Customer feedback drives competitive advantage. Are you being left behind? Learn what social media tools are better for B2B and how you can position your company as a leader using them. Tap into “the conversation.” Come away with a better understanding and how to get started. 

 

Get peer perspectives and reduce risk in new market development by reviewing elements you need in sales & marketing processes in order to take on new markets. Learn to see products in terms of product functions and attributes and how to use those to identify new market segments. Peer perspectives: Bryan and Barry Wood & Joe Landsverk, Wood’s Powr-Grip

Leesa Nopper, Marketing & Business Consultant, Montana Manufacturing Extension Center, MT Dept. of Commerce B2B Marketing Program

  

 

Learn to see waste, develop your skills and gain peer perspectives using photos taken of typical company operations as participants identify whether the activity is value-added, non-value added but essential or pure waste. 
It’s not as simple as you think.

 Kreg Worrest, MilTech Engineer (former MMEC Field Engineer, Missoula), MilTech 

 

Is your front office operating day to day buried under a tangle of waste – mounting paper, endless meetings, errors/rework, & reports nobody reads? Learn how to convert Lean concepts to the office environment where an estimated 25-60 percent of product cost resides. Transmit the benefits of Lean to your customers through administrative process improvements. 

Dale Detrick, MMEC Field Engineer, Montana Manufacturing Center

Vikki Fosjord, Director of Quality Assurance, EBMS (Employee Benefit Management Services) 

 

B-3 From Lean to Lasting: Making Lean Enterprise Transformation Stick

Explore this proven method of making operational changes with results that don’t erode away over time. Get an “Ah haaa” moment on why projects weren’t as successful as you’d hoped as you examine how a holistic enterprise-wide Lean approach is proactive and more responsive to changing customer demand, capturing productivity improvements and ensuring sustainability. Learn how to combine Leadership, Culture and Technical Tools to achieve the long term results necessary to survive AND thrive.  

Bill Nicholson, MMEC Field Engineer, Montana Manufacturing Extension Center 

 

B-4 Lean Accounting for A True Picture of Lean Gains

Accounting driving you crazy during Lean implementations? Lean operational improvements will have negative effects on a company’s traditional financial statements. This session will identify typical trouble spots and show how Lean Accounting better supports Lean. Explore a “Plain English” financial statement for what’s going on with materials costs, labor costs and other factory costs, and a reporting format shop personnel can understand and use for effective decisions on the shop floor.

 Kreg Worrest, MilTech Engineer (former MMEC Field Engineer, Missoula), MilTech

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This session will cover the nature of effective leadership and the supporting attitudes and actions necessary to be the kind of leader people will respond to. Participants will discuss the impact leaders’ influence and personal choices have on the people they lead. Learn to identify your personal leadership style and ways to adapt your style to encourage employees 
not only follow but support the company vision and objectives.

Paul Bentley D Min., Program Director & Instructor, Leadership Program, MSU Extended University 

 

C-4 More Success Dealing With Your People: The Art of Feedback

Giving constructive feedback make you sweat? Think it’s easier to just avoid giving feedback? Do recipient’s emotional reactions leave you tongue-tied? Nearly 75% of leadership careers derail due lack of skills in this area. Gain a lasting positive impact on and from the people you lead after this performance management session on the art of give and take. Improve productivity, morale; get everyone rowing the same direction. 

Dave Meldahl , Principle, Meldahl Leadership Consulting, LLC 

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Learn the types of business financial assistance available for your growth initiatives, from loan options to grants including Incumbent Worker Training, trade adjustment support, special tax credits for manufacturers and more. Find out which ones fit your goals and which can help overcome your challenges. Moderator: Michelle Johnston, District Director, Small Business Administration & Resource Panelists: Patrick Meuleman, NWTAAC; Brandon Berger, CDC504 Big Sky Economic Development; Jillann Knutson, Beartooth RC&D; Terry Alborn, JCCS Accounting Firm; 
Chris Wilhelm, MT Dept. of Labor & Industry

 Michelle Johnston, District Director , Montana District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 

D-1a " New Session Added" Building a Native American Business (Case Study)

Hear a peer perspective on how a Native American entrepreneur built his company in Billings. Join Tom Dailey of American Steel, a steel 

fabricator in Billings, and Leonard Smith of the NADC PTAC for more about the

unique opportunities for Native American-owned business in this session.
Leonard Smith, Native American Development Corporation, Procurement

 

 

Learn more about Montana’s high injury rate and how it negatively impacts profitability. Focus will be on why workplace safety matters and early return-to-work/stay-at-work programs in Montana businesses. Brief review of the causes behind Montana’s relatively high work comp insurance rates, and what we can do to bring them down. Peer perspectives, a case study from Simms Fishing Products.  

Carl Kochman, Montana State Fund 

D-2b Native American Veteran Entrepreneurs & SBA Partnering for Success

 

 

Attend this session and discover why you should “care about air”? Review the history and costs of compressed air & how efficient it is. Find how you can save 15 to 20% of your cost of compressed air, whether your plant is a candidate for an efficiency upgrade and what utility incentives are available to help offset capital costs. 

Get the latest on emerging energy technologies to watch in a report out on developing green opportunities & jobs for Montana. Learn more about capabilities, limitations, and opportunity in wind-generated electrical power in Montana from the Montana Wind Applications Center at MSU. Peer perspective: case study on a creative alternative energy effort bringing double-edged benefits to Algae Aqua-Culture Technologies, Whitefish. (invited) 

Protecting intellectual property (IP) in foreign countries is crucial for doing business abroad. Come learn about mechanisms like international patent and trademark treaties in place for protecting your IP on an international level, common pitfalls and how our IP laws differ from those of many countries. Learn about disclosure rules that can result in your invention being in the public domain before you are ready & importance of written agreements with your foreign distributors. 

What good is a sale if you don’t get paid? Panelists in this session will help you understand and leverage methods of payment and financing options to entice foreign buyers and protect your receivables against nonpayment. Learn about resources to get you started or to improve your tactics. Q& A. -- Moderator: Nicole Hagerman, MWTC. Panelists: Inga Fisher Williams, SBA; Mark Garfield, Zions Bank; Dave Glaser, MCDC; Ex-Im Bank (invited)

This session will focus on knowing where you’re going and how to be prepared, plus the importance of having a strategic approach to international business. Learn how to effectively develop an international business strategy. Gain information on resources and funding available to help your business go global. -- Panel Moderator: Arnie Sherman, Executive Director, Montana World Trade Center. Panelists: Carey Hester, US Commercial Service; Sara Warren, MT Department of Commerce International Trade & Relations Bureau; Michelle Johnston, Small Business Administration; Angie DeYoung, Montana Department of Agriculture

We’re all in this together...businesses helping each other on the global front is key. Come get to know some of the successful Montana players and learn first-hand what worked – and what didn’t; the importance of due diligence (knowing who you’re doing business with in the market); the importance of vetting customers and having a company policy in place with everyone on board. This session is a follow-on to F-3 but that session is not a pre-requisite to attend this session.  Panel Moderator: Steve Holland, MMEC Director. 
Peer Perspectives with Barry Wood, Wood’s Powr-Grip; Jim Spielman & Steve Shinners, MRL; 
Kathy McLane, SRS Crisafulli