Local business roundup

Whitefish seeks nominees for annual business awards

The Whitefish Chamber of Commerce is gearing up for its 2018 Community Awards Gala, set for the evening of Feb. 7 at the O’Shaughnessy Center, and is looking to the community to help identify those who deserve to be recognized for their outstanding contributions to Whitefish.

Nominations are now being accepted for this year’s Great Whitefish, Citizen of the Year, Business of the Year, and Tourism Business of the Year awards, all of which will be presented at the annual Awards Gala.

For more information contact Lisa at the Whitefish Chamber, at 862-3501. Deadline for nominations is Jan. 12.

Assistance offered for government contracting

Robert Much, a procurement specialist with the Native American Development Corp. PTAC will be available from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10, for government contracting assistance and government website registrations. If you are interested in doing business with the government and want assistance with obtaining your SAM registration, obtaining Duns number and registering with the Small Business Administration’s small business website, Much will meet with you at Sovereign Leasing & Financing.

Contact Maggie Sheridan at the Indian Preference Office, 675-2700, ext. 1045, to sign up for counseling or call Much at 406-442-8543 or email rmuch@nadc-nabn.org to set up an appointment.

Business equipment owners must report online

The Montana Department of Revenue recently notified business equipment owners to submit their annual report in 2018 online with the department’s TransAction Portal (TAP). The department will no longer mail paper reporting forms.

“Electronic reporting is free, easy to use and saves time for businesses that are trying to work efficiently. It also makes processing the reports more accurate and cost effective,” said Shauna Helfert, Property Assessment Division administrator with the Department of Revenue.

The department mailed letters in mid-December to business equipment owners who have reported in prior years and are believed to have a reporting requirement. The letter contains instructions on how to log in to their TAP account or set up an account at https://tap.dor.mt.gov.

Businesses that did not receive a letter still have a statutory reporting requirement if their statewide aggregate market value of equipment is over $100,000. Those businesses whose statewide aggregate market value of equipment is $100,000 or less are exempt from taxation and do not have a reporting requirement.

Business equipment reporting includes items such as furniture and fixtures, heavy equipment, manufacturing and mining equipment, farm and ranch equipment, oil and gas equipment, and miscellaneous equipment that businesses owned as of Jan. 1, 2018. Owners need to submit a report even if there were no changes to their business equipment or if they closed or sold their business.

All business equipment reported for 2017 is pre-populated to the 2018 online reporting system. Online reporting creates an electronic repository that lets businesses access submissions from previous years. Businesses can also use the sort and filter functions to quickly locate assets that need to be updated or deleted. Finally, online reporting provides businesses with immediate confirmation that the department received their report.

The reporting deadline is March 1 to avoid a 20 percent penalty.

For more information, visit revenue.mt.gov, call 406-444-6900.

C-Falls Chamber meeting is Jan. 9

The Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce holds its monthly general membership meeting and luncheon from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 9, at the North Valley Hospital Tea Kettle Room, 235 Nucleus Ave. in Columbia Falls. The Columbia Falls Assistance Team and Columbia Falls High School Endowment Group will give a presentation. Call the Chamber at 892-2072 for more information.