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| Old and new west: Livingston, Mont., has diversified in recent years with tourism and high-tech jobs. Still, a sudden spate
of mining layoffs is hurting the local economy. Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff |
It's boom and bust again in Montana mining town
Falling metal prices have led to job losses in mining communities across the West.
from the January 6, 2009 edition
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Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer describes what his state is doing to help unemployed miners find jobs.
The fortunes of the Old West used to be tied heavily to this boom-and-bust cycle in mining. The economy of the region, however, has diversified dramatically in recent decades, attracting tourist dollars, high-tech jobs, and jet-setting consultants.
Indeed, Livingston now boasts multiple art galleries and coffee shops where the new class of mobile knowledge workers pitch their laptops.
This economic makeover might help insulate states like Montana from the latest mining downturn, argue some economists.
"Mining is a recent return in the last four to five years, but it was declining," says Larry Swanson, a regional economist at the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana in Missoula. "That doesn't mean these mining [businesses] are unimportant, but they are not a big part of what's going on here."
That's a minority view among the businesses and local officials along this stretch of the I-90 corridor that passes from the mountains around Yellowstone, through Livingston, and east into the prairie.
"It's precarious when you have a tourism-related economy and your manufacturing positions begin to soften," says Ed Meece, city manager for Livingston. When the broader economy suffers, he points out, so does spending on consultants, art, and tourism – some of the newer livelihoods here. It's old-fashioned manufacturing that tends to be the more stable base, he adds.
Mining still more lucrative
In nearby Big Timber, business has fallen by 50 percent at the Timber Bar, a local watering hole.
Owner Joann Fuller says she thinks it's partly due to the loss of those mining wages – among the highest-paying in the region. The mine's recent expansion helped the small downtown thrive, leaving almost no vacancy among the restored brick-and-glass storefronts.
"There's plenty of work around here, you're just not going to make the money you made," says Ms. Fuller. "That big money [from mine work] turns a buck pretty fast in a town like this."
Staff at the Livingston Job Service Workforce Center, a group helping laid-off miners, concur that the "New West" jobs in tourism, services, and healthcare aren't always attractive to miners who have bills reflecting their relatively high pay with good benefits. The center was able to help place some people at a recent job fair, but there hasn't been a lot of hiring happening before the new year and given the problems in the broader economy.
Mr. Tyner, the laid-off miner and a father of three, has sent out résumés but got no interest. His family lives frugally in a modest home here, dwarfed by mountains called the Sleeping Giants.
Tyner says he plans to fall back on other skills he's developed such as trucking and in telecom to find different work. "Living in Montana has taught me one thing, and it's [that] you better not put all your eggs in one basket," he says.
But he doubts whether he can replace the approximately $62,000 he was making at the mine. Despite not having big debts, the situation still keeps him up at night.
"The last couple of nights I haven't been able to sleep more than a few hours," he says. "Your mind wanders."
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