The Jefferson Local Development Corporation (JLDC) completed its search for a new executive director, naming Helena business owner and real estate agent Samantha Yearry to the position last week. Yearry will succeed Lyndsey Graham, who resigned in February after a year in the role.
Yearry, 38, specializes in land development and project negotiation, and has been a part of realtor Corder & Associates’ sales team since 2022. She has also operated a private photography business for 14 years.
Prior to her real estate career, she worked as a marketing manager for the Capital City Health Club, and as a rates analyst for a transportation logistics firm. She hopes to use her experience to take a multilateral approach to supporting economic growth in Jefferson County.
“I feel as if Bozeman’s example of growth feels somewhat unattractive to people here,” said Yearry. “Some places that have grown really quickly and dramatically just don’t feel like Montana anymore, and we want to make sure that Jefferson County stays recognizable as it grows.”
Yearry stressed the importance of protecting housing affordability in the face of rising property values and heightened economic activity. “We need to bring jobs in, but we also need enough to make sure housing is affordable for people to live where they work. Yes, we want to make Jefferson County attractive for new development, but we’re now more focused on expanding our relationship with businesses already operating here.”
Yearry hopes to expand the JLDC’s footprint in Jefferson County. Of the 2000 businesses registered in the county, only 40 are active JLDC members. Yearry hopes to reach 500 members in the first two years of her tenure.
As executive director, she also intends to continue the JLDC’s work in supporting community child care and creating new partnerships with schools and facilities in the county. JLDC, with the Boulder Childcare Working Group, in 2021 established the Southwest Montana Youth Partners, which aims to make quality childcare more accessible and affordable to Jefferson County families.
“Community helps community,” she said. “My kids are going to grow up here, and I’d like it to feel how it felt when I was young.”
Yearry says she plans to move her family from Helena to Jefferson County, and, as of last week, has closed her private photography business in order to more fully focus on her role with JLDC.