BBER PUBLICATIONS SEARCH RESULTS

This report takes a journey through all aspects of housing markets ? dealing with demand, supply, and market outcomes. We have also included a section on needs for affordable housing and how those needs are being addressed.

This economic impact study report produced by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) - University of Montana and funded in part by a grant from the Montana Healthcare Foundation considers the potential economic impact of a state of Montana Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program.
The report highlights the opportunity to use a state of Montana LIHTC program meant to "piggy back" on the Federal LIHTC program to leverage currently underutilized federal LIHTC resources and related private investment to develop and preserve additional affordable rental housing to address community housing needs across Montana.

Montana?s farmers markets are vibrant, visible, and important centers of commerce in communities across the state. Not only do they constitute a valuable source of locally produced foodstuffs in the areas in which they operate, but they also provide a variety of social benefits as they bring producers and consumers together into the centers of the towns in which they thrive. The primary objective of this study is to summarize the economic contributions of farmers markets in Montana. A secondary objective of this study is to provide a portrait of Montana?s farmers markets from a statewide perspective.

The expansion of Medicaid to cover adults with incomes up to 138% of the poverty line took effect in Montana in the beginning of 2016. The impacts of the program have been profound. The number of Montanans covered by either Medicaid (traditional and expanded) or the Children?s Health Insurance Program (CHiP) statewide in February of 2023 was 179,591 higher than a decade earlier, with the percentage of the population not covered by health insurance cut in half as well. Health care spending by previously uninsured Montanans has increased, both from increased consumption of health care and from shifts from previously uncompensated care (whose costs were borne by providers and other paying consumers) to care paid for by the program. Based on national studies, there is solid evidence that better health care outcomes, less financial stress, and better labor market participation have occurred for low-income Montana households as well. This report summarizes the results of an analysis that applies the same methods used in the BBER?s statewide studies on the economic impacts of Medicaid expansion in Montana to develop estimates of impacts for Cascade County, the third largest health care cluster in the state.

This is a study of the activities and the economic contributions of what has arguably been one the most important and most visible industries during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic: the Montana bioscience industry. Across the entire state, the manufacturers, research laboratories, medical facilities and equipment wholesalers who jointly comprise this important segment of the state economy have been an important source of economic growth and vitality. By drawing on both publicly available data as well as survey responses from Montana bioscience companies, this report presents a comprehensive picture of the industry?s activities and how those activities support the economy as a whole.

Where Housing is Headed: How Will Today's Imbalances Be Resolved? By Patrick M. Barkey
Montanans Struggle to Access Affordable Childcare: The Crisis of Montana's Workforce By Caitlin Jenson and Tracy McIntyre
The Financial Value of Montana's Natural Beauty: How Should We Measure Our Natural Capital? By Jakki Mohr and Carmen Thissen
Housing Trouble in Paradise: Housing Needs Demand Creative Solutions By Abigail St. Lawrence

This report is on the state of Montana manufacturing conducted for the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center (MMEC). The report and analysis was done by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) at the University of Montana. This is the 25th year that BBER and MMEC have collaborated to produce reports on Montana?s manufacturing climate. The three primary topics are: the state of manufacturing at the state and national level in a general economic context; a survey of Montana manufacturers about the state of Montana manufacturing; and an impact survey of firms which used MMEC?s consulting services.

Demand in the economy has roared back with unexpected speed, but employers are having trouble hiring back laid-off workers.

This is a study of the contributions made to the economy of the state of Montana by the production, employment, spending and tax revenues that can be attributed to 58 of the state''s hospitals. Hospitals'' high paying jobs, high value-added production, and significant tax payments add to the state economy in their own right. As the dollars paid to employees, vendors and governments are in turn respent in the economy, their ultimate significance grows. The Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) at the University of Montana was retained by the Montana Hospital Association (MHA) to carry out an analysis how Montana hospitals enhance the state''s economy. This report summarizes and documents the results. Our basic finding is that Montana hospitals generate considerable economic prosperity, not only for the communities in which they are located, but for the state as a whole. In addition to providing the overall state economic impact, we also report the impacts of 58 individual hospitals across the state.

The lack of affordable housing has been an increasingly difficult problem for many Montana communities. A shortage of homes and stagnant incomes have widened the divide.

Montana''s health centers contribute a sizable, ongoing and permanent impact on the state''s economy. Spending, demand and an aging population are spurring growth.

From January through April of 2020 University of Montana?s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) conducted a survey to examine the economic impact inadequate child care has on Montana parents, employers and taxpayers. The survey was paid for by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. The survey randomly sampled Montana households with children ages 0-5. BBERcollected data from 404 Montana households. The responses are weighted so the results reflect the statewide population of households with children ages 0-5. Most respondents replied prior to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Montana. Responses received after the pandemic were not substantially different than those received before the pandemic. The survey found: 1. 57% of households reported that finding affordable child care is a challenge 2. 46% of respondents left work early in the past month due to inadequate child care 3. 44% of respondents missed a full day of work in the past month due to inadequate child care

A discussion of the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic seen through the lens of the Current Employment Survey (CES). Each month the U.S. Bureau of the Labor Statistics surveys about 697,000 work sites in the country and tallies the number of workers, as of the 12th of the month. The number of workers are reported nationwide, statewide and for each major metropolitan statistical area (MSA).

It?s no secret that child care can be costly and inadequate child care can contribute to a host of issues, including job selection, absenteeism and work performance. That can in turn can affect one?s earning potential, as well as the earning potential of employers and the greater state economy. Put it all together and Montana loses $232 million a year due to inadequate child care.

As states reopen their businesses, what does the future hold for jobs and the economy?

Montana?s high-tech companies anticipate moderate growth and a promising future amid COVID-19.

Financial markets have been interrupted and workers are being furloughed. When can we expect a recession?

This article looks at nine of Montana''s key industries; Farming and Ranching: Price Declines and Exports Make for a Challenging Year, Forest Products: Positive Signs for Montana, Energy: What to Watch for in 2020, Manufacturing: Montana Outpaces Nation as a Whole, Travel, Tourism and Recreation: Nonresident Visitation Stable, Health Care: The Impact of Medicaid Expansion, Transportation and Logistics: A Shortage of Drivers Continues to Cause Concern, Technology and Innovation: Record Revenue, Jobs and Venture Capital Investment, Real Estate and Construction: Housing Markets Lack Inventory.

This study of the Economic Contributions of the Lehrerleut Branch of the Hutterite Communities in Montana was performed by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana (BBER), in partnership with the Montana State University Department of Economics and Agricultural Economics. It was commissioned by Church, Harris, Johnson and Williams, P.C., on behalf of the Lehrerleut Communities. This research summary highlights the outcomes of the study, which will be described more fully in a forthcoming report. The role of Hutterites in the local economy, and the contributions made by the Communities to the total economic pie are not well understood by many Montanans. The broad goal of this study is to address that information void and highlight the economic impact the Hutterite Communities have on their local economies, as well as on the economy of the entire state. Our basic finding is that the presence of the 81 farming operations owned and operated by the 38 Lehrerleut Communities examined in this study support production, employment and income in the Montana economy that is significant in size and scope. The substantial linkages that exist between their agricultural and other operations and the rest of the state economy ultimately support jobs and income in non-Hutterite and non-agricultural sectors of the economy, resulting in a larger economic pie for all Montanans to share.

After more than a decade of economic growth that has featured strong hiring and steadily falling unemployment rates, labor markets across the country and certainly across Montana are tight. For some the supply of suitable workers for their openings has shrunk to the point where they are questioning how they can continue to fill orders, let alone capitalize on new opportunities. The data agree with this assessment ? at least to a point.

What would the economy of Ravalli County look like today if timber harvests hadn?t declined?

Conclusions from a Headwaters Economics report on timber-dependent communities in Idaho are incorrect ? analyzing the wrong variables and using the wrong statistical test.

The trend in Montana''s timber harvests, which has been dropping since the late 1980s, has been the major cause of declining employment and labor earnings in Montana''s forest industry.

Forest related industries have long played a major role in Montana?s economy ? especially in the western part of the state. The decades-long drum roll of layoffs, reduced employment and mill closings have been the subject of many discussions and headlines in the media. This paper takes a systematic view of Montana?s forest industry during the past few decades and identifies the major causes of industry trends. The conclusion is that timber harvest volumes in Montana are the major factor impacting industry conditions, including employment and labor earnings. Labor productivity has generally increased in Montana?s larger timber-processing facilities, but these gains are not driving reduced employment and labor earnings in Montana?s forest industry.

What will be the economic impact of the early retirement of Units 3 and 4 of the coal-fired Colstrip Electric Generating Station?

Twenty-five years ago, the Family and Medical Leave Act was passed to help working families, but today the law is no longer adequate.

If you travel across the state and talk with Montana?s employers, you will hear frequent complaints about their difficulty finding workers.

Fifty-eight percent of all women participate in the workforce, but are paid less than men, earning 77 percent of what men earn. Every state in the nation has an earnings gap, but Montana ranks near the bottom at 46th in the nation.

Median earnings for Montana workers over age 24 are $31,800 and places Montana 45th among all states. How can Montana increase wages and develop a robust knowledge economy of skilled workers?

Look at any of the ?best places to live? lists and you will see many college towns. These small to mid-sized cities offer an appealing mix of amenities, but they also tend to offer something else ? a high cost of living and low wages, particularly for people with a college degree.

The Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) at the University of Montana was contracted to conduct a study on the utilization of local contractors by the Colville National Forest through the NEW Forest Vision 2020 Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) project. The purpose of the study aimed to identify and measure the opportunities and benefits the NEW Forest Vision 2020/CFLRP program is bringing to communities in the region. The BBER used records of service contracts, timber sale contracts and agreements to characterize the number of local entities (businesses, nonprofits, agencies, etc.) involved in meeting the restoration objectives of the CFLRP through the NEW Forest Vision 2020.

Montanans love Montana. A recent Gallup poll asked whether or not respondents believed that their state was the best, or one of the best, states in which to live. 77 percent of Montanans chose their home state. For one group, though, Montana appears less desirable: the college-educated, and particularly the young and college-educated.

In 2015, a University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) survey of Montana High Tech Business Alliance (MHTBA) members captured for the first time data measuring the size and growth potential of Montana?s high tech sector.

Montana''s forest industry is comprised of more than 80 active facilities that manufacture a variety of wood products. The industry receives its raw material - timber - from forests both inside and outside the state, relying on landowners, foresters, loggers and truck drivers to provide that timber year after year. Montana mills sell their forest products into local, national and international markets. Throughout this supply chain, from forest to mill to final consumer, there are numerous uncertainties and constant changes in both timber supply and wood products demand.

In the next 10 years, at least 130,000 working Montanans will retire. With an aging population, Montana''s labor force will only grow by 4,100 workers per year for the next 10 years (Wagner, 2015). Given current trends, there will simply not be enough workers to fill the projected annual job growth of 6,500 to continue to grow Montana''s economy. Montana must find strategies to increase labor force participation so businesses have the workers they need.

When Iris Owen found out she was pregnant with twins, she was thrilled- and then terrified. A certified public accountant at Anderson ZurMuehlen''s Missoula office, Owen didn''t know how she would be able to continue her career with not just one, but two infants. After the twins were born, Owen had a few health complications and took four months off to stay at home. "If I didn''t work for a company that was so supportive, I might not have gone back to work," she said. Now her girls are 18 months old, and the tax accountant has a flexible schedule, working more hours January through April (tax season) and three-quarters time during the rest of the year.

Strong growth in Montana manufacturing employment occurred despite permanent closures in several manufacturing industries. Employment in the wood and paper products industry decreased by 550 workers between 2009Q2 and 2013Q3. Employment in all the other components of Montana manufacturing increased by about 1,600 workers, or 11.3 percent. In summary, since the start of the recovery Montana manufacturing employment has increased considerably faster than the national rate. This strong performance was in spite of permanent closures in the wood and paper products industries.

This is a PowerPoint presentation of the results of a survey, funded by The Greater Montana Foundation, of Montana Statewide Media Habits which collected data from a telephone survey of 526 adults in Montana in April-May 2015. Key Findings: Television remains a key source of news and information, local news from all sources is very closely followed and highly sought after, the rate of internet access in homes now matches that found nationwide, handheld devices are used by a significant portion of Montanans to access news.

Situated in the geographic center of Montana in the midst of rolling hills, farms, and ranches is something a little unexpected: one of the most vibrant manufacturing communities in the state. With a population of about 6,500, Lewistown has a cluster of companies that design, engineer, and manufacture products for airports, oil companies, federal agencies, food distribution centers, sports arenas, hospitals, banks, schools, the military, and the aerospace industry, to name a few. Together, the group supports nearly 500 manufacturing jobs in the Lewistown area.

he Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana started an annual survey of Montana?s largest manufacturers in 1999. The surveys are conducted each year during November and December and query manufacturers on a variety of business issues pertaining to both the year just completed and the outlook for the coming year. The results shown here are from the fifteenth such survey, completed in December 2013. A total of over 220 firms were contacted for this year?s survey, including Montana?s largest manufacturing facilities (as measured by the number of people employed), as well as smaller firms representative of their sectors. Of the firms contacted, 76 percent responded to the survey.

This poster presents the findings of the Bureau''s Survey of Four Corners state''s forest products mill operations for 2012. It graphically presents the location/types of mills, timber harvest by species, ownership, timber processing capacity & use, and industry employment. It also summarizes the results and highlights of the survey.

The objective of this poster is to describe the value and types of restoration work occurring in the Southwestern Crown of the Continent, along with who is capturing that work, and provide a baseline against which future investments made through the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program could be compared.

While women now participate equally in the wage economy and earn a majority of all bachelor''s degrees, this has not led to financial equality. Women do not share equally in the economic well-being of the state.

The 2013 Montana Economic Development Summit in Butte was one of the biggest and the best. Together, with some of the most influential business leaders of our time and ambassadors from some of Montana''s most important trading partners in the world, we helped sow the seeds for unlimited potential.

The number of home-based workers usually is outside the normal labor information stream, but the American Community Survey asks people how they get to work. This question provides information on commute time and place of work and determines whether people are home-based workers.

North Dakota is experiencing an oil boom that has increased total U.S. oil production as well as sheltered the state from the economic impacts of the Great Recession. Montana doesn''t have as much oil development activity as North Dakota, but is experiencing impacts of the development in Western North Dakota.

The U.S. economy is now in the fourth year of an exceedingly slow recovery that began from a cyclic trough in the second quarter of 2009. The recovery is under way in manufacturing. The comeback of durable goods production accounted for most of the growth. This report was prepared by Montana State University Montana Manufacturing Extension Center and the University of Montana Bureau of Business and Economic Research and examines trends in Montana manufacturing.

Although the Great Recession officially ended in 2009, manufacturing in Montana continued declining through 2010, falling to fewer than 20,000 workers after the pre-recession level of nearly 24,000. However, both 2011 and 2012 revealed growth for Montana manufacturers, with annual sales increasing to more than $13 billion and employment topping 21,000 workers for the first time since the recession's end.

Although the Great Recession officially ended in 2009, manufacturing in Montana continued declining through 2010, falling to under 20,000 workers after the pre-recession level of nearly 24,000. However, both 2011 and 2012 revealed growth for Montana manufacturers, with annual sales increasing to more than $13 billion and employment topping 21,000 workers for the first time since the recession''s end. This article includes the results from the annual survey of Montana''s largest manufacturers, which queries manufacturers on a variety of business issues pertaining to both the year just completed and the outlook for the coming year.

Ravalli County's economy appears to be coming out of the Great Recession, albeit slowly. The real estate market has stabilized with the number of residential real estate sales in 2012 increasing over 2011 levels. Prices are about the same, but days on market increased slightly over 2011 levels.

Spending for working-age populations with disabilities is increasing faster than gross domestic product. The return on investment for tax dollars spent on the Montana Vocational Rehabilitation Program for those successfully rehabilitated is positive.

The objective of this study is to determine the spatial distribution of businesses engaged in restoration activities in the SW Crown and measure the success of local contractors in accessing these job opportunities while comparing these trends to the surrounding region, previous years, and non-Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) projects.

The 2011 national high school graduation rate was 75 percent. The remaining 25 percent, about 1.2 million high school seniors across the country, did not attain a high school diploma.

There are more than 36 million people with a disability in the United States, accounting for almost 12 percent of the total civilian non-institutionalized population. In Montana, the proportion with a disability is greater. Thirteen percent (125,302) of the civilian non-institutionalized population in Montana has a disability. Working age adults with a disability, those 18-64 years of age, comprise over half of the disabled population in Montana and nearly 11 percent of all working adults in this age group. With continued increases in the cost of health care and an increase in the number of working-age Montanans with disabilities as a result of the aging baby boom generation, the federal and state share of spending to support this population represents a large and faster growing share of all federal and state expenditures. The aging of the baby boom generation is expected to contribute to growth in Social Security Disability Insurance awards for at least another decade. In Montana, federal government payments for Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income alone totaled more than $469 million in 2010, up 5 percent from 2009, and almost 10 percent from 2008.

The recession's impact on men and women differed nationally and even generated the coining of a new term, mancession, to describe the more negative impacts of the recession on males. Higher rates of job loss for males had the related impact of pushing the percentage of female workers in the national economy upward, to the point where data indicate that women now constitute a near majority of the nation's workforce. The recession's impacts on men and women in Montana have matched some, but not all, of the national trends.

With Montana's median wage rate over $2 an hour lower than the national median wage rate, it should not be surprising that nearly half of the state's workforce is willing to switch jobs in order to earn more money. According to BBER's Montana Labor Market Analysis Survey, the labor pool available to staff business expansions or to replace turnover is significantly larger than well-known statistics like the unemployment rate suggest.

This report details the findings of a comprehensive evaluation of labor force availability in the 11 counties of north central Montana. During the summer and fall of 2008, researchers at The University of Montana''s Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) surveyed a random sample of adults in Blaine, Cascade, Chouteau, Glacier, Hill, Judith Basin, Liberty, Phillips, Pondera, Teton, and Toole counties to assess the labor force status, availability, training preferences and other characteristics. The purpose of the project was to construct and present a more comprehensive assessment of labor force status and availability than can be obtained from the employment and unemployment statistics gathered regularly by state and federal statistical agencies. The emphasis was on those in the adult labor force who are receptive to new job opportunities. This includes both the under- and the unemployed.

Our basic finding is that there are a substantial number of individuals currently working who report themselves as willing and available for new job opportunities. Statewide, there were almost 261,000 adults who could be classified as available for new job opportunities.

Our basic finding is that the number of workers currently residing in Flathead County who are potentially available for new employment opportunities is substantially larger than official unemployment statistics would suggest. We estimate that as of summer/fall 2008, there were approximately 19,500 individuals, aged 18 or older, who identified themselves as candidates for new job openings. By contrast, the Montana Department of Labor and Industry reports that for September 2008, the most current month available at press time, the number of unemployed individuals in Flathead County was slightly less than 2,200. The wide discrepancy between these two estimates stems from the fact that the available labor pool contains substantial numbers of individuals who are currently employed, but willing to change jobs in response to new opportunities.

Aging of the population may put significant pressure on federal, state, and local government budgets in coming decades. On the revenue side, income taxes may fall as Baby Boomers retire. On the expenditure side, state and local governments pay for a variety of services for the elderly, including some health care and nursing homes.

Montana has one of the highest rates (19 percent) of uninsured residents in the nation. Most people get health insurance through their employers, yet three out of four Montanans without insurance coverage were, in fact, employed. The 2006 Montana Employer Survey was a random telephone survey conducted in an attempt to fill in major gaps in the state?s knowledge of its uninsured population. This article reports the survey findings.