Entrepreneur Greg Gianforte was in Missoula today, June 1, kicking off the “Bring Our Families Back Tour,” the first of 30 speaking engagements across the state to try to get more people interested in a concept called telecommuting.

According to Gianforte, the beauty of Montana is enough to make most people want to live here, they just need to know that there are jobs to be had.

"This is the beginning of an effort to bring our kids back home," Gianforte said. "Montana has been exporting our people for a long time, and I don't want to get on an airplane to go see my grand kids. I think most Montanans don't want that, so we are talking about telecommuting as a way to get high wage jobs back in Montana."

Gianforte says there are opportunites in all kinds of fields, from law to journalism and tech that have telecommuting options. As an example, he points out that the company Oracle, which purchased his start-up company Right Now Technologies, currently has 1,300 job positions open, all of which can be done through the internet. Right now, mailers are headed out to Montana State University graduates.

"What we have done specifically, is we have sent a telecommuting guide to 15,000 Montana State graduates who don't live in Montana anymore, inviting them to come home," Gianforte said. "Mostly, it gives inspiration, and it talks about people who are living the dream: they live in Montana, but they telecommute to a job someplace else."

Right now, the focus is on people that have either lived in Montana before, or have married someone that has a family in the state. The hope is that parents, grandparents and other family members will help pressure their loved ones into coming back to Montana.

The website bettermontanajobs.com has a full color PDF of the mailer that anyone can send out to a prospective Montana resident.

 

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