Conference Speakers

Perry Ashby  |  Wesmont Builders - Developers 
Perry Ashby has been in the construction industry for over 20 years and created Wesmont Builders - Developers in 1994. Perry combines his vision, practical building experience and eye for design to create traditional neighborhoods — those that are reminiscent of the past and incorporate tree-lined streets and neighborhood parks. His standards are exceedingly high and he is truly concerned about what is developed in this area. He was honored in 1998 as Montana State Builder of the Year, and as the Missoula Building Industry’s Builder of the Year in 1999. He was featured in Professional Builder for Bridge Court Village and for Canyon Creek Village.

Mike Barrett  |  Prudential Montana Real Estate 
Mike Barrett, with over 25 years of commercial and development experience, has been active in all phases of commercial real estate. He keeps a close eye on the ever-changing landscape of Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley. Mike and his wife Kim have lived in the area for four years. He enjoys golf, fishing and team roping.

Ellen Buchanan  |  Missoula Redevelopment Agency 
Ellen Buchanan, a native of east Tennessee, is director of the Missoula Redevelopment Agency and lives and works in downtown Missoula. She is a graduate of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she received a degree in architecture with an emphasis in urban design. She has held positions with local government in economic development, planning and community development. She has also spent time in private practice as an urban designer and has a passion for downtown and central city redevelopment that originated by living and working in New York City.

John Carroll  |  Carroll Investments 
Headed by John Carroll, Carroll Investments develops, owns and manages real estate exclusively in the Portland metropolitan area and has been directly involved with many prominent developments in The Pearl District. He has devoted his attention to the development of high-density, mixed-use housing projects in Portland, emphasizing the strong connection between public and private investments. Venturing out of The Pearl District and into the heart of downtown Portland’s Cultural District, Carroll most recently completed Eliot Tower, an 18- story, 223-unit residential glass tower condominium project at SW 10th and Jefferson. Carroll’s current volunteer activities include serving as Chairman of Portland Streetcar, Inc., having been instrumental in seeing it to fruition over the past 16 years. He has developed and been a part of real estate ventures for over 30 years.

Jeffrey Crouch  |  Kibo Group Architecture 
Jeffrey Crouch is managing partner of Kibo Group Architecture with offices in Whitefish and Missoula, Montana. As both an architect and developer, he has been involved in projects ranging from large, conventional resort work to smaller, urban redevelopment projects. Jeffery is the founder of the Western Montana Developers for Sustainability Roundtable, which consists of like-minded developers whose focus is to create projects as sustainable as possible, and to promote responsible, progressive, sustainable development and planning in the region. Recent projects include the mixed-use redevelopment of the H.O. Bell warehouse in downtown Missoula. This project won an AIA Honor Award.

Brett DeBruycker 
Brett DeBruycker has been farming and ranching on his family operation in Central Montana since 1985. In addition to running the operation, he also is responsible for customer contact and assistance for his own and his family's Charolais cattle operation. Brett is the current president of the Montana Cattlemen's Association, a member of the United States Cattlemen's Association and the Montana Grain Growers Association. He is a 17-year member of the American International Charolais Association and the past president of the Montana Charolais Association. Brett is also the former vice chairman for R-CALF USA's International Trade Committee and represented the American cattle industry and R-CALF at the Americas Business Forum in Ecuador in 2002.

John Engen  |  Mayor of Missoula 
John Engen became Missoula’s fiftieth mayor in 2006. He’d served a four-year term as a Missoula City Council member representing Ward 1, before winning the citywide election for mayor in 2005. Before entering public service, Engen, 42, worked for about 15 years professionally as an award-winning writer and editor in the newspaper business in his hometown of Missoula, Montana. He’s managed a media division for a Montana retail chain and most recently operated his own advertising, public relations and publishing company, Engen Creative. John has served on a number of volunteer boards and is past president of the Missoula Downtown Association, Young Audiences of Western Montana and the Missoula Food Bank boards.

Gary Ferguson  |  Writer 
Gary Ferguson has written for dozens of national publications – including Vanity Fair, the Los Angeles Times, and Outside Magazine – and is the author of sixteen books on nature and science. His recent title Decade of the Wolf was chosen as the 2006 Montana Book of the Year. Hawks Rest: A Season in the Remote Heart of Yellowstone won both the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award for Nonfiction. Gary was the 2002 Seigle Scholar at Washington University, St. Louis, as well as the 2007 William Kittredge Distinguished Writer at the University of Montana. Gary is a regular presenter on nature and ecology issues, and has appeared on more than 200 television and radio programs.

Jim Gill  |  Bitterroot Resort 
Jim Gill is a 27-year veteran of the ski industry. He served as general manager at Breckenridge Ski Resort in Colorado as well as Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, Wyoming’s largest and arguably most challenging ski area. Jim then took over as project manager for the Teton Springs Golf Resort, Teton Valley, Idaho. Jim now puts his considerable talent and experience to use as chief operating officer for the Bitterroot Resort in Florence, MT.

Dennis Glick  |  Sonoran Institute 
Dennis Glick is the regional director in the Sonoran Institute’s Northern Rockies Office and runs the Top of the Rockies Legacy Program. Dennis has worked for many years in the Greater Yellowstone region pioneering community-based conservation and growth management efforts. Before moving to the Northern Rockies he served as the co- director of the Wildlands and Human Needs Program at World Wildlife Fund and has been a leader in developing community-based conservation practices both nationally and internationally. Dennis manages the day- to-day operations of the office, while adding his expertise to the Northern Rockies Conservation and Western Community Stewardship programs. In addition, Dennis is helping Sonoran Institute expand its involvement in regional smart growth initiatives.

Hank Goetz  |  Blackfoot Challenge 
Hank Goetz graduated from the School of Forestry at the University of Montana in Missoula in 1963. After three years in the U.S. Army, Hank returned to Montana and began work as a forester for the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. In 1969, Hank was asked to become the first resident manager of UM’s Lubrecht Experimental Forest in the Blackfoot Valley. Hank directed Lubrecht and, since 1990, the Bandy Experimental Ranch in Ovando, until his retirement in 2005. Hank is serving as lands director for the Blackfoot Challenge, a watershed group within the valley. His duties involve creating a partnership with The Nature Conservancy to purchase 88,000 acres of Plum Creek Timber Company land in the valley and re-sell it to a mix of public and private entities according to a community-based plan.

Carlotta Grandstaff  |  Ravalli County Commission 
Carlotta Grandstall, 53, covered the Bitterroot Valley and western Montana as a reporter for more than two decades, focusing particularly on rapid population growth and how that growth affected small town culture. In late 2006, sharing the frustration of many of her fellow Bitterrooters about the slow pace of local government response to a fast-changing way of life, Grandstaff seized the opportunity to run for Ravalli County Commissioner. She ran as an Independent, handily beating the Republican incumbent in politically conservative Ravalli County. She took office in June, along with two newly elected Democrats. The three, who form a quorum, have made smart growth planning and zoning their priority. She lives in Hamilton with her husband of nearly 30 years, Dennis McIntyre.

David Hale  |  Hale Development 
David Hale grew up in Portland, but as a kid remembered floating, fishing and skiing around Boise, Idaho. After a stint as construction manager for RMP Properties in Portland, he decided to pursue his dream of starting a residential development and construction company focused on infill development. In 1997, David moved to Boise and began Hale Development — based on a philosophy focused around redeveloping existing, close to downtown neighborhoods, better known as infill. David was building about 30 infill houses a year, each with different designs, when he decided to start Boise City Building Company in order to separate the development and construction aspects. In 2005, David began acquiring downtown Boise property located within a 3-block radius and started redeveloping the area into the “Linen District.”

Betsy Hands  |  HomeWORD 
Betsy Hands, executive director for HomeWORD, is responsible for development, fundraising, marketing, policy and collaboration for the organization. Over the last 15 years, Betsy has worked in education, community development and affordable housing with a focus on youth and underserved populations. She served as a Peace Corps volunteer in West Africa, which helped foster her belief in the need for a holistic approach to development. Betsy received her Master’s of Science in 2003 from the University of Montana’s Environmental Studies Program and was selected as a Doris Duke Environmental Fellow. Betsy has lectured in numerous classes about sustainable development and in 2005 served as an adjunct professor at the University of Montana.

Randy Hafer  |  High Plains Architects 
Randy Hafer, A.I.A. is president and co-owner of High Plains Architects in Billings. He has been deeply involved in the redevelopment and revitalization of downtown Billings and recently designed the first LEED Platinum building in Montana. Raised in Billings, he went to Stanford University and Yale University for his master’s degree in architecture. After 11 years in Chicago, he returned to practice in Billings. In 1999, he opened High Plains Architects, which is located in a renovated historic downtown warehouse.

Paul Johannsen  |  Great Northern Ventures 
Paul Johannsen is the managing member of Great Northern Ventures, a Whitefish-based real estate development company. Great Northern Ventures has two projects in the Whitefish area — The Homestead At Whitefish, a 1,400-acre residential development west of Whitefish, and Block 46, a city block commercial and residential redevelopment project in downtown Whitefish. A fourth generation native of Montana, Paul joined Great Northern Ventures in August of 2006 after 25 years in the banking industry with First Interstate Bank in Whitefish and US Bank in Missoula.

Nick Kaufman  |  WGM Group 
Nick Kaufman, vice president and principal of WGM Group, has more than 26 years of experience in planning and design of residential, commercial and industrial development. His responsibilities include planning, design, public involvement and governing body approval on more than 200 projects, with experience ranging from the design of traditional neighborhoods, mixed use developments, shopping centers, power centers, walking street commercial design and industrial parks, to the planning of sports facilities and major transportation studies. In addition, his experience includes the development of comprehensive plans and implementation through land use regulations and capital facilities planning.

Jeff Krauss  |  Mayor of Bozeman 
Jeff Krauss is a CPA, Mayor of the City of Bozeman, and director of finance and administration at the Museum of the Rockies. Jeff is the former Gallatin County Treasurer and Gallatin County Zoning Commission Chairman, and was president of the Montana County Treasurer’s Association. He served on the 1994-1996 Bozeman Local Government Study Commission. He graduated with honors from Montana State University, receiving the A. L. Strand Award given to those who “show concern for people through campus or community service and exemplifying leadership and scholastic achievement.”

Steve Loken  |  Loken Builders 
Steve Loken, founder of the Center for Resourceful Building Technology, is a nationally recognized energy and home building technology expert. Steve has spoken and taught at industry- and government-sponsored conferences, seminars and workshops across the county since 1983. Steve has consulted on resources-efficient building for national and international corporations, public utilities and municipalities. Steve has been designing and building homes for more than 25 years and owns and operates Loken Builders in Missoula. Steve has also worked with the National Center for Appropriate Technology and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, where a few of his projects included to research, organize and conduct training sessions on energy-efficient housing design and construction.

Don MacArthur  |  MMW Architects 
Don MacArthur is a founding partner of MacArthur, Means and Wells, Architects.  His firm seeks to create an architecture that contributes to the community, demonstrates leadership in issues of sustainable design, responds poetically to the particularity of the site and climate and features direct and inventive use of materials. Don, both AIA and LEED certified, has focused on the architecture and planning of residential projects. His work has been awarded state and national awards for design excellence. He is the past chair of the Missoula Consolidated Planning Board and has served on the board for eight years.

Ken Madden  |  Shiloh Land and Development 
Ken Madden is president of Shiloh Land and Development, which has four projects in various phases of development — 935 acres in Montana and 35 acres in Arizona. Ken started his career as a homebuilder. In 1987 after moving to Arizona, he founded Shiloh Custom Homes. Under Ken’s leadership, Shiloh was the recipient of over 50 national and regional awards, growing to be recognized as one of the nation’s top custom home building firms. In 2001, Ken decided to pursue his interest in land development. Shiloh Land and Development, Inc. was founded and completed three major development projects within four years: Creekwood Park and Riverwood Park in Whitefish, Montana, and La Ultima Piedra in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Mary Yardley Marry  |  Missoula Organization of Realtors 
Mary Yardley Marry grew up in Livingston and came to Missoula to the University of Montana in 1983. When she got into real estate in 1994, she knew she had found her calling. She loves putting people into houses and the gratification of working with families as they move from starter to successive homes. As president of the Missoula Organization of Realtors, her role is to keep the organization vital. In an age when homebuyers can find listings on the Internet, real estate agents need to provide broader services. She has two daughters, eight-year-old Lauren and one-year-old Chloe. Her husband is Rick Rouse.

Alan McCormick  |  Garlington, Lohn & Robinson 
Alan McCormick is an associate at the law firm of Garlington, Lohn & Robinson. Alan’s primary practice focus is land use, zoning, real estate and local government law with a particular emphasis on development permitting and related transactions and litigation. He is a member of the Western Montana Bar Association, State Bar of Montana, American Bar Association, Montana Defense Trial Lawyers Association and American Institute of Certified Planners. Alan earned his undergraduate degree and Master of Urban and Regional Planning degrees from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and his law degree with high honors from the University of Montana. He is a frequent speaker and occasional writer on land use law topics.

Roger Millar  |  Missoula Office of Planning and Grants 
Roger Millar became director of the Missoula Office of Planning and Grants in January of 2007. He is a planner and engineer with an international reputation for innovative approaches to land use and transportation planning and design. His experience provides him with a broad understanding of the built environment; federal, state, and local policies and standards; and the relationships between land use, transportation and the environment. Projects in which Roger played a leadership role — particularly the River District Development Plan and the Portland Streetcar — are seen as national models for urban livability. He has also managed or participated in signature projects for rural, resort and National Park gateway communities throughout the American West.

Brent Moore  |  CTA Architects 
As the senior urban planner in CTA’s LandWorks program, Brent Moore is responsible for managing community planning services related to long-range planning, growth management and development services.  A fourth-generation Montanan, Brent earned a Master’s of Science degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Florida State University in Tallahassee.  He is a member of the AICP and has experience working in the non-profit, public and private sectors. Prior to joining CTA, Brent served as the director of planning for the City of Red Lodge, overseeing the completion of the Comprehensive Trails Plan, an Amended Development Code, major policy revisions addressing annexation, and infrastructure projects encompassing transportation and improving the overall water system for the growing Montana community.

Ed Morse  |  Morse and Co. 
Ed Morse earned a bachelor’s degree in 1972 and an MBA in 1973 from the University of Idaho and a law degree from Gonzaga University in 1977. In his 34 years as an appraiser, his assignments have included office and commercial developments, industrial properties, agriculture and timberlands, mineral properties, water rights, recreational developments, multi-family property and condominiums, corridors, and partial interests. He testifies frequently as an expert in legal cases on valuation and damages. He also owns and manages investment property, retail and office buildings in Coeur d’Alene and has developed commercial subdivisions, office buildings and retail properties.

Michelle Bryan Mudd  |  University of Montana School of Law 
Michelle Bryan Mudd directs the Land Use Clinic at the University of Montana School of Law, which provides representation for local governments dealing with planning issues in the state. She also teaches in the school’s environmental program, including courses such as “Land Use Planning” and “Wet Growth: The Land Use-Water Use Interface.”  She recently completed the Montana Chapter of the ABA’s Compendium on Eminent Domain. Before joining the law school faculty, Michelle was in private practice in Montana, specializing in land use, real estate and water law in both the transactional and litigation context. Her work in the land use sector was on behalf of a variety of interests, including local governments, developers and affected community groups.

Kevin Mytty  |  Shelter West 
Kevin Mytty is president of Shelter West, one of Missoula’s largest custom homes builders. It has has been designing and building homes in Western Montana for nearly 25 years. Kevin has a working knowledge of land acquisition, zoning issues, design, construction, contract negotiations and labor relations.  Shelter West has been featured in numerous Parade of Homes, winning awards such as Best of Show, People’s Choice, Effective Integration, Best Craftsmanship and even Builder of the Year.

Wendy Ninteman  |  Five Valleys Land Trust 
Since Wendy Ninteman took the helm as executive director in 1998, Five Valleys Land Trust has more than doubled the acreage it has under easement.  Wendy has lived and worked in Missoula for over 25 years. She has co-owned and operated an environmental consulting firm, developed and managed the University of Montana’s continuing education program in natural resource management, served as the assistant news director at a public radio station and worked as a reporter and anchor for a television station. Wendy earned a degree in English from the University of Montana. As a hiker and trail runner, Wendy is intimately familiar with open spaces throughout Western Montana.

Bill Perrin  |  Farmers State Bank 
Bill Perrin is a native of Montana and has been in banking since 1963. Bill gained experience as president and vice president of banks in Miltona, Minnesota; Fayette, Iowa; Harlem, Montana; Stevensville, Montana; and is now senior vice president and chief credit officer of Farmers State Bank. Bill attended Rocky Mountain College in Billings, earning a degree in Business Administration and Economics. Bill has always sought to be an active part of every community he has lived in.  That trend continues in Stevensville where he is involved as a volunteer fire fighter and is active in the Stevensville Main Street Association.

JP Pomnichowski  |  State Legislator, Bozeman 
Representative JP Pomnichowski is a first-term legislator in Montana’s House of Representatives. A fifth-generation Montanan and Bozeman resident of 22 years, JP is a graduate of Montana State University and serves as president of the Bozeman Planning Board and Zoning Commission. She has championed state laws and local policies to preserve and protect air and water resources, to promote responsible growth and to honor Montana’s land-use heritage.

Lori Ryker  |  Artemis Institute 
Lori Ryker makes her home in Livingston, Montana, where she is the executive director and founder of Artemis Institute, a non-profit that offers a college level program called Remote Studio that focuses on the relationship between nature and creativity. Dr. Ryker is the author of Mockbee Coker: Thought and Process and most recently Off The Grid: Modern Homes + Alternative Energy and Off The Grid Homes. She was a founding partner of Ryker/Nave Design that focused on ecologically inspired and sustainable architecture. The Wapiti Valley residence received a Merit Award from Residential Architect in 2007. She has taught at Montana State University, Texas A&M and Auburn University.

Jonathan Schechter  |  Charture Institute 
Jonathan Schechter is the founder and executive director of the Charture Institute, a Jackson, Wyoming-based non-profit research organization. Founded in 2001, Charture focuses on the growth and change occurring in resorts, national park gateways and other communities located in beautiful surroundings. Charture studies, writes and helps teach such communities how and why they are changing, and what they can do about it. To fund sustainability efforts in these communities, in 2006 Charture started 1% for the Tetons. Member businesses donate one percent of their sales to 1%, which aggregates the funds and grants them to local non-profits. In its first year, 1% granted out over $100,000 to sustainability projects in the Teton region. For the past 20 years, Mr. Schechter has also owned and run Summit Management Consulting.

Mary Sexton  |  Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation 
Mary Sexton is director of Montana Department of Natural Resource & Conservation. Originally from Great Falls, Mary graduated from CMR High School and has degrees from Stanford University and the University of Montana. She taught high school in Hamilton and was administrator of The Nature Conservancy’s Pine Butte Swamp Preserve, west of Choteau. She is involved with both agriculture and tourism businesses. Mary has served on boards including the Public Wildlife/ Private Lands Council, BLM Resource Advisory Council, and the Teton County Commission from 1999-2004.

Jerry Sorensen  |  Plum Creek Timber Company 
Jerry Sorensen grew up in Billings and graduated from the University of Montana. For 16 years he worked as a planning director for Lake County before moving on to work with Plum Creek Timber Company. Jerry has been with Plum Creek for the last 14 years where he is the director of Land Asset Management for Montana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. He resides in Bigfork, Montana.

Joshua Spitzer  |  Sun Ranch Institute 
Joshua Spitzer is the executive director of Sun Ranch Institute, an organization dedicated to supporting viable local communities, land conservation and blended value business models in the American West. He has served as an independent consultant to enterprises and individuals investing to create social, environmental and financial value. The World Economic Forum, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Oxford University and Stanford University Graduate School of Business have sponsored and published his work. He has also developed MBA curriculum for the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Peter Stark  |  North Slope Sustainable Wood 
Peter Stark is the founding partner and head of marketing for North Slope Sustainable Wood, based in Missoula, Montana. Founded in 2004, this firm uses small-diameter larch trees from forest restoration sites in the Northern Rockies to manufacture high-quality tongue and groove flooring, trim and other wood products. As the owner of 80 acres of “urban-interface” forest, Peter initially set the idea after experimenting with a dance studio for his wife, Amy, a professional dancer. The company recently won a $250,000 Forest Service Woody Biomass grant. In addition, Peter has been a freelance journalist since 1983, has published four books and many articles in magazines such as Outside, Smithsonian and The New Yorker.

John Thee  |  Washington Corporations 
John Thee is a vice president of Washington Corporations, and before that was director of business opportunities for the company. John graduated from Kellogg School of Business in 2002 and joined the Dallas office of McKinsey and Company. John spent 10 years as a infantry officer in the U.S. Army where he served in Egypt, Israel, Kuwait, Panama, Korea, Germany, Canada and the U.K. John enjoys playing with this two young kids, mountain biking, skiing and being with his family.

Christopher Thornberg  |  Beacon Economics 
Christopher Thornberg is a founding partner of Beacon Economics. He is an expert in the study of regional economies, real estate dynamics, labor markets and business forecasting. He has been involved in a number of special studies measuring the impact of important events on the economy, including the NAFTA treaty, the California power crisis and the September 11th terrorist attacks. Prior to launching Beacon he worked with the UCLA Anderson Forecast where he regularly authored the outlooks for California, Los Angeles and the East Bay. Christopher lectures on a regular basis at a variety of public and private events, has appeared on CNN, Fox News and CNBC and is widely quoted in the press. He continues to teach in the MBA program at UCLA and previously held a faculty position in the economics department at Clemson University.

Ron Ueland  |  WestBred 
Ron Ueland, raised on a ranch near Butte, graduated from Montana State University in 1974 with a business degree. (A middle linebacker, he captained the Bobcats and won All-American honors.) In more than two decades at ConAgra Foods, he rose to be a vice president. He returned to Montana in 1997. Since then, he has developed two subdivisions, one near Bozeman and the other near Butte. He is president and general manager of WestBred, an agribusiness firm. Opportunities near Butte and Great Falls seem thick on the ground. He has a manufacturing plant underway in Butte and a seed company and a manufacturer in Conrad. In Butte, he bought the historic Metals Bank Building, which is being redeveloped into condominiums, office space and a restaurant. He has a wife and three children.

William K. VanCanagan  |  Datsopoulos MacDonald & Lind 
Bill VanCanagan is an attorney whose practice areas include entrepreneurial and emerging companies, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and business combinations, securities regulation, corporate counseling and international transactions. His clients include businesses, owners and investors in the areas of manufacturing, technology, medical devices, financial transactions, recreational products and real estate transactions. Bill has completed numerous private and public merger-and-acquisition transactions, as well as securities financings for publicly and privately held businesses. Born in Roslyn, New York, he holds an undergraduate degree in economics from Stanford University and a law degree from the University of Montana.

Ed Wetherbee  |  Boulder Ventures 
Ed Wetherbee has been a partner in small venture capital funds focused on Colorado, New Mexico and Montana markets for over 20 years. He had been president of entrepreneurial developments in the energy and agribusiness sectors resulting in over $200 million of financings and $80 million of combined annual revenue. He is on many boards of directors of private and community organizations. He is a partner in Millsite Revitalization Project, a Brownfield redevelopent in downtown Missoula, Montana.

Rick Wishcamper  |  Rocky Mountain Development Group 
Rick Wishcamper, founding partner and president of the Rocky Mountain Development Group, holds a degree in human ecology from the College of the Atlantic, an MBA from the University of Montana and an MFA from New England College. He has taught entrepreneurship and strategic management at the collegiate level and has experience in acquisition and rehabilitation of multifamily investments, residential land-use planning, tax credit investments, mixed use projects and adaptive reuse developments.

Jennifer P. Zung  |  Harmony Design & Engineering 
Jennifer P. Zung is the founder of Harmony Design & Engineering, a planning and engineering company that specializes in low-impact, environmentally sensitive developments for residential, commercial and municipal projects.   She is a professional civil engineer and worked in Colorado and the Philippines prior to moving to eastern Idaho.  HDE is the prime planning and engineering consultant on a pilot LEED-Neighborhood Development project located in Driggs, Idaho, and has planned several rural subdivisions using conservation design principles.