November / December 2014 Volume 34 , Issue 11

Thursday, December 12th - 8:30 a.m.

CVB Board @ Chamber

Monday, December 15th– 11:30 a.m.

Executive Board Meeting @ Chamber

Thursday, December 18th - 12 noon

Chamber Ambassadors Meeting

Thursday, December 18th - 5:30 p.m.

Business Card Social @ Chamber

Hosted by Silver Bow Hospitality

Association

Friday, December 19th - 8:30 a.m.

Chamber Board / Strategic Planning @

Comfort Inn

Thursday, January 29th - 5:30 p.m.

Business Card Social @ Big Sky Senior

Living

www.buttechamber.org

A record number of diners and spectators were in attendance on October 29th, as the Chamber took over the Civic Center for our annual dinner & meeting.

We were honored to be joined by the Montana Tech Copper Hill Choir performing the National Anthem, our Special Guests the Butte Cobras Hockey Team, and Don Berryman and Kristine Carpenter with ACADIA’s “Be 1” Program.

Dinner was expertly catered by Casagranda’s Steakhouse, and the no-host bar was provided by Metals Sports Bar and Grill.

The crowd was delighted with performances by Magician Shane Cox, and Dynamic Dance and Tumbling Academy.

Chamber Annual Awards were also announced—more on the awards inside this edition of The Progress.

The Progress | Page 2

Butte-Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce

Visitors’ Center 1000 George St.

Butte, MT 59701

(406) 723-3177

Marko Lucich Executive Director

mlucich@buttechamber.org

Maria Pochervina CVB Director/TBID Executive Secretary

mariap@buttecvb.com

Stephanie Sorini Marketing, Membership & Bookkeeping

Director

marketing@buttechamber.org

Cheryl Ackerman Receptionist/Staff Associate

bsbchamber@gmail.com

Shane McCarthy, Safeway

Desiree Shogren, Comfort Inn of Butte

Ed Stepan, RED Silicon

Paul Tash, Tash Communications

Alana Ferko, Butte Plaza Mall

Linda Granger, School Trustee/Highlands College

Paul Babb, Northwestern Energy

Tami O’Connell, Stix & Stonz

Karen Corbin, KXLF TV

Maura Uggetti, Copper Ridge Healthcare

Becky Sprunger, Human Resources Council, District XII

Colin Higgins, MacKenzie River Pizza Company

Bob Bentley, Jr., Bentley Construction

Matt Vincent, BSB Chief Executive

Donald Blackketter, Chancellor Montana Tech

Paula Ruark, Town Pump Hotel Group

Don Peoples, Individual Member

Cindi Shaw, Council of Commissioners

Pat Fleming, Fleming & O’Leary Attorneys

Lynn Lloyd, Montana Standard

Mark Hughes, Super 8

Kevin Dennehy, St. James Healthcare

Chris Ackerman, Cherry Creek Radio

Herb Kelsey, Farm Bureau Financial

Judy Jonart, School District #1

Andy Zdinak, BLDC

Jeff Gorman, McDonald’s

Kristen Rosa, Butte-Silver Bow

Machelle LeProwse, Northwestern Mutual

Pete Akey, Glacier Bank

Marsha Foster, Individual Member

Janel Morgan, Harrison Avenue Realty

Craig Tippett, Newland and Company, P.C.

Pete Akey, President

Glacier Bank

Colin Higgins, President-Elect

MacKenzie River Pizza Company

Paula Ruark, Past President

Town Pump Hotel Group

Ed Stepan, Vice President

REC Silicon

Mark Hughes, Vice-President

Super 8/CVB President

Desiree Shogren, Vice-President

Comfort Inn of Butte

Paul Tash, Vice-President

Tash Communications

Chris Ackerman, Vice-President

Cherry Creek Radio

The Progress | Page 3

My message for this month falls between Thanksgiving and Christmas—a time to be thankful and a time for joy and hope. I am thankful to live in a community such as our great community. It is a true gift to have members like you who have invested in the Butte Chamber of Commerce. The annual dinner/meeting was the largest in the history of the chamber with involvement from our youth, the next generation of chamber members. I am so grateful to have a dedicated staff and legion of volunteers who enable us to carry out the work of the Butte Chamber of Commerce. My hat is off to the Board of Directors who give of their time and energy to help promote all businesses in Butte.

We are now approaching the holiday of giving. No community gives more than Butte to help those in need. The Butte business community is second-to-none when it comes to donating for many causes, never asking for anything in return. My hope for this holiday season is that Butte people will shop locally to help replenish the coffers that are always so willing to donate no matter what the cause might be. No matter if it is Uptown, mid-town, or downtown, please shop Butte. It will make the holiday season a joyous event for everyone.

Butte is known as the Richest Hill on Earth. We are rich in many areas such as: minerals, history, architecture, education, location and most importantly, people. Once visitors get to know the people of Butte, they have discovered Montana’s real treasure. As a community we find it in our hearts to support many worthwhile causes. This holiday season, let’s find it in our hearts to make every effort to support those businesses that continually give and make Butte the greatest place to live. It is through this gesture that we would have one of the most fulfilling holiday seasons ever. Supporting each other is the key ingredient to growth and success.

My wish to all of you is to have to have a healthy and joyous holiday season.

Sincerely,

Executive Director

Wednesday December 17th - 6:30 p.m. Metals Sports Bar & Grill

Appetizers and beverages will be provided.

This event will be a great opportunity to meet & engage the newly re-organized Digger Athletic Department, spend some time with Tech coaches, and hear about their plans moving forward!

The Progress | Page 4

1. How did you get involved with the Chamber and what keeps you involved?

I started my involvement with the Chamber quite a long time ago when my husband and I were business owners and Chamber members. I am now on the Chamber Board which is a fantastic experience with a lot of opportunities to stay involved. The Chamber Board of Directors and the Chamber staff are wonderful, hardworking and dedicated to improving Butte in any and every way possible. My position with Butte-Silver Bow Economic Development also keeps me very involved with the Chamber. The Chamber is a key partner in the community for Economic Development.

2. What is your favorite event or program of the Chamber?

The Chamber supports and sponsors a lot of great events. I think the creation of the Southwest Montana All Star basketball game has been fantastic. It is a great fundraiser for the hospitality rooms which have made Butte the envy of the state. The annual dinner is also an amazing event. Not many organizations can fill the Civic Center like the annual meeting did this year. It speaks to how the Chamber and its staff are regarded in this community.

But for me personally, the Chamber golf tournament this year was a very fun event. The day was beautiful and the people were fun – and the fact that I am not a very good golfer didn’t matter.

3. What are some of your other community leadership roles?

Along with being on the Chamber Board I also serve on the Butte Education Foundation Board and the Tiernan Irish Dance board.

4. What is your most memorable experience during your time working with the Chamber?

It is not one specific experience that is memorable but rather working with the Chamber in partnership on many different occasions. There is a strong belief that if we continue to work together good things will happen.

5. Finish these sentences:

Never again will I....

…Remodel my kitchen.

What makes Butte great is ...

...Its resilience. The community was hit hard in the 80’s when the mine closed but it never gave up and people today continue to believe that the future can be as exciting and prosperous as its past.

The best piece of business advice I've ever gotten is …

...Do what you have to do now so you can do what you want to do later.

The Progress | Page 5

This past October, Butte again hosted Altacare training, utilizing space in the Butte Plaza Mall and the La Quinta Inn. Altacare is a Community Treatment Program (CSCT); a part of ACADIA Montana Butte.

“Altacare is Montana’s leading provider of in-school mental health services. With Altacare, children and adolescents can receive intensive outpatient treatment while they attend school – causing little-to-no disruption to their normal lives. Altacare staff; which includes a Master’s level or Licensed Therapist and a Mental Health Associate, has offices located within the school. They work closely with school principals and other personnel to identify and treat children in need of assistance with behavioral or emotional problems. Early diagnosis, intervention and treatment often eliminate the need for inpatient hospitalization and/or removing the child from home and school.”

Given that Altacare personnel are located across the state, an annual meeting is held to bring everyone together, which coincides with the large statewide teacher conventions; for orientation, training, awards and networking. While training and learning were taking place, Butte enjoyed the benefit of: guest room, food and beverage revenues and attendee shopping expenditures at the Butte Plaza Mall. Although, Alana Ferko, Butte Plaza Mall Manager would prefer to see the empty store locations filled with retail shops; on a short notice space can be rented for events such as this training.

Although my calculations are rather primitive, here is a brief recap of what this meeting brought into our city over the dates of October 15-17, 2014.

Lodging: $29,750 Food & Beverage (catered): $11,850 Gas: $ 4,000 Retail & Misc Expenditures $13,600 ($40/participant) Total: $59,200

In my book, these were a couple of good paydays for Butte.

I would like to thank Dave Bennetts, Renee O’Keefe and the staff from ACADIA for all your hard work in setting up and assisting me with the heavy lifting. On behalf of our hoteliers, restaurants, retail and other businesses, the attendees spent their hard earned dollars, a heartfelt thank you!! We appreciate your loyalty to Butte, keeping this large event at “home” so to speak. To my dear friend Alana Ferko, and your great staff, thank you for your support and assistance, you are amazing assets to our community.

In closing: I hope this Christmas season is blessed, filled with answered prayers and miracles!!

Merry Christmas and God Bless,

CVB/TBID

The Progress | Page 6

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Grand Prize Pita Pit

1st Place Moonlight Professional Building

2nd Place Marquis Vintage Suites

3rd Place Wagner’s Nursery

Honorable Mentions: Montana Chemical Dependency Center

Emma Neighborhood Center Park

Continental Gardens

Entrepreneur of the Year

John & Courtney McKee

Headframe Spirits

Community Leader of the Year Mike Thatcher

CCCS, Inc.

Educator of the Year Donald Blackketter

Montana Tech

Business Person of the Year Frank Butori

Butori Collision Center

Community Appreciation Award Dan & Kim Steele

Steele’s Warehouse

The Progress | Page 8

The Progress | Page 9

Butte Community Celebrations In Their Own Words

We are Butte Community Celebrations, LLC! Our organization initiated in January 2014 with only four members, Ken Devine, Linda Redfern, Paulette Scherr and Sandy Yakawich. The immediate goal was to provide for Butte the time honored traditions of the Duggan Dolan Blarney Stone Fun Run, St. Patrick’s Day parade, Veterans Picnic, 4th of July Freedom Fest parade (with the float build) and the Charlie Judd Memorial Halloween Party. An Awards Luncheon for the 4th of July Freedom Fest parade winners was added to the events. New games, booths and amusements have upgraded the quality and spirit of the Halloween party.

A lot of hard work went into all of these events and we feel we’ve done well. Initially we started with a small amount of money but through careful handling, we are now financially solvent. Seven additional members have joined our ranks, Larry & Judy Cyr, Bill & Laura Weatherly, Sunvee Rosenleaf, Gabriel Offutt and Randy Skates.

BCC is fully insured for all events including our vendors on St. Patrick’s Day and the float build. We are designated as a non-profit through the Montana Department of Revenue and the IRS, and are in the beginning process of acquiring the 501(c)3 designation.

We need new members and volunteers. The difference between a member and a volunteer is this: A member has a voice and a vote in all matters brought before the board and discussed in meetings. A volunteer does not. Volunteers assist with specific duties on the day of an event. As it is now, all of our members help with every event. Our aim is to have enough people so we can designate a separate group for each event with support from the rest of us. This allows members to work only on the events they like best. Each new member and volunteer must fill out an application giving their basic contact information and choices of events to work. This application can be acquired from the Secretary, Linda Redfern.

As 2015 comes around, our ambitions for this year are to have larger and better parades. We welcome suggestions on how to acquire more bands (school or local), floats and entries. We hope to develop more infrastructure by obtaining at least one or two 16’ – 18’utility trailers.

Come on and join us and let’s make a better party!

The Progress | Page 10

Photos Courtesy of

Pauline Mencarelli deBarathy

Photo Courtesy of

Maria Pochervina

October 22nd

November 24th

The Progress | Page 11

401 South Main Street Butte, MT 59701

(406) 782-2224 www.lockmerplumbing.com

First Call Computer Solutions is a full technology resource company helping all manner of businesses, not-for profits, clinics, schools, government organizations and more with their technology needs.

They offer IT Services Websites, Phone Systems and Cloud Services.

Headquartered in Missoula and operating since 1999, First Call has eight satellite offices throughout the state and has been operating in Butte for four years.

Please go to www.firstsolution.com for more information or call them at 406.299.1485.

305 West Mercury Street Butte, MT 59701

(406) 299-1485

www.firstsolution.com Contributed by:

Jon Kuennen

If you have ideas, suggestions, or submissions for The Progress, please send them in! We accept news & information, photos, information about events & functions, and more!

We can’t promise that we can include everything that we receive, but we do promise to carefully consider all submissions.

bsbchamberprogress@gmail.com

The Progress is the voice of our members and we are dedicated to keeping you informed and connected!

The Progress is published monthly and delivered mostly electronically.

For advertising opportunities, please contact Stephanie Sorini.

marketing@buttechamber.org

Visit your Chamber online:

www.buttechamber.org

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BUTTE, MT

POSTMASTER: Send changes of address to: Chamber of Commerce, 1000 George St., Butte, MT 59701.

Membership investment includes $3.00 per year subscription. The Progress (USPS 124-550) is published monthly by

The Butte-Silver Bow Chamber of Commerce, 1000 George St., Butte, MT 59701. Periodical Postage Paid at Butte,

Montana.

1000 George St.

Butte, MT 59701

MONTH/YEAR MONTH/YEAR %

September 2013 September 2014 CHANGE

CONSTRUCTION 11,453,031.00 447,593.84 -69.2%

Year to Date 20,936,896.83 19,483,865.83 -6.9%

WATER 13,775 13,738 -0.3%

EMPLOYMENT Labor Force No Data 18,313

Employment No Data 17,304

Unemployment No Data 1,009

Unemployment Rate No Data 5.5

MAIL Tourism Requests 35 10 -71.4%

General Information 6 3 -50.0%