Dennis Design Works

  • Innovation Promises Oil Field Savings

    Innovation Promises Oil Field Savings It’s been 12 years in the making but now a local start-up company stands on the verge of national recognition for their achievement. Tellerus Corporation of Billings, Montana has been named as a finalist in the 2019 National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE) Corrosion Innovation Award international competition for an… Read More

  • Heights Business, MH Equipment at MATE

    Heights Business, MH Equipment at MATE In April of 2012 in the middle of raising kids, juggling a career and helping with the family farm and ranch, Chasity and Larry Broadbrooks took the plunge and opened MH Equipment and Truck Repair. Read More

  • Thieves Costs Millions of Dollars in Losses; Legislation Needs Changing

    Thieves Costs Millions of Dollars in Losses; Legislation Needs Changing   Brad Griffin, President of the Montana Retail Association, said he was astounded a couple of years ago when one of his members, the manager of one of the largest “box stores” in Billings, told him that they had just suffered, in one month, $800,000 in losses from what is… Read More

  • More People Moving Out than In

    More people are moving out of Montana than into the state according to data compiled by United Van Lines. In assessing the data, the Tax Foundation makes the point that there is some correlation between a state’s tax policies and whether people are attracted to the state or leave it.… Read More

  • Help Encourage Youth to Business and Entrepreneurship

      It’s the time of year to support worthwhile causes. For those interested in advancing the future of Montana’s economy and of our youth no cause is greater than the Montana High School Business Challenge. Read More
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Market Update

  • What Pushes up Home Prices?

    What Pushes up Home Prices?   In answering the question of why there is a lack of affordable housing in Montana, the state’s leading economist pointed to over-regulation as one of three possible reasons. A panel of representatives from the industry agreed, during the Economic Outlook Seminar, which is annually presented by the University of… Read More

  • Gravel Mine Application Approved

    A special review of zoning that would allow the mining of gravel at the intersection of Wise Lane and Story Road was approved by Yellowstone County Commissioners, despite the fact that almost all the neighbors oppose the project. The commissioners’ decision in special reviews, is greatly restrained by law. So… Read More

  • EDA Issues 2nd RFP

    Big Sky Economic Development (BSED) has rejected its first proposal for a new headquarters and is issuing a new request for proposals (RFP) to purchase a building or condominium. Read More

  • City Purchases Property for Reservoir and New Water Treatment Plant

      The City of Billings is in the process of developing a secondary source of water to serve the west end of the city with the development of an $84 million reservoir and treatment plant at Shiloh Road and Hesper Road. They will purchase property from Knife River Materials and… Read More
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  • Airport Rd - Main St. Project Meeting

      The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) will hold a public meeting regarding the “Airport Road and Main Street Intersection Design Project,” on Tuesday, Feb. 19, from 5-7 p.m. at the Billings Public Library Community Room (510 North Broadway). Read More

  • New Flights, Increased Boarding at Logan Field

    Amid the news that Frontier Airlines will start new flights to Denver, there is the end of the year report that enplanements at Billings Logan International Airport increased over six percent in 2018 and United Airlines will expand their direct service between Billings and Chicago this summer. Kevin Ploehn, Director… Read More

  • Employers Sought for High School Seniors Job Fair

      A group of local employers are seeking other employers interested in participating in a Job Fair for seniors from high schools throughout Yellowstone County. The focus of the group is to introduce high school seniors to possible career choices and possible opportunities to job shadow or arrange internships. Read More

  • County Welcomes New DES Coordinator

    County Welcomes New DES Coordinator   Yellowstone County’s new Disaster & Emergency Services Coordinator has found his dream job. Kenneth Williams, better known as “KC”, is now on the job in the County’s Public Works Department, replacing the former head of emergency services for all of the county, Brad Shoemaker, who resigned last summer. Read More
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  • The Obvious Solution

    The Obvious Solution

     

    by Evelyn Pyburn

    A frank discussion about why housing is unaffordable was quite welcome at the Montana Economic Outlook Seminar. It’s a subject seldom discussed so honestly.

    The conclusion that regulations stand in the way of affordable housing and innovation in the industry shouldn’t be a surprise, and studious, deliberate efforts to avoid that conclusion in all the other forums I have ever witnessed, says that it really isn’t a surprise. Many have always known it. And, they know it now.

    Regulations are pretty much always the reason that markets fail to function and that’s what we have here —  a demand for housing that exceeds supply, which pushes up prices, and the market has failed to respond.

    In unfettered markets producers would rush to increase supply. It is the law of supply and demand at work. It takes an inexorable force to prevent that from happening, and there is only one such force, and that is government – in the form of rules, regulations, codes, exactions, fees, permits, and waiting periods.

    What regulations would and could do to the housing industry was demonstrated clearly to me as a reporter back in about 1970 when I did a story about

    … Read More

  • The Civilized Way by Evelyn Pyburn

    The Civilized Way by Evelyn Pyburn

    Persuasion.

    This is a word in the dictionary.

    It’s not a word commonly used any more, now that people have discovered the availability of legal clubs that can force people to “do the right thing.”

    But persuasion should be more common in a civilized society where coercion is eschewed. Sadly, force seems to be preferred.

    Read More
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High Horse Saloon

Montana Highlights February 15, 2019

Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Nelson’s Ace Hardware in Whitefish is moving from its Central Avenue location to a new location on...

YAM Names Curator

Tuesday, February 19, 2019
The Yellowstone Art Museum has announced that Susan Barnett of Erie, Pennsylvania, has accepted...

Total Tax Collections, $3,827 per Person in Montana

Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Total tax collections in Montana per capita are the 37th highest in the nation, at $3,827,...

Montana Relies on Federal $$

Tuesday, February 19, 2019
The federal government plays an impactful role in every state’s economy, but some states rely on...

Extra Break for Taxpayers

Tuesday, February 19, 2019
The IRS is giving taxpayers who might have been confounded by 2017’s changes to the tax code a...

When and Where February 15, 2019

Monday, February 18, 2019
On Saturday, February 16, 5:30 pm, Family Promise of Yellowstone Valley is hosting the 8th Annual...

Montana Producers want to Restore COOL

Monday, February 18, 2019
Senator Al Olszewksi (R – Kalispell) introduced Senate Bill 206 to require country-of-origin...

Transload Center Planned for Lockwood

Sunday, February 17, 2019
First Mark Construction and First Mark Materials (formerly CMG Construction) has been engaged by...

Bid Requests Issued for Lockwood High School

Sunday, February 17, 2019
While Lockwood School will have to contend with minimal transportation issues in building a new...