Boom Town: Troy shows signs of growth
<p>Karen Anderson works at her computer at Real Art Works in Troy. The business, a high-end co-op, has flourished amid tough economic times in Lincoln County.</p>
<p>Troy’s Mini Mart and the Holiday Motel behind it look empty from the outside, but are bustling within as Mike DuPerault and a crew of workers have been cleaning and refurbishing for the grand opening – as near as the end of this month.</p>
There’s something about doing business in Troy.
The lowest-elevation town in Montana is bucking a countywide trend as small businesses continue to pop up and, defying the odds, are staying open.
The reasons given by business owners as to their success are as varied as the owners themselves, but the overriding sentiment is optimism.
Not business acumen, not even necessarily a plan, but hard work and a belief that Troy can overcome the county’s 14 percent unemployment rate has fueled the economic surge. A large part of Troy’s resurgence has begun to embrace reality. Fewer families are moving to Troy, but more retirees and tourists are visiting the area, and entrepreneurs are starting to capitalize.
Joe Lapham, a Sandpoint, Idaho, businessman, came into possession of the old Troy Mini Mart and Holiday Motel. Rather than let those hot properties remain empty, Lapham has big plans for Troy.
“There’s a future there,” Lapham said. “I think the real-estate thing is about to happen there. It’s going to take a lot of money and a lot of work.”
Lapham, a retired Navy pilot who is crazy about fly-fishing, loves the area and is putting at least three people to work as soon as the state clears his license to sell beer and tobacco from the Mini Mart (to be renamed). He wants to attract the business of three-quarters of a million visitors to the Kootenai Falls every year.
“People are coming to see the falls and then driving on to Spokane or Missoula or Sandpoint,” Lapham said. “Why not Troy?”
Mike DuPerault, the manager of the Mini Mart when it opens (possibly as soon as late March), said there is something about the will of Troy residents that induces businesses to succeed.
“Honestly? I was pretty pessimistic when I first walked in with the economic state what it is in Lincoln County,” DuPerault said. “But with all the support I’ve received I’m very optimistic.”
Troy’s Town Pump and the Lake Creek Inn are direct rivals to the Mini Mart and Holiday Motel, but, surprisingly, are magnanimous to the two Idaho businessmen.
“I’m just tickled for them,” said Connie Kelso, manager of Town Pump. “We need all the business we can get in Troy.”
Kelso agreed with Lapham’s motto that business begets business. Even a large company like Town Pump could benefit from other small businesses thriving.
Don and Genevieve Giannini, owners of Lake Creek Inn, have seen a steady increase in business from when they bought the decrepit Ranch Motel and refurbished it into the Lake Creek Inn. Don didn’t mince words about Lapham’s plans.
“Troy needs more than one hotel,” Giannini said. “It’s going to be good for the town. Everybody knows everybody here, and we all kind of root for each other.”
Troy has never been a town of great wealth, say business owners, so a little competition doesn’t scare many people.
But with the economic reality of the nation and of Lincoln County, one wonders if all this might not just be blind optimism. Darren Coldwell, owner of the more established Booze and Bait, says the entrepreneurial spirit is nothing new.
“Troy’s always been that way,” Coldwell said. “Troy just fights to survive. It’s how we are.”
Other new businesses have seen some struggles, but nothing more than the average.
Evy and Floyd Ford, two semi-retirees that opened Ford’s Place in Troy’s mini-mall in December, have turned hobbies (carpentry and painting) into a business and gallery for local artists.
It hasn’t all been easy, said Evy, a native Minnesotan who moved to Troy from Kalispell in July of 2012, but it’s been more rewarding than she and her husband thought when they opened.
“Troy people are about as friendly as can be,” Evy said. “We don’t get much traffic, but we sell to about 90 percent of customers.”
Her husband knows it isn’t easy for working folk in Troy, but is thankful for the community support toward small businesses.
“Times are hard,” Floyd said. “We’re in a new area. All things considered, we are very lucky to have this place.”
The Fords are succeeding and even considering expanding their merchandise, despite sharing a town of less than 1,000 with another gallery. Real Art Works caters to a different clientele, but it is booming as it enters its vital third-year of business.
“We have been wildly successful,” says Milli Beal, one of artists. “But I do think we’d be doing much better if more people had more money to spend. Art becomes a luxury.”
Some shops, like Steve Kalb’s Shoo Fly, have seen very lean months. It turns out fishing sales drop during hunting season.
Despite that, Kalb is more than excited for the coming spring season.
“It was the first year. It’s what you expect,” he said. “I see it getting better all the time.”
Whether it is a rosy view of the world or a legitimate belief that the road to recovery starts in Troy, there’s something about doing business in Troy that has prospects perking up.
Business owners are alright with that.