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NEWS \JE T T E R 



Montana Deparmicnt of .\griculuirc 



Mav-lunc 2004 



Montana Agriculture Development Council Announces Latest Round o{ Awards 



^The Mtmtana Agnculturc Development Council o\ersees the Montana Growth Through Agriculture Program, which 

 is the Council s tunding source for investing in appropriate projects. Nine agriculmral development projects were 

 recently awarded a total of 5265,000. Projects approved at the March 2004 council meeting in Great Falls included 

 both marketing and business development proposals and intend to provide investment funds to: 



The Orchard at Flathead Lake, LLP - expansion of organic cherry processing and marketing, Kalispell; 

 Kimm Seed Potatoes - integrate manure feasibility and commercialii^tion, Manhattan; 

 Big Sky Qualit}' Wool LLC — expansion of worsted wool mill and marketing, Broadus; 



Mountain Lake Fisheries - development of marketing plan and marketing materials for whitefish caviar, Columbia Falls; 

 Pindar Peaks Seasoning and Dressing — consultant services and marketing material development, Butte; 

 Montana Stockgrowers Association - cooperative beef promotion across Montana, Helena; 



Accurate Freeze Branding LLC - consultant services and marketing material development for the ACCUFree^e System, 

 Anaconda; 



Wiota, LLC — business development plan for financing expansion of Wiota hay handling equipment, Nashua; and 

 HiOside Farms Dairy —feasibility and expansion of Hillside Dairy Farms, Charlo. 



The next deadline for project applications to the Montana Growth Through Agriculture program is July 31, 2004. 

 The council will re\'iew the April 30, 2004 deadline applications )une 7-8, 2004 in Lewnstown, Montana. For more 

 information and application materials, contact Matt McKamey, GTA program manager of the Agriculture Marketing & 

 Business Development Bureau at the Montana Department of Agriculture at 406-444-2402 or bv email at 

 agr(g).state.mt.us . 



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Montana's Ckoice 2004 



The 2004 Montana's Choice promotion will run May 19 through June 1, 2004, in Albertson's across the state. On 

 May 27, 2004, the department will host a kickoff press conference at the Montana .\venue .Albertson's in Helena, 

 promoting the Montana's Choice statewide acti\'ities. Montana companies with product in the Montana Avenue 

 xAlbertson's are invited to provide samples of their products to the press conference participants and customers 

 throughout the day. Due to the immense time and monetar}' resources statewide in-store promotions require, the 

 department will host only one in-store promotion in Helena for the kickoff. 



Television and radio announcements uill be run during the promotion, encouraging Montanans to seek out 

 Montana products, using the Montana's Choice logo as a guide. Furthermore, in-store items such as shelf talkers, 

 shopping lists and bag stuffers encourage customers to purchase and will help them find Montana products. Each 

 Albertson's in Montana will also feature a display of Montana's Choice products, highlighting the array of our 

 state's products available in their store. 



In order to increase customer awareness, every time a customer uses the .Albertson's Preferred Savings Card (PSC) 

 and purchases a Montana product, they will receive a special message on their receipt. The message will say, 

 "Thank you for purchasing Montana's Choice products! Your purchases of Montana products help our economy!" 



We look forward to another successful Montana's Choice promotion. With questions, contact Angelyn DeYoung, 

 406-444-2402, adeyoung@,state.mt.us . 



