ALUMNI IN ACTION

Tell us about you…what do you do, where do you live, family life.

Josh is a Butte native and attended Montana Tech to become an engineer.  He married his high school sweetheart, Janelle, and they have been married for 20 years.  They have three children, Emily, 16; Grace, 12; and Brooks, 8.  He and two other friends started Water & Environmental Technologies 17 years ago.  They do various types of engineering consulting related to water and environmental issues.  They mainly focus on the Rocky Mountain Region, but they do work in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, and Colorado.

Tell us about a favorite memory from your Leadership Montana Class of 2016

Overall Josh enjoyed the whole experience.  He heard about it locally, but was hesitant to apply because it was out of his element.  He decided to apply and jump in and was amazed at the closeness of the group that is so diverse and that they could have such open great conversations.  One of his favorite memories were the classroom conversations to learn more about each individual.

What has been the strongest impact that Leadership Montana has made on your life, professionally or personally?

Leadership Montana helped Josh gain the ability to understand people better both personally and professionally.  It made him realize that everybody doesn’t operate and think like he does and helped him learn how to deal with other personalities better.

What do you see as the role for Leadership Montana in our state?

Leadership Montana is a place that promotes a critical message across the state from the private sector to the public sector to help people realize that you have to hear both sides of the coin and be open to constructive conversations to hear all perspectives.  By continuing to grow the alumni base in Montana, it will help our state come together to become better.  

Finally, tell us what you appreciate most about Montana.

The people. Montana people are real and genuine.  They treat you with respect and that is something we need to preserve.  As we continue to grow and become more diverse, we need to keep our rural way of life and sense of community as much as we can.