Announcement of the 2024 Minnow Tank Finalists

Great Northern Development Corporation (GNDC) and the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) are excited to announce the finalists of the 3rd Minnow Tank Business Plan Competition. This transformative initiative is set to unfold across the seven-county region of Northeastern Montana, including Valley, Garfield, McCone, Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan, and Daniels. The vision is to strengthen and support the existing businesses that form the backbone of local communities. With the completion of our first phase, we would like to congratulate and announce the 2024 Minnow Tank Business Plan Competition finalists.

Finalists will present their business plan ideas to a live audience at 6 p.m. on May 3, at the Great Northern Development Corporation Conference Room, Wolf Point. After businesses pitch their plans of using the award to the live audience and a panel of judges, one start-up and one existing business will win $5,000 cash towards implementing their ideas. The “Minnow Tank” small business competition live event is open to the public, and your vote counts as a percentage of each finalist’s score. We encourage all attendees to RSVP at https://gndc.org/minnow-tank/.

Start-Up Finalists

Wolf Point Mercantile (Roosevelt County), Tootsie’s Fitness Salon & Spa Center (Valley County), Circle Country Market (McCone County), Sand Springs General Store and Cafe (Garfield County), MBS Adventures (Sheridan County), Thrifty Business (Richland County)

Existing Finalists

Moonlight Laser Works (Daniels County), Highway 2 Inn (Valley County), Big Sky Renovations (Roosevelt County), and The Rush Espresso on Wheels (Richland County)

We would like to give a special thanks to our donors who made this award prize possible for our small businesses in our region: the Montana Department of Commerce, Ag Partners LLC, Beagle Properties, Cottonwood Inn, Daniels County Chamber of Commerce & Ag, Farmers Union Oil Co., Fox Ford, KLTZ/Mix 93 Radio, Nemont, PRO Co-OP, Grassland Federal Credit Union, Opportunity Bank and Richland Federal Credit Union.