The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

astern Blaine County gathered last week to visit with Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte. The meeting with the candidate was put together by Don Richman, Chairman of the Blaine County Republican Party, and was held in Richman's offices in Harlem. The group, all invited by Richman, was made up of ranchers and farmers, some county party officials and small business owners. Richman described the group to Gianforte as "friends of mine who I believe are also supporters of your candidacy."

Gianforte greeted the group at the noon meeting as guests sat elbow to elbow around a conference room table munching sandwiches. He asked each guest to introduce themselves and tell a little of their history. The group was diverse-some were connected to the area for several generations, others newer to the state and area.

Gianforte told that he came with a group of other high school students in two vans from Pennsylvania to Montana for a summer visit. He said, "I made the decision 40 years ago, during that trip, that I would eventually make a life for myself and my family in Montana." He and his wife, both engineers, came to Bozeman to start Right Now Technologies, a software company. After successfully building the company, they sold it to Oracle. Oracle kept its new Montana-based employees and still has a major presence in Bozeman. The Gianforte's raised their children in Montana.

Nay-sayers told the Gianforte's that a global software company could not be built in Montana-couldn't attract the highly trained people necessary, wasn't adequate infrastructure, etc. It was from recruiting employees for his own growing company that Gianforte came to believe Montana is a great place for high tech business and the easiest employees to recruit are former residents who had to leave the state to find jobs to match their training. He said, "We found former residents were anxious to use their skills back in their home state when given a chance."

The campaign for governor

Gianforte says he has already driven 40,000+ miles around the state meeting people and sharing his vision for the state. He added, "For the last several months I've spent only one night a week in my own bed as I've been out covering the state. I typically stay with supporters when I'm on the road." He has visited Blaine County several times over the past months.

The over reaching theme of the campaign is creating higher paying jobs for Montanans. Noting that the state is 49th in pay, he believes the state can do better and electing aggressive leadership is the key. He said, "It's true that agriculture will continue to be the main economic engine of our state. But we need to add some new cylinders to the engine."

Commenting about the state's slow response to permits to develop natural resources, he said, "We are the Treasure State but no one can get to the treasure under this current administration. If elected governor I will work to reduce the bureaucratic and legal constraints on doing business in Montana." Several guests who owned small businesses shared frustrations they felt about policies and laws that block their business efforts.

Citing the idea that many jobs, because of technology, can be done from anywhere there is an internet connection, Gianforte said, "About seven percent of Montanans currently are working for major, global companies from their homes in Montana. Think about the impact on a town like Harlem if we could attract half a dozen families who brought their high paying jobs with them. It would change the town as there would be a need for new houses, more services, etc."

On the topic of education, Gianforte said he believes more of the money currently being spent on education needs to end up in classrooms. He proposes more 'digital' educational opportunities, especially for rural schools. He described a project he and his wife support called Code Montana-an online educational program to teach coding skills to Montana students. He said, "Coding is a foundational skill that can be used in many professions-coding is not just about computers." If elected, he would work to broaden that program to all students across the state.

The third part of the Gianforte platform is about accountability in state government. He said, "We need to hold the people accountable who manage our state government. If they mess up they should be held accountable, which I don't see happening just now." One of his goals would be to make sure department and agency heads were held accountable for how they do the state's business.

Closing the get together, Gianforte commented on his choice of a running mate-Lesley Robinson from Malta. He said, "Lesley is connected to Montana through her work with local government as a county commissioner, she's involved with many agricultural groups and she's connected to rural Montana. I like to say we're a team-I'm tech support and she's the policy expert for other sectors of the state." One of his concerns is the overreaching of the federal government. He added, "We need a strong governor who will push back at some of the intrusive policies from the federal government that affects how we live and work in Montana."

Gianforte said his campaign is not accepting any campaign contributions from businesses or groups, only from individuals. He added, "I'm all in. I've prospered in Montana and I want to see the state and its citizens prosper as well." He closed by saying, "When income falls and reserves dwindle in a business it's time for a new CEO. I think that's where we are in Montana and I hope you'll support me to be your next governor."