In celebration of the 15th anniversary of Bozeman Magazine, I thought a look at the why of our business would be appropriate. The answer can be distilled down to one word: community. When I moved to Bozeman from a small Northwest Montana community in 1995, I felt as though Bozeman was quite a bit bigger than where I had come from. As a Montana State University student, I saw MSU as a community, but also felt that it was separate from the greater Bozeman community. After my husband and I graduated from MSU in 2002, it didn’t take long for us to realize that entrepreneurship was going to be the best way to put our skills to use and create something of our own. In reality, it has never been for our own pleasure, but for the greater good.

The why of the publication is simple: to put all-things-Bozeman in one place for community members to engage with one another, learn from one another, and find one another at local gatherings and events that interest them. Our events calendar has always had more than a title and location; we include a little more information in print, so that readers have enough to decide whether or not they want to engage. Online (https://bozemanmagazine.com/events/calendar), the calendar includes a long description, links, and the contact information of those hosting the event, as well as details that help readers make an informed decision about whether an event would be something they’d like to be a part of.

As our community continues to grow and evolve, we intend to do the same, maintaining the flow of local information to help both longtime residents and new citizens find information and events that make them feel included in the community.

We are immensely grateful to live in a town that takes community seriously, for those who continue to offer events where we can gather, for the business partnerships we have built, and for the businesses who choose Bozeman Magazine for their local advertising needs.

Whether you’ve been reading every issue over the past 180 months, or this issue is your introduction to Bozeman Magazine, thank you. Enjoy!

“The siren call for many entrepreneurs isn’t money, it’s freedom. The freedom to chart your own path, the freedom to build what you want with the people you love.” -- Andrew Wilkinson, Founder of MetaLab and Flow