A knife manufacturing company in Missoula, founded in a garage just four years ago, held a groundbreaking ceremony on Wednesday morning for a new $18 million, two-story, 50,000-square-foot facility that the owner says will eventually house 150-200 employees.

Josh Smith, the founder of Montana Knife Company, recently purchased the former Missoula Livestock Exchange property near the Wye and heavy equipment has been on the site prepping it for the vertical construction.

A rendering of what the new Montana Knife Co. headquarters will look like.

Smith and business partner Brandon Horoho started the company in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic, and he said they've both been surprised at the company's growth. With a crew of 65 employees right now, they make hunting knifes, tactical knives and general-purpose knives in the $275-$350 price range and ship all over the world. They've got famous customers like Joe Rogan and Dana White and have almost 200,000 followers on Instagram.

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"Honestly, my vision was to be something like this someday, but I just didn't think it would happen that fast," Smith said. "We just exploded. You know, the goal was to build a national brand from day one. That's what we talked about. But I just never though we'd be standing here in 2024."

They've made over 100,000 knives so far this year and next year they're projecting that number to be around 160,000.

Montana Knife Company breaks ground on its future 50,000-square-foot facility on Wednesday, Oct. 23 in Missoula.

Smith said that the company will be bringing in millions of dollars to the Missoula economy by creating jobs here and selling products across the country and the world.

Tim Sheehy, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate who is running against incumbent Jon Tester, a Democrat, was a guest speaker at the event.

"You look at so many of the greatest innovations from America, most of them have not come from our government," Sheehy said. "They've come from small business. They've come from innovation."

Montana Knife Company’s founder, Josh Smith, speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the company’s new facility on Wednesday, Oct. 23 in Missoula.

He listed examples of industrialists and inventors of the past.

"You know, the airplane was built by a couple of guys who figured out that they could just make it happen," Sheehy said. "You know, we won World War II, although we had awesomely brave troops and great generals, you know who won WWII was American business. Henry Kaiser figured out how to build ships in five days instead of five years and Andrew Higgins figured out how to build landing craft that could put troops on the shore and conquer enemy territory. And he did that through small business innovation in Louisiana. And you can go down the list of so many great innovations that have changed this country."

U.S. Senate Candidate Tim Sheehy speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for Montana Knife Company’s new facility on Wednesday, Oct. 23 in Missoula.

Sheehy said the expansion of the company is going to have a positive "downstream" impact on the local economy.

"Because manufacturing jobs are some of the most important jobs in our economy," he said. "Because most of that revenue is coming from out of state."

Smith said he's been working closely with the Missoula County government and they've been supportive and have answered all his questions.

County Commissioner Josh Slotnick spoke and said the company is on the forefront of big economic development in the Wye area west of the city.

"This whole area out here, called the Wye, is slated for development," Slotnick said. "And we at the county are going to bring out sewer, water, road grid and set this place up for more industrial development, commercial development, retail development and housing. And MKC is an anchor for that. They're making this big first step."

Montana Knife Company breaks ground on its future 50,000-square-foot facility on Wednesday, Oct. 23 in Missoula.

He said the county is committed to helping businesses with expenses like wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

"Because these are huge expenses, expenses that businesses and homeowners shouldn't necessarily have to pay for solely," Slotnick said.

Smith, who started making knives at age 11, thanked his parents and all of his employees for helping grow the company.

"We want to prove that it's still possible to do this," he said. "You can go and borrow money. You can build your dream one step at a time, and build a project without having to sell out to some conglomerate to do it. I think it's really important for our employees to see that they're a part of the American dream."

Co-owners Brandon Horoho and Josh Smith embrace during the groundbreaking ceremony for Montana Knife Company’s new facility on Wednesday, Oct. 23 in Missoula.

Montana Knife Company co-owner Brandon Horoho speaks during the groundbreaking ceremony for the company’s new future facility on Wednesday, Oct. 23 in Missoula.

Montana Knife Company breaks ground for its 50,000-square-foot facility on Wednesday, Oct. 23 in Missoula.

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