A hand-carved wooden bison that symbolizes Janicki Industries’ growing partnership with Great Falls has found its permanent home inside the Great Falls Civic Center.
The sculpture, carved from a single western red cedar log by Washington chainsaw artist Mark Colp during Sedro-Woolley’s annual Loggerodeo, was presented to the City of Great Falls during Janicki Industries’ groundbreaking ceremony in July. The company has now officially gifted the piece to the community, where it is on display for residents and visitors in the downtown Civic Center.
Nick Lavacca, Janicki's community relations and outreach manager, said the gift represents far more than a piece of artwork.
“The bison does represent strength. It represents unity as a herd. It represents opportunities, it represents provision. So it's kind of a symbiotic relationship over in Montana,” Lavacca said.
Lavacca said the idea came together after company leaders decided they wanted to commemorate the beginning of Janicki’s relationship with Great Falls in a meaningful way.
The company selected Great Falls after evaluating six communities across Montana and Idaho during its search for a new manufacturing campus. Lavacca said Great Falls immediately stood apart.
“We looked at many cities around and we visited six of those. As you know, three in Montana and three in Idaho. Immediately when we got to Great Falls, it was a really warm, welcoming,” he said.
During an interview, Lavacca also laughed after learning one of Great Falls' high schools shares the bison mascot.
“Really? When I was there, I actually looked around like, “they actually have a lot of bison around here,”” he said.
He believes the sculpture will become another point of pride for the community.
“I think it's going to be a beautiful asset to Great Falls and to the people of Great Falls,” Lavacca said. “We really do appreciate Great Falls, we appreciate the people of Great Falls. We appreciate the partnership and the belief in the future.”
The bison was first unveiled during Janicki Industries' groundbreaking celebration for its new aerospace manufacturing campus at AgriTech Park. The July ceremony marked the official start of construction on the company's estimated $800 million investment in Great Falls, which is expected to be built in phases over the next decade and eventually create more than 2,000 jobs. The groundbreaking featured company leaders, elected officials, and hundreds of community members celebrating what many have called one of the largest economic development projects in Montana history.
Deputy City Manager Jeremy Jones said the partnership between the city and Janicki has been developing for months, including a visit by Great Falls officials to the company's Washington headquarters in June.
“We were invited out to really get a better understanding — boots on the ground, if you will — of what Janicki Industries is going to bring to Great Falls, to tour their existing facilities,” Jones said.
Seeing the company's operations firsthand helped city leaders understand the scale of what is coming to Great Falls.
“I don't even know if we can put it in the scale yet. So, like one of the buildings that we toured for quite a while was approximately 170,000 square feet of manufacturing, of engineering wing, of just employee lounges,” Jones said. “And what we're going to see is a building approximately 390,000 square feet for the first building to come here to Great Falls.”
Jones said the project represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the community.
“For those of us that are born and raised in this community, there's been nothing that pre-dates us to this size and magnitude,” he said.
While the wooden bison now welcomes visitors inside the Civic Center, Jones believes it also represents the city's next chapter.
“This is really the next chapter for Great Falls — to not forget about the history, remember it, but not let it hold us back from where we're going in the future.”
