Here’s some business news in the Missoula area:
A Missoula entrepreneur has won a big grant from the Montana Department of Agriculture to expand her food business.
Linzie Norman, the owner and operator of Pelz MT, received a $25,000 Growth Through Agriculture award earlier this year. The money allowed her to purchase a high-volume dumpling-making machine.
Linzie Norman makes her pelmeni.
David Erickson
“The machine is going to allow me to expand my business in whatever direction I want to go,” she said.
Norman makes pelmeni, which are bite-sized dumplings of Russian cuisine that consist of a filling wrapped in thin, unleavened dough.
Originally from Juneau, Alaska, Norman makes her pelmeni “Alaska-style” because she was inspired by a small hole-in-the-wall pelmeni shop there that serves specific toppings that she now uses.
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Her food stand can be found at the Clark Fork River Market on Saturdays through October.
The Montana Department of Agriculture awarded her the grant because she uses Montana-made products, such as Mannix Family Ranch beef from Helmville, Farm to Market Pork from Kalispell, mushrooms from Blood Veil Fungi in Ronan and Wheat Montana rye bread and flour, thereby making her pelmeni a “value-added” product. Recently, she used the machine to make 6,000 of the dumplings at the Mission Mountain Food Enterprise Center in Ronan.
She hopes to eventually move production to Missoula to utilize the machine more frequently and perhaps begin selling packaged pelmeni.
Montana Department of Agriculture director Christy Clark and the Agriculture Development Council announced that a total of $818,954 was awarded in 2024 through the Growth Through Agriculture program.
Across the state, a total of 22 agricultural businesses were awarded funds.
“Year after year, MDA’s Growth Through Agriculture program focuses on giving our agricultural businesses the opportunity to grow and expand in order to add more value to their product and improve their bottom lines,” Clark said. “The Department of Agriculture is proud to invest in these innovative projects that will add value to Montana agriculture as well as contribute to economic development and local communities.”
The program was established by the Montana Legislature in 1987.
The program offers funding in the form of a grant or loan or both and funding is determined by a seven-member Agriculture Development Council during scheduled meetings. The council members are appointed by the governor. Growth Through Agriculture funding requires the investment of at least $1 in matching funds for every $1 in program grant or loan assistance received.
Guy Fieri, the host of the Food Network show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” recently filmed the show at several Missoula restaurants. It appears to be the first time he’s filmed in Montana, because the state isn’t listed on the series’ website for previous episodes. Tandem Bakery in Missoula recently posted on Instagram that they’ll be featured in an episode that will air on Friday, Nov. 1. Photos on social media over the summer also showed Fieri outside of Biga Pizza in downtown Missoula.
The Montana Department of Commerce announced in a press release this week that a second round of grant funding to help eligible Montana communities “increase their appeal and resilience as visitor destinations and enhance their tourism assets and infrastructure” will be available Nov. 1.
The funding is through Commerce’s Pilot Community Tourism Grant Program.
“Tourism creates a significant impact to Montana’s economy each year,” said Paul Green, director of the Montana Department of Commerce. “Through this program, communities can cultivate regional visions, identify strategies to harness the positive impact of visitation and develop unique experiences for the community and tourists alike.”
In June, the town of Ronan was awarded $2.75 million of Pilot Community Tourism Grant Program funding to “increase its economic vitality, improve transportation options and walkability and enhance downtown design and beautification.”
“We see ourselves in five years having a vibrant and well-traveled downtown full of murals and street art with occupied businesses, new lighting and new wayfinding signage,” said Jennifer Ruggless of Mission West Community Development Partners. “We envision a safe, inviting and business-laden downtown that will be sustained for many generations to come.”
The Pilot Community Tourism Grant Program is a state-funded opportunity authorized by the 2023 Montana Legislature’s enactment of Senate Bill 540. Eligibility of entities to apply for funding is established by Section III of the Pilot Community Tourism Grant guidelines.
For more information about the Pilot Community Tourism Grant program, visit commerce.mt.gov.
David Erickson is the business reporter for the Missoulian.
