Value-added products could help northeastern Montana capitalize on its natural resources even more than it is doing now, Secretary of State Corey Stapleton suggested during a business round table Thursday in Sidney.
Stapleton was continuing his Things That Matter tour of Montana, part of a campaign pledge to spend more time outside of Helena. He’s been to 30 of 56 counties so far, with Sidney being the latest stop.
Stapleton spent two days in Richland County, kicking off his visit with Richland County Economic Development and then touring Sidney Sugars, where he was told that a new, three-year contract has been secured between growers and the factory. He also visited the Sidney Livestock Market Center, where discussion centered around how essential agriculture is to the state’s economy, and how the Livestock Market has streamlined its processes to sell cattle across the country.
Stapleton visited with Stephanie Verhasselt, Richland County Clerk and Recorder, and talked about election night preparation and processes, as well as how certain legislation might change some practices, and he talked to government students at Sidney High School about the “Save Colstrip” bill, and state and federal legislation that could affect education.
Stapleton visited a number of local businesses, including Thiel Brothers Roofing in Sidney and Blue Rock Distributing, where he heard concerns about competition across the border, high wages, long commutes and labor shortages, such as CDL drivers.
The Richland County area has high amounts of capital and the ability to put big deals together, Stapleton said. That suggests there is great potential for value-added businesses. And that’s the way to capture more of the wealth being created with Montana resources, instead of that wealth being captured elsewhere.
“We are the lowest value-added agricultural area in the U.S.,” Stapleton said. “We send everything out of here to some other place like Indiana or Texas.”
Stapleton suggested that with world class grains and beef, the state should be manufacturing its own steaks.
“You can by Omaha steaks, why not Montana?” he asked.
Sugar is another opportunity for value-added products.
“Everything has sugar,” he said. “Thirty percent of us are pre-diabetic because there is too much sugar in our diets.”
Stapleton said areas where value-added products are starting to come along seem to happen most in areas where there is clustering of businesses in the same or similar sectors. Healthcare in Billings, for example.
“Almost everyone here works, and works hard,” he said. “It’s fascinating that some of the big picture wholesale industries are here. But things that other towns don’t struggle with such as retail stores are not.”
The need to pay high competitive wages works against hiring retail labor, Stapleton acknowledged. And the trend toward buying more stuff online has hurt the traditional retail model.
However, that trend could also help boost Montana businesses that are willing to think outside the box, Stapleton suggested.
“Web design is value-added cyber manufacturing,” Stapleton said. “And that is how you take your product and get a digital presence.”
A recent example Stapleton used is the story of Kamut, a khorasan wheat grown by a Montana farmer that is taking off on the health food scene.
“It’s just like some sort of granola that you’d pay a buck fifty for at Eddy’s corner store,” Stapleton said. “But you’d be surprised what people are willing to pay for it in New York.”
Certain zip codes, in fact, are paying 6 to 7 times that amount.
“Once you start to get customers or revenue online, that is how you free yourself and get customers around the world,” Stapleton said. “So you are not just trying to sell to the few hundred people around you, but everywhere.”
