By Sen. Fred Thomas, Stevensville
I have had the privilege of serving Montanans for many years. I’ve worked with some great leaders, and I see another great leader about to emerge. Greg Gianforte has spent a lifetime developing his leadership skills.
His story about starting RightNow Technologies in the spare room of his Bozeman home, with his wife Susan is familiar to all of us by now. He was able to grow that business from that small beginning to Bozeman’s largest commercial employer, creating 500 high wage jobs, and launching Montana’s high-tech sector.
As the only candidate in this race who has built a business from the ground up, Greg has learned many valuable lessons. Problem solving is critical for any entrepreneur, but to have the success that Greg has achieved, it’s a skill that must be mastered.
For 16 years Democrats have controlled Helena, and they have overregulated our businesses, dramatically expanded state government, and the services the state agencies provide have become more bureaucratic and time consuming. This has had a devastating effective on our state’s economy. We are now ranked 44th out of 50 states for our income level. It’s clear that now is the time for new leadership.
Greg Gianforte’s plan would reverse a lot of the anti-job policies that have been enacted during the Bullock-Cooney Administration. That starts with a top to bottom regulatory review of all the state agencies, to figure out what is working, and what needs to be fixed. Greg’s leadership will help get them running again as they should be, and more efficiently.
At RightNow Technologies, Greg worked with many large corporations around the world, helping them to function more efficiently. For 16 years there has been no focus on running our state efficiently. Democrats have only focused on growing our state’s government, instead of saving hard earned taxpayer dollars. Greg will lead our state government to peak efficiency and allow us to keep more of our money.
Greg has been an exceptional leader, and it is evident by the success that he has had as a businessperson. With the skills that he has developed in the private sector he can provide a pro-business environment in Montana that will diversify our economy, create competitive wages, and help keep more Montanans here instead of leaving the state for better economic opportunity.
After 16 years of Democrat rule in Helena, we rank near the bottom of the country for our average income. Mike Cooney has said that our economy is fine, and that Montana doesn’t need a comeback. This shows how much of an out of touch career politician Cooney is. We need someone with new ideas, who is ready to take on the challenges we will face in a post CoVid world, not someone who is satisfied with the status quo. Greg Gianforte is the only choice for Governor this November.