Hardin lawmaker appointed state commerce director

Gov. Greg Gianforte announced this week that he has tapped Rep. Paul Green, R-Hardin, to replace former Montana Department of Commerce Director Scott Osterman, putting the eastern Montana lawmaker at the helm of the state’s primary economic development agency. Osterman, a former Fortune 500 executive who had been appointed as Gianforte’s initial commerce director in 2021, resigned last month after an internal review found he had violated state expense policy, largely by billing the state for vehicle and lodging expenses related to traveling to the state capital in Helena from his home in K