Nearly 64,000 new businesses were created last year in Montana, Gov. Greg Gianforte and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen announced Wednesday, touting what they said is a record number of new companies in a single year.
The Republican officials made the announcement at one of those new businesses – Granite Peak Athletics in East Helena, an indoor baseball, softball and lacrosse training center that opened in October.
Flanked by the business’s co-founders Nolan Gilbert and Connor Moore and the East Helena High School Vigilantes baseball team, Jacobsen and Gianforte said the 63,814 businesses registered in 2024 and conversations with Gilbert and Moore about their experience opening a business showed their efforts to streamline business creation in Montana have been effective.
“Small business is the backbone of Montana’s economy,” Gianforte said.
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Gov. Greg Gianforte and Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen tout a record number of new Montana businesses created in 2024 during a press event at Granite Peak Athletics on Jan. 15.
The nearly 64,000 businesses created last year beat the previous record of 59,606 businesses created in 2023. During Gianforte and Jacobsen’s first year in office in 2021, just under 50,000 businesses were created in Montana, according to state business data.
About 70% of the new businesses created last year were domestic limited-liability corporations. Gianforte and Jacobsen, who both in November won reelection to second terms, have cut business registration fees and eliminated others as part of their effort to bring new business to Montana.
“By cutting red tape, adopting pro-business policies, and working closely with Montana’s business community, we’ve made it easier than ever to do business in our great state,” Jacobsen said in a statement.
East Helena High School baseball players practice at Granite Peak Athletics on Jan. 15.
Gilbert and Moore, who originally came to Montana as firefighters for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, said they opened the business to give back to the community and provide youth a place to train year-round. They said they had planned out the business for years.
“We’re able to give an avenue for kids to grow in their athletic ability, but more importantly, develop their life skills in this place, in a safe environment to train,” Gilbert said. “It’s just been awesome to be a bigger part of this community.”
Granite Peak Athletics offers each athlete a complete video analysis of their swings and throwing mechanics, hosts youth camps for first through sixth graders, and will this spring offer minicamps, Gilbert and Moore said.
The business at 43 Industry Loop also has an advanced program for kids ages 13 and older in which Moore and Gilbert provide strength training, more in-depth sessions on body movement and care specialized to each athlete, the two said.
East Helena High School baseball players practice at Granite Peak Athletics on Jan. 15.
“We have pro-level stuff going on in here,” Gilbert said. “These 14-year-olds that get on it now, four years from now, we’re pumped to see where they’re at.”
Long term, they said they would like to expand and build a fieldhouse and bring on another employee to accommodate more sports. Currently, the East Helena High School baseball team, three all-star baseball teams and a lacrosse team are training at their facility.
Following the announcement from Gianforte and Jacobsen, most of the East Helena team took to the batting cages that are the centerpiece of the facility to play catch and hit soft toss.
“This facility has helped me improve a lot because there’s really no place to go play baseball in the winter,” said a freshman on the team named Nalaki. “So, this facility gives us a place to come inside, play and improve overall.”
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