Bozeman Small Businesses Help Shape Downtown, Local Economy During National Small Business Week

BOZEMAN, Mont. — As National Small Business Week wraps up on Saturday, May 9th, it's a reflection of how Bozeman’s downtown scene shapes its local economy. 

Tatum Johnson is the owner, CEO, and art director of Intrigue Ink on Main Street. She says her passion for the arts is what drew her to opening her own business. 

Johnson grew up in Bozeman and later went to school in Georgia before returning home. 

“I am a born and raised Bozeman local lady. I ended up going to school in Georgia at Savannah College of art and design,” Johnson said. “Once I got back from college, like I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I didn’t know like how to get a job, and that was so intimidating to me, and so I just figured I would start my own job.”  

Intrigue Ink opened in downtown Bozeman in 2011 after Johnson and her sister Paige started the business in their family’s garage. The pair learned how to screen print together and took their home-made designs to various trade shows and farmers' markets. 

“I was able to convince my sister to somehow join me in my adventure of learning how to screen-print t-shirts via YouTube,” Johnson said. “We had like a hand-made screen-printing press, we made all of our own frames, she was my artist, and we just started hopping from farmers market to farmers market, trade show to trade show.”  

The business is now one of many small shops in Bozeman that supports the local economy during National Small Business Week.  

The retail industry in Bozeman has created more than 9,000 jobs from 2017 through the most recent data published in 2022.  

In downtown Bozeman, retail space has also stayed tight, with a vacancy rate of just 1.5 percent since 2025.  

Johnson says it's the impact of these businesses that help define the city. 

“I think small businesses are what give towns personality and character. They reflect the locals that actually live here, the makers that actually live here who support and care about the community,” Johnson said.  

Intrigue Ink is open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday-Saturday, and 11:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. on Sunday’s, at 12 East Main Street.