CLIENT TESTIMONIALS

The common denominator in making our team’s dreams come to fruition is Bank of Montana. They were able to help me start and grow an unproven business idea into a successful salon voted Best in Missoula.

In the midst of a national recession, Missoula’s most popular hair salon announced it was no longer in the hair business. Six stylists from the salon knew they had the skill and passion to continue working together, but they didn’t know where they would go to work the next week, let alone together. They looked to fellow employee Carly Jenkins and banker Kim Shappee for an answer. With Bank of Montana’s support, Carly found a location and opened up shop within three months of the former salon’s closing. And the original stylists? You guessed it: All of them came to work at Boomswagger.

By capitalizing our growth, Bank of Montana has allowed us to focus on our passion while still meeting our business objectives. It’s always energizing to feel the excitement they have for our vision.

Scott and Willow Timothy offer high-quality goods and services to dog and cat owners at their upscale pet store in Missoula, Montana. Always evolving as an entrepreneur, Scott had another dream – an 8,000 square foot agility gym where dog owners could train and exercise their pets. He knew that Missoulians would bite.

In Bank of Montana, Scott found a dynamic partner for both the expansion of his Reserve Street retail and grooming facility as well as the new Russell Street Plaza Agility Center. Leveraging SBA financing, we supervised the development of each facility and worked with Scott through it all, from construction loans to end loans, securing the best possible rates and terms for his new venture. Scott chose Bank of Montana, and we succeeded as a team, all pulling in the same direction.

In one of the most difficult economic and lending environments in history, your creativity and expertise allowed us to access over fourteen million dollars in low fixed-rate, long-term capital.

Is it possible to pull off a $20 million auto dealership expansion in a struggling economy? Ask Joe Billion. Joe had spent more than a decade dreaming and planning for the expansion when we first met in 2010. He had tried to obtain financing through national and local banks, but needed one that understood the scale and depth of his project, one that was at home with complex financing structures. Enter Tom Swenson and Daniel Day, a pair of banking experts that gave Billion renewed hope that his project was viable. Billion was bullish on the local and national economy and determined to get the project done, and with Bank of Montana, he found the perfect match for his optimism.

Bank of Montana has been able to get done what other banks simply cannot do, or don’t know how to do. They are the cutting-edge bank for business-minded individuals or companies.

Ask our partners at Rocky Mountain Development Group in Missoula: When it comes to real-estate financing, Bank of Montana often only has the solutions. In the United States there are only 89 HUD-approved MAP (multifamily accelerated processing) lenders, and Bank of Montana stands alone in offering this ability across a six state region. We offer long- term, fixed-rate, non-recourse financing on projects like Silvertip Apartments. Being able to offer these products gives you long-term stability as the foundation for the growth of your business. As the leading multifamily housing lender in the region, we specialize in loans utilizing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Administration’s multifamily loan programs, so you have an array of options when the time comes to finance your project. Our partnerships have helped create more than 700 units of housing for all kinds of families in Missoula, Montana alone. That kind of business helps everyone.

Partnering with Bank of Montana was like a breath of fresh air in the world of business and finance. They bent over backwards to find solutions for our complex, multifaceted project.

Tim and Suzy founded the Kettlehouse Brewing Company in 1995 as a brew-on-location establishment where the public could use the Kettlehouse’s equipment and recipes to brew their own beer. The Kettlehouse has since become a nationally renowned microbrewery and taproom. It currently produces 24 variations of craft beers and essentially revolutionized the microbrewery industry by canning their beers, making the industry more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Revolutionizing the micro-brewery industry was great for the Kettlehouse’s bottom line, and eventually meant that the company needed more space to keep up with demand. In 2009, after Bank of Montana worked to understand and help solve the Kettlehouse’s intricate financing challenges, the company purchased a larger facility and expanded to a new location.

Bank of Montana’s solution was a creative finance structure involving the U.S. Small Business Administration program to help close the deal. Missoula’s old Pac-West building tripled the size of their space, with a cooling cellar, elevator, loading docks – exactly what they needed to grow. The innovative cannery spurred rapid growth, and Bank of Montana was an ideal partner for creative businesspeople like Tim and Suzy to help them achieve their goals.