HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – Bear Paw Development Corporation held their annual meeting on Thursday afternoon in the SUB Ballroom on the campus of MSU-Northern.
Chancellor Greg Kegel was expected to provide the keynote address, but Provost R. Neil Moisey was called into replace him with Kegel missing the event due to illness.
Moisey discussed the state of the University as they near their 100th anniversary in 2029, touting the role that Northern plays in driving the economy on the Hi-Line and helping students enter the workforce.
“If somebody is raised along the Hi-Line or wherever it is, a rural area, and they can get access to education, they are much more likely to stay in the region,” Moisey said in part. “I think that’s the way to address those (workforce) shortages.”
Bear Paw Development Executive Director Paul Tuss, who recently filed to run for State House District 28 as a Democrat, was the emcee.
Dozens of local residents were in attendance, including State Senator Russ Tempel, Hill County Commissioner Jake Strissel, Blaine County Commissioners Miles Hutton and Frank DePriest, current Havre Mayor Doug Kaercher, former Mayor Tim Solomon, and Havre Public Schools Superintendent Craig Mueller.
