Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 12

134 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 11 those southwest Montana communities to our community. Businesses are looking to relocate here, based on the ability for them to hire and house employees.” As the hazardous remnants of the mining industry are being removed from the city, Butte is also investing in sustainable initiatives. Butte is currently in talks with Mitsubishi involving a green hydrogen project, something the city is set up for due to the availability of water, which is a key component. Gallagher acknowledges, “Energy is so much in the forefront of everything that we do, and with rolling blackouts and things like that, the production of electricity through fossil fuels is one of the things that people are moving away from. We know that large industry also is putting in initiatives so they can be purchasing green energy. We are working in our local government to come up with a plan of what that looks like, and how we are able to offer that to businesses.” older buildings that have sat dormant for many years. We’re seeing a lot of reinvestments into that kind of housing industry.” As new residents continue to move into the area, he adds that there is land available, and new development happening within the community. Butte is one of the largest superfund sites (land within the U.S. that is contaminated by hazardous wastes) due to the mining industry, and Butte-Silver Bow is working in partnership with the EPA, DEQ, and Atlantic Richfield to clean up the site and make it safe to inhabit. “With that has come a lot of new development,” says Gallagher. “The average house price in Butte is about $188,000, compared to Bozeman that has an average over $750,000. We are seeing a lot of transitional residents moving from Chief Executive, JP Gallagher