Partner Profile: Choteau Area Port Authority
The city of Choteau, Montana is located in north central Montana at the foot of the Rocky Mountain Front. The county seat of Teton County, Choteau is a rural community with a rich agricultural history and a host of nearby recreational opportunities.
In 2025, the Rural Initiatives program was invited by the community to support Choteau Area Port Authority (CAPA) in applying for the Montana Department of Commerce’s Pilot Community Tourism Grant Program. The application was successful, and CAPA will receive up to $2.75-million over five years to support community tourism assets and three infrastructure projects. We wanted to share more about this impactful community effort and how the work will benefit the community.
What We Do: Mission and Key Programs
The Choteau Area Port Authority (CAPA) was established in 2017 and seeks to improve Choteau’s economic development. The organization works to increase existing commerce and draw new opportunities to the community, working in collaboration with private and public organizations in the City of Choteau and the state.
CAPA leverages resources to amplify the efforts of community groups and individuals by being a fiscal grant sponsor, advertising and marketing community events, coordinating with community groups and leaders, and lending technical and governmental expertise from the CAPA board members and staff.
Key programs developed and supported by CAPA include: the Choteau Pilot Community Tourism Grant Program (PTCGP), which funds local heritage and sustainability projects, Teton Bear Smart, Housing Rehab Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), and the Skyline CDBG planning grant.
Where We Work: Our Service Area
Choteau Area Port Authority serves Teton County in north-central Montana, including the incorporated towns of Choteau, Fairfield, and Dutton, as well as the surrounding rural areas within the county.
What and How: Community Impact
The community of Choteau, like many rural communities across the state of Montana, is experiencing a decline in agriculture, the primary industry of our area for the past 150 years. There are fewer farms, and existing farms are struggling to support the families who depend on them.
We are also seeing a decline in population, with fewer kids in the school, which leads to fewer jobs and the loss of essential services. In addition, our population is aging, with the median age now nine years older than the rest of Montana and nearly 10 years older than the national median age.
Finally, our community has a lack of affordable housing: The housing market over the last decade has seen several significant increases in home prices, coupled with the increase in short-term rentals, which has reduced the availability of long-term rentals, making it difficult for new residents to move to Choteau.
Choteau Area Port Authority works to mitigate these challenges in our rural community by: continuing efforts to increase housing availability through grants and programs like the CDBG housing rehabilitation program and funding a feasibility study for the Old Hospital; working to improve the business community through coordination with the Choteau Chamber of Commerce and sponsorship of local events; supporting the formation of the Choteau Youth Alliance to help fill the gap in early childhood care, effectively solving the childcare crisis that arose during the pandemic; and, through grant applications, including the recent PCTGP, which has supported over 30 jobs in its first year.
Our Work on the Landscape
- In 2025, the Choteau Area Port Authority was awarded funding through the Montana Department of Commerce’s Pilot Community Tourism Grant Program (PCTGP). This state-funded initiative, authorized by the Montana Legislature (SB-540), is designed to help communities increase economic vibrancy, strengthen tourism infrastructure, and develop regional tourism strategies sustainably and responsibly. The program provides funding to enhance tourism-related assets, support local businesses, and foster collaboration to promote long-term economic growth.
Choteau is the shortest route from Glacier to Yellowstone. Tourism has a large impact on our community. While visitors bring revenue, they also cause additional wear on the community infrastructure. This grant is Choteau’s opportunity to capture some of the tax revenue the State collects from visitors through the bed tax. The funds will be used to improve assets that benefit both visitors and residents.
The project is actually four related projects being undertaken simultaneously.
- The Old Trail Museum Rocky Mountain Front Interpretive Center, which is set to break ground Summer of 2026.
- The Weatherbeater Arena renovation will create a year-round space for agricultural education and events. Upgrades are underway with updated bathrooms and a kitchen being built in the summer of 2026, and insulation and a heating system to come in the Fall.
- The Montana Dinosaur Center Gallery expansion is being planned and will break ground in Fall 2027.
- Community investments in Choteau Area tourism assets through Choteau Community Tourism. The program has invested in the Choteau Lions Club Swimming Pool, Choteau Community Arts Studio, Bynum Civic Park Picnic Shelter, and the Choteau School Auditorium ADA ramp. The program also spearheaded the installation of two Electric Vehicle chargers at the Choteau Visitor’s Center. Over the next few years, this will include new signage and marketing for Choteau.
Looking ahead, by June of 2030, after investing nearly $3 million dollars in the tourism assets of the Choteau Area, the community will be ready to welcome visitors for many decades. The work of ensuring visitors are welcomed and ensuring that the community is prepared to receive them will return to the coalition of organizations that started this effort, including CAPA, the TBID, and the Chamber, as well as the local museums and facilities that directly benefited from the funding.
More information can be found here: https://tourismgrant.com/
