Business Advocacy

Billings is Montana’s City. This is where you come for business, for shopping, for great restaurants and entertainment. It’s where you come to pursue your best life. We’re doing well, but we believe it’s time to supercharge our economic growth. Too often we hear about the blessing of Billings’ slow and steady 1% growth—no doubt in deference to the wisdom gleaned from ancient fables. All due respect to Aesop, but a Billings hare would be swift and industrious, incapable of laziness and inaction.

Billings Chamber of Commerce members are in overwhelming agreement that reducing the cost of doing business in Montana generally benefits all Montanans. Regardless of political party affiliation and across industry sectors our members recognize that our business community is the generator of prosperity. Your Billings Chamber is here to make sure we have a business climate supportive of growth and profit.

Chamber membership has charged us with three top priorities: public safety, housing supply, and workforce attainment/readiness. These constitute our roadmap to success. If we can remove the roadblocks in the way of businesses and allow them to profit and prosper, we will invigorate growth and address many of the issues we face.

We’ve made major strides on those priorities in the last few years, but we’re not done. More work remains to ensure criminals face appropriate and certain punishment for committing crimes like theft and domestic violence. Housing affordability will follow housing abundance, and we need to get onerous government regulations out of the way. We are rich in outdoor amenities, parks, and trails—attractions for the workforce we need—but will struggle with continued funding unless focus is returned to our core, and implementation of government efficiencies.

To address the challenges above, and ignite our economic growth, it will take more than Chamber staff. It will take our businesses, our elected officials, and the Billings community. This Public Policy Guide was developed to communicate our positions to that entire audience, and it will serve as our guide as we convene leaders to find solutions, champion our members at all levels of government, and find catalysts for growth. We look forward to working together to solve our challenges and work toward a brighter future for Montana’s City.