Buy Local Missoula Christmas Gift Ideas

OK, we know it's late in the game, but for last-minute shoppers here are a few gift ideas from local businesses. Remember, buying local gives you a double bang for your buck as it helps keep the Missoula economy strong. Most of these local businesses are also supporters of NewWest.Net, so from our standpoint that's a triple bang for your buck!

If you're looking for gifts that are both local and sustainable, try The Green Light, a new store for "organic and ethically produced products for your home and life," located just off Higgins on Alder Street. Our colleague Molly reports she just bought some organic boxers there, and we're sure you'll find something equally cool.

For the youngsters, our good friends at Walking Stick Toys, on the Hip Strip, boast "natural wooden and educational toys" - they're a huge cut above all that plastic from Walmart. In a similar vein, Blackbird, on Higgins, offers "creative, functional and hip clothes, furniture and books for babies and kids." And Blackbird is right next to Betty's Divine, the very hip clothing store on the Hip Strip.

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Wanted: A Plan for Main Street What Small Businesses Really Need

When it comes to the economy, and especially to an economic crisis, politicians never fail to pay lip service to the needs of small businesses and entrepreneurs. Democracts and Republicans alike routinely proclaim that small business is the lifeblood of the economy and the entrepreneurial spirit is what sets American apart.

Yet somehow, as Washington pours hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars into the nation's largest banks, insurance companies, brokerages, and auto manufacturers - companies that are the very embodiment of Big Business - there doesn't seem to be anything out there to help small businesses and entrepreneurs.

My three-and-a-half-year-old company employees five people full-time, as well as a number of part-timers and contractors. We all work extremely hard, and I think provide a valuable service to our readers, advertisers and other constituents. We're not asking for a handout (though we wouldn't be too proud to take one if it were on offer), but it does seem very unfair - and economically unsound - that government efforts at the moment are all directed toward the big guys.

So, herewith, a few modest proposals for how the government might help small businesses and entrepreneurs, as well as a few notes on what doesn't help.

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WESTERN BOOK ROUNDUP Postcards Capture Missoula’s Past

Need a gift for the Missoulans on your Christmas list?

Arcadia Publishing has released Missoula, the latest in its Postcard History Series.

For Missoula residents and fans, the book is a treasure trove of photographic history of the town, from the days when trolleys ran down Higgins Avenue, biplanes took off from the Fort Missoula ballpark and the Big Blackfoot River wound through a valley free of railroads or highways.

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Buy Local Blog Missoula Toymakers, Shops Say New Toy Rules Could Put Them Out of Business

New regulations meant to keep dangerous toys off the shelves have several local artists and shopkeepers worried that they will keep locally crafted and handmade ones off the shelves instead.

A petition is circulating in Missoula that asks Congress to reevaluate how locally made and handmade toys fit into the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which, when passed in August was meant to address concerns over unsafe toys making their way into American households. The act, championed by Rep. Nancy Pelosi and others, bans lead and phthalates in toys, among other things.

But, according to the Handmade Toy Alliance, two of the new regulations in particular could be cost-prohibitive for small toy makers: Third-party testing and certification for all toys and the requirement that each toy have a label with a date and batch number on it. Some estimates put the cost of one toy test at as much as $4,000. The regulations are doable for big manufacturers, but for small toy makers, they're nearly impossible, the alliance says.

Erika Hickey, who owns Walking Stick Toys in downtown Missoula, says the legislation could make the the kinds of toys she sells -- local and handmade -- disappear from the marketplace altogether. Hickey told her customers in a newsletter this week that if it goes into effect as scheduled in February, it "could be the end of Walking Stick Toys as well as many other little 'Mom and Pop' type shops just like ours across the country."

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Buy Local Public Markets and the Local Economy

You don't need a lot of research to understand why the beloved Missoula Farmers Market - and its offspring around town, and its many counter-parts in other towns - would be good for the local economy. But if you want to dig a little deeper into the connections and the history of buying local, check out this piece by Steve Davies from the New York-based Project for Public Spaces. The group has some great success stories, in New York but also in...Colorado, among other places.

Part 1: Colorado, Idaho, Montana and New Mexico Best Western Books of 2008

It's time for my second annual Best Western Book list, and as I did last year, I'm going to focus on books set in this region (with a few exceptions for excellent books written by writers from this region but set elsewhere), naming my favorites from each state. I managed to read 53 books this year, and these are the books from our region that most impressed me. Please add your favorites in the comments section. Today I’ll discuss Colorado, Idaho, and Montana, and New Mexico and tomorrow it’s on to Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, and other Western states.

Colorado

The biggest book story this year in Colorado, and heck, just about the whole country, is the phenomenal run of David Wroblewski's The Story of Edgar Sawtelle (Ecco, 562 pages, $25.95). Wroblewski, who lives in Westminster, Colo. discussed how he made the transition from software engineer to novelist in my interview with him this summer. Buoyed by extremely positive word of mouth among independent booksellers, book buyers, and other book industry people, as well as glowing blurbs from Richard Russo and Stephen King, Sawtelle hit the New York Times bestseller list on June 29 and has remained there since, getting an additional boost from Oprah, who selected it for her Book Club in September.

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