Have you heard? Beer, wine distributor building under construction

ust east of South Billings Boulevard, workers are laying masonry for the next Intermountain Distributing Co. complex.

  With 70 workers and an annual payroll of more than $2.5 million, Intermountain is expanding from about 60,000 square feet off First Avenue South to about 90,000 square feet.

  Last year, the family-owned distributing business purchased 10 acres just south of the interstate. Also in 2007, President Tim Brocopp took the management reins from his maternal grandfather, Ralph Nelles, who started the business in 1949 with a single truck.

  The company now operates 13 delivery trucks and distributes beer, including its signature Budweiser brand, to 10 south-central Montana counties. A relatively new product, wine, is a growth area for the company and Intermountain now distributes it across Montana.
Despite the dire economic news of the past three weeks, negotiations with First Interstate Bank should not be impacted, Brocopp said.

  "We will be borrowing some, yes, but we haven't had any issues because we were putting quite a bit down."

  Jones Brothers Construction should have the facility completed next May. The existing site on First Avenue South will be leased or sold, he said.

  Other developers are working on lots adjoining the Intermountain site.

  Billings developers Rick Dorn, Hannah Elletson and Sam Rankin have teamed up to develop five commercial lots at what they are calling Riverfront Business Park.

  The lots, ranging in size from 3.7 acres to two 13-acre tracts, are suitable for a variety of uses, including regional distribution centers, hotels or large retail complexes.

  "That's an ideal piece of land for any corporate business looking for 24-hour-a-day advertising," Dorn said. "The visibility along the interstate is fantastic."

  The land, zoned controlled industrial, borders Riverfront Park to the south.

  Rankin said he and his partners are looking for solid customers with good credit, so they can borrow during these turbulent times.

  "We're hoping some businesses that have plans for expansion still will be able to build," he said.

  Banks that used to accept a 10 percent down payment on a commercial loan now want much more money on the line: 25 percent to 30 percent from the developer.

  Riverfront Business Park will be served by city water and sewer lines. Last week, COP Construction snaked a water line under I-90 and into the business park.

  Out and about
  Business is so good at Inches-a-Weigh that owner Toni Kramer is moving into larger quarters at the other end of the building at 2499 Gable Road.

  Kramer was scheduling clients every half hour for workouts, but is going to 20 minute intervals.

  The weight-loss and exercise approach doesn't rely on restrictive diets.

  "We are different because we offer menus based on grocery store foods," she said. "We do a lifestyle change and we incorporate exercise all under one roof for lifetime health."

  Scams du jour
  Members of Valley Federal Credit Union have been getting telephone calls from scammers asking for their credit card and debit card information. The number shows up on caller ID as 909-885-3883. That is a real Nissan dealership near Los Angeles, which said that scammers hacked into their phone.

  The credit union sent an e-mail Wednesday to warn its members.

  "Always remember Valley will never call you and ask for personal information over the phone," said VFCU President Chuck Steele. "We already have that information."

  A Billings woman said she received four calls one morning last week from someone in Montego Bay, Jamaica, asking her to go to Wal-Mart and wire $150 to him. Her reward would be $200,000, he said, but she wasn't to tell anyone. After she wired the money, he promised that CNN would show up and take her to the bank to collect her $200,000.

  Finally, beware of a flurry of Internet ads and e-mails encouraging seniors to take out reverse mortgages on their homes so they won't be "distressed" over their income. The claim said seniors can borrow more than $417,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under July's economic recovery bill. HUD hasn't set a lending limit yet. These can be expensive, complicated and risky mortgages.

  A gander at gas prices
After back-to-back hurricanes shut down some Gulf of Mexico refineries, U.S. gasoline inventories have dropped to lows not seen since 1967. And some gas stations from Atlanta to Ohio have run out of gas, according to Reuters.

  However, Montana gas prices actually dropped last week over the previous week.