Silver Bow Kiwanis Kiwanis Club Meeting, Feb 28, '12

12:00-1:00 Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Tom and Wayne from the Butte Kiwanis Club were here, and Tom updated us on the Sunshine camp, which is now self-sustaining as far as facilities go, but they still need funds for annual operations. Wayne told us that he has tickets to their fund raiser available for those who are interested.

Adriana and Michaela from the Circle K were here, DJ brought his son Dan, and Dave brought Oak, Harley, Shaelyn, and Ryane from the Key Club. The Key Club will be delivering the Butter Braided Bread members ordered two weeks from today.

Shane introduced Paul Babb, current Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive. Paul thanked us for his daughter's experiences with the Butte Central Key Club and the Kiwanis scholarship she received when she went to school four years ago.

Then he talked about the unemployment rate in Butte, which, at about 6% is among the lowest in the state. At the same time, Silver Bow county is ranked third in the state in average income at $35,722 (behind Lewis and Clark county and Yellowstone county). While he concedes that Butte-Silver Bow has lost population in the last decade, most of that was in 2000-2005, and the numbers have been decreasing year by year since 2001, ending in actual growth over the couple years.

One of the major projects Butte-Silver Bow has been working on is getting the infrastructure in place in the industrial park at Silver Bow and serving Ramsey and Rocker, so that additional businesses and more varied businesses can be supported there. The final phase of this, the installation of the waste water line, is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Ass the infrastructure has been improved, more businesses have been attracted to the area, including REC, SeaCast, FedEx, and Old Dominion. We still have two class 1 railroads entering the transportation hub in Ramsey, and this is proving to be a prime location for offloading between truck and rail. They are working with the airport to address the air freight aspect of the shipping industry.

The URA and RRA projects continue, and while some of the tax benefits are coming to a close, those are turning around into tax revenue for the city/county, and other areas for growth and improvement are being explored.

The largest project facing the county currently is the roads issue, which needs to be addressed incrementally. A committee meets Tuesdays in the Butte Archives to discuss options and collect feedback from the community. This information will then be taken to the commissioners to make a more informed decision - both in terms of what the public wants and what is reasonable from professionals in the industry.

Paul wants to see the Parks department headed by a director who looks at programs, grants, feasibility and direction, and a superintendent who is responsible for maintenance, grounds-keeping, and care.

The Civic Center is also becoming more of an asset to the community, hosting presidential candidates, concerts, and athletic tournaments, and housing elections, trade shows, and elections.

Presentation

Paul Babb, BSB Chief Executive

Menu

Ham and Cheese Omlet

Attendees

34

Event Updated

3:11 Tuesday, February 28, 2012