GREAT FALLS — The Montana Cooperative Development Center has secured two grants totaling $1,024,993. The funding will help communities develop locally owned businesses and create new opportunities in Montana’s forest products industry, with work beginning in early 2027.
While MCDC is based in Great Falls, its work serves communities statewide.
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Cooperatives are businesses owned and controlled by their members. MCDC helps groups explore that model — addressing community needs ranging from rural grocery stores and local investment to child care and housing.
However, getting up and running can take time. Executive Director Tracy McIntyre explained that assistance can begin well before a business takes shape.
“We can provide you step-by-step guidance, from the initial idea on how to host some community meetings to see if there is a general idea and support behind it, all the way through incorporation,” McIntyre said.
And that guidance also benefits businesses even if they ultimately choose another structure.
The Grange, based in Big Timber, is a business who brought together ranchers, nonprofits, brands and processors to address gaps in Montana’s livestock infrastructure. Its plans include meat processing, cold storage and distribution services.
Co-founder Sarah Andrews said the group considered cooperative ownership before choosing a different approach.
“And there are so many wonderful benefits of being cooperative, but we found we needed a little bit more flexibility and we wanted to get started faster,” Andrews said.
The Grange incorporates producer and employee ownership, although it is not formally a cooperative. Andrews said MCDC continued helping the founders develop their structure and identify funding.
“So from feasibility studies to architectural plans, and now for actual construction and operations, they've been so helpful in finding those grants,” she explained.
A $524,993 award through USDA’s Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program will support two years of business assistance, cooperative development services, and leadership training.
McIntyre said planned efforts include expanding online resources and a rural grocery store conversion toolkit. She added that succession planning is another growing focus, helping owners explore whether employees or community members could take over a business instead of closing shop.
A separate $500,000 award from the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities will support new markets and uses for wood fiber, including material with limited commercial outlets.
MCDC says they will provide business assistance, support emerging technologies and explore how cooperatives could address forest industry needs. It was one of five recipients selected from 76 proposals, according to its announcement.
The award has personal significance for McIntyre, who hails from Eureka.
“I've been working in the wood and forestry world as economic development for a long time,” she said. “And so it's kind of a full circle for me personally.”
Specific approaches are still developing, with industry participants helping guide the work.
“But the beauty about Co-ops is it's about the members,” McIntyre noted. “It's about the people.”
