BBER PUBLICATIONS SEARCH RESULTS

The findings of this report are that the operations of the crude oil-based and renewable fuel refineries in Great Falls by the Calumet Montana Refineries and MR subsidiaries of Calumet Specialty Products ultimately support a state economy that has significantly more jobs, income, production and population.

This is a study of the contributions made to the economy of the state of Montana by the production, employment, spending and tax revenues that come about due to the state''''s largest hard rock metal mining operation: the Sibanye-Stillwater mines and processing facilities in south central Montana. The company''''s high-paying jobs, high value-added production, and significant tax payments add to the state economy in their own right. As the dollars paid to employees, vendors, and governments are in turn respent in the economy, their ultimate significance grows. The Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana (BBER) was retained by Sibanye-Stillwater to carry out an analysis how the operations of the mining complex makes the state?s economy larger, more prosperous, and more populous.

What would the economy of the state of Montana look like if the eight largest hard rock mines did not exist?

What would the economy of the state of Montana look like if the eight largest hardrock mines ? producing copper, palladium, gold, talc, cement and other products and materials ? did not exist? The communities in which those facilities are located ? the businesses, the households and governments whose economic fortunes are closely tied with the success of Montana?s mines ? already understand the importance of the hardrock mining industry to their own prosperity. It is perhaps less apparent ? but no less important ? to the population of the state as a whole.

This study examines the implications of closing Units 3 and 4 of the Colstrip Electric Generating Station early. Specifically, we examine the consequences for jobs, income, population, economic output and other measures of economic activity.

For the past five years, we?ve witnessed something of an economic miracle in the eastern third of our state. Even more so in the western third of North Dakota. Towns and communities that were once depopulating and shrinking to the point where their schools and basic institutions were threatened have come roaring back, thanks to the Bakken oil boom. And for the first time in living memory, the rural portions of Montana ? particularly in the east ? were growing faster collectively than any of the urban areas.

Butte-Anaconda serves as a regional center for Southwestern Montana. Almost a quarter of its economic base is derived from trade center activities. They include people coming to town for retail shopping and obtaining health care services. There are also several professional service and management firms serving clients in surrounding rural areas.

If Rip Van Winkle were an economist, he would marvel at the changes in the Custer County economy since he went to sleep for 20 years. What was once a regional center for state and federal agencies and businesses serving area farms and ranches has now evolved into a trade and finance center and, most recently, home to firms serving the Bakken oil fields.

The most recent federal data report accelerating growth in the Flathead economy. After a crippling decline during the Great Recession, the Flathead County economy posted an increase of 2.4 percent in 2011, about 3 percent in 2012, and a stunning 4.2 percent in 2013. The most recent figures suggest this rapid growth may have moderated in 2014.

Until about 10 years ago, Richland County has enjoyed a relatively stable and prosperous economy based on agriculture, food processing, and a utility company. Then technological advances enabled the extraction of crude oil, which was previously uneconomic. It has been dubbed the ?unconventional energy revolution.?

Cascade County is a classic example of why historic data, however accurate, may not be a reliable indicator of what is happening now. Specifically, the latest annual data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis do not reflect the new indirect energy-related manufacturing activity that only started to show up late in 2013.

The Gallatin County economy has been on an economic roller coaster since the onset of the Great Recession in 2008. The Bozeman-area economy experienced a significant contraction early in the recession. But the economy began to turn around in 2010 and has continued upward ever since. In fact, Gallatin County is one of only two major urban areas in the state (the other being Yellowstone County) to significantly exceed the statewide growth rates during the recovery phase of this business cycle.

The Helena economy has traditionally been non-cyclic because of its dependence of state and federal government. The data corresponding to the Great Recession certainly confirm this notion. Lewis and Clark County was one of the very few urban areas in Montana which did not have at least one year of decline during the last decade.

Economic growth in Missoula?s economy has been frustratingly slow. After three straight years of decline during the Great Recession, the Missoula economy turned upward in 2011. But the growth rates have been have been anemic. The Missoula economy expanded about 1.5 percent per year in 2012 and 2013, as compared to 3 percent to 4 percent annual growth before the recession.

Recent economic statistics demonstrate Ravalli County?s economy is slowly emerging from the downturn experienced in the Great Recession.

The Yellowstone County economy continues to benefit from the indirect impacts of the Bakken oil field developments on the Montana- North Dakota line. Even though Billings is more than 300 miles and five hours driving time from the epicenter of the drilling activity in Williston, North Dakota, it is an attractive location for the indirect and service activities associated with the oil boom. A number of North Dakota cities are closer to Williston, but at best they have roughly half of the population of Yellowstone County. This means that industries such as finance, wholesale trade, and professional services are probably much larger and have more depth and resources in Billings than in the North Dakota cities.

In 2005, less than 2 percent of U.S. crude oil was produced through horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. In 2013, the share was more than a third, and it continues to grow rapidly. The increases in gas production are no less startling. For a state like Montana, which sites astride the Bakken formation, it has been a sea change for the entire economy.

Q&A with Montana''s leading economists and industry experts on economic issues facing Montana.

Reversing a decades-long trend, it was the rural, eastern counties that led the state in growth and the more populous western counties that suffered the steepest declines.

Helena was in the news in 2013, in an unfortunate way, as sinking gold prices claimed a casualty with the closure of the Drumlummon mine. The mine''s closure was offset by surprisingly strong growth in health care, government, and government-related services industries.

Much was expected of the Billings area economy at the beginning of the year. And for the most part, it has delivered.

Even as growth continues to spread and solidify across the state, important pieces of the economy remain far from healthy. The national economy will turn in a more sluggish growth performance this year. This and other global economic developments make us a bit more measured as we re-examine Montana''s growth prospects.

Announces the report "The Impact of Otter Creek Coal Development on the Montana Economy" by Patrick Barkey and Paul Polzin. Includes highlights of the study results.

Q & A with Bureau economists and industry experts throughout the state about the latest economic trends and forecasts, as well as the outlook for Montana's important sectors.

The process of diversification away from its historic mining roots continued in the Butte-Silver Bow economy in 2012, yet the influence of minerals and natural resources to the local economy remains important.

The direct and indirect impacts of the eastern Montana energy boom made for a short recession in Yellowstone County. There was one year of stagnation (2008) and one year of decline (2009) followed by accelerating growth in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

According to the report, "The Economic Impact of Increased Production at the Spring Creek Mine," commissioned by the Montana Chamber of Commerce, a proposed increase of coal production by 20 million tons at the mine owned by Cloud Peak Energy would more than double output at the facility and require expansion in capital and equipment, labor force and new purchases of resources such as electricity and work uniforms.

This report summarizes the findings of an investigation into the likely impacts on the Montana economy of a significant expansion in coal production at the Spring Creek mine operated by Cloud Peak Energy near Decker, Montana.

The trend in oil well permitting in Montana is up, and the state's energy future looks reasonably bright.

This is a study of the effects on the Montana economy of the development of Otter Creek coal in southeastern Montana. An assessment of the impact on employment, income, output, and population.

This press release announces the completion of an economic impact study conducted by Patrick Barkey. This study concludes that expansion of the Spring Creek coal mine would boost jobs, household income and tax revenues in Montana.