The Montana Resilience Fund.

Montana is land-rich and food-poor: we farm more land than almost any state, yet we import most of what we eat. Billions of dollars leave each year for food we could grow here.

That gap is the opportunity, and it remains because the local food economy is a bit stuck: a producer struggles to transition to regenerative without clear buyer signals and processing; the processing won't get built without supply and demand; and demand stays thin because local food is inconsistent and expensive. Each piece waits on the other two, so ordinary capital never moves.

Building resilient systems requires financing multiple components together. A local buyer, the processing that serves it, and the regenerative supply that feeds it. Philanthropic capital takes the first risk and other capital stacks on top. We provide the right capital, and partner with Montana's existing food organizations for the rest.

The Fund is being designed so it isn't only for institutions. Through the Montana Resilience Note, an everyday Montanan could lend to the Fund at a fixed rate and put savings to work at home instead of watching them leave the state.

It's a loan that's repaid, not a donation. It wouldn't be FDIC-insured, and nothing here is guaranteed. The philanthropic layer that takes the first losses is what's designed to protect it.