The Montana Department of Commerce announced a round of grants to six business across the state yesterday. Department of Commerce Spokesman Daniel Iverson explains the purpose behind the grant money.

“We just announced a round of grants that we gave to small businesses across the state,” Iverson said. “These grants were awarded through a program called the Primary Sector Workforce Training Grant. It is a bit of a mouthful, but the program is designed to encourage business growth and job creation by reimbursing businesses for the cost of training new employees that they hire.”

Three of the businesses happen to be in Western Montana and two are in Missoula.

“Montana Fabrication Works of Stevensville, which is an industrial manufacturer mostly dealing in agricultural machinery, received a grant for about $52,000 and they are estimating that they will create 38 new full-time jobs,” Iverson said. “The Advanced Technology Group in Missoula is receiving a grant for $50,000 to train approximately 10 new full time jobs. ClassPass of Missoula is receiving about $116,000 for 78 new jobs.”

ClassPass received more than double the amount that the other companies received, The Intercontinental Truck Body Company of Anaconda, Montana Precision Products of Butte and Ascent Vision Technologies of Belgrade will also receive between $30,000 and $50,000 in grants.

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