NEW HEIGHTS FOR HIGH-TECH: Montana's Tech Sector Is Stronger Than Ever.

• Author: Henderson, Christina Quick
• Position: TRENDING

A lot can change in four years--this is especially true in Montana's high-tech industry. In 2014, outdoor technology company onXmaps employed 28 people in Missoula. Founded by Eric Siegfried in 2009, onX rode a wave of early growth with the popularity of its first product--chips that plugged into Garmin GPS systems loaded with land-ownership maps for hunters in the field.

Fast forward to February 2018, when onX closed a $20.3 million funding round led by Summit Partners, an international growth equity firm located in Menlo Park, California. Today, the company is in a new surge of growth after shifting its maps to smartphone apps that target a wider range of users engaged in outdoor recreation.

The firm constructed a new building for their Missoula headquarters in 2017, opened an office in Bozeman and more than doubled their Montana workforce to nearly 70 employees. Over the next several years, onX plans to hire more than two dozen people.

The success of onX is indicative of wider trends statewide, as many Montana tech companies have experienced steep growth in recent years.

A Profile of Montana's High-Tech Industries

Since 2014, the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana has conducted an annual survey of Montana's high-tech and manufacturing companies, documenting the sector's growing impact on the state's economy

This year, BBER completed its fourth study commissioned by the Montana High Tech Business Alliance. The report found Montana's high-tech companies generated a record $1.7 billion in revenue in 2017 and are growing nine times faster than other sectors of the economy.

Montana's tech firms employ just under 6,000 people and pay an annual salary of $63,000--twice the state median wage and a 5 percent increase over 2016. They expect to add more than 1,200 new jobs in 2018, an 18.5 percent increase over 2017, and raise wages by 5 percent this year, significantly faster than the 1.6 percent growth rate of all Montana employers.

In addition to reporting record-high numbers of employment and revenue, there was a significant upward trend in wages. Since 2014, the median wage has risen from $50,700 to $63,000.

Quality of Life #1 Advantage for Businesses

For the fourth year in a row, companies said that Montana's quality of life--its lifestyle, work/life balance, recreational opportunities and the beauty of the landscape--were the No. 1 advantage to doing business in the state. Montana's high-quality workforce...