Business View Civil and Municipal | April 2021

47 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL APRIL 2021 ANACONDA- DEER LODGE COUNTY, A county reborn A naconda – Deer Lodge County is shaking off the shackles of its past and reinventing itself. “It’s a great time for Anaconda,” says Bill Everett, the Montana county’s CEO. “Especially after 30 years of heading in the wrong direction. We went from a Superfund site, to basically a base camp for recreation. In the last few years, we’ve turned the town around and are seeing tremendous growth and a rejuvenation of the whole community.” The county of approximately 9500 was founded in the late 1800s as a mining town and home to the Anaconda Smelter Co. When the smelter – the county’s primary source of employment at the time – shut down in the early 1980s, the town went into a near depression. But recently things have been changing rapidly as remediation of the county’s land is well on its way, leaving room for a season of reinvention. Montana