Eastern Plains Economic
Development Corporation
A five-county regional Economic
Development Corporation for the counties of Carter, Dawson, Fallon,
Prairie, and Wibaux in southeastern Montana.
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Jason Rittal, EPEDC Executive Director
406-698-3255
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Office -
2745 West Holly Street
Sidney
, MT 59270
406-433-4655 Ext 125
Fax 406-433-7351
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Pam Berwick,
RC & D Administrative Support
406-433-4655 Ext 125
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Home Page
Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy CEDS
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Contact Information
Who Are We?
What Do We Do?
Where Are We?
Where Do We Want To Be?
How Do We Get There?
Executive Summary
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Links of Interest
Badlands BEAR
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Where Are We?
Passage of the Enlarged
Homestead Act of 1909 attracted tens of thousands of homestead farmers
into Montana in search of inexpensive land. Farmers were rather well-off
until an extended drought and a drop in market prices after World War I
ruined them economically. The homestead “bust” forced many farmers to
leave the state.
Montana’s post-World Water
I depression extended through the 1920s and right into the Great
Depression of the 1930s. With FDR’s “New Deal,” came the formation of
various projects and agencies that benefited the state and marked the
first real dependence of the state of federal spending in the 20th
century. From 1945-2000, “modern” Montana has been characterized
by a slow shift from an economy that relies on the extraction of natural
resources to one that a service-based. Agriculture has remained
Montana’s primary industry throughout the era. This era also saw the
important shift in the state’s transportation system from railroads to
cars, trucks, and highways. Economic and major technological
advancements also occurred during this period.
Up and downs in the
economy historically have been caused by escalating oil prices, sharp
increases in interest rates, and drought conditions which led to
decreasing cattle numbers and sporadic prices for agricultural
commodities. A recent addition to the picture is the rising utility
costs. Low-commodity prices since the mid-1990s, coupled with rising
input costs and poor weather conditions have cut into the financial
health of Montana’s farm economy.
In February 2006, Montana
Governor Brian Schweitzer announced that “Economic development in
central and eastern Montana is a priority.” Schweitzer reported that
seven years of extreme drought has resulted in regional socio-economic
treads comparable to the “dustbowl era” of the 1930s. These
socio-economic trends include an aging and declining population, wage
and salary income that is both depressed and stagnant, a high prevalence
of poverty, and an increasing reliance on federal farm subsidies for
farm income.
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