Community Highlights

Downtown Revitalization: Roundup and Lewistown

The Montana Department of Commerce delivers critical programs like the Montana Main Street Program (MMS) to rural communities across the state to strengthen and preserve historic downtowns. The MMS Program works with local partners to identify and plan for the community’s greatest development needs and provides seed money to help implement high-impact projects. This 2023 video demonstrates the impact of the program by highlighting community efforts in Roundup and Lewistown.

Case Study: Helena, Kalispell and Anaconda

In 2020, Micky Zurcher, MMS Coordinator; Tash Wisemiller, past MMS Program Manager; and Huston Gibson, Kansas State University professor, published “Beyond the Façade: Layering Downtown Spillover Investment” in "Community Development". Read about how façade improvement grant programs spur spillover of both direct and indirect investment in downtown districts by leveraging built capital and harnessing a sense of place. The communities of Helena, Kalispell, and Anaconda are featured in this case study.