Northern Ag Network’s Courtney Kibblewhite Elected Chair of Montana Chamber of Commerce

by Colter Brown

At the Annual Meeting of the Montana Chamber of Commerce in Bozeman, the Chamber Board of Directors named Courtney Brown Kibblewhite of Billings as Chair of the Board.  Kibblewhite and her family own and operate Northern Broadcasting System which includes Northern Ag Network and Northern News Network, serving rural Montana and Wyoming. She replaces outgoing Chair Matthew Jones of BNSF Railway.

“I’m honored to represent my friends and neighbors from agriculture and small business on the Montana Chamber Board,” Kibblewhite said. “I’m especially grateful to represent rural Montana and ensure that the voices of Montana’s farmers and ranchers are heard in Helena and across the state. There is a lot of opportunity for positive change in the upcoming legislative session, and as Montana’s voice for business, we will push solutions to improve Montana’s business climate, including tort and ballot initiative reform and lead tough conversations about the need to reform Montana’s tax structure to name a few.”

This year’s annual event was highlighted by a keynote address from Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report and Governor Greg Gianforte presented Manufacturing of the Year awards to four leading Montana manufacturing companies:

  • Manufacturer of the Year—Diversified Plastics, Missoula
  • Startup of the Year—BioSqueeze, Butte
  • Value-Added Agriculture of the Year—Hi Country Snack Foods, Lincoln
  • Innovator of the Year—GTUIT, Billings

Manufacturer of the Year recipients are selected by their peers on the Montana Manufacturing Association Board of Directors, a subsidiary of the Montana Chamber of Commerce. 

The annual event opened with an “Innovation Showcase”, highlighting some of Montana’s leading manufacturers and their cutting-edge technologies and approaches to manufacturing.

Montana Chamber membership also elected Mark Fairbairn with Helena Boeing, Bridger Mahlum with Charter Communications, Tom Dolan of Glacier Bancorp, Inc., and Jessie Luther with Taylor Luther Group to the Board of Directors, replacing Steve Arntzen with Century Gaming, Paul Hopfauf with MDU Resources and Bryan Wood with Wood’s PowrGrip, all who termed out from the Board after a combined 13 years of service. 

The Montana Chamber Foundation also elected new leadership.  Angela Murdo of Anderson ZurMuehlen was elected President of the Foundation by the Board of Directors.  She was selected to fill the shoes of Lanny Hubbard, who recently retired as President/CEO of Montana State Fund.

The Montana Chamber of Commerce is Montana’s leading business advocacy organization with over 2,000 members statewide. 

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