This past Monday, business professionals from Headwaters RC&D came together at the Discover
Anaconda Visitors Center to discuss not only the array of programs and services that they offer,
but also to explain why their conducive corporation is relevant to the Smelter City community.

"Usually we don't even feel" economic trend lines, Beaverhead County Commissioner Mike McGinley said Thursday. "Other places can be in a recession or growing and we just stay steady."

But now, he said, things are a little different. "We've got a lot going on," McGinley said. "There's a lot of economic activity around Dillon."

There was some recent positive news for the feasibility study for a possible meat co-op processing facility in the Whitehall area. 

JLDC Manager Alison Richardson said in-conjunction with the Headwaters RC&D, they have received a $30,000 Big Sky Trust Fund grant for the study.

A push to transform the alley behind the M&M Bar & Cafe in Uptown Butte into a communal space is partially complete.

Julie Jaksha, regional director for the economic-development organization Headwaters RC&D, appeared before the Butte-Silver Bow Council of Commissioners in June to ask for support of the project, which calls for the installation of overhead garden lights, removable seating areas, planters, and public art displays.

Age: 35 Occupation: A Montana native, I graduated from the University of Montana with a bachelor’s degree in international business, and I have a background in sales, marketing, event planning, economic development and non-profit organizations. My passion is deeply rooted in the collaboration within Montana and its communities. I am a board member for the Montana Ambassadors, which acts as official ambassadors of Montana and represents the office of the governor and the Department of Commerce.  

If Butte’s two top economic-development nonprofits declared a relationship on Facebook, they’d perhaps tell the world that “it’s complicated.”

That’s because the two groups are experimenting with operating under one umbrella — but they’re still keeping their options open.

Since Nov. 1, the Butte Local Development Corp. and Headwaters RC&D have been embarking on an 18-month joint venture. They’ve even moved in together, consolidating their offices on the fifth floor of the Thornton Building on East Broadway Street in Uptown Butte.