamental design of an irrigation tip. D740,940.

Oct. 13. American Eagle Instruments Inc. of Missoula.

Ross Walker of Bozeman; David Yakos of Bozeman; Christopher Kirn of Campbell, Calif., and Marc Warsowe of Redwood City, Calif.: Foot actuated faucet. 9,157,548. Oct. 13. 456Corp of Redwood City, Calif.

Edward Bose Babcock IV of Frenchtown: Light filtering system. 9,157,586.

Oct. 13.

Jonathan D. Halderson of Santa Clara, Calif.; Ciaran John Patrick O’Connor of Bozeman, and Jay Wilkins of Belgrade: Method and apparatus for characterizing objects and monitoring manufacturing processes. 9,157,876.

Oct. 13. Electro Scientific Industries Inc. of Portland, Ore. Gregory J. Wilson and Kyle M. Hanson, both of Kalispell: Flow battery systems. 9,160,025. Oct. 13. Applied Materials Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif.

Brady Wiseman of Bozeman and Dana Allison of Lima, N.Y.: Method and system for informing customer service agent of details of user’s interaction with voice-based knowledge retrieval system. 9,160,850. Oct. 13. Oracle OTC Subsidiary LLC of Redwood Shores, Calif.

Eric Logan Hensen of Great Falls: Stereo audio headphone apparatus for a user having a hearing loss and related methods. 9,161,131. Oct. 13. K&E Holdings, LLC of Lakeland, Fla.

December 2015

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Bankruptcies Billings area filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Oct. 1-31, 2015.

Addresses are in Billings unless otherwise noted.

CHAPTER 7 Tonya Lynette Arnold, 1620 Virginia Lane, Oct. 6.

Brent A. Hein, Jennifer Brooke Hein, 2147 Concord Drive, Oct. 9.

Jake A. Grove, Carol A. Grove, P.O. Box 1273, Red Lodge, Oct. 9.

Pamela A. Buck, 414 S. 29th St., Oct. 9.

Theresa Lynn Gaasch, 3305 Fifth Ave. S., Oct. 10.

Alesha Jill Timm, 243 Joliet Road, Columbus, Oct. 14.

Paulette Prouse, P.O. BOX 129, Shepherd, Oct. 15.

Donna Maye Wucetich, 1140 Governors Boulevard, Oct. 16.

Michelle Kay Grenier, 1426 Elaine St., Oct. 16.

Joseph A. Lahey, 2016 Monad Road, Oct. 17.

Cassandra Helen Frost, 2207 Spruce St., Oct. 19.

Scott Lee Woodson, 816 S. 31st St., Oct. 23.

Douglas Lee Knoche, Teresa Susan Knoche, 1222 Independent Lane, Oct. 23.

Benjamin Joseph Henneberry, Regina Elizabeth Henneberry, 2108 Beloit Drive, Oct. 23.

Kimberly Ann Loudan, P.O. Box 229, Joliet, Oct. 25.

Justin Lee Moran, Jennifer Rebecca Moran, 1803 Avenue F, Oct. 25.

Alice Lucia Evangelista, 428 Kuhlman Lane, Oct. 27.

Azure Stroop, 4240 Julaura Lane, Oct. 29.

Emil Leo Woeppel, 332 Jefferson St., Oct. 29.

Diane Ellen Wegner, 215 Calhoun Lane No. 13, Oct. 30.

CHAPTER 13 Hector A Alvarado, Route 1 Box 1223c, 1289 S. Bighorn River Lane, Hardin, Oct. 15.

Adrienne Lee Burns, 1437 Rimrock Road, Oct. 16.

Robert E. Rollins Jr., Monica J. Rollins, 1024 Crist Drive, Oct. 29.

Residential Permits Addition Single/ Duplex/Garage 4269 Cedarwood Lane, Knight, Crystal & George, Wells Built Homes Inc., $79,680 1414 Chesapeake Lane, Cruzan, Nathaniel G., Reule Builders, $25,000 3175 McMasters Road, Quass, Kathleen Renee Trustee, $18,000 3115 Farnam St., Mikel Garcia, $52,320 3550 Masterson Circle, Pekovich, Greg & Becky, Innovative Technique Construction, $15,480.

2215 Remington Square, Sheckleton, Olivia R., Corcoran Bldg Maint., $20,000 5840 Sam Snead Trail, Costello, Patrick J., High Plains Construction Inc., $17,850 938 Aronson Ave., Flud, Timothy L. & Deborah A., J & S Consulting, $5,760 2331 Ash St., Baum, Stephen E., Freyenhagen Construction Inc., $9,800 3703 Hayden Drive, Weller, David R. & Leisa I., Freyenhagen Construction Inc., $3,840 2324 Virginia Lane, McNeill, William F. & Jo Ann, $26,005 2324 Virginia Lane, Mcneill, Wil-

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December 2015

liam F. & Jo Ann, $26,005 2005 Labrea Street, Hosterman, Dean A., MDJ Construction LLC, $1,700 1621 Front Street, McCall, Bradley & Kelsey, Mccall Development, $14,980 1402 Cascade Ave., Bottrell, Teresa L., Albaugh Construction LLC, $17,000

New Garage 6139 Canyonwoods Drive, Wells Built Homes Inc., Wells Built Homes Inc., $30,240 2931 Lynn Ave., Albaugh, Brandon & Donna, Albaugh Construction LLC, $21,840 2228 Woody Drive, Vick, Gregory S. & Kathryn A., $24,640 3625 Corbin Drive, Hofferber, Michael D. & Pamela, $6,500 3703 Hayden Drive, Weller, David R. & Leisa I., Freyenhagen Construction Inc., $8,220

New Single Family 3476 Scout Trail, Buscher Development Inc., Buscher Construction Ltd. $216,825

3482 Scout Trail, Buscher Development Inc., Buscher Construction Ltd., $216,825 5240 Clemson Drive, Kisling Quality Builders, Kisling Quality Builders, $250,000 5216 Clemson Drive, Kisling Quality Builders, Kisling Quality Builders, $250,000 5302 Clemson Drive, Kisling Quality Builders, Kisling Quality Builders, $250,000 1034 Claremore Lane, Ray & Dave LLC, R & R Builders., $155,225 1032 Claremore Lane, Ray & Dave LLC, R & R Builders, $154,535 4638 Elk Ridge Trail, Design Builders Inc., Design Builders Inc., $237,990 4733 Gold Creek Trail, Design Builders Inc., Design Builders Inc. $237,990 2533 Burlwood Drive, Classic Design Homes Inc., Classic Design Homes, $230,025 1125 Vera Cruz Circle, Oakland Built Homes Inc., Oakland Built Homes Inc., $147,015 1121 Vera Cruz Circle, Oakland Built Homes, Oakland Built Homes Inc., $144,290 6825 Copper Ridge Loop, Oakland Built Homes, Oakland Built Homes Inc., $169,925 1122 Vera Cruz Circle, Oakland

Built Homes Inc, Oakland Built Homes Inc., $141,340 1117 Vera Cruz Circle, Oakland Home Built Homes Inc, Oakland Built Homes Inc., $141,340 1118 Vera Cruz Circle, NA, Oakland Built Homes Inc., $146,280 1825 Island View Drive, McCall Homes, McCall Development, $202,125 2115 Del Mar St., Jeff Kreitzberg Homes, Jeff Kreitzberg Homes, $172,170 2123 Del Mar St., Jeff Kreitzberg Homes, Jeff Kreitzberg Homes, $172,170 6156 Timbercove Drive, Mike & Kari Schlepp, $331,340 1320 Benjamin Blvd., Jeff Kreitzberg Homes Inc., Jeff Kreitzberg Homes, $174,505 1742 W Thunder Mountain Road, Jeff Junkert Const., Jeff Junkert Construction Inc., $208,310 1028 Claremore Lane, Ray & Dave LLC, R & R Builders, $154,535 768 Arbor Hills Drive, Kale William H., Kale Construction Co., $222,250 105 Unita Park Drive, Green Jeans LLC, Green Jeans LLC, $270,000 4048 Backwoods Drive, Classic Design Homes, Classic Design Homes, $198.715 1550 Tania Circle, Allen Mark, Trailhead Builders Inc., $192,815

1423 Anchor Ave., Had, Inc., Had, Inc., $202,305 1426 Jean Ave., Trevor, Had, Inc., $209,940 918 North Fork Trail, Trail West Homes, Stock Construction Co., $219,390 934 Grouse Berry St., Trails West Homes LLC, Trails West Homes LLC, $195,545 5705 Mountain Front Ave., Trails West Homes LLC, Trails West Homes LLC, $189,270 3074 Western Bluffs Blvd., Double Dutch Construction, Double Dutch Construction, $290,115 6315 Gray Hawk Way, Cory Smith, Tower Construction LLC, $259,950 1102 Vera Cruz Circle, Oakland Built Homes Inc., Oakland Built Homes Inc., $153,345 1101 Vera Cruz Circle, Oakland Built Homes Inc. , Oakland Built Homes Inc., $160,245 446 Boca Raton Road, R J Mac Homes, RJ Mac Homes Inc., $214,015 3025 Placer Drive, Hudson Hagstrom, Dan Fleury Construction Inc., $314,380 6164 Timbercove Drive, Arron & Heather Audet, Dan Fleury Construction Inc., $286,050 1339 Benjamin Blvd., Jeff Kreitzberg, Jeff Kreitzberg Homes, $176,505

Residential Permits, continued 1826 Island View Drive, McCall Homes, McCall Development, $226,420 5315 N. Thunder Mountain Cove, J & S Development Co., Jeff Junkert Construction Inc., $263,570 1114 Vera Cruz Circle, Oakland Built Homes Inc., Oakland Built Homes Inc., $146,280 1100 Beringer Way, KW Signature Homes Inc., Kisling Quality Builders, $295,000 1114 Vera Cruz Circle, Oakland Built Homes Inc., Oakland Built Homes Inc. $146,280 1113 Vera Cruz Circle, Oakland Built Homes Inc. Sfr $146,280 5225 Cabernet Lane, Dan Noennig, $274,975 2348 Glengarry Lane, Linda Saunders, Ban Construction Corp., $340,875 925 North Fork Trail, Trails West Homes LLC, Trails West Homes LLC, $270,850 1367 Twin Lakes Drive, Classic Design Homes Inc., Classic Design Homes $203,740 1425 Jean Ave., Trevor Sherner, Had Inc. $235,980 1507 Emma Ave., Kirt & Gail Witchman, A To Z Contracting Inc., $206,130 New Two Family 717 Avenue B, Propriedad LLC, Big

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Sky Exterior Designs Inc., $327,820 23 Monroe St., Currie, Trent, BTU Buster, $211,920 4107 Mavericks Way, Brockel, Jason Dean, Sunset Construction LLC, $188,520

Remodel Single/ Duplex/Garage 2460 Greenbriar Road, Jonasen Randy L., Win-Dor Industries, $19,265 3321 Glenfinnan Road, Stiener, Kenneth M., Six Sigma Contracting, $1,500 610 Cook Ave., Reichert, Dorothy, $600 126 Avenue E, Vincent Kristine M., Messer Construction, $6,500 2105 St. Andrews Drive, Buechler Susan Marie, All Seasons Roofing, $1,680 1941 Gleneagles Blvd., Mocabee, Blake Michael & Krist, Lynnrich Inc., $4,999 2731 Phyllis Circle N., Blackwell, Eugene G. & Carol K., $800 2487 Nikki Place, Riggs Nancy, K-Designers, $11,921 512 Winter Park Drive, Demis, Christina A., $1,800

ONLINE

MOBILE

3361 Windmill Circle, Smith, Samantha A., $1,229 2612 Castle Pines Circle, Foley, Alvin L. Jay & Shirley T., Aaron Higginbotham, $60,000 3405 Lucky Penny Lane, Davidson, Johnny L. & Melissa A., $7,800 1906 Front St., Munguia Derek W. & Brooke A., $11,440 428 Crow Lane, Hoagland, Jordan M. & Erin L., C’s Construction of Billings, $4,561 1903 Northridge Circle, Wendt, Bruce H & Oakley Clair, Above & Beyond Construction, $7,500 331 W. Daffodil Drive, Alder, David E. & Cecilia B., Pella Window Store, $674 2222 Azalea Lane, Maristuen, Monica J., Rocking JR Services LLC, $6,500 528 Clark Ave., Dyer, Joseph A. & Renee K., Northwest Building and Design LLC, $3,615 3043 Lloyd Mangrum Lane, Bakken, David L. & Linda G., BWI, $1,000 220 41st St. W., Martin, Randall A. & Lisa A., C Squared Construction, $500 3018 17 St. W., Turnquist, Cody L. & Darci, V.W.C. Inc., $23,000 2845 Jennie Lane, Watterson, David C. & Kimberly, Ty Nelson Construction, $5,200 2105 11 St. W., Kirst, Michael W.

TABLET

& Marian Lyma, C Squared Construction, $500 2002 Avenue D, Crabtree, Roger & Marlet, Northwest Custom Improvements, $9,800 1304 Concord Drive, Paulson, Family Trust, Kenco Enterprises Inc., $700 2233 Remington Square, Simmons, Bill & Marilyn, Freyenhagen Construction Inc., $16,000 2723 Arvin Road, Cochrane, Kevan, Les Nouveau Milieux-Bob Habeck, $350 2210 9 Ave. N., Big Sky Property Solutions LLC, NWD Builders, $18,315 2204 9 Ave. N., Big Sky Property Solutions LLC, NWD Builders, $18,315 1917 9 Ave. N., Schram, Peggy, $5,100 383 31st St. W., Strobel, Kelly R. & Sheila D., C’s Construction Of Billings, $18,881 13 Stanford Court, Olson, Michael R. & Deborah H., The Pella Window Store, $1,200 3001 Jonathon Court, Krueger, Martin & Marjorie A., The Pella Window Store, $1,600 1707 Lynn Ave., Lee, Mun K.J., Craigo Construction, $500 831 Terry Ave., Fleek-Airne, Jennifer A., MCM Inc., $3,000 2220 Willowbrook Way, Swinehart, Robert P. & Kathleen, Stevens

Renovations Plus, $15,000 115 Avenue D, Coffin, Stella M., One Source Construction LLC, $4,500 2033 Green Terrace Drive, Hall, Jakke L., $1,380 1423 Cascade Ave., David, Roddy, $2,700 808 N. 15 St., Todd Slarp, $2,500 525 Burlington Ave., Parker, Robert W. & Tammy Y., Colossal Construction, $500 1084 Kyhl Lane, Kapalczynski, D’arlyn, Colossol Construction, $600 814 Betsy Drive, Brost, Elfreida R., Colossal Construction, $450 2110 Poly Drive, Elkins, James M. & Charlene F., Win-Dor Industries, $14,740 714 Parkhill Drive, Konecny, Cynthia A., Craigo Construction, $500 2608 Silver Blvd., Kabeary, Dona L., All Phase Builders, $500 3465 Saint Johns Ave., Fellman, Brem D. & Jodi L., KJ Construction, $3,500 3336 Horton Smith Lane, Richey, Sharon S., C Squared Construction, $750 1027 Dorothy Lane, Smith, Ryan Etal, Lynnrich Inc., $3,396 There were 231 Fence/Roof/Siding permits issued in October.

APPS

December 2015

45

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In the Community to Serve®

Billings Commercial Building Permits October 1-31, 2015 Fence/Roof/Siding

2030 Fourth Ave. N.

Jem LLC

Adan’s Construction LLC

$22,300

Fence/Roof/Siding

2024 Third Ave. N.

Jem LLC

Adan’s Construction LLC

$4,500

American Steel Inc.

Fence/Roof/Siding

1211 Main St.

RPR Properties LLC

Fence/Roof/Siding

1815 Grand Ave.

Jim Majerus

$23,000 $4,000

New 5 Or More Family

610 S. 44 St. W.

NA Stock Construction Company

$4,178,949

New 5 Or More Family

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment Group II LLC

$4,178,949

Stock Construction Company

New 5 Or More Family

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment Group II LLC

Stock Construction Company

$4,178,949

New 5 Or More Family

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment

Stock Construction Company

$4,178,949

New 5 Or More Family

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment Group II LLC

Stock Construction Company

$4,178,949

New 5 Or More Family

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment

Stock Construction Company

$4,178,949

New Church/School

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment Group II LLC

Stock Construction Company

$469,773

New Parking Lot/Non-Building Structure

537 Grand Ave.

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church

Langlas & Assoc. Inc.

$300,000

New Warehouse/Storage

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment Group II LLC

Stock Construction Company

$326,294

New Warehouse/Storage

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment

Stock Construction Company

$428,960

New Warehouse/Storage

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment Group II LLC

Stock Construction Company

$321,627

New Warehouse/Storage

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment

Stock Construction Company

$403,293

New Warehouse/Storage

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment Group II LLC

Stock Construction Company

$321,627

New Warehouse/Storage

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment

Stock Construction Company

$377,627

New Warehouse/Storage

610 S. 44 St. W.

Stock Investment Group II LLC

Remodel

2718 Montana Ave.

Stock Construction Company Nelson Steve D. Jones Construction Inc.

$321,627 $250,000

Remodel

605 24 St. W.

M & K Inc.

Jones Construction Inc.

$28,500

Remodel

745 Henesta Drive

Hawkins David C. & Barbara K.

Lais Development Inc.

$40,000

Remodel

1815 Grand Ave.

Jim Majerus

Fence/Roof/Siding

2135 Grand Ave.

Go Fish Investments

$5,000

Engelhardt Everett

$12,000

Fence/Roof/Siding

2002 Woody Drive

Builders Mgmt. & Invest. Co. Inc.

M W Construction

$13,500

Fence/Roof/Siding

119 N. 33rd St.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church

Infinity Roofing & Siding Inc.

$27,976

Remodel

2800 10th Ave. N.

Deaconess Medical Center

Bauer Construction

$413,000

Remodel

770 King Park Drive

BK RE 5165 LLC

Diamond Construction Inc.

$115,000

Remodel

401 N. 31st St.

Billings 401 Joint Venture

Horizon Retail Construction

$15,000

Remodel

3202 Henesta Drive

Darrin Wahlen

Tower Construction LLC

$95,000

Remodel

215 N. 31st St.

Roman Catholic Bishop of Great Falls

Master Protection Corporation

Remodel

1314 Fourth Ave. N.

Mazabuka LLC

Neumann Construction

$3,197 $800

Addition

72 Lily Valley Circle

Blw Investments LLC

McFadden Construction

$1,950,000

Fence/Roof/Siding

1345 Mullowney Lane

Khan Organization LLC

Adan’s Construction LLC

$50,700 $25,000

Fence/Roof/Siding

2401 Minnesota Ave.

American Appliance

Empire Roofing Inc.

Fence/Roof/Siding

1206 Main St.

Hawkins Family Trust

A To Z Contracting Inc.

Fence/Roof/Siding

501 S. 28th St.

The City Of Billings

Ace Roofing LLC

Fence/Roof/Siding

510 Eighth St. W.

J & C Welzenbach Inc.

Affordable Contractors

Fence/Roof/Siding

2401 Montana Ave.

Rex Hotel Partnership

Lennick Bros. Roofing & Sheet Metal

46

December 2015

$6,000 $75,000 $9,000 $11,000

Billings Commercial Building Permits October 1-31, 2015, continued New Other

4540 S. Frontage Road

Tacoma Screw

Tacoma Screw

$20,000

New Store/Strip Center

1445 41st St. W.

Tired Man LLC

Jones Construction Inc.

Remodel

145 Alderson Ave.

Victorious Word Church Inc.

Shaw Construction

Remodel

441 Daniel St.

Thomas & Tate Holdings LLC

Jones Construction Inc.

Remodel

114 S. 29th St.

Wick, Richard D. & Connie

Siding Guys Etc.

Remodel

145 Grand Ave.

Welborn Land & Livestock Co.

Bromon Construction

Addition

1530 Popelka Drive

Smith-Gocke Properties LLC

Wells Built Homes Inc., Best Friends Animal Hospital $961,000

Addition

2455 Central Ave.

Central Avenue Mall

Capital Development Inc.

Fence/Roof/Siding

1835 Central Ave.

First Christian & Missionary

$15,000

$966,427 $10,000 $3,000 $600 $10,500 $5,000

Fence/Roof/Siding

1232 N. 30th St.

Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth

Bradford Roof Management Inc.

$25,000

Fence/Roof/Siding

1001 S. 27 St.

Alternatives Inc.

EEC Inc.

$79,000

Footing/Foundation

4848 Midland Road

The City Of Billings

New 5 Or More Family

1536 Rockets Way

Brockel Jason Dean

Sunset Construction LLC

$955,734

New 5 Or More Family

1530 Suns Way

Brockel Jason Dean

Sunset Construction LLC

$441,108

New 5 Or More Family

1534 Lakers Way

Brockel Jason Dean

Sunset Construction LLC

$448,704

New 5 Or More Family

1541 Rockets Way

Brockel Jason Dean

Sunset Construction LLC

$448,704

New 5 Or More Family

1542 Lakers Way

Brockel Jason Dean

Sunset Construction LLC

$588,144

$30,900

New 5 Or More Family

1533 Rockets Way

Brockel Jason Dean

Sunset Construction LLC

$588,144

New 5 Or More Family

1540 Suns Way

Brockel Jason Dean

Sunset Construction LLC

$588,144

New 5 Or More Family

4120 Clippers Way

Brockel Jason Dean

Sunset Construction LLC

$446,550

New 5 Or More Family

4115 Mavericks Way

Brockel Jason Dean

Sunset Construction LLC

$446,550

Remodel

27 N. 27th St.

Makenna Hotel Investments

Yellowstone Electric Co.

$250,000

Remodel

1233 N. 30th St.

Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth

Langlas & Assoc. Inc.

Remodel

2800 10th Ave. N.

Deaconess Medical Center of Billings

Bauer Construction

Remodel

175 N. 27th St.

Deaconess Medical Center of Billings

Jones Construction Inc.

$100,000

Remodel

2800 10th Ave. N.

SFH II LLC,eaconess Medical Center of Billings Hardy Construction Co.

$80,000

$3,548,000 $50,000

Remodel

345 Broadwater Ave.

Evangelical United Methodist Church

$5,815

Remodel

112 N. 28th St.

400 Marion Inc.

$5,000

Remodel

3875 Grand Ave.

D. L. Swain Inc.

$200

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December 2015

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