MISSOULA – Governor Steve Bullock was on hand Wednesday morning for the expansion of a local tech firm’s Missoula location.
ATG, a Cognizant company, received praise from Bullock for what it’s already provided to Montana but also for what he predicts they will do for business growth in the state going forward.
“My thanks to Cognizant for investing in ATG and your continued commitment to not only what we have here in Montana but to building on that,” Bullock said. “Creating more jobs for our community. Insuring students have access to education. Training to keep our homegrown talent right here at home in Montana.”
Keeping that homegrown Montana talent in Big Sky Country starts with a close partnership with the University of Montana’s that helps train and employ UM graduates.
“I am so excited that ATG took a bet on not just Tom, but this city and frankly the university nearly a decade ago,” UM president Seth Bodnar said. “The fact that we have seen this team, this community grow to where it is today. The fact that we have over 100 University of Montana grads working here today at ATG.”
Cognizant is a Fortune Top 200 companyand its purchase of ATG and subsequent expansion creates more jobs in a rural section of the country.
“How do we make sure that we address sort of the urban rural disconnect where often you are seeing growth in urban areas in the country but not necessarily in the rural areas?” Bullock asked. “And what I find with that is the challenges and opportunities we face in a state like this, every single state are facing and we need to ultimately either get on the bus and figure out how to go forward or you’ll get run over. It’s our university system, our communities, our states and companies like ATG Cognizant who are saying let’s start actually figuring out the path forward.”
Reporting by Connor McCauley for MTN News
