Downtown Great Falls (link) has become a vibrant and lively place for many people in the community to shop and play local.
Kellie Pierce, director of the Business Improvement District, said she has personally witnessed the growth and that it’s on a steady increase going into 2024.
“We’ve seen a lot of really dedicated people coming in and opening great local businesses and working together. The collaboration of our business owners with other businesses that are similar or that they can partner with has really made a huge difference in just the number of people that want to come downtown,” Pierce said.
Over the last several years, downtown Great Falls has grown exponentially, bringing the community together more. There is a wide variety of businesses downtown, such as boutiques, restaurants, bars, places for kids, etc. providing a little something for everyone.
“We still have such a small-town feel in Great Falls, that people are really supportive of our local businesses,” Pierce said. “You know, they always say if your kids are looking for donations for their sports things, you should turn around and support the businesses that are donating, which I think plays into a lot of our shop local and support local. We have a great community in Great Falls.”
The community of Great Falls is one that supports small businesses and many of these businesses turn around and work to help the community.
“In the last five years, we’ve really seen some really good momentum with the businesses coming in downtown. The partnerships that our office has with the Great Falls Development Alliance and the resources that we're able to provide with the city and different funding sources have really been a huge help in these businesses wanting to come down here and know that they have support to grow,” said Pierce. “We had at least five or six businesses open just in the fourth quarter of 2023 downtown, which is pretty incredible.”
2023 was a success for the Downtown Great Falls Association and the Business Improvement District as a whole.
Pierce said they have projects in the works for 2024 and things going on behind-the-scenes: “We have lots of things in the works for how we can continue to grow and make it an exciting place for people to be downtown.”
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