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Kalispell Forum to Look at Business Opportunity in the Crown of the Continent

By Beacon Staff

Why do you choose to live and work in the Crown of the Continent?

The National Parks Conservation Association has been asking that question throughout the region, particularly business leaders and chambers of commerce.

The answers that came back were less focused on the everyday business needs, like tax codes and labor costs, and more connected to fly-fishing and hiking opportunities, elk hunting and bicycling, about Glacier National Park and Flathead Lake.

“Turns out, most of us choose to put our entrepreneurial roots down here because of the Crown of the Continent’s world-class outdoor recreation opportunities, and the incomparable quality of life in our small, friendly towns of the rural West,” NPCA said in a recent news release.

This week, from Oct. 17-18, a two-day conference is being held in the Flathead Valley that is titled “Looking Up: Business and Opportunity in the Crown of the Continent.”

The two-part event begins Thursday, Oct. 17, at Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish, Doors open at 6 p.m., program at 7 p.m., including a free community reception, featuring a conversation with Perk Perkins, CEO of Orvis. There will be light appetizers and a no-host bar.

On Oct. 18, at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell, a day-long forum will take place exploring community and economic development, job creation and entrepreneurial marketing. Featured guests include Kathleen Warner, COO of StartUp America; Robert Yow, vice president for business development at Xanterra; Andrew Hagemeier, author of “Pathways to Prosperity;” Marne Hayes, Business For Montana’s Outdoors; and many of our region’s most successful employers.

Registration opens at 8:30 a.m., program begins at 9 a.m. Cost is $20, and includes catered lunch.

For more information about the forum, contact Sarah Lundstrum at (406) 862-6722, or email [email protected]. You also can visit here.

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