Montana itself has always been the export state. Billings’
economic growths have a great relation to its geographic location. Its trade
and distribution center started from building the railroad. Ever since the
railroad was built, the city’s economy development grew faster than any other
city in Montana. Soon, the city became a major trade and distribution center,
and the trade center serves over half million people. The railroad in Montana
can transfer up to two million carloads each year, and they would need to
employ more than two thousand and two hundred people in the state every year. The
state’s natural resource and agriculture industries help increase the rail
investment.
Many headquarters and corporate headquarters were located in Billings. Some of the headquarters include Stillwater Mining Company and First Interstate Bank. It is also a major retail area of Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota, especially Montana that have no sales tax. In the city, most purchases were spent on retail, and most of them were wholesale businesses. At least 25 percent of the wholesale businesses within Montana were from Billings. The city was the most ideal place to start a business during 2009’s magazine survey. Their major service sectors are retail, health care, financial service, and entertainments.
Billings is located among the largest coal reserves region in the United States. The region also has large oil and natural gas fields. There are three oil refineries in the city’s metropolitan area, and a coal fire generation plant. Other things that support their economy include energy exploration and production and underground mining. There is also a sugar beet refining plant, since Billings’ primary crops are sugar beets. Other primary crops include oats and alfalfa. Their trade include many of these agriculture products, it also include wheat, soybeans, and cattle. There are around 15 million tons of the agriculture products transported to the other states in Montana including North Dakota and the others. Grains and coals are also being exported overseas.
