Start a New Business in Montana

The Montana Small Business Development Center's (SBDC) certified Business Consultants offer free one-on-one business advising to entrepreneurs statewide. Services include disaster, small business resources, business tools, business licensing, start-up guides, an online classroom, and trainings and workshops.

Each local SBDC office offers the following services for start-ups, existing, and expanding businesses:

• Financial Analysis

• Business Planning

• Operations Assistance

• Marketing and Social Media Assistance

• Training and Workshops

• Entrepreneurial Development

• Loan Packaging Assistance

• Succession Planning

Lead Center:
Montana Department of Commerce
301 South Park Avenue
PO Box 200555
Helena, Montana 59620
Phone: 406-841-2870

Montana Small Business Development Center SBDC website

The Montana SBDC network is managed by the Lead Center, located at the Montana Department of Commerce in Helena. Regional offices are located in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Havre, Helena, Kalispell, Miles City, Missoula or Wolf Point. Visit the SBDC website for contact information.

The Small Business Administration’s Montana district office provides services including funding programs, counseling, federal contracting, certifications, and disaster recovery. They can also connect you to partner organizations, lenders, and other community groups that help small businesses succeed.

Both the main office in Helena and the office in Billings serve all 56 counties in Montana.

Main office:
10 West 15th Street
Suite 1100
Helena, Montana 59626
Phone: 406-441-1081

Montana Small Business Administration SBA website

Additional location:
222 North 32nd Street
Billings, Montana 59101
Phone: 406-441-1081

Prospera Business Network supports the community by providing resources to help businesses of all sizes and in all stages of development succeed. These include grant and loan assistance, no-cost business counseling, professional trainings, and networking opportunities.

Their goal is to inspire and enable positive and healthy economic and community development. They demonstrate this by staying true to their vision of providing assistance that caters to each individual business’s needs.

865 Technology Boulevard
Suite A
Bozeman, Montana 59718
Phone: 406-587-3113

Prospera Business Network website

The Women's Foundation of Montana (WFM) advances the economic security of women and creates a brighter future for girls. Since its inception, WFM has provided more than $850,000 in grants to more than 50 organizations that share its mission.

With a network of over 600 women and regular educational offerings, PowerHouse Montana is an initiative of the Women’s Foundation of Montana focused on connecting Montana women with the resources, mentors, and opportunities they need.

33 South Last Chance Gulch
Suite 2A
Helena, Montana 59601
Phone: 406-443-8313

Women’s Foundation of Montana website

Montana SCORE has volunteer counselors based in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, Hamilton, and Kalispell. You can call on SCORE in your community to meet face-to-face or you can get advice online. You Can Expect:

• Free personal counseling and ongoing mentoring

• High-quality, modestly priced workshops

• The respect and confidential advice of professional businessmen and women

• Practical ideas from people who have been there and made a success of it

• Counselors who are experts or have access to experts on most business issues

• Counselors who will meet with you as often as necessary to help you succeed

• Non-confrontational discussions

Free SCORE services include:

• Advice when buying or selling a business

• Marketing strategies

• Recommend additional resources

• Make introductions to people who can help your business

• Provide a qualified second opinion when making big decisions

• Business plan review and recommendations

SCORE Billings:
402 North Broadway
Billings, Montana 59101
Phone: 406-927-7640

SCORE Bozeman:
℅ Bozeman Chamber of Commerce
2000 Commerce Way
Bozeman, Montana 59715
Phone: 406-223-6358

SCORE Western Montana:
225 Cruse Avenue
Suite D
Helena, Montana 59601
Phone: 800-634-0245

SCORE Montana website

From idea to market, ROCK31 helps entrepreneurs start up and scale up. They can connect you with peers, mentors, funding opportunities, and information you’ll need to find success in this crowded marketplace. This vibrant entrepreneur community can take advantage of a coworking space, trainings, business counseling, and a mentor network.

With help from Rock31, entrepreneurs can turn great ideas into a real business and then grow it into a vibrant enterprise. Expert help is available for ideation, target market development, messaging and market validation, commercialization, market validation, scale, and exit.

201 North Broadway
Billings, Montana 59101
Phone: 406-272-3206

Rock 31 website

Bozeman Professional Women is a diverse group of professional women working to ensure that women in the Gallatin Valley have the tools to succeed. Their mission is to connect, educate, and celebrate Bozeman’s professional women. Members come together for regular meetings where they pool their talents and resources to create innovated professional, educational, and networking opportunities for women.

All women are welcome including employees, business owners, and non-profit leaders.

Bozeman Professional Women
PO Box 644
Bozeman, Montana 59771

Bozeman Professional Women website

The U.S. Small Business Administration helps small businesses to get the funding they need. Funding resources include:

• Loans - Start or expand your business with loans guaranteed by the SBA.

• Investment capital - Find an investor for your business. Investors make both debt and equity investments.

• Disaster assistance - Get help after a disaster with low-interest disaster loans.

• Surety bonds - Protect your work and your client with an SBA-guaranteed surety bond.

• Grants - Look for government grants that help businesses do scientific research and development.

United States Small Business Administration SBA website

Prospera offers lending services to companies located in Gallatin and Park counties. Prospera loan funds can be used for business expansion, equipment, and working capital.

Prospera has access to a variety of loan funds to assist eligible businesses in meeting their financing needs. Benefits include:

• Funds can be used for working capital, equipment purchases, real estate, build-outs, purchases of existing businesses, and more.

• Lower equity and collateral requirements

• Flexible structure and payment options

• Fast decision making

• Loan clients have access to Prospera business counseling

865 Technology Boulevard
Suite A
Bozeman, Montana 59718
Phone:: 406-587-3113

Prospera Loan Funds website

Bozeman Professional Women awards small business and educational grants to women for business or educational development in the state of Montana. The financial grants are intended to enable women in the development of their businesses or education.

The grants are available to Montana women who require support to purchase equipment or other materials for business start-up, development, or to further develop their education.

Bozeman Professional Women
PO Box 644
Bozeman, Montana 59771

Bozeman Professional Women Small Business and Educational Grants website

The Business and Technology Department incorporates current technology, problem-based learning and hands-on team projects that combine to let students experience their education while preparing to excel in the business world. With an emphasis on small business, business majors have the opportunity to learn entrepreneurship from the ground up while incorporating the latest technologies and trends of the day.

The Business and Technology Department’s programs are designed to challenge students to acquire the practical, intellectual, technological, problem-solving, and communications skills necessary for successful participation in a diverse, dynamic, and global society. While the program is delivered using a small business, rural context, graduates are well prepared for joining a large corporation as well as pursuing a master’s degree in business administration.

Business & Technology
Building 205
Dillon, Montana 59725
Phone: 406-683-7404

University of Montana Western Business and Technology website

The Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship at Montana State University is a leader in business education and entrepreneurial innovation for Montana, meaningfully advancing the economic, environmental, and social prosperity of the communities across the state.

Whether you want to be an essential part of an existing company or create and run your own business, the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship will foster your dream and give you the skills to make it a reality. Undergraduate programs include Bachelor of Science in Business, Accounting, Finance, Management, Marketing, Master of Professional Accountancy, MS in Innovation and Management, and Business Certificate programs.

Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship
P.O. Box 173040
Bozeman, Montana 59717
Phone: 406-994-4423

Montana State University Jake Jabs College of
Business and Entrepreneurship website

Rocky Mountain College offers a wide variety of programs, including undergraduate, pre-professional, and graduate study options with a number of majors, minors, and concentrations.

If you envision yourself in the corporate world, as an entrepreneur, or as a leader in a non-profit organization, RMC prepares you to realize your dream.

Business management graduates enjoy a placement rate of nearly 100 percent. Students who elect not to take positions following graduation successfully pursue advanced degrees such as a master's of business administration, master's of accountancy, or law degree.

Rocky Mountain College
1511 Poly Drive
Billings, Montana 59102
Phone: 406-657-1000

Rocky Mountain College Business Administration website

The Big Sky Business Journal, started in 1982, is based in Billings, Montana and was the first business publication in the state. It is also the only independent business publication (not associated with daily newspapers) in Montana.

The Big Sky Business Journal is published on the 1st and 15th of each month and focuses on a wide variety of informational articles, featured businesses and business people, reports about critical issues, and data and statistics on the economy, trends, and regional insights.

P. O. Box 3262
Billings, Montana 59103
Phone: 406-259-2309

Big Sky Business Journal website