This is the introduction to the “Is Havre Dying or Evolving?” series. The Herald spoke to business owners who’ve been in the game for decades and to those who’ve just begun, gears and levers that help make Havre go, day in day out. We also spoke to economic development experts and legislative leaders. The interviews, which are the basis for the series, were about business and life as it relates to the vibrancy of Havre and the surrounding area.
Is Havre dying or evolving?
For the next two weeks, The Havre Herald will publish stories as part of a series that will explore that question.
For the last couple of years, Havre has gone through multiple blatant economic-related changes. In 2018 alone, three national chain stores—Kmart, Sears Hometown Stores and Herberger’s—closed down because of decisions made by their parent companies. The stores had been part of Havre for decades. They had drawn shoppers from all over northern Montana and Canada. The stores had been in Havre longer than a lot of today’s residents.
With the announcement of each store’s departure, many people grew more concerned. There is concern that Havre may be part of a trend that will result with Montana’s eighth largest city becoming a shell of what it once was. Many rural towns across the country have or are disappearing, others are a shadow of what they were. Is that where Havre is going?
News such as the Herald broke in October about the Holiday Village Mall—which housed Herberger’s and Sears—has probably added to the concern.
The Holiday Village, which opened in November 1978, is up for auction Jan. 8. The shopping center had leased 40 of the 43 business spaces when it opened and employed between 500 and 600 employees, according to a November 1978 Havre Daily News article. The mall website says there are 17 tenants now.
Wages are another concerning factor.
Average wages in all surrounding counties and Montana as a whole have increased in the last year. But Hill County has had a $4 decrease in average weekly wages, according to the Montana Department of Labor & Industry. Job growth in north-central Montana has been slower than the statewide average over the last few years, partially because of some price declines in the agricultural sector, a spokesperson for the department said.
It’s a legitimate and logical concern: Havre is dying.
However. There is more to this story.
Local small businesses have been popping up like Montana huckleberry patches—breweries, food trucks, bakeries, hair salons, ag-related operations. We eat, drink, shop, have our split ends cut at these businesses.
The national restaurant chain Burger King plans to build a restaurant in town come spring of 2019, indicating the company thinks Havre has the potential for profit.
Then there are the businesses that have been staked in and around Havre for decades, longer than the median residential age. They’ve lasted through the lean and the fat years. Some of these operations are doing well, others are surviving, some thriving. But they’re here, mostly with no indications that they’re going anywhere.
“Now Hiring” signs are a common sight in Havre. Talk to a service-related business owner and they’ll likely say that good help is hard to find. McDonald’s and Walmart start out new employees well above the state minimum wage of $8.30.
Over the last few quarters, there have been between 1,200 and 1,300 new employees hired at Hill County businesses each quarter, according to the Montana Department of Labor & Industry. Job Service-Havre had 177 jobs listed Nov. 20.
Another positive sign is that employment is up. In October, Hill county had 7,701 people employed in either payroll or self-employed jobs, up 41 jobs from last October, and up 244 jobs since October 2016, according to Department of Labor data.
Havre Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jody Olson, who took over July 2017 after the former director retired, said more than 40 businesses joined the Chamber in her first 13 months in the post. More than 300 business are members now, a number that is rising to what may be the highest number in the Chamber’s history, she has said.
So what is happening in Havre?
The Herald skipped the hard data mining and we went straight to those on the ground. We talked to business owners who’ve been in the game for decades and to those who’ve just begun, gears and levers that help make Havre go, day in day out, through the enviable summers and the not-so-enviable winters. We also spoke to economic development experts as well as legislative leaders. The interviews were about business and life in Havre and the Hi-Line, past, present and future. We wanted to know what they saw, what they heard, and what they thought about the vibrancy of Havre.
In the end, we asked: “So. Is Havre dying or evolving?” And they answered.
Throughout our exploration, a surprising idea kept surfacing, perhaps an indicator of where Havre and the Hi-Line, perhaps Montana, is going.
Stay tuned for the next two weeks for the “Is Havre Dying or Evolving?” series.
Read the next installment in the series:“Havre’s Large Employers Provide Economic Stability”
The Holiday Village Mall opened November 1978. Pictured: An ad for the mall the day before the mall’s official opening on Nov. 8, 1978. This Kmart ad ran in the July 5, 1978 Havre Daily News edition. This ad meant to bring shoppers downtown ran in the June 1, 1978 Havre Daily News edition.
Read Part 1 here.
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