Tour provides a ‘show and tell’ on Big Sky’s economic impact, infrastructure needs
By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
In early September, the Big Sky Chamber of Commerce hosted 11 Montana legislators from across the state for a “familiarization tour” of Big Sky to build on their understanding of the unique community.
The legislators—including four candidates—participated in a series of presentations and discussions regarding Big Sky’s infrastructure challenges and its positive economic impact on the regional and state economies, according to a Sept. 13 press release from the chamber.
“This visit was basically a show and tell of Big Sky’s economic impact on the state and how we often have to be creative as an unincorporated community of 3,500 people in solving some of our infrastructure deficiencies,” Brad Niva, chamber CEO, stated in the release.
The visitors were hosted by the chamber, the Big Sky Resort Area District, the Big Sky Community Housing Trust and the Big Sky Canyon Water and Sewer District. Participating lawmakers included six from Billings—Rep. Keri Seekins-Crowe, Rep. Larry Brewster, house candidate Mike Vinton, Rep. Sherry Essman, Rep. Sue Vinton and senate candidate Vince Ricci—and two from Bozeman, Sen. Chris Pope and senate candidate Cora Neumann. Others were Rep. Julie Dooling of Helena, Speaker of the House Matt Regier of Kalispell, and Rep. Denley Loge of Missoula.
On Sunday, Sept. 8, the visit began with a family-style dinner followed by an informal discussion around a fire. Eight Big Sky residents entertained the guests, sharing their roles in Big Sky and local perspectives on community efforts.
Katie Grice, who serves on the chamber’s government affairs committee, and works with Big Sky Resort as VP of sales for Boyne Resorts, relished those chances to simply sit down and talk in a casual setting.
“It’s really just the informal side of genuine conversation that I found most meaningful,” Grice told EBS over the phone. She said the visit is part of a long-term strategy to continue improving communication between Big Sky and state leaders.
“This is a steady march of what we’re trying to accomplish in terms of education, the dynamic business environment that we have, [and] our economic contributions that we have to the State of Montana,” Grice said.
Overall, Niva said the legislators’ response was positive, exceeding his own expectations.
“The first comment we got was, ‘I wish every community in Montana did this,’” he told EBS in a phone call. “… In our case, [the purpose] was pointing out the uniqueness of our community. Being a resort tax community, being unincorporated, and having county lines splitting our community.”
Niva said over the past three years, BSRAD and the chamber have been working on “demystifying Big Sky.” In his view, Big Sky often suffers from the misconception of merely being a resort destination with second and third homes and massive wealth. In reality, Niva says, the 3,500-person community is full of nurses, teachers, firefighters and other industrious and dedicated community members who live and work here full-time. “We have problems too,” Niva said.
He added that Big Sky may lack certain tools to keep up with its own growth by investing in infrastructure, being an unincorporated resort tax community with its economy based in tourism.
On Monday, the legislators toured workforce housing projects and visited the intersection of U.S. Highway 191 and Montana Highway 64, to talk about transportation challenges and an effort to improve river health through sewer implementation.
Local hosts emphasized the ways that some Big Sky organizations are paving the way—peer communities sometimes call to ask for advice from organizations like the Big Sky Community Housing Trust, according to Grice.
Niva believes that Big Sky is a statewide leader in addressing challenges including housing, watershed health and environmental impact. “We’re doing some amazing things, and I want our state to acknowledge that,” he said.
Furthermore, Niva emphasized Big Sky’s importance as an economic driver for Montana. The tour included a presentation of “The Ripple Effect,” an analysis of Big Sky’s economic impact on the region and state.
The presentation was given by Jackie Haines, BSRAD director of economic and strategic development, who did the research in early 2024.
According to the study, Big Sky’s gross domestic product is $2.276 billion, roughly 4.3% of Montana’s statewide GDP reported as $52.952 billion, based on 2021 data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Haines told EBS economic activity in Big Sky touches one in three jobs in Madison and Gallatin counties, and that taxable value within the resort area district boundary comprised 8% of the statewide taxable value in 2023, nearly equivalent to all of Missoula County.
Big Sky is also Montana’s largest collector of lodging tax, collecting $7.12 million in 2022 which accounted for 12.3% of statewide collections that year, according to “The Ripple Effect.” Big Sky has outpaced Bozeman in lodging tax collections since 2019, despite Bozeman having many more taxable beds, Haines noted.
“I think it’s hard to understand Big Sky because it’s such a complex place, with the workforce that’s commuting in and the seasonality of the workforce, and the massive impact that tourism has on our region,” Haines said of the presentation, adding that it was a great opportunity to build bridges with Montana lawmakers.
“It takes some breaking that down to understand it, and I think they walked away with a much deeper understanding of Big Sky,” she said.
Niva believes Big Sky needs to continue focusing on telling its own story to help move the needle toward a regional and statewide understanding of the community’s positive contributions to Montana, and its unique approach to infrastructure challenges.
Grice said that although Big Sky is a complex, unincorporated community, it’s still a machine.
“And it’s a well-oiled machine in a lot of ways, and beneficial to the overall economic impact of the state,” Grice said. “But our machine still needs our legislative members’ support, to make sure that we can continue these contributions.”
