After months of uncertainty, hospitality businesses feel relief with the park’s reopening in early June

BY MAGGIE DRESSER // JUN 18, 2020

Ever since Glacier National Park’s closure in March, businesses within and outside of its boundaries have sat on pins and needles, waiting for the governor and park superintendent to set a reopening date.

“We’ve been preparing for being able to open at any moment,” Holly DuMay, the director of sales and marketing at Izaak Walton Inn and Eddie’s Café and Mercantile. “We knew we weren’t going to have a lengthy notice.”

Once the park finally reopened on June 8, Eddie’s Café and Mercantile was ready to go, opening just a few weeks after its normal date of Memorial Day Weekend.

“It’s a huge relief that we’re opening as soon as we are,” DuMay said.

Eddie’s, which is operating with coronavirus precautions such as plastic screens and spaced-out tables, received a facelift this winter, with a completely remodeled restaurant, a full-service bar and to-go cocktails.

“You can take a cocktail to-go and just sit on the beach at Lake McDonald,” DuMay said. Read more…..

Day of Giving and Unity Fundraiser Nets Over $500,000 for Local Nonprofits

Whitefish Community Foundation and Flathead Community Foundation awarded $1,000 matching grants to 78 different charities

BY ANDY VIANO // MAY 11, 2020

More than 1,300 donors helped raise a total of $561,707 for 78 different Northwest Montana nonprofits during a 28-hour fundraiser on May 5-6.

Not too shabby for a first try.

The Day of Giving and Unity — an initiative launched in response to the coronavirus outbreak by the same group that organizes Giving Tuesday the week after Thanksgiving every year — was May 5, and in Northwest Montana two foundations partnered together, while adding a second day, to support local charities. The result was a resounding success, the organizers say, and the combination of the Whitefish Community Foundation (WCF) and Flathead Community Foundation helped bring far-flung nonprofits from throughout Northwest Montana together beneath one banner. Read more….

Coronavirus impacts on the Montana land market

By Montana Land Source, 4/2020

In such times of economic uncertainly people often gravitate towards tangible investments such as gold and land.  Given the health fears and social distancing caused by this crisis, land in rural western states like Montana have a particular appeal.  In addition to historically being a stable and lucrative investment, land in Montana provides a physical place where owners can take refuge from the rest of the world, whether that’s global pandemics or social unrest.  For years Montana land has been sought out for these reasons.  The shock and uncertainty of this crisis may well lead to increased demand for physical and economic refuge in the form of investment in rural land.

The ultimate impact of the coronavirus on the Montana land market will largely depend on the length of the crisis and the depth of its economic impact.  If the crisis is short-lived and the economic impact minor, we don’t expect the impact on the Montana land market to be substantial.

The slower moving land market may not have a chance to react before the crisis has largely passed.  Additionally, the drive towards more stable and tangible assets that crises like this create may offset negative impacts.  However, if the crisis is prolonged and if the economic impacts are severe, we will expect to see impacts on the Montana land market.  Montana Land Source has the most comprehensive data tracking of Montana land listings and sales, and we look forward to reporting on actual market impacts as the year progresses.  Stay tuned.

Read more about the Montana land market here…