Dear Editor: Sheehy an Astute Businessman

Dear Editor,

In the Montana Senate race, Sheehy is running as the successful businessman versus the professional politician, parallelling Trump’s presidential campaigns. However, some people are questioning how successful Sheehy is.

The first claim is that Sheehy had an unfair advantage in his start-up from his wealthy family. It is reported that he received around $400K in seed money.

Tester inherited 1,800 acres of farmland from his grandparents’ estate. Assuming a modest value of $500 per acre, that would be $900K, excluding buildings, machinery, and livestock.

The important thing is what they did with that investment.

Tester seems to have been competent with the farm he inherited, neither losing it nor expanding operations, maximizing farm subsidies. He was also a music teacher prior to becoming a career politician for almost three decades.

Sheehy built a wildfire company employing around 150 people, with revenues of $67M. The 2023 Balance Sheet reflects Fixed Assets of $196M: planes, buildings, and equipment employing external contractors to build.

Secondly, Sheehy’s business acumen is being questioned due to his organization showing losses.

Two profit lines are widely used on financials; Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) and what the IRS calls Taxable Income. EBITDA is commonly used as a performance indicator for companies’ management teams.

Using EBITDA, we see that 2023 Sheehy’s company made $18.7M, up $15M from their 2022 EBITDA.

In summary, the facts seem to support that Sheehy is the astute businessman he claims to be, at least more than Tester may reasonably claim.

STU GOODNER

Boulder, Montana