HELENA — The Helena Area Chamber of Commerce hosted its inaugural State of the City event on Monday, February 9, 2026. The chamber brought together city officials, community partners, and economic development leaders to share updates, answer questions, and discuss the future of Helena.
Madelyn Heath reports - watch the video here:
“It is about connecting the dots between the business community and city leadership,” said Callie Aschim, Helena Area Chamber of Commerce president and CEO. “It’s about connecting challenges with opportunities and about connecting our shared vision for Helena with the actions we take.”
Topics ranged from housing and infrastructure to public safety, sustainability, and economic growth.
Part of the conversation included a panel on how the passage of the school bonds will impact the future of the city’s growth and economic development.
“Having great schools will enhance our community at large, so those strong schools are magnets to bring them into our community, so there is an infrastructure that we are taking care of our kids,” Helena Public Schools superintendent expressed. “People notice we take care of our students; they want to be a part of the community.”
On the topic of infrastructure, Mayor Emily Dean brought up her concerns for emergency services, but commended the city’s passage of a third fire station.
“We still have lots of gaps when it comes to our police department and actually funding the firefighters that will be in that fire station,” Dean noted.
Dean also shared that two key factors in establishing a better future for the city include the Helena Forward Land Use Plan and the Greater Helena Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Dean said, “I think we are going to do that most effectively by implementing and operationalizing that land use plan with fidelity that really honors our history and leverages it as an investment tool.”
The city says they aim to include community voices more with recent changes to city administrative meeting times and longer public comment, but also engaging events like this.
