Colstrip area residents will soon have a community-owned clothing store to purchase basic clothing, begun with the help of a $6,000 grant from PPL Montana.

The company made the grant to the SouthEastern Montana Development Corporation, which is helping launch the “Got Socks” project — a cooperative clothing store in the Cherry Street Mall.

“This project fills a community need while at the same time supporting the local economy,” said David Hoffman, spokesman for PPL Montana. “It’s just one of the many ways that PPL Montana — and its parent company, PPL Corporation — provide support for the communities in which we do business.”

Currently, Colstrip area residents must travel to Miles City or Billings for basic clothing. The new store has been under development since August 2002.

“We are very pleased to have PPL Montana as a corporate partner in this project,” said Jim Atchison, executive director of the SouthEastern Montana Development Corporation. “This kind of cooperation shows that by working together, we can help make southeastern Montana a better place to live and work.”

Company officials will present the check to Got Socks project organizers at an open house for the new store this afternoon (3/12) from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Cherry Street Mall in Colstrip.

PPL Montana has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. With about 500 employees, the company operates the coal-fired Colstrip and Corette power plants and 11 hydroelectric facilities along the Missouri, Flathead, Clark Fork and Madison rivers and Rosebud Creek. PPL EnergyPlus, another PPL subsidiary, operates an energy trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power in the wholesale energy market.