Along the Yellowstone River and the train tracks in downtown Columbus is Parks Real Estate.
Owner Joyce Kelley on a recent Thursday afternoon steps out of her office to talk about what she’s been hearing since mining company Sibanye-Stillwater announced layoffs earlier in September.
“People are scared, people are worried, we have a lot of young families with young children and they’re very nervous,” Kelley said.
Sibanye-Stillwater plans to let go of approximately 700 employees come November.
According to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry, that’s around 13 percent of payroll jobs from Stillwater and Sweet Grass counties.
Around 4,000 people live in Columbus, and Kelley says she’s already seeing a shift.
“We have more houses that are coming on, so our inventory is a lot higher than it has been,” Kelley said. “And I think that will affect prices.”
Down the street a couple of blocks, O'Reilly Auto Parts manager Andy Jensen said the shop is busy, especially during the summer.
“I think that some other businesses, they’ll definitely see the impact, but auto parts is one of them that’s gonna be here,” Jensen said. “As long as there are cars, we’re gonna sell parts.”
Audrey Steinfeldt runs a bookstore and tea shop called Down Home on the Yellowstone, where people can buy themselves a cup of tea or pay it forward.
“We do have our white board of happiness, which a very nice person the other day put $20 on it for a mining family,” Steinfeldt said.
Steinfeldt opened the storefront earlier this year.
“I’m pretty positive though,” she said. “I think it’s gonna to be okay, but it’s just sad.”
