“The economic conditions have never been better in Montana,” Schweitzer said. “We have the lowest unemployment rate in the history of our state. If you have a job to fill, you can't find people.”
But half the state isn't feeling the effects, Schweitzer added.
With that, the governor pushed his plan to develop new energy sources in eastern Montana, from traditional ones such as coal, to wind power and bio-fuels.
On this side of the state, the future lies in bio and information technologies, Schweitzer added.
In Helena, he and the Legislature must do the work to make Montana business-friendly to those industries, Schweitzer said.
The challenge to western Montana will be to manage that growth so that people now, and in future generations, will still want to live here.
“We're called the Treasure State, and for the first 75 years it was because of our copper and coal and our minerals,” Schweitzer said. “We thought that was the treasure, but what we've discovered is it's not because of the minerals in the mountain, but the mountain itself. Don't choke off that investment. People will come here as long as it's better than the place they are leaving.”
Missoula will become the largest city in Montana, surpassing Billings, in seven to eight years, according to the governor, and old Glacial Lake Missoula is going to fill up with people, from the Flathead Valley to the Bitterroot.
“Do it right,” Schweitzer told the club, which was celebrating its second anniversary. “Make sure we build houses and roads and communities in a way that we can all be proud.”
Growth management is a local issue, not one for the state, the governor said.
“You've got to be responsible for how you grow your community,” he added. “Do it right. Start now.”
Wearing a bolo tie and with his ever-present dog Jag at his side, Schweitzer's “Montana State Round-Up” presentation literally wandered all over the map - and he had several maps with him - as he pushed for America to wean itself from foreign oil.
He talked about Kuwait and the Strait of Hormuz (“The day Iran closes that strait the price of oil will go to $250 a barrel,” Schweitzer said. “It's a good thing there are no crazy people over there”). He talked about geologic formations in the Bridger Mountains and shale formations in eastern Montana.
Schweitzer praised the Legislature, and the three Republicans who joined House Democrats in passing a bill encouraging the development of wind industry, and said there is a billion dollars waiting to be invested here “just because Montana said it was open for business.”
“We have more natural wind than any state in the union,” Schweitzer said. “Yet when I was elected governor, we were generating less electricity with wind than any other state. I mean, even Rhode Island had more. Rhode Island isn't even a decent-sized ranch.”
The area of Montana Schweitzer calls the “cowboy boot” - it starts in northwestern Montana, the heel is in the Gallatin Valley and Billings is the toe - is the region that must carefully manage the growth that is occurring, according to the governor.
“If it was a state it would be the 23rd largest, and have the fastest-growing economy in America,” Schweitzer said. “Montana's economy is moving at a rate that is unprecedented. Let's make sure we do it while maintaining our real treasures - the land, the water and our people.”
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