Governor Gianforte Highlights Innovative Montanans on 56 County Tour

PLAINS, MT – Continuing his 56 County Tour, Governor Greg Gianforte on Tuesday visited with innovative Montanans adding value to Montana’s commodities and investing to keep our communities safe.

“As I travel the state, it’s great to visit with Montanans and highlight our Montana producers and small business owners as the innovators fueling our economy and supporting their families,” Gov. Gianforte said. “We'll continue to cut red tape and make Montana an even better place to do business and create new opportunities for Montanans.”

Stopping by Wild Horse Lavender in Plains, the governor met with owners Carissa and Bruce McNamara to tour their family farm and hear about their transition to growing lavender and selling lavender products.

Transitioning their production from alfalfa and cattle to lavender, the McNamaras now grow five varietals of lavender for medicinal, aesthetic, and culinary purposes in their over 27 value-added products.

“In our current climate and industry in agriculture, value-added anything is a great opportunity to continue to get our agricultural products into the households and into consumers hands all across Montana and really sturdy up these small family farms that are able to create these products and really diverse ways,” Carissa McNamara shared.

Wild Horse Lavender products are sold in stores locally in Plains, Great Falls, Hamilton, Big Timber, and Thompson Falls and online at www.wildhorselavender.com.

Traveling on to Libby, the governor toured the new Nomad GCS plant to learn more about their operation that designs and manufactures Connected Mobile Operations Centers for public and private sector organizations worldwide.

Founded in 2002 by four Montanans, the company established their first location in Kalispell which has grown to employ nearly 250 Montanans and in April 2023 opened a second manufacturing location in Libby that is set to employ 50 more.

Talking with the founders, Gov. Gianforte heard more about their work to create mobile response vans for clients like the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and with defense contractors to assemble containers and command control centers.

Making Montana the best state for business is a top priority for the governor.

Last week, Gov. Gianforte was proud to announce Montana ranks second in the nation for fastest wage growth since 2020 and the average wage earned by Montana workers reached $57,230 in 2023, a 5 percent increase over the year.