Editing Great Falls, Montana (section)

==Economy==
===Historic economy===
[[File:Black Eagle Dam - pre-1908.jpg|thumb|left|The smelter and dam at Great Falls c. 1910]]
Built as a railroad hub, Great Falls initially relied heavily on ore smelting in its early years.{{sfn|Holmes|1913|page=341}} [[Black Eagle Dam]], opened in 1890,{{sfn|Peterson|2010|page=59}} was the first hydroelectric dam built in Montana{{sfn|Marcosson|1957|page=45}}{{sfn|Holmes|Dailey|Walter|2008|page=397}}<ref name="McCormick2">{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/MT0323/|title=Black Eagle Hydroelectric Facility, Great Falls, Cascade County, MT|first=Historic American Engineering|last=Record|website=www.loc.gov}}</ref> and the first built on the Missouri River.{{sfn|Peterson|2010|page=59}} The energy industry helped give the city of Great Falls the nickname "The Electric City".<ref>{{cite news|title=City's Past Rooted in the River That Runs Through It|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=March 24, 2002}}</ref> The same year, the [[Boston and Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company]] broke ground on a large smelter in the city,{{sfn|Hofman|1904|pages=267-269}} drawn to the location by the power provided by the dam.{{sfn|Furdell|2002|page=203}} Elements came online over the next few years, with the final works—an [[Electrolysis|electrolytic refinery]] and [[blast furnace]]s—completed in February and April 1893.{{sfn|Hofman|1904|pages=267-269}}{{sfn|Mutschler|2002|page=13}} By 1892, more than 1,000 workers were employed at the smelter.{{sfn|Taliaferro|2003|page=121}} Energy production received a boost with the discovery of petroleum about {{convert|100|mi}} north of the city in the late 1910s. Great Falls boasted two oil refineries by 1920, although a devastating fire left the city with just one after 1929.{{sfn|Peterson|2010|page=43}}

Great Falls suffered its first major economic crisis in 1893. Banks and industry in the city were severely undercapitalized, and the [[Panic of 1893]] cut off access to money in the east. The price of [[silver]] collapsed and nearby mines closed. Markets for beef, mutton, and wool largely disappeared, leaving area ranchers destitute. A large number of businesses in Great Falls shut their doors. The city was largely saved by the smelter, which continued to employ about 900 workers from 1895 to 1900. A North Montana Agricultural Society was formed to bring improvements in the practice of cattle ranching and wheat farming, and to lobby for federal- and state-funded irrigation projects.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=221}}<ref>{{cite news|title=State Agricultural Society|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=January 12, 1895|page=4}}</ref> An attempt to win state legislative approval for an official state fair to be located at Great Falls failed in 1894, but organizers were successful in holding the first Cascade County Fair in May 1895.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=221}}<ref>{{cite news|title=The Cascade County Fair|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=May 12, 1895|page=6|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|title=The First Day of the Fair|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=October 2, 1895|page=4}}</ref>

[[File:Montana Flour Mills at Great Falls Montana.jpg|thumb|Montana Flour Mills in Great Falls in 1920]]
The city became even more prominent as an agricultural products center.{{sfn|Curry|1920|page=1343}}{{sfn|Holmes|1913|page=354}} Wheat production began to soar in Montana during the 1906-1907 growing season,{{sfn|Curry|1920|page=1318}} and by 1920 there were 11 railroad spur lines radiating from the city to collect the grain from local farmers.{{sfn|Curry|1920|page=1343}} The city's easy access to inexpensive electrical power made it ideal for grain milling and meat refrigeration, and enabled Great Falls to become a major center for farmers and ranchers.{{sfn|Furdell|2002|page=203}} The Royal Milling Company was founded in Great Falls in 1892, and within seven years was making half the flour in the state.{{sfn|Peterson|2010|page=42}} It tripled its capacity to {{convert|10500|USbsh}} per day in 1917,<ref>{{cite news|title=Great Falls Enlarges Elevator Capacity|work=Commercial West|date=June 23, 1917|page=36|access-date=March 28, 2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bp8wAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Great%20Falls%2C%20Montana%22%20Royal%20flour&pg=RA23-PA36}}</ref> then in 1928 merged with about 25 other mills nationwide to form [[General Mills]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Montana Flour Mills Join in Large Merger|work=The Missoulian|date=June 27, 1928|page=5}}</ref> Montana Flour Mills opened its Great Falls facility in 1916,{{sfn|Peterson|2010|page=42}} and had a capacity of {{convert|4500|USbsh}} per day in 1920.{{sfn|Curry|1920|page=1318}} Royal had a regional grain storage capacity in 1920 of more than {{convert|1500000|USbsh}}, while Montana Flour's approached {{convert|2250000|USbsh}}.{{sfn|Curry|1920|page=1318}} Brewing became a major industry in the city,{{sfn|Holmes|1913|page=341}} with the 1892 Montana Brewing Company (makers of Great Falls Select beer) leading the way.{{sfn|Peterson|2010|page=28}} The city's close proximity to Montana's cattle-rich [[Judith Basin]] also led to the development of a large [[meat packing industry]]. Led by the Great Falls Meat Co., Needham Packing Company, Stafford Meat Co., Valley Meat Market, and other slaughterhouses, Great Falls was the largest meat packing center between [[Spokane, Washington]], and [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]], by the 1930s.{{sfn|Federal Writers' Project|1939|page=150}}

The city's population boomed, reaching 30,000 by 1913.{{sfn|Holmes|1913|page=341}} The 145-bed Columbus Hospital (a [[Catholic Church]]-owned facility) opened in 1892 and the 330-bed Montana Deaconess Medical Center (originally a [[Methodist Episcopal Church]] facility) opened in 1898,<ref>{{cite news|last=Wilmot|first=Paula|title=Clinic Buys Surgical Hospital|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=January 26, 2006}}</ref> making the city a destination for those with serious healthcare needs for central Montana. During the 1910s, Great Falls became known as a regional banking city,<ref>{{cite news|title=Great Falls Bank Deposits Gain $5,000,000|work=Commercial West|date=March 31, 1917|page=35|access-date=March 28, 2019|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bp8wAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Great%20Falls%2C%20Montana%22%20banking%20hub&pg=RA11-PA36}}</ref> with three national- and three state-chartered banks (although just two national and one state bank would survive the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]]).{{sfn|Howard|2003|page=229}} Large regional deposits of clay, coal, gypsum, limestone, and sandstone led to the emergence of large brick works, cement works, plaster works, and stone cutting facilities in the town.{{sfn|Holmes|1913|page=341}}{{Efn|The Great Northern Railway opened coal mines in Cascade County in the 1890s, making Great Falls a leader in coal production in the state.{{sfn|Malone|Roeder|Lang|1991|pages=179, 337-338}}}}

A major [[drought]] hit the counties north of the Missouri River in 1917, and spread to the rest of the state in 1918. Massive swarms of [[Dissosteira longipennis|locusts]] struck the state in 1919, and in 1920 strong, steady winds [[Erosion|eroded]] the [[topsoil]], damaging the productivity of the soil and creating a "dust bowl" effect.{{sfn|Malone|Roeder|Lang|1991|pages=280-281}}{{Efn|Montana farmers engaged in [[deep plowing]] of the [[topsoil]]. The unanchored soil turned to [[dust]] in drought conditions, and the winds heavily eroded the topsoil.{{sfn|Malone|Roeder|Lang|1991|page=281}}}} Montana farmers were therefore largely unable to take advantage of the high price of wheat and other agricultural products created by wartime demand and the loss of agricultural output in Europe caused by World War I.{{sfn|Malone|Roeder|Lang|1991|page=281}} The drought did not end: Just six of the 13 years from 1917 to 1930 saw average or above-average precipitation in the state.{{sfn|Spence|1978|page=137}} As agricultural production in Europe recovered after 1920, war-inflated agricultural prices collapsed.{{sfn|Malone|Roeder|Lang|1991|page=281}}{{Efn|The price of a bushel of wheat nearly halved, dropping from $2.40 to $1.25.{{sfn|Malone|Roeder|Lang|1991|page=281}}}} The high costs associated with the Great Falls-area underground coal mines led to the collapse of this local industry in the 1920s as well, devastating Great Falls coal dealers and shippers.{{sfn|Malone|Roeder|Lang|1991|page=338}} Although the [[post–World War I recession]] lifted nationally by 1922, the economy of Great Falls and the rest of the state remained mired in depression until the mid-1920s.{{sfn|Malone|Roeder|Lang|1991|page=281}}{{sfn|Furdell|2002|page=204}}

The city's economy stagnated during the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]].{{sfn|Furdell|2002|page=203}} The price of copper fell by nearly 75 percent to just 5 cents a pound between 1929 and 1933.{{sfn|Malone|Roeder|Lang|1991|page=295}} Anaconda cut production in the state by 75 percent and closed its plant in Great Falls,{{sfn|Spence|1978|page=146}} throwing hundreds out of work. Agricultural prices, too, collapsed. Half of the state's farmers lost their land to [[foreclosure]],{{sfn|Malone|Roeder|Lang|1991|page=283}}{{sfn|Spence|1978|page=140}} and 60,000 of the 80,000 homesteaders who had arrived between 1900 and 1917 left the state.{{sfn|Spence|1978|pages=139-140}} By the time the Great Depression ended in 1940, 11,000 farms (20 percent of the state's total) had been abandoned and {{convert|2000000|acre}} of farmland had gone out of cultivation.{{sfn|Spence|1978|page=140}} Even as the national population grew by 16 percent between 1930 and 1940, Montana's population declined.{{sfn|Spence|1978|page=140}} Great Falls was one of the rare places in Montana which saw population growth. The city grew from 28,822 residents in 1930 to 29,928 residents in 1940.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=166}}

[[File:Malmstrom Air Force Base - MT - 8 Jul 1995.jpg|thumb|Malmstrom Air Force Base in 1995]]
World War II saw the establishment of East Base (now Malmstrom Air Force Base) in Great Falls in 1941, which proved to be a turning point economically.{{sfn|Furdell|2002|page=202}} The war not only created a huge demand for the agricultural products and metal products provided by the city but also fueled significant population growth in Great Falls. The base brought 4,000 new residents to the city;{{sfn|Furdell|2002|page=202}} by 1943, the city's population had shot up by about 5,600 to 35,000. These new residents created a huge demand for goods and services, and a large number of new businesses sprang up to supply the base with its needs. The rapid population growth created a housing construction boom in Great Falls. The federal government paid for the construction of 300 new single-family homes during the war,{{sfn|Furdell|2002|page=213}} although this was nowhere near the amount of new housing needed.{{sfn|Furdell|2002|page=214}} East Base created a fundamental cultural and social shift in the city,{{sfn|Furdell|2002|page=202}} one which became more pronounced over time as active-duty personnel stayed in the city after retirement.{{sfn|Furdell|2002|page=203}} The war also saw a major improvement to the Great Falls Municipal Airport. The 1928{{sfn|Peterson|2010|page=94}} facility received its first air traffic control tower in 1942, paid for by the federal government after the vast increase in flights over the city after the construction of the new air base.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=192}}

[[File:O.S. Warden Bridge.png|thumb|Warden Bridge]]
By 1950, Great Falls was Montana's largest city,{{sfn|Holmes|Dailey|Walter|2008|page=404}} having added 33 percent more residents during the 1940s.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=222}} Much of the city's growth was due to rising federal investment in defense and healthcare,{{sfn|Wyckoff|2006|page=14}} and it was an important regional convention, trade, and medical center.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=167}} In 1951, Anaconda consolidated its statewide zinc production in Great Falls, adding substantial numbers of new workers,{{sfn|Mercier|2001|page=185}} and in 1955 opened an aluminum smelter in the city.{{sfn|Malone|Roeder|Lang|1991|page=325}} The O.S. Warden Bridge opened in 1951.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=17}} Designed to turn a then-mostly undeveloped 10th Avenue S. into a straight-line [[Bypass (road)|bypass]] through the city,{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=5}}{{Efn|The state made 10th Avenue S. a state highway in October 1933.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=1}} Prior to the construction of the Warden Bridge, west-bound traffic had to take a convoluted route through the city to cross the Missouri River: Traffic entering from the east would turn north on E. 57th Street, turn west on 2nd Avenue N., turn south on Park Drive, and cross the river using the Central Avenue Bridge. Most traffic then traveled west on Central Avenue W. before turning south on 6th Street SW to cross the Sun River and connect with [[U.S. Route 91#Montana|U.S. Route 91]]. This forced nearly all traffic through the city's main business district.{{sfn|Farley|1965|pages=1, 5}}}} Extraordinary increases in traffic on 10th Avenue S. led the state to transform the two-lane street in 1956 into an {{convert|80|ft|adj=on}} wide four-lane highway with a central median.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=5}}{{Efn|10th Avenue S. was "one of the first in Montana to be designed and constructed with a center median and left-turn bays".{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=5}}}} Previously an undeveloped area with only the occasional residence,{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=26}} the 1956 changes to 10th Avenue S. turned the highway into a vibrant business district.{{sfn|Farley|1965|pages=17, 27, 37}} Construction of the new campus of the [[College of Great Falls]] began on 10th Avenue S. in 1959,{{Efn|Since 1933, the college had been located in a disused nursing school building located on the southwest corner of 3rd Avenue N. and 17th Street N. on the campus of Columbus Hospital.<ref>{{cite book|last=LaPorte|first=Margaret|title=Columbus Hospital—One Hundred Years|location=Great Falls, Mont.|publisher=Sisters of Providence|date=1992|pages=23–24|url=https://www.providence.org/-/media/files/providence/about/history/columbus-hospital-one-hundred-yearsweb.pdf?la=en}}</ref> The college built the McLaughlin Center, a recreation center with gymnasium and swimming pool, in 1964.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=29}}}} and the new [[Benefis Health System|Deaconess Hospital]] in 1963.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=29}} 10th Avenue S. received its first traffic signals in 1964.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=5}}

Great Falls' reputation as a retail hub for central Montana emerged in the 1960s. The [[Holiday Village Mall]] opened as an open-air shopping center in 1959,<ref>{{cite news|title=Holiday Village Has Grand Opening Today|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=January 20, 1960}}</ref> and by 1969 had expanded to become a modern enclosed [[shopping mall]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Early December Grand Opening Planned at Holiday Village|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=November 12, 1967|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|title=New Buttreys Opens Tuesday|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=July 27, 1969}}</ref> Westgate Mall opened in 1965,<ref>{{cite news|title=Small Great Falls mall to be razed|agency=Associated Press|date=April 7, 2011|access-date=March 28, 2019|url=https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/small-great-falls-mall-to-be-razed/article_e1155eb2-612d-11e0-935d-001cc4c03286.html}}</ref> Agri-Village Warehouse (later Agri-Village Shopping Center) in 1967,<ref>{{cite book|author=National Research Bureau|title=Shopping Center Directory. Volume 4|location=Chicago|publisher=National Research Bureau|date=1992|oclc=31813898|page=525}}</ref> and Evergreen Mall in 1983.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mini Shopping Mall Proposed|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=May 22, 1983|page=41|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|last=Kerin|first=Tom|title=Great Falls Construction Up Sharply in 1983|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=January 1, 1984|page=17}}</ref> The city was one of Montana's most important agricultural equipment sales and distribution hubs,{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=168}} and the Great Falls Livestock Commission Company (established in 1936)<ref>{{cite news|title=Plans Drafted for Livestock Market|work=Helena Independent-Record|date=February 9, 1936|page=14}}</ref> had become an important multistate livestock auction center.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=168}}

In the 1960s, Great Falls' economic future appeared bright. The city's population reached 55,357 in 1960, an 85 percent increase since 1940.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=171}} It was one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=222}} Including the adjacent unincorporated town of [[Black Eagle, Montana|Black Eagle]], Malmstrom Air Force Base personnel, and certain minor adjacent residential blocks, the population was estimated to be more than 72,000 by 1964.{{sfn|Farley|1965|pages=171-172}} The largest city in Montana in 1965,{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=1}} state planning agencies believed Great Falls would have a population of 100,000 by 1981.{{sfn|Farley|1965|page=173}}

The economy of Great Falls began a significant diminution in the 1970s. The nation of [[Chile]] nationalized Anaconda Copper's extensive, lucrative copper mines in 1971, causing the company to suffer massive financial losses. It closed its Great Falls zinc operation in 1971,{{sfn|Malone|Roeder|Lang|1991|page=325}} and the rest of the smelter in 1980.{{sfn|Mutschler|2002|page=14}} About 1,450 high-wage Anaconda employees lost their jobs during the decade.<ref>{{cite news|title=And in Butte—Silence|work=The Billings Gazette|date=July 2, 1971|page=17}}</ref> Changes in the defense posture of the United States led to significant cutbacks at Malmstrom Air Force Base as well. These included the loss of 476 airmen and officers in 1972,<ref name=costheavy>{{cite news|title=Malmstrom Cutback Cost Heavy|work=The Montana Standard|date=April 4, 1972|page=9}}</ref>{{Efn|The [[29th Training Systems Squadron|29th Fighter-interceptor Squadron]] was activated and assigned to Malmstrom in November 1953. The unit was inactivated in July 1968,{{sfn|Cornett|Johnson|1980|pages=115}} with a loss of 300 jobs.<ref>{{cite news|title=At Malmstrom AFB... Sophisticated Preliminaries Precede Voodoo Takeoffs|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=February 26, 1967|page=92}}</ref> The newly-inactivated [[71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron]]{{sfn|Cornett|Johnson|1980|page=118}} was reactivated and assigned to Malmstrom in its place in July 1968.<ref>{{cite news|title=MAFB to Officially Welcome 71st FIS|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=July 11, 1968|page=36}}</ref> Redesignated the [[319th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron]] in July 1971,{{sfn|Cornett|Johnson|1980|page=125}} the unit was inactivated in April 1972 with the loss of 476 airmen and officer jobs.<ref name=costheavy>{{cite news|title=Malmstrom Cutback Cost Heavy|work=The Montana Standard|date=April 4, 1972|page=9}}</ref>}} 30 airmen in 1974,<ref>{{cite news|title=Malmstrom Squadron to Be Inactivated|work=The Missoulian|date=June 28, 1974|page=10}}</ref> 1,015 airmen and officers in 1979,<ref>{{cite news|last=Rice|first=Ronald J.|title=View From Malmstrom: Interested City|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=October 15, 1979|page=1|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|title=Relief, Acceptance Greet Malmstrom Cutbacks|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=March 30, 1979|page=21}}</ref> 100 airmen in 1981,<ref>{{cite news|title=More Malmstrom Cutbacks|work=Billings Gazette|date=December 14, 1981|page=19}}</ref> 30 airmen in 1982,<ref>{{cite news|title=Post to Close in June|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=March 20, 1982|page=16}}</ref> and 360 airmen and officers in 1983.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rice|first=Ronald J.|title=End Near for NORAD's 24th|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=May 31, 1983|page=11}}</ref> The job losses stripped $18.2 million from the local economy in 1985 alone.<ref>{{cite news|title=Malmstrom's Impact Shrinks|work=Helena Independent Record|date=January 29, 1985|page=13}}</ref> The base lost another 1,017 jobs between 1992 and 1996.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Downey|first1=Mark|last2=Johnson|first2=Peter|title=Final Tanker Flies to Florida|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=October 1, 1996|page=1}}</ref>

===Current economy===
Since the [[Great Recession]] of 2008–2010, the Great Falls economy proved sluggish, growing at an annual rate of 0.9 percent, compared to a statewide average of 1.8 percent and a national rate of 2.0 percent.<ref name=comenstebbins>{{cite news|last1=Comen|first1=Evan|last2=Stebbins|first2=Samuel|title=What city is hit hardest by extreme poverty in your state?|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=July 13, 2018|access-date=March 28, 2019|url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/money/economy/2018/07/13/city-hit-hardest-extreme-poverty/36658191/}}</ref> Growth was strongest in construction and manufacturing,{{sfn|Bureau of Business and Economic Development|2018|pages=6-7}} followed by back-office business services (such as [[Blue Cross Blue Shield Association|Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana]]'s new insurance claims processing center), healthcare (such as the opening of the Great Falls Clinic Hospital), retail sales, social welfare (such as the opening of the Cameron Family Center, which houses 26 homeless families), and tourism.<ref name=johnsonproject>{{cite news|last=Johnson|first=Peter|title=Experts project favorable economy for Great Falls, state|work=Great Falls Tribune|date=January 27, 2016|access-date=March 28, 2019|url=https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/local/2016/01/27/experts-project-favorable-economy-great-falls-state/79430720/}}</ref> The city's lack of population growth, coupled with low commodity prices for agricultural producers, has significantly hindered growth in the city for two decades.{{sfn|Bureau of Business and Economic Development|2018|pages=6-7}}

The lack of growth worsened poverty in the city. There were no neighborhoods of concentrated poverty{{Efn|Concentrated poverty is defined as a neighborhood where more than 40 percent of the residents have an income below the federal poverty line.<ref name=comenstebbins />}} in the city in 2010, but by 2016 1,254 city residents lived in such areas. The number of Great Falls residents living in poverty during the same period rose by 10.37 percent (1,100 people),<ref name=comenstebbins /> for a citywide poverty rate of 19.9 percent. Great Falls suffered from more concentrated poverty than any other city in the state.<ref name=comenstebbins />

Low economic and population growth have also harmed real estate values in the city. While the median price of a home in five other large Montana cities (Billings, [[Bozeman, Montana|Bozeman]], Helena, [[Kalispell, Montana|Kalispell]], and Missoula) was $262,960 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|292960|2017|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars) in 2017, it was just $169,500 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|160500|2017|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars) in Great Falls during the same period. (That is $93,460, or 35.5 percent, less.) The median price of a home statewide in Montana during that period was $217,200 (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|217200|2017|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars), with Great Falls home prices $47,700, or 22 percent, less.{{sfn|Bureau of Business and Economic Development|2018|page=21}}

A 2016 report by the Bureau of Business and Economic Development at the [[University of Montana]] predicted the city's economy would be driven by manufacturing, retail sales, and tourism over the next several years.<ref name=johnsonproject /> The city had long tried to rebuild its agricultural processing industry, and egg production and specialty milling both saw expanded operations in the city in 2015. In 2016, the city won an $8 million grant from the state of Montana to open a Food and Ag Development Center (only one of four in Montana). Working with [[BNSF Railway]], the city's development agency converted {{convert|197|acre}} of disused railroad yard into a full service heavy industrial food and agricultural processing site. Named AgriTech Park, the site won an Excellence in Regional Transportation Award from the National Association of Development Organizations. [[FedEx]] Ground, [[Marubeni|Helena Chemical]], Montana Specialty Mills, Pacific Steel and Recycling,<ref name=busfac>{{cite web|title=Great Falls, Montana Chosen As Food and Ag Development Center|website=Business Facilities|date=November 2, 2017|access-date=March 28, 2019|url=https://businessfacilities.com/2017/11/great-falls-montana-chosen-food-ag-development-center/}}</ref> and [[Cargill]] all took space in the park by the end of 2018.<ref>{{cite news|title=Cargill opens lab in Great Falls to begin omega-3 research and development|work=Helena Independent Record|date=December 10, 2018|access-date=March 28, 2019|url=https://helenair.com/news/local/cargill-opens-lab-in-great-falls-to-begin-omega-/article_c97d56c3-5cef-5dba-a0c3-bce470dcc55e.html}}</ref>

===Military===
Great Falls is home to [[Malmstrom Air Force Base]] and the [[341st Missile Wing]]. The 341st Operations Group provides the forces to launch, monitor and secure the wing's [[Intercontinental ballistic missile]] (ICBM) and missile alert facilities (MAF). These ICBMs and MAFs are dispersed over the largest missile complex in the [[Western Hemisphere]], an area encompassing some {{convert|23000|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}} (approximately the size of the state of [[West Virginia]]). The group manages a variety of equipment, facilities, and vehicles worth more than $5&nbsp;billion.

Also at Malmstrom are the [[819th RED HORSE Squadron]] (reactivated August 8, 1997) and the 219th RED HORSE Squadron [[Montana Air National Guard]]. Both units are rapid deployment units, and are the first "associate" RED HORSE squadrons in the Air Force, staffed by approximately two-thirds active-duty military and one-third Air National Guard personnel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.redhorseassociation.org/unithistories819.html |title=RED HORSE Unit Histories |publisher=REDHORSE Association |access-date=April 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120408163821/http://www.redhorseassociation.org/unithistories819.html |archive-date=April 8, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://rhpba.com/unit-histories/219th-red-horse-squadron/ |title=219th RED HORSE Squadron |first=Randy |last=Eckert |date=December 23, 2023 |publisher=RED HORSE and Prime BEEF Association |access-date=October 18, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://rhpba.com/unit-histories/819th-red-horse-squadron-acc/ |title=819th RED HORSE Squadron |first=Randy |last=Eckert |date=December 16, 2022 |publisher=RED HORSE and Prime BEEF Association |access-date=October 18, 2024}}</ref>

[[Great Falls International Airport]] is home to multiple military units, including the Montana [[Air National Guard]]'s [[120th Airlift Wing]], which is composed of [[C-130 Hercules|C-130H]] cargo aircraft and associated support personnel. Two [[United States Army Reserve|U.S. Army Reserve]] units, the 364th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and the 889th Quartermaster Company also call the airport home.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usar.army.mil/News/Images/igphoto/2001660364/ |title=Reserve Center renamed |website=usar.army.mil |access-date=September 19, 2024}}</ref>