Two innovative companies discuss Missoula expansion plans at MAEDC gathering
February 2010
Although Missoula worries about the ripple effect of an economic recession and grapples with the recent closure of high-profile businesses with large payrolls, there is some good news to celebrate.
Those glimmers of economic hope shone brightly Tuesday at the Missoula Area Economic Development Corp.'s annual banquet.
Two vastly different, innovative companies that have at their helm people with long ties to Missoula discussed plans to expand operations in Missoula.
McKinstry, a full-service engineering company, and WhoCanHelp.com, a high-tech company that connects people in need of help with people who can help, are putting down roots here.
WhoCanHelp.com, whose Web-based service was invented in Missoula, is a company that is soon to have national status - possibly on par with the likes of Amazon.com, said Carl Hicks, the company's CEO. Furthermore, the company recently decided to locate its headquarters in Missoula.
The company will debut its Web application nationally in the next several weeks, Hicks said.
If all goes according to plan, the Missoula technology will significantly alter how customers conduct business. Instead of relying on the phone book or an Internet search, customers will go to the WhoCanHelp.com Web site, type in their problem or need - say, "leaky faucet" - and immediately get bids from local companies that can do the work.
The customer-based program gets immediate feedback from service providers who answer the three most important questions every customer has: When can you do it? What's it going to cost? Are you reputable?
Not only is the company on the verge of great changes and expansion, it also means Missoula will be taken along on the journey.
The company's success will put the eye on Missoula, Hicks said, and the world will come to know that "we have world-class software engineer capabilities right here."
"We can be an economic engine for new technologies right here."
Tim Tolman was equally upbeat and excited about McKinstry's decision to open a Montana office in Missoula.
The University of Montana graduate explained that the Seattle-based company sees great opportunity in Montana to help create energy-efficient buildings and at the same time, put local contractors to work.
McKinstry, which designs, builds, operates and maintains buildings for clients such as Microsoft, specializes in making buildings more energy-efficient, either by retrofitting existing buildings or building new, said Tolman, the company's Missoula-based business development manager.
The company also provides remote maintenance of buildings, in which technological systems monitor a building's mechanical systems. If the equipment detects a problem, the information is relayed to the company's monitoring center in Seattle and service providers are immediately dispatched to fix the situation.
The company's services have expanded so much, it has decided to build an additional remote monitoring center in Missoula, Tolman said.
Much of the company's work is through contracts with public school systems, hospitals and college campuses. The company also does a significant amount of construction and design work, and gets those contracts accomplished by hiring local contractors, Tolman said.
Current projects are putting 80 to 100 local contractors to work for 15 months, and Tolman fully expects 2011 and beyond will be even more successful for McKinstry, and therefore Montana. Upward of 350 people or more will be needed to do the engineering, building, and labor to fulfill the contracts that starting to roll in.
"We are buried in work - with energy efficiency work," Tolman said.
In other banquet announcements: Envirocon was honored for its cleanup work in the historic Milltown Dam project; Diane Beck was given special recognition for her long-standing service to MAEDC; Ellen Buchanan was also honored for her long commitment to helping to redevelop Missoula; and DirecTV was recognized for its tuition reimbursement program, which helps its employees pursue higher education.
MAEDC formally acknowledged its new board members, John Brauer and Kim Kaufman. Eric Adams, Bryan Flaig and Brent Campbell were elected to serve three-year terms.
Report by BETSY COHEN
Read the original report at: http://www.missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_00a6a800-20fa-11df-9cd7-001cc4c03286.html
Article reprinted with permission of the Missoulian.
