HELENA — Kohl’s, Trader Joe’s, Cabela’s—why can’t Helena seem to get big-name retailers like these? There are a combination of factors, including how population is counted to state-level incentives, that lead retailers to skip over Montana’s capital city when deciding where to locate.
The Montana Business Assistance Connection—or MBAC—provides community and economic development assistance in the Helena Area. Executive director Brian Obert said population is one of the roadblocks they encounter when trying to get retailers interested in the city.
“When a business takes a look at Helena, Montana, they look at the city limits of Helena, which is 32-thousand people,” Obert said. “They might have a 50-thousand person threshold, we don’t qualify, they move right past us.”
City limits don’t include places like the North Valley, West Valley and East Helena. The population number also doesn’t account for the fact that the number of people inside city limits swells by almost 50-percent during the work day, and people from places like Townsend and Boulder travel into Helena to shop.
“The reality is, within a 15 minute drive of the old K-Mart facility, we’re almost 70-thousand people,” Obert said.
MBAC is working with the Helena Chamber of Commerce, the city and other agencies to better illustrate the Helena area to businesses.
Another obstacle the area faces when recruiting retail businesses is the lack of the built environment they want. Obert said businesses often don’t want to build completely new facilities, and the Helena area just does not have the existing structures they are looking for.
“The old Shopko building is a great example—almost 110-thousand square feet. The businesses that are interested in Helena want 30-thousand square feet,” Obert said. “We just don’t have the right space.”
While Obert said it can be challenging to get retailers interested in Helena, manufacturing, distribution and health care businesses are eager to move to the area.
“We are very competitive in that area,” Obert said. “Helena College has been a huge asset to the community, Carroll College is a huge asset.”
Additionally, Obert said Helena’s geographic location makes it a prime location for businesses like fishing gear and apparel company Trxstle and drift boat builder Adipose Boatworks—both of which are based in Helena.
While retail has lagged behind other kinds of businesses, Obert said there are some things on the horizon that could give the area a leg-up when it comes to attracting retailers—including a possible “micropolitan” area designation.
“Between our involvement in actually trying to push out the story of the number of people we actually have and this new reporting that Lewis and Clark County is now working on with the feds, we think our opportunity for attracting retail is going to go up dramatically,” Obert said.
There are also opportunities for public input regarding development. Obert said the city wants feedback on what businesses people want to see in the area. Input opportunities can be found on the city of Helena’s website and their public engagement site beheardhelena.com.
