Tester to keynote Bear Paw Development meeting

The local economic development agency is bringing a local U.S Senator to highlight its annual meeting, scheduled for next Friday, Feb. 21.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., is scheduled as the keynote speaker.

“We are honored that Sen. Tester will be our keynote speaker,” Bear Paw Executive Director Paul Tuss said in a press release Thursday. “Given his roots right here in Bear Paw’s region as a farmer from Big Sandy, he has first-hand knowledge of the importance of the work we do and the role that rural communities play in the economic vitality of Montana and the nation.”

Tester is scheduled to present “Excellence and Partnerships — Making a Difference in Rural Montana for Forty-Five Years.”

The luncheon meeting is $15, and people are asked to RSVP by 5 this afternoon at 265-9226 or via e-mail at [email protected].

Tuss said the meeting, starting at noon in the Student Union Building Ballroom at Montana State University-Northern, will celebrate Bear Paw’s 45 years of operation.

The agency was recognized as a nonprofit corporation by the State of Montana in April 1968, obtained its federal nonprofit status on May 23, 1969, and the U.S. Economic Development Administration officially designated it an economic development district March 22, 1969.

“Bear Paw Development was the first economic development district in Montana and has the distinction of being the oldest district in the state and one of the longest-serving districts in the nation,” Tuss said.

Bear Paw administers programs to improve regional economic conditions in Hill, Blaine, Liberty, Chouteau and Phillips counties and Fort Belknap and Rocky Boy's Indian reservations.