City Manager Reminds Great Falls: “Things Are Going to Change”

I recently had Great Falls City Manager Greg Doyon on the 560 KMON-AM morning show, and we talked a lot about the growth that is expected for Great Falls.

While many in the community are excited by this growth thanks to bigger companies like Janicki moving in, some are still a little skeptical of what this new money and large corporate mindset will bring to our community.

I had the chance to ask our City Manager about that, and he didn't hold back!

Asking the Great Falls City Manager About the Impact of Big Business

In our conversation, I asked Mr. Doyon about what the community can expect from these companies.

I mentioned to him that some might be excited about the potential positive impact while others might be worried about the imminent arrival of big companies.

As I was asking the question, he carefully took notes, thought about his answer and gave his response.

Great Falls City Manager to Citizens: Change is Coming

Great Falls City Manager gave a pretty direct response to my question, and you have to appreciate his passion.

"So, things are going to change. And that's just the way it is. I don't think I'm going to say anything that's going to alleviate the concerns about congestion or crime or, you know, home sales, that kind of stuff.

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Because when you do have growth, those are the things that naturally come along with it. Obviously, people focus on that rather than the good things. And the good things are is that if we grow our tax base, at least outside of the TIF districts, that helps support the core services that we do in a more robust way.

And I'm hoping to see that, but I'm not anticipating that for about five years. It takes time. It takes time for that to kind of catch up."

Great Falls City Manager: "There Has to Be Change."

"And again, it can't be in a tax increment district. But there's all the things that people have hammered, hammered the commission about for years. And that are things like, you know, the city isn't growing.

You know, we're not getting our Olive Garden. We want a Costco. All of those things that you've heard, you know, people kind of say online.

Well, in order for those things to get here, there has to be growth and there has to be change. There has to be a demographic, a socioeconomic shift in the community for those businesses to come here. It's not like an elected official or I can call a business and say, hey, you know, come locate here.

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'Well, thanks for asking, but you know, you don't fit our business model.'

We need a certain amount of income in your community in order to work in our business model. People do not understand that."

The City of Great Falls is On Your Side

"[People] think that the city obstructs all of that. And that is just not the case. I've never worked with a commission since I've been here that has plotted in some, you know, dark back room with a dangling light bulb and they're smoking cigars thinking, you know, how can we mess with the city and prevent it from growing?'

That just, that just has not happened.

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What they struggled with is how to make growth happen in a positive way for the community to meet some of the expectations that they've heard from that.

And if it sounds like I'm a little passionate about it, I am because I have some tenure here to know what that conversation has been like. And the commission, the commissions that I've worked with have been frustrated by it."

The City of Great Falls is Business-Friendly

"There was some move in the last, when I say the last commission, when there was a different majority, this commission has been very proactive about growth. And so the things that they did, which were highly controversial, they created a new Capital Improvement Fund basically to help facilitate water, sewer, stormwater infrastructure in the community. And that's what really keeps developers from building is the cost for all of that.

So if there was a mutually beneficial way to accomplish it, then we created this program to help support it. And we had our first applications approved last night that opens up portions of the city for development that have not been open for a long time. People didn't like the utility rate increase that went along with building that capital reserve fund for the system.

And they were frustrated by it.

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But on the other hand, some of those same people were complaining about this commission not doing anything and not being business-friendly. You have a very business-friendly commission right now, and they really want to capitalize on what has happened with Janicki and make housing more readily available for folks, which hopefully will kind of, you know, fill the market in a way that'll make it a little bit more competitive and less stressful for folks."

Are you ready for the inevitable growth and change coming to Great Falls? What questions do you have for our leadership about these imminent changes? Whether it's for law enforcement or for our city leaders, I would love to hear your questions for them HERE.