guide to local businesses - citizens for a better flatheadcitizensforabetterflathead.org/go...
TRANSCRIPT
Fall / Winter 2011
Guide to Local Businesses that Make this Valley the Last Best Place
InsideLocal Stories, Local Authors, Maps, Events, and Business Features!
Buy Local, Buy American: One Family’s PledgeForget the Stock Market: Invest Local
A Green Power House Rises in Cellulose Valley And more…
Cover Photo by John Ashley
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Go Local Flathead!The Flathead Valley is unlike any other place in the world. By choosing to support locally owned businesses, you help to maintain our community’s diversity and distinctive flavor. This Go Local Flathead! shopping guide has been cooperatively produced by the businesses featured in this publication. The goals of this guide are to encourage education and awareness about the benefits of buying local, encourage community support of locally owned businesses, and to increase support for local business owners in their stewardship of our community.
One-of-a-kind businesses are an integral part of the distinctive character of the Flathead Valley. A growing body of economic research shows that in an increasingly homogenized world, entrepreneurs and skilled workers are more likely to invest and settle in communities that preserve their one-of-a-kind businesses and distinctive character. Here in the Flathead Valley, preserving our distinctive community character also helps to support and benefit our tourism businesses.
Benefits of Buying Local:
It keeps dollars in our economy. Of every $1.00 spent at a local business $.45 is reinvested locally. For every $1.00 spent at a non-local business only 15 cents is reinvested locally.
It makes us unique. There’s no place like the Flathead! Homegrown businesses are part of what makes us special.
It creates local jobs. Local businesses are the best at creating higher-paying jobs for our neighbors.
It helps the environment. Buying locally saves transportation fuel. Plus you get products that you know are safe and well-made, because our neighbors stand behind them.
It nurtures our community. Studies show that local businesses donate to community causes at more than twice the rate of chains.
It supports local farms and helps preserve the Flathead Landscape. In the 1950’s, we in Montana grew 70% of our food. Today, we grow only about 13% of the food we eat.
The goal of this guide is to support local business owners in their stewardship of our community and in turn to encourage our community to support these businesses. This guide recognizes the value of all businesses in the community, but it is beyond the scope and scale of this publication to include businesses with national/international corporate structures.
Best Wishes for Winter Fun in the Flathead,From Your Local Business Community
Email us at [email protected] or call us at 756-8993
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Index of Businesses
AcknowledgementsA special Thank You to the volunteers who helped with this issue and without whom this publication couldn’t happen: BJ Carlson, Susannah Casey, CJ Cummings, Darryl Kistler, Loraine Measure, Terry Meyers, Karen Morehouse, Linda Newgard, Kim Pinter, Marilyn Reynolds, and the staff of Citizens for a Better Flathead—Mayre Flowers, Bente Grinde, and Chris Jolly.
Cover Photo: Layout & Graphics: Bonnie Bushman, Sharon DeMeester, and Chris Jolly
BigforkDINE & UNWINDMoroldo’s Risorante Italiano .....................................9Taco Mexico ...........................................................10
INDULGEBigfork Beauty Shop ..............................................10
SERVICEPartners West Realty ...............................................11
SHOPJug Tree ..................................................................10Kehoe’s Agate Shop ................................................11Merry Gems ...........................................................11Neal Brown’s Mojo Chocolates .................................8Roma’s Gourmet Kitchen Store ................................8
Columbia Falls/West GlacierDINE & UNWINDMontana Coffee Traders .........................................16Wee Chef ...............................................................16
EXPERIENCESwan Mountain Snowmobiling ..............................14
SHOPBad Rock Books .....................................................16The Montana House...............................................16Western Building Centers .......................................39
SERVICEMontana Photo Co. ...............................................16
STAYBelton Chalet .........................................................14Izaak Walton Inn ....................................................15
KalispellCONSERVEGround Source Systems ..........................................19
COOKMountain Valley Foods ..........................................41Withey’s Health Foods ...........................................20
DINE & UNWINDThe Boiler Room ....................................................50Bonelli’s Bistro .......................................................40Ceres Bakery ..........................................................43Genki Japanese Restaurant .....................................50Janelli’s Deli ...........................................................36Julie’s Center Street Cafe ........................................49La Fiesta Mexican Family Restaurant ......................44Montana Coffee Traders .........................................16Norm’s News .........................................................27Vivienne’s Fifth Street Cafe.....................................28
EXPERIENCECitizens for a Better Flathead .................................52Conrad Mansion Museum .....................................21Glacier Symphony and Chorale .............................30
Hockaday Museum of Art ......................................21Museum at Central School .....................................21Kalispell Downtown Association ..... inside back coverNoice Studio and Gallery .......................................47Paint, Metal & Mud ........................inside front cover Pomegranate Clay Studio .......................................22Think Local ............................................................33
GROWBox of Rain ............................................................32
INDULGEShamrocks Tattoo and Body Piercing .........................48Shorty’s Barbershop.. ..............................................50Simply Sweet Baking Company ..............................49
SERVICE Able Body Shop .....................................................24Airworks.................................................................37Alpine Interiors ......................................................18Centennial Timber Frames .....................................45Critter Corral Pet Grooming ..................................51Fido’s Dog Grooming .............................................18Flathead Travel Service ...........................................44Insty Prints .............................................................32Lowitz Custom Shoppe .........................................30M and C Tire .........................................................42Martin Electric .......................................................36McGarvey, Heberling, Sullivan & McGarvey, PC ..... 44Measure Law Office, PC .........................................26Montana Tile & Marble ........................................42Paper Chase Copy Center.......................................51Saverud Paint Shop ................................................28Walkerware ............................................................29Western Brokers .....................................................22Western Building Centers .......................................39
SHOPBikology .................................................................26Blooming Bellies ....................................................30Bookworks .............................................................61Buckskin Clothier ..................................................42Camas Creek Yarn ..................................................26Coins and Carats ....................................................45Evergreen Compounding Pharmacy .......................18Fawn Boutique .......................................................20Imagination Station ................................................40J2 Office Products ..................................................23Jack and Jill’s ..........................................................50Powder Horn Trading Co. ......................................43Rocky Mountain Outfitter .....................................47Southside Consignment & Antiques ......................31The Strawberry Patch ............................................30Tailwaggers .............................................................62The Bookshelf ........................................................25Western Building Center ........................................39Western Outdoor ...................................................27Wheaton’s...............................................................40Wheeler Jewelry .....................................................48
STAYAero Inn .................................................................24
Kalispell Grand Hotel ............................................47
Lakeside/SomersDINE & UNWINDSomers Bay Cafe ....................................................56Tamarack Brewing Company .................................55
SHOPLakeside Ski & Sports ............................................56
CONSERVEMother’s Power .......................................................63
COOKThird Street Market ................................................64
DINE & UNWINDAmazing Crepes .....................................................67Jersey Boys Pizzeria .................................................66Montana Coffee Traders .........................................16Sally’s Bakery & Deli ..............................................58
EXPERIENCEStumptown Art Studio ...........................................66The Walking Man Gallery ......................................62Whitefish Pottery ...................................................68Heart of Whitefish ........................ outside back cover
GROWPurple Frog Gardens ...............................................66
INDULGE 33 Baker Hair & Body Salon ..................................69Copperleaf Chocolat Company ..............................67Good Medicine Massage ........................................70Intrinsic Balance Within ........................................63Jen Elden Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork .........68Kettle Care .............................................................70Sage & Cedar .........................................................65
SHOPBackdoor General Store ..........................................68Bookworks .............................................................61Copperleaf Consignment Clothing ........................67Crystal Winters ......................................................65Don K Subaru ........................................................61Nelson’s Hardware ..................................................59Northwind Shirt Co ..............................................66Rocks & Things…Metaphysical .............................62Sope .......................................................................62Sprouts ...................................................................64Stumptown Snowboards .........................................68Tailwaggers .............................................................62Voyageur Booksellers ..............................................67Western Building Centers .......................................39
SERVICEBohemian Grange Hall ...........................................58
Flathead ValleyThe WasteNot Project .............................................71First Night Flathead ...............................................72
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Bigfork 7Columbia Falls / West Glacier 13Kalispell 17Lakeside/Somers 53Whitefish 57
Inside This IssueFlathead Fall/Winter Community Events. .....................4Forget the Stock Market: Invest Local
by Mayre Flowers .....................................................6Buy Local, Buy American: One Family’s Pledge
by Bente Grinde .....................................................12A Green Power House Rises in Cellulose Valley
by Steve Corrick .....................................................34Growing Our Local Economy
by Lauren Casey & Bente Grinde ............................54
GOOD FOR BUSINESS — GOOD FOR COMMUNITYWestern Building Centers
by Mayre Flowers ...................................................38Rocky Mountain Outfitter
by Bente Grinde .....................................................46Bookworks
by Mayre Flowers ...................................................60
WHAT THE LOCALS THINK: BRAG ADS Bigfork Roma’s Gourmet Kitchen Store ...............................8 Kehoe’s Agate Shop ...............................................11
Kalispell Fawn Boutique .....................................................20 Pomegranate Clay Studio ......................................22 Aero Inn ...............................................................24 Vivienne’s Fifth Street Cafe ...................................28 The Strawberry Patch ............................................30 Think Local ..........................................................32 Martin Electric .....................................................36 Mountain Valley Foods .........................................40 Ceres Bakery .........................................................42 Coins & Carats .....................................................44 Noice Studio and Gallery ......................................47 Wheeler Jewelry ....................................................48 Paper Chase Copy Center .....................................51
Whitefish Bohemian Grange Hall .........................................58 The Walking Man Gallery .....................................62 Sage & Cedar .......................................................64 Northwind Shirt Company ...................................66 Whitefish Pottery ..................................................68
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F lathead Fall/Winter Community Events
BigforkDecember2 Handel’s Messiah, Glacier Symphony and Chorale, Bigfork Center
for the Performing Arts, 7:30pm. 3 Annual Magical Holiday Parade & “Touch of Christmas” at the BF
Center for the Performing Arts31 First Night Flathead, Downtown, Kalispell, 2pm-12:30am.
January15 “Baroque Blast!,” Glacier Symphony and Chorale
February/March Every Saturday in February and March: Swan Ranger Winter
Outings. Leave Echo Lake Café at 9:30am. www.swanrange.org.
April21 Easter Egg Hunt, Bigfork Elementary School, 12pm. 837-5888.28 Clean YOUR ‘Fork, meet at Flathead Bank, 8am. 29 Taste of Bigfork 2012, Downtown, 2-5pm.
May Tuesdays in May: Swan River Nature Trail Hike, 10am-noon.
886-2242.12 Cherry Blossom Festival, Yellow Bay Club House, 10am-4pm.
982-3437.19-20 Northern Rockies Paddlefest, Wayfarers State Park. 862-9010.26-7 36th Annual Bigfork Whitewater Festival, Wild Mile on the
Swan River.
Columbia Falls/West GlacierDecember31 Belton Chalet New Years Eve Celebration, West Glacier.
888-5000. First Night Flathead, Downtown Kalispell, 2pm-12:30am.
January8 Ranger-led Snowshoe Hikes in Glacier National Park Winter Trails
Day Event, Apgar Visitor Center, 10:30am and 1:30pm. 888-7939.
KalispellNovember18 George Ostrom book signing, at The Bookshelf 101 Main Street, 4-6pm. 756-2665.20 Thanksgiving Celebration Concert, Gateway Community Center, 7pm. 25 Kalispell Christmas Parade, immediately followed by Christmas Tree
Lighting Ceremony, 7pm.29 Rocky Mountain Outfitter Ladies’ Night, 135 Main St, 6pm-8pm.
December1-2 4th Annual Multi-Denominational Christmas Celebration,
1380 Whitefish Stage, 1st@ 5-9pm, 2nd @1-9pm. Hosted by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
2 Kalispell Art Walk, Downtown Kalispell, 5-9pm.2-4 “Annie: The Musical”, FVCC Arts & Technology Building,
2nd & 3rd at 7pm; 4th at 2pm. 756-3814.4 Handel’s Messiah, Glacier Symphony and Chorale, Flathead High
School Performance Hall, 3pm. 257-3241.8-10 “Annie: The Musical”, FVCC Arts & Tech. Building, 8th & 9th at
7pm; 10th at 2pm. 756-3814.10 Rocky Mountain Outfitter Open Haus, 135 Main St, 9am-5:30pm.13 Chad Castren’s Wax Clinic, Rocky Mountain Outfitter,
135 Main St, 6-7pm.16-17 Winter Rodeo Series, Majestic Valley Arena, 6-10pm. 755-5366.17-18 “Masterworks III: Classical Holiday Pops Concert” presented by
Glacier Symphony and Chorale, Flathead High School Peformance Hall, 17th@7:30pm, 18th@3pm. 257-3241.
25 Christmas City of the North Parade, Main St, 7pm.25-27 Artists and Craftsmen of the Flathead Holiday Arts & Craft Show,
Flathead County Fairgrounds Expo Building. 881-4288.31 First Night Flathead, Downtown Kalispell, 2pm-12:30am.
January8 Snowshoe Lone Pine State Park Winter Trail Day Event,
Lone Pine State Park, 10am-5pm. 755-2706 ext. 2.12 Nonprofit Town Hall facilitated by Ed Myers, Nonprofit
Development Partnership, Museum at Central School, 11:30am-1pm. www.npdp.org.
14 “Baroque Blast!” presented by Glacier Symphony and Chorale, Flathead Valley Community College Black Box Theatre, 7:30pm. 257-3241.
February9 Hector Olivera, Organist presented by Flathead Valley Concerts
Association, Flathead High School Auditorium, 7:30pm. 752-0605. 10 A Chocolat Affaire: Art Walk, Chocolate Tasting & Jazz,
Downtown Kalispell, 5-9pm. 14 Fifth Annual Anti-Valentine’s Day Party for teens, Main Library in
Kalispell, 4-5:30pm.17-18 Rocky Mountain Bullriders Challenge, Majestic Valley Arena,
7-10pm. 755-5366.18 Northwest Montana Wedding & Event Professionals, Inc. 10th
Annual Wedding & Event Expo, Flathead County Fairgrounds, 10am. 758-5810.
26 “Masterworks IV: Violin Virtuoso and Beethoven” presented by Glacier Symphony and Chorale, Whitefish Performing Arts Center, 3pm. 257-3241.
March18 “Masterworks V: Echoes of Heaven and Earth” presented by Glacier
Symphony and Chorale, Glacier High School Performance Hall, 3pm. 257-3241.
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22 Loud at the Library 3, Flathead County Library, Kalispell, 5:30-8pm. Fundraiser for Flathead County Library System.
22 Anita Chen, Pianist and Violinist presented by Flathead Valley Concerts Association, Flathead High School Auditorium, 7:30pm. 752-0605.
26 “Do You Know Lacy?” Anti-sex trafficking training for Montana communities, FVCC Arts & Tech Building, 8:30am-4:30pm. www.sharedhope.org.
28-29 “Masterworks VI: Rach 3 Spring” presented by Glacier Symphony and Chorale, Flathead High School Performance Hall, 28th@7:30pm, 29th@3pm. 257-3241.
May12 8th Annual Great Northern 5K Fun Run/Walk with 1-Mile Kids
Sprint, Meridian Rails to Trails Trailhead, Kalispell.
Lakeside/SomersDecember3 Holidayfest at the Lakeside Elementary School Gym, 9am-4pm.
Jennifer, 253-3336.31 First Night Flathead, Downtown Kalispell, 2pm-12:30am.
January8 Family Snowshoe Walk Winter Trails Day Event, Blacktail Mtn.
X-C Ski Trails, 10am-Noon. 837-7500.
WhitefishDecember1-4, 9-11 & 16-18 “The Sound of Music” presented by Whitefish Theatre
Company, Whitefish Performing Arts Center. 862-5371.3 Handel’s Messiah, Glacier Symphony and Chorale, Whitefish
Performing Arts Center, 7:30pm. 257-3241.6-8 Flathead Sled Dog Days, Snowmobile Trailhead, Olney. 881-3200.9 Christmas Stroll, Downtown Whitefish, 6-9pm. 862-3501.19-20 Alpine Theater Project presents Yuletide Affair 8, Whitefish
Performing Arts Center, 7pm. 862-SHOW.31 New Year Evening Family Fun Night @ Stumptown Ice Den,
9pm-12:15am. 863-2477.31 First Night Flathead, Downtown Kalispell, 2pm-12:30am.
January13 “Baroque Blast!” presented by Glacier Symphony and Chorale,
Whitefish Performing Arts Center, 7:30pm. 257-3241.21 Tim Behrens in Patrick McManus’ “Poor Again…Dagnabbit!”
presented by Whitefish Theatre Company, Whitefish Performing Arts Center. 862-5371.
27 H’Sao presented by Whitefish Theatre Company, Whitefish Performing Arts Center. 862-5371.
27-29 Skijoring Competition Horse & Ski Event, Whitefish Airport. 261-7464.
February 4 Winter Carnival Grand Parade, Downtown Whitefish, 3pm.9-12 & 17-19 “The Borrowers” presented by Whitefish Theatre Company,
Whitefish Performing Arts Center. 862-5371.
25 “Masterworks IV: Violin Virtuoso and Beethoven” presented by Glacier Symphony and Chorale, Whitefish Performing Arts Center, 7:30pm. 257-3241.
26 The Guitar Republic presented by Whitefish Theatre Company, Whitefish Performing Arts Center, 7:30pm. 862-5371.
March 4-6 2012 Special Olympics Montana State Winter Games, Whitefish
Mountain Resort. 837-0319.17 “Masterworks V: Echoes of Heaven and Earth” presented by Glacier
Symphony and Chorale, Whitefish Baptist Church, Hwy 93 South, 7:30pm. 257-3241.
20 New Orleans’ Own Hot 8 Brass Band presented by Whitefish Theatre Company, Whitefish Performing Arts Center, 7:30-10:30pm. 862-5371.
30 Juan Siddi Flamenco Theatre Company presented by Whitefish Theatre Company, Whitefish Performing Arts Center, 7:30pm. 862-5371.
April12-15 & 20-22 “33 Variations” presented by Whitefish Theatre Company,
Whitefish Performing Arts Center. 862-5371.13 Texaco Country Showdown, Majestic Valley Arena, 7pm. 755-5366.
May24-26, June 1-2 & 8-9 “The Foreigner” presented by Whitefish Theatre
Company, Whitefish Performing Arts Center. 862-5371.
Ongoing EventsBigforkWednesdays: Preschool Storytime, Bigfork Branch Library, 10am.Saturdays: Live Music and Dancing with the Company Brass, Bigfork Inn,
8-11pm. 837-6680.
Columbia FallsWednesdays: 10:30am Preschool Storytime and 3pm After-School
Storytime, Columbia Falls Branch Library.Friday nights: Trivia Night at the Belton Chalet. 888-5000.Saturday nights: Live music at the Belton Chalet. 888-5000.
KalispellSecond Tuesday of Each Month: Friends Book Group, Main Library in
Kalispell, 5pm.Tuesdays and Wedesdays: Preschool Storytime at the Main Library in
Kalispell, 11am.Wednesdays: Meditation with Open Sky Sangha, Shining Mountains Center
for Spiritual Living, 6-8pm. [email protected] and Fourth Thursdays of each month: Frontier Hospice Bereavement
support group, 29 2nd St E, 1:30-3pm. 755-4923.Saturdays and Sundays: Open Skate, Woodland Ice Center, 1:15-4pm.
Second Tuesday of each month: Cultural and Art History Club, Stumptown Art Studio, 145 Central Avenue, 10am-Noon.
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Forget the Stock Market: Invest LocalThe question everyone is rightfully asking now is how are
we going to begin rebuilding the broken economy and creating jobs? This publication, a Guide to the Local Businesses that Make this Valley the Last Best Place, promotes one strategy, the economic benefits of buying locally. Dollars spent at community-based merchants create a multiplier effect in the local economy, meaning that from each dollar spent at a local independent merchant, far more money goes back into the local economy compared to a dollar spent at chain-owned businesses. As a recent economic study confirms, communities with a larger density of small, locally owned businesses experienced greater per capita income growth than those communities where non-local businesses dominate.1
Another equally intriguing strategy, which is rapidly gaining ground and which may have the potential for even greater impact, is the movement to invest locally. Author Amy Cortese has given this new movement a name, which is also the title of her new book, Locavesting2. Locavesting, she s ays, “is a call to rethink the way we invest, so that we support the small businesses that create jobs and healthy, resilient communities. Just as ‘Buy Local’ campaigns have found that a small shift in purchasing from chains to locally owned enterprises can reap outsized benefits for a community, so, too, can a small shift in our investment dollars.”
Her website highlights the fact that “If Americans shifted just 1 percent of their investments to locally owned companies, more than $260 billion would be injected into the Main Street economy - without costing the government a dime!” Her book showcases examples of the extraordinary experiment in citizen finance taking place across the country as communities pull together to take back control of their financial destinies while revitalizing the communities they call home. Investment clubs and networks with a hyper-local focus are springing up all over, she notes. Here are a few examples Cortese cites in one of her recent blogs:
Opportunities Network, or LION, (www.l2020.org) have invested more than $500,000 in businesses including a creamery, a cidery, a bike shop and a real estate development since it was founded in 2008.
$3,000 apiece to raise the $600,000 needed to build the brewpub. Black Star expects to begin paying a 6 percent annual dividend this year, after just one year of operation.
Development Institute (www.ecdi.org) is launching the Invest Local Ohio fund, which will allow residents to put money into a fund that lends to Ohio small businesses and pays a modest return.
Local investment clubs, community ownership, “crowdfunding,3local stock exchanges, Cortese argues, provide important new alternative
capitalism. Her book discusses these opportunities as well as challenges to them posed by current securities regulations in place at the state and federal levels. These regulations have their roots in the Depression era, and she discusses some of the abuses that led to their adoption.
seems to have rare bipartisan support: a proposal to loosen some of the outdated securities regulations that hamper small businesses in raising capital.”
Cortese goes on to describe the situation in Britain, “where securities laws are helpful to crowdfunding and several start-ups are vying to be the Facebook of finance. The year-old Funding Circle, a business-lending site based in London, raises more than $2.3 million each month for small businesses from individuals who can invest as little as $30 and earn an average yield of roughly 7.3 percent after fees. Those are loans; two other start-ups are applying the model to equity shares in small companies.”
the future will have to change to avoid the pitfalls that led to the recent economic recession. Cortese is one of a number of authors who are emerging to shed light on just what some
of these changes might be. I, for one, will be heading down to Bookworks, the Flathead’s only locally owned bookstore (for new
to shop locally for this great new book. (And if they don’t have it, they can order any book and get it in within a few days.) Investing locally is an exciting opportunity worth exploring and learning more about, and if you would like to get together and do just that, please give me a call at 756-8993. There has never been a better time to learn from others and create an economic future we believe in!
1www.newrules.org, 2www.locavesting.com3The term “crowdfunding “ refers to a more democratic model of finance that
marries online social networks with finance, in which individuals can directly fund other individuals or businesses they deem worthy, without going through a bank or
— Mayre Flowers
Bifgfork
To Polson To Polson
To Kalispell
To Evergreen
Bigfork
Swan Highway
FlatheadLake
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Holt Dr.
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ChapmanHill Rd
To Polson
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Grand Dr.
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Bigfork8
SHOP LOCAL WHERE THE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE IS
WORTH ANY EXTRA TRAVEL TIME
Roma’s Gourmet Kitchen StoreBigfork
“We live in Washington D.C., but have a home here on Lindbergh Lake. That means it is a 70 mile drive for us to come to shop here, but it is always worth the drive! This is a great shop!!!”
– Jean and Ernest Seglie, Lindbergh Lake, MT
Neal Brown’s Mojo Chocolates
and the occasional Cordial.All made with premium chocolate from
If Americans shifted just 1 percent of their investments to locally owned companies, more than $260 billion would be injected into the Main Street economy - without costing the government a dime! www.locavesting.com
Did You Know?
Bigfork9 Bifgfork 9
Bigfork10
Taco MexicoAuthentic Mexican
Lunch & DinnerMon - Sat. 11-9:30 pm
406-837-5030
8275 Hwy 35 #3Bigfork, MT 59911Daily Specials!
Tell your favorite local business to get on board for the next addition of this guide! Publication of this Go Local Flathead Guide is set for late spring and late fall each year. Planning for the Spring 2012 edition will begin in a few months and we want to make sure an even broader range of local businesses are included.
The next Go Local Flathead Guide will continue to grow and ad more local stories and features. It will target local residents as well as those just here for a visit. Distribution includes local stores, local hotels and motels, libraries, public events, groceries, and tourist spots across the valley, as well as direct on-line outreach to a growing number (almost 3000) of Flathead residents who are excited about strengthening our local economy by shopping locally.
The content for this guide will be shaped and guided by the local businesses that get on board for this next publication. So act now! Your feedback is important. And like this issue, ad space will be offered at incredible bargain prices thanks to the volunteer efforts of many. Stay up-to-date and provide input by emailing [email protected] to get on the email list for this publication today. Call 756-8993 for information and questions.
Are We Missing Someone?
Bigfork11 Bifgfork 11
Don’twastetimedrivingaroundthevalleylookingfor homes.
(406) 837-2575www.PartnersWestRealty.com
104 Jewel Basin CourtBigfork, MT 59911
Email [email protected]@partnerswestrealty.com
Rose & Don Schwennesen
Call us... We’re LOCAL. We drove around yesterday!
Fine Jewelry in 14K Gold and Platinum Yogo and Montana SapphireNatural Stones in Sterling Silver Custom Gemstone Beads and Carvings Montana Agate Jewelry SW Native American Jewelry Fossils and Minerals And Many More Wonderful and Interesting Things
KEHOE’S AGATE SHOP
SINCE 1932
1020 HOLT DRIVE,BIGFORK, MT(406) 837-4467
Summer Hours: 10AM to 6PM Mon.-Sat.Winter Hours: 10AM to 5PM Tues.-Sat.
SHOP LOCAL FOR THAT UNIQUE ITEM YOU NEED TO MAKE YOUR WORK AWESOME
Kehoe’s Agate Shop - Bigfork“As a stonemason I like to go to Kehoe’s for their fossils. A well-matched fossil adds an artistic touch to my stone- work. Their handcrafted jewelry is exquisite and they have amazing gems from polished Montana agates, to Yogo sapphires,to sparkling lavender
a special gift and view theircollection of native American artifacts.”
– Nathan Wilcoxen, Bigfork
— 12 —
Buy Local, Buy American: One Family’s Pledge
Rod Smith. -Photo by Bente Grinde.
American-made shoes.
Bigfork resident Rod Smith grew up during a time when practically everything was made in America. His uncle owned the Lydia Thread Company on the Connecticut River in Vermont, which represented just one cog in the wheel of a domestic textile industry that used to drive the economies of
New England and the Carolinas. Manufacturing has been a way of life for most of American history, and as an economic sector it has provided tens of millions of jobs to people of almost any skill or education level. Needless to say, times have changed in Rod’s lifetime. Not only have many larger companies chosen to move manufacturing operations overseas where labor and property are cheaper, environmental and labor regulations are more relaxed, and tax and financial loopholes further lighten the burden of doing business, but also manufacturing processes have become more efficient and less reliant on workers to run machines and monitor processes. According to Diane Sawyer’s “Made in America” series, in 1960 only about 8 percent of goods purchased in the United States were made overseas; today, foreign-made goods represent almost 60 percent of the things we buy. Rod, a longtime resident of the Flathead Valley, is one of the many Americans taking these matters into their own hands by opting for the old fashioned approach of voting with his wallet. According to ABC News, if every American spent just $3.33 more on US-made products each year, it would generate enough revenue to create 10,000 new jobs nationwide. So, for the benefit of young people who get out of school and can’t find jobs, the millions of other unemployed Americans, and the labor unions, to which we owe so many cultural institutions and workplace improvements, Rod has taken a pledge to buy American-made and union-made whenever possible. Buying American also reinforces investment in transportation infrastructure, and buying things that are made locally supports our neighbors, invests in our community, and reduces the carbon footprint of commercial shipping. Rod made his pledge in the year 2000 after he found out that the Dodge truck he had just bought was made in Canada. Since
then, he and his wife Jolene have developed a habit of sitting down with every catalog they get (about a dozen, including Woolrich, JC Penney, and an all-American-made cotton clothing catalog called Deva out of North Dakota) to find out where everything in each one was manufactured. Once they make note of all this, Jolene might just call the comment line at Woolrich, for example, to discuss why they should consider sourcing more of their woolen products from American factories like the Faribault Woolen Mill Co. in Faribault, MN. If it sounds like these folks have too much time on their hands, get this: Rod spent four years looking for a pair of American-made shoes. They finally turned up for him in a Duluth Trading Company catalog – the only American-made product in their inventory. This is called commitment. Jolene often gets the expected response when she makes her calls: that things made in the United States are not price-competitive and that not enough people would buy them, but she argues that it might be worth giving people an American-made option, or designating an American-made section of their catalog, to see how it goes. She and Rod can’t be the only ones who would pay a little (or sometimes a lot) extra to buy something made by a company employing American workers and paying American taxes. Indeed, plenty of people are taking up personal challenges to buy American, and providing resources to encourage others to do so as well. Websites like www.madeinusa.com and ibuyusmade.com allow you to search for a specific item and show you a list of American companies that make it here. And Diane Sawyer’s “Made in America” series provides web links, interactive maps, and stories of the people who are putting their passions to work in the Buy American movement. In addition, union newsletters, like that of the United Steelworkers, list tires that are made in America, as well as cars made by United Auto Workers (with asterisks beside the models that are wholly or partially manufactured in Mexico).
While this kind of information may be more readily accessible than ever, it still takes committed individuals to make the difference. Rod can tell you: there is nothing more empowering than knowing that your money has been well-spent, and knowing that your financial support has gone to benefit enterprises you believe in and that espouse business and personnel policies that align with your values. When it comes down to
it, shopping is one of the most political activities we participate in every day. How will you vote?
— Bente Grinde
— 13 —— 13 —
Columbia Falls/ West Glacier
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To Glacier National Park
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West Glacier
Glacier National ParkWest Entrance
2
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To Columbia Falls
To Essex,East Glacier& Browning
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Columbia Falls/ West Glacier15 Columbia Falls/ West Glacier 15
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Kalispell
8th Ave E
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To Somers & Lakeside
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Montana St.Railroad St.
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Sunset Blvd
IdahoTo
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Kalispell
Center Mall
Meridian Rd
Heritage WayNorthridge Dr.Commons Way
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Kalispell Regional Medical Center
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Kalispell20
Locally Owned 219 Main St, Kalispell 257-6656 fawnboutique.com
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Fawn Boutique - Kalispell
“This boutique carries the latest fashions and I love that the staff is all about assisting me
clothing and accessories here are unique and -
able and located on Main Street, downtown Kalispell, all of which makes shopping there
– Keri Hill, Columbia Falls
406-755-5260TOLL FREE 877-755-5260
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9 AM - 6 PMMonday Through Saturday 1231 SOUTH MAIN STREET
KALISPELL, MT 59901
Home Brew Supplies for Beer & Wine Fresh Organic Produce
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Kalispell21 Kalispell 21
Kalispell22
755-0845
Pomegranate Clay Studio“SHOP LOCAL, CELEBRATE LIFE AND BE HAPPY!
Pomegranate Clay Studio
Kalispell
“We love Joanna’s pottery because the vibrant colors on warm clay combine with beautiful shapes and images ~ all joyfully celebrating life. It makes me happy every time I use one of her pieces.”
– Becky and Allen Slater, Kalispell
Kalispell23 Kalispell 23
Kalispell24
“FLATHEADʼS FIRSTENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
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406-752-1125
1-800-843-6114
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Aero Inn - Kalispell
“Unlike most low-cost chain motels, the Aero Inn, offers comfortable beds, great pillows, refrigerators in the room and great, friendly service.They have some of the most reasonable
prices in town. I stay here often for work, but I have also brought my family before on vacation. The indoor pool and Jacuzzi are a real plus!”
– Ray Bordner, Spokane, Washington
Kalispell25 Kalispell 25
Kalispell26
MEASURE LAW OFFICE, P.C.ATTORNEYS AT LAW
Depot Park Square24 First Avenue East, Suite C
Kalispell, MT 59901
Family Law Wills & Trusts ContractsEstates & Probate Personal Injury
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Kalispell27 Kalispell 27
Kalispell28
Vivienne’s Fifth St. Cafe21 Fifth St. E.
Kalispell752-8436
Breakfast 8-11
Monday thru
Friday
Lunch 11-3
Monday thru
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Brunch8-2
Sunday
One taste of our soups,
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Vivienne’s Fifth Street CafeKalispell
“We think the crab melt is our favorite, but the home-made pasties are just wonderful too. The truth is no matter what you choose to order, you can’t go wrong; the food is simply GREAT. We also love the restaurant’s warm, homey feel and friendly staff!”
– Jim and Jackie Murphy, Bigfork
Kalispell29 Kalispell 29
Kalispell30
Marcia TrenkleLori DeLong
Kalispell, MT 59901
SHOP LOCAL AND HAVE FUN WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND
The Strawberry Patch - Kalispell
“We have been shopping here for 30 years, which says a lot for this store. We keep coming back because they always have unique items, and that makes shopping for gifts or for our homes such fun. The store is always beautifully decorated. The help is wonderful; Judy is GREAT!”
– Diane Anfenson & Darla Hall, Kalispell
36 2nd Street East - Kalispell, MT406-314-4020
bloomingbelliesboutique.com
maternity, infant, & nursing needs apparel & specialty gifts
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Kalispell31 Kalispell 31
SOUTHSIDE CONSIGNMENT
&Antiques
The place to bring your friends and family!
~ Find or Consign One Item or Many ~
Open Tues. - Fri. 10-5 Sat. 10-4:30 CLOSED Sun. - Mon.
2699 Hwy 93 S. Kalispell 756-8526
Kalispell32
SHOP LOCAL FOR GIFTS CRAFTED BY LOCAL ARTISTS
Think Local - Kalispell
“I love that everything in this store is made by local artisians. I am here visiting and taking a watercolor workshop, so this is a
try to shop local when I come (this is my second trip), so it is great to see there is a
more about locally owned places to stay.”
– Jean Kluge, Michigan
406-755-RAIN (7246) 860 NORTH MERIDIAN, behind Dog Gone Clean HOURS: Tuesday-Saturday10- -
1. Digital Lighting 10. Soil Amendments 2. Lifetime Warranted Ballasts 11. Cloning Products 3. Light Movers/Hangers 12. Reservoirs/Chillers 4. Fluorescent Lighting 13. Pumps/Air Stones 5. PH/EC/TDS Meters 14. Reverse Osmosis Systems 6. Oscillating Fans Ventilation 15. Reflective Films 7. Pest & Disease Control 16. Growing Accessories 8. Environmental Controllers/CO2 Timers 17. CO2 Tanks/Refills 9. All Types of Growing Media 18. Organic Veggie/Flower Seeds
Kalispell33 Kalispell 33
— 34 —
Algae Aqua-Culture Green Power House.
F. H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Company (Stoltze) has been a fixture in the Flathead Valley for more than 100 years. A family-owned firm, they’ve thoughtfully stewarded their lands and employees, growing trees the right way, and harvesting them in good time. With a view to their long-term future, however, they are always seeking innovations that will help them grow and thrive in a changing economy. At their mill site between the towns of Columbia Falls and Whitefish, they have recently provided major assistance to a small, new, cutting-edge business, Algae Aqua-Culture Technology (AACT), that is racing to return Stoltze and the forest industry to the frontline of ingenuity.
AACT has almost completed an innovative wood chip to energy and fertilizer processing plant that will initially employ about 9 people. AACT’s proprietary process uses a greenhouse-based algae growth system and an anaerobic biodigester to transform a blend of the wood waste and algae into large amounts of highly valuable organic fertilizers and soil amendments. It will also produce high-value methane for power generation. “The AACT technology is clearly one of the most promising opportunities to help build, preserve, and diversify Montana’s forest products industry economic strength in the renewable energy field,” said Chuck Roady, Stoltze Lumber VP.
This is the story of how one set of the Flathead’s dreamers and doers are helping to pave a new future for Montana’s “Cellulose Valley.” It is a dream born out of recognition that there has to be a better way to produce jobs and energy—a better way that replenishes the Earth and sustains the natural resources we so depend on. The story of AACT is an example of the growing potential to re-power the Flathead for a new energy economy.
AACT was started by “dreamers” Paul Stelter, co-owner of Alameda’s Hot Springs Retreat and its geothermal hot water wells, as well as horticulturist Michael Holecek and Michael Smith, an animation, physical simulation, artificial intelligence and computer modeling engineer. The three experimented for a year with growing algae from Alameda’s geothermal wells, but eventually realized the wells didn’t have enough hot water to run a major biofuel production operation.
At about this time I met Stelter, Smith, and Holecek. In trading stories of our business efforts, Holecek noted that algae can also be converted into fertilizer. This struck a chord. After
sharing my background having grown up in a timber industry family and having seen the zealous desire farmers and foresters had for their piece of the renewable energy revolution, the exciting realization for the partners was that generating both fertilizer and energy from waste cellulose and algae could be the value added revenue stream that was desperately needed by timber companies and farmers alike.
Shortly thereafter in 2009, Mayre Flowers of Citizens for a Better Flathead, and the three-day conference on Re-Powering the Flathead for a New Energy Economy they organized, introduced Smith to Stoltze’s Chuck Roady and Paul McKenzie. The three eventually agreed that the innovative technologies that AACT was developing might allow Stoltze to convert its waste wood resources into new heat and energy resources for its plant and new product lines that would be less affected by boom-and-bust economics.
But building a new technology business is an act of personal commitment and energy that few can ever imagine. The story of AACT’s development reveals another important component of the almost magical chemistry of becoming a successful business in this economy—the attraction of local investors and volunteers. It’s that “if you build it they will come” kind of magic that has been so essential to AACT’s success to date.
Smith, who has basically worked day and night on the project since late 2008, says there’s something going on here that he’s never experienced before, “I’ve worked many high tech
projects, including several for NASA, Intel, Disney, and Electronic Arts, but this is by far the most fulfilling and enriching project I’ve ever worked on, and the basis of that is the many, many people who have stepped to the plate and contributed freely of their time, dollars, and efforts to this amazing process.” (See the story on page 6 to learn more about this trend.)
The image of “players” (in this case volunteers and investors) emerging from the forest, as opposed to the cornfields of
the movie “Field of Dreams,” better fits the Flathead. And from this forest image a truly amazing team of players has emerged to move the AACT partnership forward. Early to come were local individual investors like Joan Shoemaker and Brad Oen, who found their way to the project and put significant chunks of their personal savings into it. Brad Oen points out: “This is a great project. I want it to succeed, and that’s more important
A Green Power House Rises in Cellulose Valley1
— 35 —— 35 —
exchange dollars many times, while an extraction economy sends those dollars quickly and permanently elsewhere.”
Morrow emphasized that this return to local investment and control needs to become viral. “People need to move beyond thinking they must fight over dividing a limited pie. Instead, they need to develop technologies that expand the pie so that all may be profitably employed and nourished.”
The story of AACT and how it has grown has become a tale of a magical and amazing journey thanks to what so many in the local community have given! And that’s the real point of this article. Amazing things are possible when individuals and communities come together to invest, to share, to imagine—even in these challenging/changing economic times!!
Speaking of investment opportunities, company co-founder, Michael Smith is not bashful in saying, “We’re still looking for a few more strategic investors, to bring this vision to full realization.” After all, the request is made in that magical spirit of believing “if you build it they will come,” which has already been demonstrated so clearly by the Flathead’s investors and volunteers, whose efforts infuse the twenty-first century production plant now rising just west of Columbia Falls.
For more pictures of the project and more information, interested parties can go to the Algae Aqua-Culture Technology page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Algae-Aqua-Culture-Technology/179128458804007
1 Much like the innovation and investment that created the “Silicone Valley” in California and gave birth to much of the computer technology we take for granted today, the Flathead Valley and other rural natural resource areas have the potential to give birth to new industries that can add significant value to cellulose in wood or other biomass waste products.2 Swope, tragically, died suddenly while skiing at Big Mountain in early January, 2011, having spent his last morning watching the pouring of the concrete platform on which the Green Power House (named in his honor) now stands.
Disclosure: Author Steve Corrick, a Missoula realtor, is a partner in AACT.
—Steve Corrick
Michael Smith examines AACT algae (being grown in a photobioreactor).
Smith describes the anaerobic bioreactor to Professor Tom, McNab, the Director of MSU’s Community Design Center.
than holding on to my dwindling retirement dollars.”
Others including Dick Swope, a retired Inspector General of the Air Force, living in the Flathead, became heavily involved. Swope was appointed AACT’s Chairman of the Board in February 20092 . Robin Kelson, a botanist, ecologist and former Boston intellectual property rights attorney, has become a full-time contributor because of the project’s ability to sustainably generate renewable sources for the planet’s depleted fuel, soil, water and food.
In late 2010, Michael Smith and I, aided by the business insights of Dick Swope and Whitefish resident John Murdock, were able to capture a highly competitive grant awarded by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, (with confirmation from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory)—and from that the now almost-completed, eight-sided, energy and fertilizer production plant began its rise. Again, this phase of the project relied on the amazing and largely volunteer help of many. To name just a few, given space limitations, Michael’s do-everything partner, Diane Carter; master carpenter Sean Carter, who, on his own time, manifested Smith’s vision and built the smaller project demonstration building last year; business consultant Adam De Yong, who is now providing extensive input into the business’ structure and documentation; concrete artisan Rex Smith and his sons, who have been traveling from Salt Lake to provide the concrete work; and entomologist Evan Sugden, who paid his own way to Hawaii to meet with the many interested governmental and private
parties there—as well as the many more dedicated electronics, construction, materials and greenhouse specialists who, though unnamed, are profoundly central to this success story.
Janet Morrow, another early investor in the project, is a community-builder and co-producer of the acclaimed documentary film, Fuel. She sees her investment as an investment in a new, renewable, “locally
controlled,” Flathead community. She goes on to explain that communities that are mostly dependent on extraction cannot control their economic fortunes, since they get low value for their raw material exports, and then have to pay dearly for the manufactured goods finished elsewhere and then re-imported at a premium. Morrow said “In healthy economies, dollars continue to circulate locally as local producers and consumers
Kalispell36
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755-5803
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}
— 38 —
Knowledgeable staff are ready to help
Doug Shanks, General Manager of Western Building Centers (WBC) for almost 20 years, says there was clearly a point over a decade ago where the business had to choose the retail model they would follow. While their competition moved to large warehouse, single service store formats, WBC made the commitment to continue to offer smaller, multiple community-based stores. Shanks said they made this decision to offer smaller community-based stores because they knew with this model they could better offer the one-on-one personalized expertise that their customers deserved and that they had a long history of delivering.
Today, WBC has 10 community-based stores serving not only Kalispell, Whitefish, Evergreen, and Columbia Falls, but also Eureka, Libby, Ronan, Polson, Plains, and, most recently, Stevensville. WBC’s community-based commitment runs deep even with their managers and staff, who are supported and encouraged by WBC to get involved in community efforts. As a result, not only does WBC support numerous community efforts with donations, but their management and staff serve the community in positions ranging from volunteer firefighters to food bank board members.
“Employee retention is a top priority for WBC,” says Shanks. “Investing in training and long-term employee retention translates into top-quality service for customers from staff who have years of experience and expertise to draw on to address customers’ needs,” he adds. “Employee retention also means supporting
employees and their families, and that is why WBC has policies that support employees when they need to get away for a child’s sport or school event.” WBC employs a staff of 180 today, down slightly from its high in 2007 of 235 employees, as a result of the housing market downturn. WBC’s investment in their employees shows; it’s hard to enter a Western Building Center store and not be stopped by an employee ready, knowledgeable, and eager to help.
Staying at the forefront of changes in the building industry is also a top priority for WBC. If you are looking for advice on
energy-saving and green building techniques or new building products, WBC staff will likely have the experience and training to get you going and help you save money. “We stand behind what
we sell almost to a fault,” says Shanks, “because our customers have come to rely on the fact that they can trust us to guide them—from first time do-it-yourselfers to contractors—through almost any building project.”
WBC also believes in supporting the communities of Western Montana by purchasing locally. Shanks says that almost all the wood they sell comes from local mills, even when they occasionally have to pay a bit more to get it! At WBC’s new state-of-the-art, high-tech Building Components plant in Columbia Falls,
the 19 to up to 35 new employees manufacture roof trusses, pre-fab wall panels, and floor trusses using high quality Machine Stress Rated (MSR) lumber from Stoltze Lumber Company in Columbia Falls. “Prefab panels create less waste, speed up the building process and thus keep costs down for homeowners and businesses using them,” Shanks notes. “This is a new product that we are very excited about and we would like to help our customers learn how it might fit in their building plans.”
Western Building Center stores not only offer building supplies and an extensive range of building tools, but they also cater to customers’ landscaping, paint, and plumbing needs. In addition, they are prepared to help you with your winter projects with products to maintain your home and auto. After all, they have been around Northwest Montana for over 60 years, and in that time they have come to know just what you might need. So shop local and support a great business that is generating local jobs and is committed to providing you, as their mission says, “The Best Quality Products and World Class Service at Competitive Prices.”
— Mayre Flowers
Good For Business - Good For Community
Western Building Centers: 60 Years of Top Quality Service at Competitive Prices
Kalispell39 Kalispell 39
Kalispell1745 - 3rd Ave E.(406) 755-6411
Evergreen1019 East Idaho(406) 755-9444
6130 Hwy 93 S.(406) 862-2545
Columbia Falls1550 9th St. W.(406) 892-3204
Eureka1574 Hwy 93 N.(406) 297-2253
Libby30508 Hwy 2.
(406) 293-7755
Ronan36203 Rnd Butte Rd W.
(406) 676-5726
Polson905 1st St. E.
(406) 883-5284
Plains#12 Highway 28.(406) 826-3866
Stevensville3956 US Hwy 93 N
(406) 777-1452
Where the Contractor Shopsand so should you!
10 Retail Locations to better serve you
WBC Building Components(406) 892-2171
Kalispell40
Mon - Sat 8am - 3pm
SHOP LOCAL AND KNOW YOU ’LL FIND WHAT YOU NEEDMountain Valley Foods - Kalispell
“We love coming here because they always have the ingredients we need! Some members of our families have special diet needs, so we pull ideas from lots of different cookbooks,
also like that they carry pet food, including
– Gail Lane, Bigfork & Erin Gilbert, Kalispell
257-5808Hours M-F 9-6; Sat. 9-5
wheatoncycle.com
Kalispell41 Kalispell 41
Flathead Valley’s largest natural food store.
Locally owned and
family operated since 1989.
We take pride in our
excellent customer service and believe
that it is the key to the success of our business.
We invite you to stop in and experience
our newly expanded store.
ORGANIC FOODS | JUICE & COFFEE BAR | HEALTH & BODY CARE | SUPPLEMENTS
REWARDS PROGRAM
25 Commons Way, Kalispell, Hwy 93, Next to Qdoba | 406.756.1422www.mountainvalleyfoods.com | Open 7-7 Mon-Sat, 10-4 Sun.
Kalispell42
1-406-755-0706www.buckskinclothier.com
laine Snyder was
.She designs & distinctively hand crafts vests & jackets for men and women and ladies dresses. Your tanned hides or hers.
E
SHOP LOCAL AND PAMPER YOURSELF WITH A WELL
DESERVED BREAK FROM IT ALL
Ceres Bakery - Kalispell
“I come here by myself sometimes just to treat myself, or I come with friends because it’s such comfy place to get together. It’s
-
– Jean Paschke, Kalispell
Kalispell43 Kalispell 43
In Historic Downtown Kalispell318 Main Street
Your Neighborhood Bakery
Sweet Potato Sticky Buns, Croissants,Danish, Scones, Cinnamon Rolls,
Sliced Bread, Challah, Burger Buns,
Monday-Friday7am-6pmSaturday
8am-3pm
406-755-8552Artisan BreadsFine Espresso
Delectable Pastries
Christmas Cookies
Holiday Breads
Kalispell44
McGarvey, Heberling, Sullivan & McGarvey, PC
SHOP LOCAL AND INDULGE YOUR PASSION FOR JEWELRY
Coins & Carats - Kalispell
“I have shopped here for at least twenty years. I would highly recommend this busi-ness as trust-worthy. I know they have a loyal following of customers who feel the same. If they don’t have just what I am looking for, they can get it. The service is so friendly. I come here for all my fun stuff! They also offer a great repair service.”
– Mary Wells, Kalispell
Kalispell45 Kalispell 45
Your Trusted Bullion Specialists For Over 21 Years
Call 752-2646237 Main Street, Kalispell, MT
— 46 —
Good For Business - Good For Community
Don Scharfe’s message for us all.
-Photo by Mayre Flowers
Whether you want to know what kind of gear to get for your next outdoor adventure or whether you’re trying to decide where your adventure should take place, Rocky Mountain Outfitter at 135 Main Street is a treasure trove of community wisdom about rock climbing, Nordic and backcountry skiing, backpacking, and paddling. And whether you think you’ve seen it all or whether you’re a beginner aspiring to greatness, it’s is a perfect place to scope out and compare equipment, pore over maps and charts, get warm socks, swap stories about where you went last weekend, and discuss how to get where you want to go next.
Owner and founder Don Scharfe and the staff at his shop have provided expert advice and taken a genuine interest in their customers since Scharfe and his brother started the store in the summer of 1976. The quality of service and high level of expertise is no accident; it is the direct result of Scharfe’s business philosophy: stay passionate about what you do, take time to do what you love, and help others in the community prepare for their own adventures. “We are the people you will meet in the mountains climbing, skiing, backpacking and hiking,” Scharfe says on the RMO website, “and we are here to share information and equipment tips.”
The store has intentionally stayed in its original location, has intentionally stuck to its original specialty sports, and has intentionally remained a small business, despite opportunities that have come along to grow to a larger operation. Scharfe believes that a larger enterprise would be incapable of providing the level of customer service he wants to be able to deliver at his store.
After almost 37 years since RMO was established, some families in the Flathead Valley have been shopping there for generations. Scharfe sees this connection with the community as a primary function of the shop. Keeping the shop downtown has been important to him, because he believes that it’s vibrant downtowns that work best to nurture such community connections, both between clients and business owners and among fellow shoppers, who are often also neighbors, coworkers, and adventure buddies.
The staff and the store are also involved in community and conservation projects throughout the Valley. RMO leases the upper floor of their building to the Glacier Institute so that they can better afford to maintain a downtown office. Scharfe himself serves on the Board of Directors of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation and helped to start the Glacier Country
Avalanche Center. In addition, RMO has collaborated in the past with Flathead Valley Community College to administer technical climbing courses, and sometimes the shop will take on a high school-age intern from the Montana Academy, a therapeutic boarding school based in Marion.
The atmosphere in the shop is very personal, and if a question comes up that requires a second opinion, it’s more than likely that a couple of veteran sales reps can gather around and troubleshoot the issue using their own personal experiences with gear and technique in the field. The store is able to support this collaborative environment by virtue of its having remained small and specialized, and regulars know that one of its specialties is outdoor problem solving and sometimes even
healthy debate.
Scharfe ocame out to Montana from Illinois in 1970 (“in my Bus,” he admits) wanting to climb mountains and explore the wilderness of the West, and when it became clear to him that what he wanted to do was to start his own specialty mountaineering shop, he sized up all the big towns in Montana and decided that Kalispell presented a perfect opportunity for business.
From the beginning, Scharfe has taken an approach to balancing work and life that has allowed him to “make a living and climb all the time.” He takes plenty of time off to get outside, often traveling far from home to explore mountains and climb cliffs abroad. It certainly doesn’t hurt that the things he loves to do in his time off basically fall in the category of professional development, and that his adventures often contribute directly to the quality of advice and expertise he is able to bring to work when he returns, let’s say, from the Italian Alps. It’s a system in which work and life complement each other rather than compete with one another.
Again, for Scharfe, this is by design, and linked to a passionate philosophy of life. “You have to love who you live with, you have to love where you live, and you have to love where you work,” he says. In the climb of life, these are surely some of the most secure footholds to be found, and they allow Scharfe to be one of those rare experts who loves nothing more than to share his knowledge with others. That’s what keeps so many people, and sometimes even their children’s children, coming back.
Kalispell47 Kalispell 47
Birthday Celebration100 yrs in 2012
SIMPLY A GREAT PLACE TO STAY
IDEAL DOWNTOWN LOCATION WALK TO KALISPELL’S BEST RESTAURANTS
EXCEPTIONAL CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST INCOMPARABLE COOKIES
AND YOUR PETS ARE WELCOME
HISTORICKALISPELL GRAND HOTEL
Our Gift to You$20.12
OFF OUR GUEST RATEDECEMBER 31, 2011 THRU MAY 31, 2012
www.kalispellgrand.com
Unexpectedly Inexpensive
Noice Studio & Gallery127 Main Street Kalispell
(406) 755-5321
Noice Studio and Gallery Kalispell
“Some art galleries you walk in and no one seems to care or notice, but not at the Noice Gallery. I always feel so welcomed there!! We stop in often. The Noices are such
a creative family; I love their work. We have purchased several pieces from the gallery and they always take time to make sure everything is just right. ”
– Brad and Desi Brown, Kalispell
SHOP LOCAL WHERE THE ARTIST INVITES YOU IN AND YOU BECOME GOOD FRIENDS
Kalispell48
SHOP LOCAL FOR FRIENDLY SHOPPING EXPERIENCES
Wheeler Jewelry - Kalispell
“I could have gotten a new battery for my waterproof watch at a box store, but I called around and came here because they were so friendly on the phone. They took time to answer my questions and I could tell they had the expertise needed to do this job. Their attitude was awesome; I am very impressed. I’ll be back to shop here again.”
– Christen von Delius, Kalispell
Kalispell49 Kalispell 49
Lunch
Tuesday-Sunday 8:00 - 2:00
JULIE’S“like mom use to make”
CENTER STREET CAFE
Breakfast served ALL DAY
RatedLocally Owned
& OperatedCome in for
free samples
200 East Center Street Kal ispel l
755-7171
Kalispell50
Jack & Jill ’sChildren’s Re-Sale Boutique
Name Brand Clothes
Maternity
Baby Equipment
Featuring Fine Japanese Cuisine and Sushi Bar
Lunch Special $6.95
GenkiJapanese Restaurant
Percentage change in 2010 sales for independent businesses in cities without a Buy Local First initiative: 2.1%
Percentage change in 2010 sales for independent businesses in cities with a Buy Local First initiative: 5.6 %
(www.newrules.org)
Did You Know?
Kalispell51 Kalispell 51
SHOP LOCAL WHERE THE LOCALS GO FOR GUARANTEED
FRIENDLY SERVICE
Paper Chase Copy Center Kalispell
“I just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq so it’s great to be home and back where I know
service and friendly, helpful staff. They
do everything for me so I don’t have to do it myself. I have come here for years just because of the great service I get and the friendly staff.”
– Jeremy Sams, Kalispell
Critter Corral Pet Grooming is happy to be celebrating their 15th year in business!
Christie Becker—owner 406-756-5883
Pet supplies and toys
harnesses
Services include
Up to date facility to accommodate your pet’s needs.
Kalispell52
WHAT WOULD A SUSTAINABLE FLATHEAD LOOK LIKE TO YOU?
we asked around this summer and these are some of the things we learned:
Working since 1992 to Keep the Flathead Special Forever! Our mission is to foster informed and active citizen participation in the decisions shaping the Flathead’s future, and to champion the democratic principles, sustainable solutions, and shared vision necessary to Keep the Flathead Special Forever.
We believe in the power of collaboration and consensus building, and we believe that there is always much good to be done and that there are many
opportunities to work together toward our shared objectives. Call us at 756-8993 to share ideas and to learn how you can get involved. Visit our Facebook page to learn more and to view a short video called “Future Shots” that documents the community’s response to our question: “What would a
Lakeside/Somers
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To Lakeside
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in conjunction with Flathead Electric. After payback, the project will generate new savings for the city of roughly $50,000-$80,000 per year through offset power costs.
Kalispell Regional Medical Center adopted a Strategic Energy Management Plan that has led to a roughly 20% reduction in energy use and reduced costs from over $1.2 million to roughly $850,000 per year.
Plum Creek Timber Co. collaborated with Bonneville Power Administration and Flathead Electric to install a voltage monitoring and optimization system that generates savings of roughly $150,000 per year.
Calm Animal Care in Kila installed a backup photovoltaic system, which reduces
their power costs through a net meter system that allows it to send/sell excess power it generates back to the grid.
Zinc Air, Inc., a local energy start-up specializing in energy storage, has reached a payroll of roughly $2 million in its first year of operations. They just signed a letter of intent with Juhl Wind, Inc., of Woodstock, MN, for the installation of a 1-megawatt advanced energy storage system developed by Zinc Air.
Blackfoot Community College installed a wind turbine on campus that reduces electricity costs by roughly 50% and provides onsite renewable energy training opportunities.
School District 5, Flathead Valley Community College, and Flathead Electric Cooperative Student Built Homes Project is a collaboration between local high schools, FVCC, and Flathead Electric that is allowing students to get hands-on construction experience with energy efficient homes.
In addition, Flathead Electric Cooperative and Northwestern Energy already have programs in place to help you identify and implement cost-effective, energy-saving home improvements. Flathead Electric Co-op provided members
Growing Our Local Economy by Investing in Local Energy
A Report on Energy in the Flathead Valley
Prepared by: Lauren Casey, Montana Energy Corps
“ Flathead Electric Co-op provided members with $1.9 million in energy-efficiency rebates in 2010, saving Flathead residents and businesses energy costs and meeting energy demand more affordably than if the same need was met with increased electricity supply.”
continued on page 56. . .
The Re-Powering the Flathead Project recently completed a report that sums up the results of a three-year collaborative exploration and research process on energy opportunities and challenges in Flathead County. The project represents a partnership between industry, government, and private stakeholders and seeks ways to inspire leadership, innovation, and investment in green technologies and energy-saving tools.
The participants in the project and the creators of the report are committed to the belief that we in Flathead County can save significant amounts of money at home, at work, and at the local government level by spreading the word about simple measures anyone can take to help reduce energy waste in our valley.
Individual residents have much to gain from energy conservation and efficiency. The average Montanan makes $29,015 per year. The average resident spends about $2,000 or 7% of their income on energy to light and heat their home, and about $2,066 or 7.1% of their income on gasoline. This means that an average resident spends roughly 14% of their income on energy; a low-income resident may spend 20% or more of their income on energy use. A ten percent improvement in energy efficiency could yield a 2% increase in gross income, putting money directly into pocketbooks to be used on food, goods, or services.
The report showcases numerous success stories of local businesses, local governments, and homeowners who have realized significant cost savings, greater energy independence, or even job and new business creation as a result of their involvement in emerging energy opportunities in the Flathead. It also includes links to hundreds of online resources to help answer a multitude of how-to questions you may have.
For those of you who haven’t seen the report yet (available at repoweringtheflathead.org, or in hard copy through the Citizens for a Better Flathead office at 756-8993) here’s a quick look at just a few of the renewable energy entrepreneurs around the Flathead and region to entice you to learn more:
Flathead County has put in place facility retrofits recently that will save an estimated $161,00 in annual energy and operation costs, and more retrofits are underway.
City of Whitefish is refurbishing an old hydroelectric facility
Lakeside/ Somers55 Lakeside/ Somers 55
Lakeside/ Somers56
with $1.9 million in energy-efficiency rebates in 2010, saving Flathead residents and businesses energy costs and meeting energy demand more affordably than if the same need was met with increased electricity supply.
In the arena of savings for businesses, Lewis & Clark County, MT and Northwestern Energy are starting a commercial audit and incentive program using an EPA grant that will target small commercial facilities. The average cost of
energy saved through energy efficiency programs is $0.025 per KWh. Compared to the cost of procuring even very low cost electricity—roughly $0.05 per KWh for hydropower—it’s apparent that the lowest cost energy is the energy we don’t use.
Finally, some businesses and public agencies have been taking steps to harness resources that already exist in our valley as sources of power.
Clearwater Biologicals, Inc. will be supplying its locally produced biodiesel (made from locally raised camelina plants) to City Service Valcon.
Flathead County Landfill through its Landfill Gas-to-Energy Project generates power from methane gas (that was previously flared with no benefit) for between 900-1,500 households at a cost to Flathead Electric of roughly $0.05 per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Glacier High School installed a biomass boiler that uses hog fuel – shredded and ground wood fibers – to heat the high school. It costs the school roughly $53,000 less than meeting heat demand with natural gas.
City of Kalispell utilizes methane generated by the wastewater treatment process as a heat source that displaces natural gas, which would cost roughly $30,000 annually.
More creative and collaborative projects like these have the potential to be adapted to benefit our valley as more individuals from various sectors become inspired by the wealth of opportunities before us. Maybe you will be the next to step up and become a local energy leader, whether in your home, in your business or church, or in your support of some of the projects already making our valley a better place!
—Lauren Casey & Bente Grinde
Jeff Arcel at the hydroelectric facility in -Photo by Flathead Beacon.
. . .continued from page 54
Whitefish
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To Eureka
Resort
E. 2nd St
3rd St
4thSt
5th St
6th St
7th St7th St
8th St
9th St
10th StRiversideAve.
W.13th St
W.15th St
1st St 1st St
Railway St
Depot St
Whitefish58
Available to rent forMeetings
Family ReunionsRehearsal DinnersSmall Weddings
ClassesHoliday Get Togethers
125 Blanchard Lake Rd.
SHOP LOCAL FOR THAT SPACE TO HOST YOUR SPECIAL EVENT
Bohemian Grange HallWhitefish
“The Bohemian Grange has served for more than seven years as the ideal location and facility for the monthly meetings of
organization, contributing
success.”
– Gerald Askevold, Community Group Coordinator, Flathead Valley Institute of
Noetic Sciences (IONS) Community Group
Whitefish59 Whitefish 59
Nelson’s Hardware
We’ve got you covered.
Bookworks is also first in its class in its extensive selection of cards, stationery, and gift wrap. Many of Watkins’ greeting cards come from Europe and when she’s not in the store, she is often at home poring over catalogs to find the best new items to stock in the store.
One of the rewards of running the bookstore for Watkins is the appreciation that out-of-town customers express when they happen upon her store. “They never expect to find the large inventory of fiction, nonfiction and children’s books we carry, as well as the specialized collections we have of history and travel adventure books in a town the size of Whitefish. That’s very gratifying,” she adds.
Locals who know this store well also appreciate this quality selection and the knowledgeable staff. Wanting to know a bit more why this bookstore has thrived despite competition and a tough economy, I pried a bit deeper. In doing so, I learned that Watkins not only has a degree in history and a master’s degree in Library Science, but she also has years of experience working in libraries. She and her staff are all avid readers themselves. As she stated in a recent article in the Daily Inter Lake, “[t]he beauty of having a small store is that we’ve pretty much read everything.”
Watkins says that it is not uncommon for her to spend 60 hours a week keeping up with what’s new and keeping on top of trends that can easily affect the bottom line of a small bookstore. It is truly impressive how much work goes on behind the scenes of a local business. But it’s not all work. Watkins’ staff has been with her for years and they know how to keep laughter as a regular part of the workday and how to take time to really visit with and get to know their customers. This is yet another reason why people are drawn to this inviting and unique store.
Bookworks is just what most book-lovers are looking for: a small bookstore with a diverse inventory tailored to meet local tastes and a knowledgeable staff full of passion for reading, who are always ready to share laughter and a warm greeting. This is just one of the many reasons why Bookworks will always be high on the list of great places to shop locally, for locals and visitors alike!
— Mayre Flowers
— 60 —
Good For Business - Good For Community
Bookworks: A Bookstore That’s First For Good Reason
Bookworks’ staff unpack books at the new Kalispell store.
Bookworks’ owner Cheryl Watkins.
Bookworks is the last remaining independent, locally-owned bookstore still selling new books in the Flathead, and that is largely because they are first in so many other ways. For starters, they recently became the first locally-owned bookstore in the Valley to open two locations.
The Whitefish store first opened in the early 1970s. Current owner Cheryl Watkins purchased the store in 1996 from Robert and Susan
Zarobsky. She moved the store several times to different locations in Whitefish before settling in her current downtown Whitefish location on the corner of Spokane Avenue and Third Street, next to the Buffalo Café and just around the corner from Third Street Market Organic Grocery.
For a number of years, Watkins has been looking for the right space and location to open a second store in the Valley. This fall she finally found it, opening the Kalispell branch of Bookworks in a large, inviting space with lots of windows in the Depot Square Complex on 1st Street West. The new store is easily spotted from across the street and down 1st Street just a bit from the locally-owned Kalispell Grand Hotel and Western Outdoors Store, which are both on the corner of 1st Street on the east side of Main Street.
Plans to open the new store were in the works even before Watkins learned last September that the Borders bookstore chain was closing. Over the years, she has built a strong and loyal client base, and opening a new store seemed to her to be a way to expand it even further. Her customers know that the staff at Bookworks can, within a few days, order in almost any book they want and work with them to find hard-to-get titles. With the new Kalispell store, book orders will come in even more quickly. At the Whitefish store, book orders will now be placed on Monday and come in on Wednesday, while the Kalispell store will place orders on Wednesday and have them in on Friday, so book orders will now happen twice a week. Watkins notes that her niche is new books, so she doesn’t see herself competing at all with the two locally-owned used bookstores already doing business in downtown Kalispell.
Whitefish61 Whitefish 61
6219 HWY. 93 SOUTH | WHITEFISH | 862-2571 | www.DonKsubaru.comJust 10 Minutes North Of Reserve On Hwy. 93
SUBARULOCALLY OWNED AND COMMUNITY INVOLVED.LOCALLY OWNED AND COMMUNITY INVOLVED.
Stop in and meet our friendly, professional sales team:Justin Boylan, Rod Kuntz, Jon Grubb and Dirk Erekson.
Why stop when you run out of road.
Announcing the 2012 Outback. Road-gripping Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive standard. Starting at $23,295 MSRP.
Whitefish62
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Rebuilt City — Mark Baumbach
305 Baker AvenueWhitefish, Montana
Frame Shop
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SHOP LOCAL AND GIVE THE ART LOVER IN YOU A THRILL!
The Walking Man Gallery Whitefish
“I easily get pulled into this shop because they always have outdoor art on display. I also get notices about art showings at their gallery and so it is fun to just see what is new.
I have had several pieces of art framed here. They have helped me see that framing is an art in and of itself. They know how to really work with a picture and enhance it. I am always impressed.”
–
For Truth Seekers of All Paths
862-1660404 1st St. East
Markus Food building
Quality Foods, ToysCollars, etc.
Daily Baths and Full Grooming In Whitefish
:
Available at these fine Montana retailers:
sopeshop.com
Whitefish63 Whitefish 63
Whitefish64
SHOP LOCAL AND ENJOY A UNIQUE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE
Sage & Cedar - Whitefish
“I love that this store carries a number of lines of all natural products! I come all the way from Calgary just for these
store here is like a piece of art; I could
lets one slow down and really enjoy
– Donna Hayries, Calagary, Canada
THIRD STREET MARKETA Complete Shopping Market
WHOLESOME FOOD
QUALITY VITAMINS
ORGANIC PRODUCE
PET FOOD
COSMETICS
Rick & Dawn Blair, Owners244 Spokane Avenue
Whitefish, Montana 59937
406-862-5054
Whitefish65 Whitefish 65
Purveyors of the Eclectic Since 1979
A Way Cool Place to Shop!
Essential OilsOrganic Skin Care
Unique JewelryCozy Lounge WearSoothing Candles
214 Central Ave. Whitefish, MT 59937(406) 862-9411 www.sageandcedar.com
Custom fragrance your world.
Put a little sparkle in your day.
Whitefish66
SHOP LOCAL AND FIND COMFY, COZY GIFTS TO SHARE
Northwind Shirt Company Whitefish
“We are return customers because of the high-quality, comfortable T-shirts they sell here. We love shopping in
– Cici Cameron and Laura Dobbins Albuquerque, New Mexico
Dine in/Carry out /Delivery
Pizza, Cheesesteaks,Calzones, Subs,
Salads, Beer, Wineand More!
550 East 1st St.
(406) 862-2212www.jerseyboyspizzeria.net
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“WeLove
BeingYour Snowboard
Shop!”
128 Central Ave.,
Open 7 Days a Week
Gwen & Trini Carreon — Proprietors
Parking in the Back
406-862-6173www.backdoorgeneralstore.com
SHOP LOCAL AND FIND THE POTTERY OF YOUR DREAMS
Whitefish Pottery - Whitefish
“I got pulled into the store by the outside sidewalk display they have. I love pottery and I love this store! The store is set up like an art gallery, which makes if very inviting. In addition to their own line of pottery, they have quite a few other artists and this also adds to the store’s appeal to me. I’ll be getting a set of the soup bowls.“
– Meredith Dingman, Portland, Oregon
Whitefish69 Whitefish 69
33 Baker Hair & Body Salon
33 Baker Ave. Whitefish,Montana
406-862-9633
Whitefish70
New local energy start-up Zinc Air in Kalispell, has reached a payroll of roughly $2 million in its first year of operations with the help of local investors. Zinc Air is preparing to introduce to the market a grid storage system – a battery – that uses flow battery technology and is capable of storing large amounts of electricity with cost-effective efficiency.
Investing Locally Creates Local Jobs
F lathead Valley71 F lathead Valley 71
Learn what you can recycle locally in addition to:Paper, cardboard, #1 & #2 plastics, and aluminum & steel cans
Visit www.wastenotproject.org or call us at 756-8993
Motor Oil
Appliances
Oil-based Paint
Brush & Yard Waste
Antifreeze
Building Materials
Thermostats
Ink Cartridges
Packing Materials
Propane Tanks
Glass
Cars
RechargeableBatteries
All Metals
FluorescentLight Bulbs
Now You Can Safely Dispose of Unwanted Medicines 24 hours a Day.Help Keep Our Water Clean and Help Put a Stop to Drug Abuse.
Computers & Electronics
F lathead Valley72
style:blue/green with buttons
size:M
MSRP$37.99
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style:blue/green with buttons
size:M
MSRP$37.99
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A.B.
What makes “A” three times
better than “B”?
That means three times more of your money stays in
the area, helping to grow our local economy! Did you
know that for every dollar you spend at a local and
independently-owned business, about 45¢ stays local?
In contrast, only 15¢ of each dollar recirculates in the
community when you buy from a corporate chain.
Product “A” was bought at a local, independently-owned shop
reminds you to buy from the
localYour family, friends and neighbors will thank you!