http://www.bber.umt.edu The RSS News feed for the Bureau of Business and Economic Research en-us 120 http://www.bber.umt.edu/images/front/rss-logo.jpg http://www.bber.umt.edu 20 20 http://www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/survey/News-consumption-changes.pdf The 2025-2026 Sources of News Survey, sponsored by the Greater Montana Foundation and conducted by the University of Montana?s Bureau of Business and Economic Research, found four major changes over the past 10 years in the way Montanans consume news, including a dramatic increase in using social media to access news, a new reliance on algorithms, which deliver news as opposed to intentional choice by Montanans of news sources, less attention paid to current events, and a sharp decline in sharing news items via the internet to influence others. http://www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/econ/MontanaBanks2025.pdf Banking and finance are at the core of economic growth and prosperity. An economy without the investment capital that allows businesses to maintain and expand their capacity, helps them manage their costs in the face of lumpy cash flows, and allows consumers to purchase homes and cars is an economy that cannot provide the opportunities and the standard of living we have come to expect. This study describes and comprehensively addresses the value of Montana banks to the vibrancy of the economy that supports the livelihoods of all who work and live here. http://www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/econ/SibanyeStillwater2025.pdf Minerals have been a foundation of civilization for millennia. And more recent times have seen the reliance on mechanized, high volume, mining of minerals of all kinds grow. This report presents the findings of an analysis of the socio-economic contributions of the gold operations of Sibanye-Stillwater in South Africa to the national economy. Using actual data and operating information from 2023, and an economic model of the South African economy that is designed and calibrated for this purpose, we were able to estimate how the economy would look in the absence of the company?s substantial gold mining, processing, and refining operations in the country. http://www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/econ/2024MontanaManufacturingReport.pdf This report examines the state of manufacturing in Montana and was conducted for the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center (MMEC). This marks the 28th consecutive year of collaboration between BBER and MMEC to analyze Montana?s manufacturing climate. The report focuses on three main areas: the economic context of manufacturing at both state and national levels, a survey of Montana manufacturers regarding the state of manufacturing in Montana, and an impact survey of firms that utilized MMEC?s consulting services. http://www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/econ/TheEconomicContributionofZooMontana.pdf For almost 30 years, Montana''s only zoo and botanical park, ZooMontana, has provided the hundreds of thousands of visitors who take in its 70 acres of exhibits, gardens and educational facilities each year a unique and rewarding experience. The world-class facility, located in Billings, is a major attraction for visitors of all ages from both within and outside the region. This BBER study finds that ZooMontana contributes jobs, recurring income, economic output and adds to the population in Billings, Montana. http://www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/health/MontanaHospitals2025.pdf This study focuses on the economic contributions of Montana hospitals to the state''s economy. Using operating data obtained from 53 hospitals in 44 counties across Montana for the year 2023, we conducted an analysis of how the jobs, spending, and services of hospitals ultimately made the communities they called home larger, more populous, and more prosperous. Based on that analysis, adding up the contributions across all Montana hospitals and considering the state as a whole, we find those contributions to be sizable. http://www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/pressreleases/NewBBERDirector.pdf After a nationwide search, BBER has hired a new director. The new director, Dr. Jeffrey Michael, has decades of experience in regional economic forecasting, public policy analysis, and environmental economics. Prior to joining BBER, Dr. Michael was director of Public Policy Programs and professor of Public Policy at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law, executive director of the Center for Business and Policy Research in the University of the Pacific Eberhardt School of Business, and associate dean and director of the Center for Applied Business and Economic Research at Towson University. http://www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/Econ/Calumet-Impact-Report.pdf A new BBER study finds that the Calumet Montana Refineries in Great Falls support a state economy that has significantly more jobs, income, production, and population. Learn more here: http://www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/econ/LowIncomeHousingTaxCreditImpact2022.pdf 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. http://www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/econ/EconomicContributionMTFarmersMarket2022.pdf BBER collected data on 71 farmers markets during the period from August 7, 2021, through November 11, 2021. The report summarizes the results of the study.