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Montana will always be high on the list of places to visit for most people, which makes the state's prospects for tourism growth always good.

Since so many variables impact the rate of visitation to Montana, there will always be dips, but the overall trend will be upward, so long as the worldwide population continues and there are more people wanting to visit the state, according to Norma P. Nickerson, Director of the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana. Nickerson was among those presenting at the Montana Outlook Seminar.

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What the Bakken will mean to Montana’s future is in large part dependent on how much the technology can be adapted to changes in the formation that occur as it extends westward. The fact is the oil-rich shale of the Bakken extends all the way west to Glacier County in Montana, but the thickest point of the lower Bakken occurs east of the North Dakota border, which is also where “additional pay zones” are found in another formation called the Three Forks Sanish.

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Manufacturing in Montana will experience modest improvement in 2012, benefiting from improving exports and declining imports.

In a survey conducted by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana, in 2011, almost half of Montana manufacturers said that they expected improved conditions for 2012. However, 90 percent indicated that they plan to keep their workforce at the current level or hire more. Seven percent said they would reduce the number of employees.

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Agriculture is as important to Montana's economic base as is energy development, pointed out George Haynes of the Department of Agriculture Economic and Economics at Montana State University. He was one of the many presenters at the Montana Outlook Seminar sponsored by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, University of Montana.

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The Billings commercial real estate market suddenly gained momentum last fall after enduring an otherwise flat year in 2011, “even though the economy was pretty darn good,” reported Commercial Realtor Al Koelzer of NAI Business Properties, a panel speaker at the Montana Economic Outlook Seminar.

The impetus to the turnaround seemed to have been the sale of a property to Sanjel, an oil company engaged in the Bakken seeking space for training employees and maintaining equipment in Billings. Since then things have been hopping, especially as far as warehouse space goes, according to Koelzer

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Montana's economic recovery "remains stuck at the starting gate," reported Patrick M. Barkey, Director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) at the University of Montana. The state's economy actually slowed down in 2011 after having grown in 2010.