BUTTE – Senator Jon Tester stopped in Butte Monday to visit a small business as part of an effort to encourage small business development in Montana.The Senator popped into UDAP Bear Spray Industries to tour the small office and warehouse on Waterline Road, which distributes powerful pepper spray to fend off bear attacks, or for personal defense. The company was started by its president Mark Matheny in Bozeman, before moving the company to Butte. Tester believes Montana has many incentives to attract those who want to open their own business in the state.
“With the outdoor economy we have in the state and the quality of life we have in the state and the schools we have in the state, I think it’s a real opportunity that people will move here, sometime move back here, and start their own business and add to our economy,” said Sen. Jon Tester/D-Montana.
Tester added that there will be a forum called the Small Business Opportunity Workshop on Feb. 16th in Billings to help grow small business in the state.