In 2013, the Southeastern Montana Economic Development Council (SMEDC) held seven community meetings in Ashland, Colstrip, Hysham, Miles City, Broadus, Lame Deer and Forsyth to get community input on developing a comprehensive economic development plan and assess the state of those communities. They also developed an online survey to reach people that wanted to contribute but couldn’t attend an in-person meeting. Each meeting was based on a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis and a brainstorming session for proposed projects. In a total of seven community meetings…