Former employees of the Republican candidate for governor, Greg Gianforte, defended him and the company he started in Bozeman at a press conference today.
Over the course of the gubernatorial campaign, the Democratic Party and incumbent Governor Steve Bullockhave worked to undermine Gianforte’s credibility as a businessman and technology entrepreneur. That's led to attacks on Gianforte’s record as founder and CEO of the software firm RightNow Technologies, which sold in 2012 for about $1.5 billion.
Nearly two dozen former employees stood behind former RightNow Chief Information Officer Laef Olson as he defended Gianforte and the company.
“The competency, ethics and business record of so many RightNow Technologies employees are being wrongly and unnecessarily tarnished," Olson said. "RightNow is a world-class company that was started and built in Montana. Steve Bullock and the Democratic Party should think about the damage they are doing to these Montanans and to their own reputation.”
Since Gianforte founded RightNow Technologies in 1997, Olson says it has grown to provide over 500 jobs in Montana. Governor Bullock’s campaign says that RightNow’s business model was based on outsourcing jobs.