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Gianforte Urges Out-of-State Montanans To Come Home (and Bring Their Job)

Jackie Yamanaka

  Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte said job creation is his number one priority and he didn’t need the Labor Day Holiday to remind him of that.

Gianforte launched his latest push to urge Montanans to return to their home state and bring their job with them.

Gianforte is challeging Democratic incumbent Steve Bullock on Montana's November general election ballot.

Gianforte says some of the largest national and international companies already allow their employees to work remotely.

“Unfortunately today we don’t have enough jobs for our young people and our kids have become our most precious export,” he said.

The Bozeman businessman announced at a press conference in Billings he will start airing radio ads this week in Denver and Seattle aimed at Montanans urging them to return to the state.

He said also mailed invitations to alumni from Montana colleges and universities who now live out of state. That invitation is a glossy brochure that includes suggestions on how to talk the boss on how to turn an in-house job into a telecommuting position.

Marketing Montana was a topic of discussion before Gianforte’s press conference. He sat down with Billings-area tourism, marketing, and small business men and women at Rocky Mountain College.

Some participants objected to the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development recently awarding a $7 million annual contract to a Wisconsin company to market Montana.

“It’s a big contract,” Gianforte said.

As for his own “Come home to Montana (and bring your job with you)” brochure, Gianforte said it was designed by Derrick Mitchell of Mitchell’s Garage in Kalispell and printed by Printing for Less in Livingston.

“If we have qualified Montana firms I don’t think we should be outsourcing,” he said.

Daniel Iverson, communications manager for the Montana tourism office, said of the 11 applicants that bid for the contract, Milwaukee-based Hoffman York scored the highest.

He added every one of the bids had both an in-state and out-of state component. Hoffman York will partner with Shortgrass Web Development in Great Falls to fulfill the agencies mission to maximize the economic impact of tourism on Montana’s economy.

“We’re excited about it because it means it’s bringing a lot of those services that were previously split up into different agencies all under one roof which is going to streamline the process and also allow us to have more connectivity between our different marketing programs,” Iverson said.

Gianforte said during his marketing roundtable, participants also raised concerns there was a familial relationship between the state agency and the marketing company.

Iverson declined to answer questions on that issue. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported state procurement officials found no conflict of interest in the fact the bureau chief for the state’s tourism marketing office had a cousin who worked for Hoffman York.