A recent study from Business for Montana Outdoors has shown Montana’s presence of public lands, such as national forests, national parks, wildlife refuges, and river and trail access, attract young business owners and create growth for other small businesses.

In the survey of business owners sprinkled throughout the state, the so-called “Montana outdoor lifestyle” factor outranked other choices, such as tax rates, access to high-speed Internet, access to raw materials, utility costs, quality health care and quality airline service, among others, according to recent article in the Montana Standard.

The survey questioned 200 small private business owners in Montana, and showed that 70 percent of them agree that Montana’s outdoor recreation opportunities and beauty were a factor in locating or expanding their business here.

You can click here for the full article from the Montana Standard. Here are some more highlights from their report:

“Montana is fast becoming the next emerging technology cluster, following in the footsteps of Austin and Boulder,” said Lance Trebesch, CEO of Ticket River and

Ticketprinting.com, a business of 28 employees based in Bozeman and Harlowton. “Successful technology companies are being built right under the Big Sky.”

Trebesch is a founding member of Business for Montana’s Outdoors, as are members of a panel scheduled for Monday at the Montana Economic Development Summit Sept. 16-17 at Montana Tech in Butte.

In the online testimonial, Trebesch added that such business sector growth is possible because of the quality of life in Montana — “due to our stunning and expansive public lands, all just minutes from where we work.”

In the survey of business owners sprinkled throughout the state, the so-called “Montana outdoor lifestyle” factor outranked other choices, such as tax rates, access to high-speed Internet, access to raw materials, utility costs, quality health care and quality airline service, among others.

According to the Business for Montana’s Outdoors, the Montana economy is growing and even outperforming the broader United States economy due mostly to the state’s “remarkable” outdoors.

“Protected public lands play a role in attracting entrepreneurs and talent to Montana communities, with high-wage service industries leading Montana’s job growth and diversifying the state’s economy,” reads the website.