Miles City

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 Elizabeth Smith, Miles City SBDC Regional Director
406-874-6168 | smithe@milescc.edu

Elizabeth joined the Montana SBDC after spending eight years as a K-12 counselor for the Terry Public School district. After acquiring her BA in Fine Art from Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, she served as a local AmeriCorps VISTA for a year. For the next seven years as Executive Assistant for the Eastern Plains Economic Development Corporation, she honed her skills in comprehensive planning, community support, and grant writing, in addition to earning her national Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) certification, before transitioning to public education. 

Elizabeth has also owned and operated a small business since 2007.  She is an avid runner, bookworm, trivia enthusiast, and mom to two college students. She is excited to return to economic development to help other small business owners achieve their personal goals!

 Jason Nitschke, Zero to Five Senior Child Care Business Advisor
406-513-1115 | JasonN@ZerotoFive.org

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Jason joins Zero to Five Montana as a Senior Child Care Business Advisor after eight years in economic development as Vice President with the Great Falls Development Authority (GFDA) and Regional Director of the Great Falls area Small Business Development Center (SBDC). He will be delivering educational opportunities and one-on-one consultation support to entrepreneurs and communities starting, growing, and expanding childcare and early education solutions.

Since 2014, he has advised and trained nearly 4000 entrepreneurs and business professionals, helped start over 100 businesses, supported 2800 jobs, and helped in attracting nearly $75M in capital investment into area businesses. He was the 2022 recipient of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Boots to Business Instructor of the Year, a national award recognizing the top five presenters of the SBA’s Introduction to Entrepreneurship curriculum for active-duty military and veterans. In 2018, he was named the Montana State SBDC Star honoring the top 1% of business advisors in the U.S.

Prior to joining the economic development community, Jason owned two businesses and spent 16 years as a print and broadcast journalist. He is an award-winning broadcaster, native Montanan, and is a proud daughter-dad. Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Montana and a master’s degree in Communication from Hawaii Pacific University-Honolulu.

He is a certified business advisor, Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP), and certified Profit Mastery and PeerSpectives facilitator.