Montana Knife Company Grows From Garage to State-of-the-art Facility
Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - On Tuesday’s KGVO Talk Back show, the Missoula Economic Partnership hosted Josh Smith, founder and owner of the Montana Knife Company, in the monthly ECON 101 broadcast.
Smith said he was born and raised in Montana, and his dream was to start a business crafting the finest quality knives right here in his hometown of Frenchtown.
The Guest on Tuesday's ECON 101 Show was Josh Smith with Montana Knife Company
“I grew up in Lincoln, just east of here, and started making knives when I was a young kid,” began Smith. “I accomplished some pretty cool things when I was young, and in fact, became the youngest ‘master bladesmith’ in the world. I went on to move into Missoula after I got married, and went to work in excavation here, and then became a full-time knife maker at that point, and kind of always had this dream of Montana Knife Company.”
Smith said he Followed His Dream to Make the Finest Knives here in Montana
Smith said he had several jobs, but his dream of making knives pushed him into starting his own business.
“I was actually a lineman at Northwestern Energy when I decided to launch this company back in 2020, which was (during) COVID, quite the year to start a business,” he said. “But I just started in my garage, morning and night, kind of working on building prototypes and whatnot, and things started kind of taking off in the fall of 2020, and I finally quit my day job as a lineman there January 1, 2021.”
Smith said his success story was patterned after many others who followed their dreams.
Smith said the Montana Knife Company was Born and Raised in His Garage
“Just kind of started grinding that year, literally, and it was just my wife and kids helping me,” he said. “Even on their summer break, they were helping me make knives. Then I started hiring a couple of people to help me. Got a business partner that knew a lot about marketing, and we just really grew through 2021, fast, and we started kind of growing out of my two-car garage at my house.”
Smith is proud of the growth he’s experienced with a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility set to open soon.
Smith is Eagerly Anticipating the Day his New Facility will Open near the Wye
“We've now hired over 80 people since 2020 in that area,” he said. “I know there was a little bit of frustration with seeing the stockyards go away. That was for sale for four or five years before we purchased it, and there were a couple of full-time employees there. Now we're expecting to hire another 100 to 150 people after this facility is done over the next couple of years, so this is just the beginning of the growth.”
Smith thanked the Missoula Economic Partnership for their encouragement and guidance in expanding the Montana Knife Company, as well as Missoula County officials who have helped to create his soon-to-open new headquarters just outside Missoula.
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