U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development in Montana State director Kathleen Williams has announced that USDA is investing more than $16 million with three local business development corporations to create new and better markets for agricultural producers and food businesses in rural Montana. The recipients include Great Northern Development Corp. in Wolf Point. Great Northern Development

Gov. Greg Gianforte announced last week that Montana’s unemployment rate remained at an all-time low of 2.3 percent in May, bucking national trends as the country’s unemployment rate rose from 3.4 to 3.7 percent. In 2022, average annual wages in Montana grew at the fifth fastest rate in the nation, according to recently released data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages.