Greg and Susan Gianforte hosted 150 leaders in high-tech and manufacturing at their home for the Montana High Tech Business Alliance’s reception in Bozeman on July 6, 2017. The Gianfortes hosted two previous receptions for the Alliance, including the Founding Members' Reception in June 2014. Photos by Paige Pavalone, Pistol Creek Photography.Greg Gianforte (center) was the founding Board Chair of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance, playing a primary role in growing the organization from zero to more than 320 members in just three years. 

Greg and his wife, Susan (left), founded software-as-a-service company RightNow Technologies in their home in 1997 and sold it to Oracle for $1.8 billion in 2012. Greg Gianforte resigned as Board Chair in June 2017 when he was sworn into office as Congressman representing the State of Montana but said he will continue to attend future Alliance events as his schedule allows. On July 6th, the Alliance Board of Directors elected Lance Tinseth, CIO of Murdoch's Ranch and Home Supply, to serve as the new Board Chair. Tinseth was a founding board member of the Alliance and previously led multiple tech startups in Montana. View the reception album on Facebook.

CONNECT: Montana Executives Share Lessons Learned from Their Biggest Mistakes

Daren Nordhagen, co-founder and CEO of Foundant Technologies, and his team hosted a robust CEO Roundtable discussion about learning from mistakes in Foundant's high-tech training room in Bozeman on July 6. Watch for takeaways from the conversation in future newsletters.

PROMOTE: Diamond B Technology Solutions in Billings and Helix Business Solutions in Dillon Give Lightning Talks on their Growing Companies

Aaron Ramage, VP of Projects & Administration, and Jim Bennett, President/CEO, of Diamond B Technology Solutions and Parsec Data Management in Billings, gave a five-minute lightning talk on the company at the July 6 reception. Diamond B recently licensed a new technology from TechLink in Bozeman, demonstrating the active partnerships cropping up between high tech firms across the state.

Diamond B will host an Alliance member reception in Billings in Spring 2018. Travis Cottom, VP Commercial Sales for Helix Business Solutions in Dillon, also spoke about his company's rapid growth, joined by COO and co-founder Tim Black. A 4th generation Dillon native, Cottom leveraged his experience as a key employee at RightNow Technologies in Bozeman to help Helix plant offices in his hometown and in Bozeman. Helix was named Oracle Cloud Services partner of the year in 2014.

ACCELERATE: Alliance Sponsors Paul Singh's Tech Tour in Missoula, Hosts On-camera Interviews with Alliance Member Companies

June 27-29, 2017, the Montana High Tech Business Alliance co-sponsored the Missoula leg of Paul Singh's National Tech Tour, organized by Andy Gordon of Clearas Water Recovery with several local partners. Singh and other national investors held open office hours for Montana startups to pitch. The Alliance organized tours and interviews with Singh and the Tech Tour camera crew at several member companies including Audience Awards (pictured), ATG, LMG Security, MonTEC, DataSmart Solutions and onXmaps, increasing the visibility of Montana's fast-growing tech sector.