Most local economic development schemes focus on creating jobs. Many offer incentives to startup companies, or try to lure existing companies to relocate.

But a campaign in Montana is turning that on its head. It's not trying to recruit companies but rather employees to come to the sparsely populated state and telecommute.

David Blackburn works for a financial services firm in Jersey City, N.J. He and his wife both have six-figure incomes, but real estate in the New York City area is so expensive that they have to live kind of far from their jobs.

"Every day I get up and put on a suit and get on a train, and it takes about an hour door to door, in the crush of people, in the hot, in the cold," he says. "It wears on you a little bit."

And, once he gets to the office, it's not like he really even has to be there at all.

"Every day I'm working with people in multiple time zones, in multiple countries," Blackburn says. "So, even though I'm physically in the office, I'm essentially telecommuting to where they are."

Blackburn has considered asking if he could do his job from someplace less urban — someplace like Montana.

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Police Report from The Flathead

9:06 a.m. A woman on La Brant Road called in to talk about the overabundance of cats on her property.

9:15 a.m. A heated argument over a $43 figurine took place between the owner of a Bigfork business and the cleaning crew.

9:29 a.m. A Town Pump employee has video footage of the thief who recently stole a pair of sunglasses.

9:41 a.m. Someone on Harmony Court reported that their vehicles were ransacked last night, but nothing was stolen.

1:52 p.m. A resident on Conrad Drive found an adult’s tricycle in her yard.

4:10 p.m. A Kalispell woman has bats in her chimney.

5:53 p.m. A husky turned himself in after a highly destructive chicken killing spree on Alpine Lane.

6:24 p.m. Someone called in to report a “grievous traffic violation” in which another driver turned left from the right hand turn lane.

7:49 p.m. A woman called from Foys Lake to report that a large, drunken man stumbled and fell on top of her daughter.

10:40 p.m. Fireworks were heard in the Hungry Horse area.