Report: Montana high-tech companies growing faster

MISSOULA – A new University of Montana report says high-tech companies in the state are growing at rates seven times faster than the statewide economy.

The study from the Bureau of Business and Economic Research says the high-tech firms generated about $1.5 billion in revenue in 2016 and expect to add more than 960 new jobs this year.

The jobs will pay average annual salaries of $60,000, more than twice the median annual earnings per Montana worker.

Christina Henderson, of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance in Missoula, tells the Missoulian that her organization knows of roughly 540 high-tech and manufacturing companies in the state.

The alliance commissioned the report for the third straight year to publicize the importance of high-tech businesses to Montana’s economy.