Relief for thirsty dogs in downtown Helena

The dog days of summer are nearly upon us, and those days will likely be a bit more comfortable for dogs in downtown Helena thanks to a small piece of street improvement by Darla Agtarap.

Agtarap, who owns the Dippin' Dots franchise inside Game Pods on the 300 block of Last Chance Gulch, noticed last summer that lots of dog owners were leashing their pets to lamp posts or trees hard up against the street.

So this spring, realizing that hitching posts are still legal, she bought several dog hitches in addition to a canine-sized drinking fountain. The hitching posts are outside several businesses on the block, and Agtarap envisions procuring a couple more.

"People use them every day," she said. "I'll have four or five dogs at one time, trying to get around that fountain!"

Agrarap said even dog-owners who don't patronize her business will stick a head inside and say thanks for the water.

Shipping out: Despite the souring economy, last year was a good one for manufactured exports from Montana, according to data compiled by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

In its monthly FedGazette, the regional Fed branch reported that manufactured exports from Montana totaled $1.09 billion last year, a 23 percent increase over 2007.

Nearly half of that total, or $470 million worth of goods, went to Canada, with Asia's "newly industrialized economies" -- Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan -- being the next-largest destination.

The increase came despite a 9.2 percent drop in exports to Europe, down to $158 million.

Chemicals were the largest export category, accounting for $353 million in sales, followed by non-electrical machinery ($184 million), transportation equipment ($149 million), primary metal manufacturing ($114 million) and non-metallic mineral products ($43 million).

Welcome back: Last week's news that Snyder's Western Drug store is closing, and transfering its customers to Albertsons, means that Albertsons will need a pharmacy.

Enter Osco. Or rather, re-enter Osco, the Albertsons pharmacy partner that had two locations in Helena as recently as a few years ago before Albertsons sold many of its stand-alone stores to CVS.

Now the company is expanding its North Montana supermarket to accommodate an Osco Pharmacy, complete with a drive-thru lane for prescription pickup.

Much of the staff will transition from Snyder's to Osco, including manager Bob Gardipee.

E-mail your Open for Business ideas to john.harrington@helenair.com.