ChamberCast

Welcome to our final episode of ChamberCast... for now. Host Jack Jennaway and Communications Manager Kelsi Gambill sat down to look back on the last 3 years of this show and take a look ahead to what's next for the Chamber. Stay tuned until the end for a special tribute to Billings! Thank you so much to Upstream Strategy Partners for sponsoring ChamberCast!

You have probably noticed the new look at Intermountain Health St. Vincent Regional Hospital. What does this mean for patient care, and our local economy? What's new in healthcare? We asked Lee Boyles, President of St. Vincent Regional Hospital for the Montana and Wyoming Markets. You don't want to miss this inside look at this critical Billings institution! Thank you so much to Upstream Strategy...

Special Olympics Montana is coming to Billings for the next 3 years! This huge event will bring hundreds of athletes, family members, and coaches to compete at facilities around Billings--boosting our local economy. This is a two-part episode. In part 1 we hear from VisitBillings's Sports Tourism Manager, Evan Decker on the impact of sports tourism. In part 2, we hear from the co-chairs of the Spe...

It’s no hidden secret that Billings businesses benefit from tourism here in our city, but did you know that tourism accounts for $620 million dollars in revenue, generated from 3 million people visiting each year? Visitors spend money and spur our local economy, through our restaurants, retail stores, attractions, and hotels, not to mention events and more. Billings is our home AND positioned as a...

Michelle Harkins, our 2024 Outstanding Business Person of the Year, truly embodies the concept of being a helper. With a heart for the Billings community, specifically the BIRD, Michelle tirelessly advocates for business and making our city better. Serving as the Director of The Billings Industrial Revitalization District (BIRD), her infectious energy and enthusiasm is evident in everything that s...

School District 2 is making moves to balance the budget, reduce dropout rates, and improve public safety. Superintendent Dr. Erwin Garcia joined us to provide a comprehensive update on everything happening at SD2, especially the three new charter schools that will open soon! Thank you so much to Upstream Strategy Partners for sponsoring ChamberCast! Learn More : Our episode from 07/26/2023 with fo...

Native American business, culture, and history is a huge part of Montana. If you have ever wanted to learn more about any of it, there are two events coming up that are great places to start. Cathy Grider, Workforce Development Manager for the Billings Chamber, and Randy Bear Don't Walk with MSU-Billings's Native American Achievement Center joined us to dive into the Native American Business Summi...

In honor of International Women's Day, this episode highlights the Chamber's programming for women -- with Jennifer Reiser, who manages those programs and Sam Morris, owner of ENCORE's title sponsor, Chemnet. Learn More : Chemnet ENCORE Women's Network Email Jennifer Our episode on mental health and substance abuse: Getting Upstream on Mental Health

This episode continues our recent focus on development in Billings, with one of our City's premier architecture firms, Cushing Terrell. We spoke with their CEO, Greg Matthews and Principal Project Manager, Shannon Christensen to talk about Cushing Terrell's work, the development environment in Billings, sustainable design, and Cushing Terrell turning 85. Learn More Cushing Terrell Website Business...

Sanderson Stewart is one of those businesses most people never directly interact with, but your life would be VERY different without the work they do. Michael Sanderson, CEO, joined us on this week's podcast to talk about what they do, property development in Billings, and to talk about some of the exciting changes happening at Sanderson Stewart. Learn More : Sanderson Stewart website If you want...

Listeners of this podcast know how important insurance is to your everyday life and how important Marsh McLennan Agency is to Billings. In this member spotlight, you'll hear from Brett Arnold and Brian Daubert from MMA about insurance, other ways to mitigate risk, and MMA's involvement in the community.

It's January, and at the Billings Chamber of Commerce that means it's agriculture month! Our Ag Celebration Week and the Ag Celebration Banquet is coming up during the last week of January, and we wouldn't be able to do any of this without our title sponsor, Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative. In this episode, we preview what you can expect from all of our upcoming ag-related programming, but...

2023 was a very eventful year at the Billings Chamber of Commerce! We bet it has been a busy year for you too! Thank you for listening throughout 2023 and enjoy this look back at the previous year with the Chamber's management team!

Mental health impacts every part of our lives, including the workplace. Jennifer Reiser, the Chief Operations Officer for the Billings Chamber, and Melanie Schwarz with Upstream Strategy Partners joined us this episode to talk about management strategies, suicide prevention, Seasonal Affective Disorder, and more. Learn more: Melanie's book - Lifejackets: A Mother's Journey Through Her Child's Addi...

People spend a LOT of money around the holiday season, which means that it can be a very important time of year for our favorite local businesses. This episode focuses on two local shops that opened within the last year, what they provide, why the owners started their own business, and how things have been going for them so far. We also preview one of the things the Billings Chamber does to suppor...

The Billings Air Service Committee, comprised of Billings Airport, Billings Chamber, Big Sky Economic Development, and Visit Billings, has been hard at work promoting air service to/from Billings! Their recent efforts resulted in bringing Sun Country Airlines to Billings, which will provide another direct flight to Minneapolis beginning this summer. They also secured essential air service to key t...

Veteran's Day is this month! We wanted to shine a spotlight on two local businesses who are helping Montana's Veterans and our local businesses. Please welcome Mike McManus of Veterans Navigation Network and Dave Nordel of MaxFab Consulting! Thank you so much to Marsh McLennan Agency for sponsoring ChamberCast! Learn More Veteran's Navigation Network MaxFab Consulting

If the parks/trails/recreation bond that is on this November's ballot passes, it will mean big things for Billings! Commensurately, this is a big episode. Billings City Administrator Chris Kukulski, and Julie Seedhouse, Chair of Play it Forward Billings (the Vote-Yes campaign for the parks bond) walked us through every detail of this historic potential investment in our parks & recreation infr...

We sat down with Michelle Harkins and Leah Clark, the leading ladies of the EBIRD and NILE respectively, to talk about all of the opportunities Billings residents will have to learn more about and celebrate Montana's western heritage later this month. To learn more, visit: NILE Website EBIRD Website Thank you so much to Marsh McLennan Agency for sponsoring ChamberCast!

Every year, the Billings Chamber gives out one of its highest honors at our annual meeting—the Legacy Award. On September 14—to uproarious applause—we presented that award to Mike Nelson, owner of the fabulous Northern Hotel in beautiful downtown Billings. Learn more about Mike and the Legacy award here . Thank you so much to Marsh McLennan Agency for sponsoring ChamberCast!

Our wonderful title sponsor, PayneWest Insurance is going through some changes for the better! A big part of that is a name change to Marsh McLennan Agency. We talked with our guests Abbey Wink and Dena Johnson about that and much more! Thank you very much to Marsh McLennan Agency for sponsoring ChamberCast! More from Marsh McLenan Agency, formerly PayneWest insurance at: Facebook LinkedIn Learn m...

This episode is a big one! Grab some comfortable headphones and a snack and settle in for our deep-dive into everything the State Legislature did to address Montana's housing affordability crisis during the last Legislative Session. Our guests, State Senator Daniel Zolnikov (SD 22), and State Representative Katie Zolnikov (HD 45) were leading legislators in pulling off what has been called " The M...

This episode is all about the Resilient Yellowstone Initiative, an effort to address health issues for those hardest hit by the pandemic and build resilience to weather future crises. Amy Queen, Community Health Improvement Manager for Healthy by Design, and Tyler Amundson, Executive Director of Big Sky Senior Services told us all about it. Thank you so much to PayneWest for sponsoring ChamberCast...

Billings is home to one of the largest school districts in the state and the education of our children is one of the greatest investments we can make. Great education starts with great leaders and School District 2 has had the fortune of being led by Greg Upham for the last five years. In this episode of ChamberCast we explore leadership, education, reflections on the past and a look towards the f...

At the beginning of each fiscal year, the Billings Chamber's Board of Directors gets a new Chairperson. Earlier this month, Julie Seedhouse passed the gavel to Jeremy Vannatta, making now an ideal time to look toward the year ahead at the Chamber. Thank you so much to PayneWest for sponsoring ChamberCast!