Rich with the historic charm of a gold camp turned capital city, Helena's educated workforce and outdoor amenities make it an attractive hub for FinTech

By Peter Zimmerman, Samuel Boudreau, and Martina Pansze

The Alliance is writing a series of profiles on Montana cities to help people find the right community when they’re looking at taking a job or locating an office in Montana. Help us capture your communities’ flavor, amenities, and business environment by sending suggestions to martina.pansze[at]mthightech.org. We’ll write about cities in alphabetical order and update these articles in the future.

Known as the home to the state government, Helena offers businesses an affordable cost of living, stable economy, and high quality of life bolstered by incredible access to outdoor recreation and a vibrant arts scene. These attributes are earning Helena top ranking nationally as a great place to live. WalletHub recently published “2021’s Best State Capitals for Safety and more” using indicators such as affordability, economic well-being, quality of education and health, and quality of life. In this study, Helena came out in the top ten alongside cities like Columbus, OH and Austin, TX. 

Population: 37,598 in 2020

Nickname: Queen of the Rockies

Residents called: Helenans

Founded: October 31st,1864

Area: 16.35 square miles

Median rent: $820

Median home value: $244,300

Unemployment rate: 4% Dec 2020 

Nearby towns: Deer Lodge, Butte, Great Falls, Cascade, Townsend, White Sulphur Springs

More stats

Helena’s appeal to workers looking for a strong community and great fly fishing have made it an emerging center for technology and professional services companies. The COVID-19 pandemic has moved many businesses to transition large parts of their workforce online, accelerating a trend away from population centers. Larger companies that have offices in Helena, such as Deloitte and Figure, see it as a perfect place to pitch to future employees. 

“When people think of tech in Montana, you think Bozeman, you think Missoula, you don’t really think of Helena, but Helena has some of the same attributes, if not more,” said Nate Lampert, Human Resources Business Partner at Figure, a Helena-based financial technology (fintech) firm specializing in home equity.

Lampert said that the presence of larger tech companies such as Figure and personal finance agency SoFi have helped the city build a tech ecosystem.

Doing Business in Helena

Government Presence

The state government acts as a stabilizing influence on Helena’s economic ecosystem— around 10,000 government jobs are often protected from layoffs and furloughs during economic disruptions. The state government is by far the city’s largest employer, making up around 53% of the local economy. Helena is also the seat of Lewis & Clark County and home to a number of federal agency offices.

Canon Luerkens, Marketing Officer at Export Montana at the Department of Commerce, said that stability insulates Helena from large economic swings. Helena’s unemployment rate before the coronavirus pandemic was 3.8%, compared to 5% statewide and roughly 6.3% nationally.

The government operations also provide opportunity for public-private partnerships. Deloitte Consulting is a global provider of audit and assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax, and related services.

“I’d much rather be selling Helena than some of the bigger cities these days,” said Wil Carroll, Government and Public Services Health Technology Offering Leader at Deloitte.

Carroll is a principal with Deloitte’s Government & Public Services (GPS) practice and works closely with state government health and human services executives to develop and execute technology-enabled transformation programs. Deloitte employs around 14 people in its Helena office.

Professional Services

There are a number of professional services companies in Helena leveraging technology to support local and national clients. Tempest Technologies, a website design and development company, has worked on projects for Montana Unified School Trust, Central Montana Tourism, and Kampgrounds of America (KOA). Established in 2014, marketing agency Can-Do Ideas creates comprehensive marketing campaigns and digital strategies through software built on HubSpot support and data analytics.

PayneWest Insurance, an independent insurance agency, employs 50 people in their Helena office and over 400 in Montana. The company was founded by UM alum Terry Payne, and although it is ranked as one of the top 50 largest brokers in the United States, over 60% of their business remains in Montana through 11 office locations. PayneWest was also named a “Best Places to Work in Insurance” by Business Insurance for the past four years.

DataSmart Health Solutions is focused on lowering healthcare costs through predictive data analytics, and they were named one of the Top 20 Most Promising Data Integration Solution Providers of 2015 by CIO Review Magazine. 

Financial Technology

In recent years, the fintech sector has planted roots and grown rapidly in Helena.

San Francisco-based personal finance company Social Finance (SoFi) opened their doors in Helena in 2014, three years after the company’s founding. SoFi was created to serve population segments typically underserved by traditional banking institutions such as young professionals. The firm began as a platform for affordable financial services with high-quality customer service and an emphasis on student loan refinancing and has since financed over $10 billion in loans nationwide. Since opening with two software engineers in 2014, SoFi’s Helena office has grown to more than 140 employees.

Figure Technologies launched in 2018 to specialize in home equity finance. Figure leverages blockchain, AI, and analytics to deliver home equity release solutions and other financial products.  The company is building a blockchain protocol to fundamentally transform how financial products are originated and transacted. Figure uses web-based platforms to manage digital assets and for completing financial and investment transactions.

Figure established its Helena headquarters in February 2018 and expanded to open a Bozeman office just four months later. In its first year, Figure raised $50 million in a Series A round and opened two more offices in Reno and San Francisco. Today, the company employs 65 people in Montana with 35 based in Helena.

Aerospace Manufacturing

Helena has a robust aerospace sector, the backbone of which is Boeing’s manufacturing facility employing nearly 150 people. After acquiring Helena’s Summit Aeronautics in 2010, Boeing invested in a 90,000 square foot site expansion in 2017.

Summit Aeronautics’ founder launched another company, Pioneer Aerostructures, after the Boeing acquisition. Pioneer employs about 20 workers in Helena to manufacture and assemble aircraft parts.

Boeing partners with Helena College University of Montana to train workers in aerospace manufacturing. Helena College offers a two-year machinist course and aircraft maintenance and power plant certificate programs. 

Education and Workforce

Helena’s workforce is highly educated with around 71.9% of residents  having some college or doctorate degree, compared to 57.8% of the general U.S. population. 

Carroll College, one of two places of higher education in Helena, sits on a hill overlooking the Cathedral of St. Helena. Founded in 1909 by the Catholic Diocese of Helena, Carroll is now ranked as the #1 Regional Colleges West, Best Colleges for Veterans, and Best Undergraduate Teaching by US News. Carroll College was also named the best school in Montana by Forbes Magazine in 2016. Carroll has a strong Computer Science department that includes degree options in computer information systems, data science, and engineering.

Helena College University of Montana is a 2-year college offering technical programs in fields such as Accounting & Business, Computer Technology, and Office Technology and trades programs such as Aviation Maintenance Technology, Computer-Aided Manufacturing, and Industrial Welding & Metal Fabrication. Helena College also offers an “Honors Pathway Program'' in conjunction with the Davidson Honors College at the University of Montana for students looking to transfer to UM their junior year. 

Executive Director of the Montana Business Assistance Connection Brian Obert cited new investment in educational programs and facilities in Helena and the surrounding area including construction of seven new schools. Helena has built five (two in East Helena, three in Helena), Towsend is building a new grade school, and White Sulfur Springs built a grade school and middle school. 

The Helena WINS (Workforce Innovation NetworkS) program has been a key initiative for the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce since 2018. Helena WINS is designed to offset the significant about-to-retire population by implementing work-based learning and promoting career readiness to secure a sustainable workforce. The program works with the government, local businesses, and community resource providers to develop programs like the Helena Area Summer Jobs Program for high school and college-aged students. 

Affordability

Lampert pointed to an affordable cost of living as one of the economic advantages Helena has over larger cities. Helena’s cost of living is 94.7 percent of the national average and the median home price is $244,300.

In January 2020, the Independent Record reported that the cost of living is decreasing in Helena while wages are increasing. Although the median housing price has increased since last year, Obert pointed to local efforts like the newly established Affordable Housing Trust Fund that will help pay for construction or renovation of affordable housing. 

Senior Vice President at Rocky Mountain Bank Bob Gieseke recently moved from Bozeman to Helena and attests to the city’s affordability and quality public education system. 

“For the price, you’ve got more acreage and elbow room … and the schools are great. We’ve got three little boys in sixth grade, fourth grade, and pre-K, and we’ve loved it,” said Gieseke.

Regional Economic Development and Infrastructure

The Sidecar is a co-working space for entrepreneurs and creators in downtown Helena that allows users to pay for monthly facilities including a desk or office, WiFi, and complimentary coffee and beer. Sidecar founder Jason O’Neil was recently recognized 2020 Montana Ambassadors Entrepreneur of the Year. 

For connectivity, businesses and remote workers have options for internet access with a number of major ISPs including CenturyLink, Bresnan, and Spectrum serving the area. The locally-owned Treasure State Internet and Telegraph offers wireless and fiber internet within city limits and is planning significant expansions to its network for suburban and rural residents.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.'s (SpaceX) is planning to integrate satellite-based internet Starlink in the area. Beta users in small towns around Helena who lack access to high-speed fiber were the first to test drive Starlink’s service (which is $499 for the initial set-up and $100 every month) and found it provided anywhere from 100-150 Mbps (a little faster and more reliable than wireless) and up to 190 Mbps for a user in North-East Montana. The project enables remote work possibilities for the rural surrounding parts of Helena and Lewis and Clark County.

In terms of transportation, Capital Transit is the fixed-route public bus system that operates within city limits. The Helena Regional Airport is only a few minutes from the center of town, and a Greyhound station connects Helena to other cities in Montana.

Amenities and Fun

History

Helena found its roots in the 1864 gold rush. A group of four former Confederate soldiers from Georgia struck gold in what is now Helena’s main street, known as “Last Chance Gulch.” Once the news spread, the town grew to nearly 3,000 people in a few short years. 

Helena’s mining boom and central location made it a trade center and capital of the Montana Territory in 1875. The mining town’s economy expanded further after the Northern Pacific Railroad arrived in 1883 and a robust agricultural industry settled in the valley. By 1888, an estimated 50 Helenans became millionaires - the largest concentration of millionaires per capita in the nation. These captains of industry built huge Victorian-style houses on the city’s west side in a neighborhood currently deemed “The Mansion District.”

In the election of 1884, Helena won a close race with Anaconda to become Montana’s state  capital. The new Capitol building with its cupola of Butte copper was opened for use in 1902 and enlarged in 1912. 

The area between the Capitol and downtown contains many buildings of historic interest. Last Chance Tour Trains and Trolley offers historic tours of the opulent mansion district, the Cathedral of St. Helena, the Old Governor’s Mansion, a restored miners’ village, and the old business district along Last Chance Gulch.

For more information, visit The Montana Historical Society. Established in 1865, it’s one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the west. The society is also in charge of Montana’s Museum. 

Helena continues to make history. Wilmot Collins, Montana’s first elected black mayor, defeated a four-term incumbent in the 2017 mayoral election. Collins fled his native Liberia for Helena in 1994 as a refugee from the First Liberian Civil War. He subsequently became a United States citizen, a member of the United States Navy Reserve, and an employee with the Montana Department of Health and Human Services prior to becoming mayor.

Outdoor Opportunities

Like much of Montana, Helena is a great place for outdoors enthusiasts with hiking, biking, rock climbing, and fishing opportunities in the summer and skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing in the winter. But where Helena stands out from the rest of the state is its ease of access, with over 80 miles of trails accessible from downtown.

The capital’s unofficial motto is “there’s a singletrack at the end of every street and a brewery at the end of every trail.”

“Helena is probably the best in the state for access to the outdoors and recreation,” said Sarah Walsh, Chief Operating Officer of PayneWest Insurance. 

Helena resident and Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Montana Sean Hill noted that Helena is home to some of the state’s best mountain biking. “In ten minutes we can hit a trailhead that is a part of the Mount Ascension park system… over 70 miles of trails that link the city parks together. They’re great views of the city, but you can hike to the other side of a ridge and not see the city, if that’s what you want,” Hill said.

The Helena Parks, Recreation, and Open Lands Department includes more than 2,140 acres of developed and undeveloped parkland in 30 parks, a bike and pedestrian trail network, a 50-meter outdoor swimming pool, a public golf course, three tennis and pickleball sites, a skateboard park, a bike park, and four outdoor skating rinks.

Just north of the city, the Sleeping Giant Wilderness Study Area consists of 6,666 acres of nearly roadless land with 40 campsites. This area is most well known for the rock formation visible from Helena. 

The Missouri, Blackfoot, and Clark Fork Rivers give Helenans great access to fishing and boating in the summer months, and the surrounding Mountain ranges offer up great skiing in winter. Local lakes include Lake Helena, Hauser Lake, and Upper Holter Lake.

With an average of 6,000 fish per square mile swimming through the Missouris, Helena truly is one of the best places in the world to fly fish. Fishing guides are suggested for visitors, but book quickly because good guides can be booked up to 150 days a year (unless you prefer winter fishing). 

The Gates of the Mountain Boat Tours, established in 1886, brings passengers on a 2-hour cruise down the Missouri River flanked by towering limestone cliffs dubbed “Gates of the Mountains” by Lewis and Clark on their expedition in 1805.  Visitors can see Mann Gulch, the site of the deadly forest fire that killed 13 smokejumpers in 1949 and the subject of Norman Maclean’s book “Young Men and Fire.” The area is surrounded by over 28,000 acres of undeveloped wilderness teeming with wildlife including black bears, deer, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, osprey, and eagles.

Broadwater Hot Springs offers fitness classes, swimming lessons, event space, and a taproom and grille. 

Arts and Culture

Helena also boasts one of the state’s most active arts scenes, anchored by the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts.  Located three miles from downtown, the foundation is an internationally recognized gathering place for practitioners of the ceramic arts of all levels attracting resident artists from all over the world and holding numerous exhibitions per year.

The Holter Museum of Contemporary Art has five exhibition galleries, an education center, and a collections and research center. They offer over twenty rotating exhibitions each year, art education, artist residencies, lectures, receptions, and many other programs.

A little over an hour east of Helena is the tiny town of White Sulfur Springs, where entrepreneur Sarah Calhoon, who owns women’s workwear company Red Ants Pants, founded the Red Ants Pants Festival in 2011. The music festival materialized as a non-profit dedicated to women’s leadership, working family farms and ranches, and rural communities that attracts visitors from around Montana and the nation each July. The 2019 event was headlined by Shakey Graves, Dustbowl Revival, and Patty Griffin and featured a beard and mustache competition, yodeling contest, and chainsaw demonstrations.

The contemporary children’s museum ExplorationWorks hosts a variety of science-related and educational programming. Although COVID-19 has temporarily closed the museum, it provides at-home science experiments and exboxes. In the summertime, ExplorationWorks hosts summer camps like the Culinary Mini Camp, Prehistoric Party, and LEGO Creations.

Right next to the museum is the Great Northern Indoor Carousel and ice cream parlor. It includes 37 hand carved animals by renowned Walt Disney World carver Ed Roth and is accompanied by 14 Helena scenic-carved rounding boards and stained glass artwork. Every Thursday, Great Northern Town Center hosts a lunch with food vendors and outdoor music is perfect for splitting up the work week.

Food and Drink

Lewis and Clark Brewery’s northeast Helena taproom offers outdoor seating and a rotating selection of beer grown from local wheat. Their frequent live music events have been put on pause during the coronavirus pandemic, but in the meantime you can try the Prickly Pear Pale Ale or their new Craft Hard Seltzers. 

On Broadway offers Italian and seafood dishes in an exposed-brick dining room in its downtown location. For casual dining, El Vaquero Taqueria is a Mexican food cult favorite.

Gulch Distillers offers their own selection of small-batch gin, brandy, rum, fernet, and vodka. Try the handcrafted spirits on their own or in one of their house-made cocktails. 

About the Publisher:

Launched in 2014, the Montana High Tech Business Alliance is a nonpartisan nonprofit association of highly-engaged high tech and manufacturing companies and affiliates creating high-paying jobs in Montana. For more information, visit MTHighTech.org or subscribe to our biweekly newsletter.

About the Authors:

Samuel Boudreau is the Writer and Digital Content Coordinator Intern at the MHTBA. He graduated from Middlebury College with a degree in Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies and Psychology and is currently pursuing his MFA at The University of Montana while teaching Introductory and Intermediate Writing Courses.

Martina Pansze is the Communications Director for the Montana High Tech Business Alliance. She graduated from Whitman College with a degree in Film and Media Studies, and has worked as a freelance journalist and grant writer.

Pete Zimmerman is the former Digital Content Coordinator for the Montana High Tech Business Alliance. He has previously written for newspapers, advocacy groups and magazines, and continues to work as a freelance journalist. Before moving to Montana, he spent a handful of years working as a mountain guide in Southeast Alaska. Pete holds an English degree from the University of Massachusetts and is working towards a Master of Journalism from the University of Montana.