MTA's Enott wants to let
policy direction develop
Bruce Enott, the newly elected president of the Montana Tavern Association, says he likes to travel.
We hope he likes to travel around Montana because he's likely to be doing a lot of that in the next two years of his term. In fact we have already, at mid-October and just three weeks after his election, crossed paths with Enott in Helena and Butte while he was out and about on official duties.
Enott is a partner in the Lido Bar on First Ave. Northwest in Great Falls with his older brother, Tom. He was born and raised in Great Falls, graduated C.M. Russell High School there, then earned a bachelors degree in History and Social Sciences from Northern Montana College in Havre, adding an elementary education major that had him teaching junior high school and fourth grade for awhile.
He then tried his hand at the bar business in about 1984, tending the plank at the Rose Room which later became the Gold Dust Casino. It was in 1993 that he and Tom bought the Lido (pronounced "leedoe") from their uncle and aunt, Mike and Peggy Ehnot (Bruce will tell you why the last names are spelled differently, if you ask).
The Lido was first established on First St. South near the bus depot, but was moved to it's current west side location in 1967, Bruce relates.
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MTA president Bruce Enott at Helena headquarters.
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He says his ancestors were of Czech heritage and came to the U.S. to work in coal mines and did so around Lehigh and Stanford not far from Lewistown. Later, Bruce's father worked at the copper smelter on the north side of Great Falls. His folks later took up dryland wheat farming on some ground south of Great Falls, which Bruce and brother Tom farm to this day on the side.
Some have likened the Montana Tavern Association to a fraternity where qualified and motivated candidates "move up through the chairs" and eventually into the top office. Well, ascending to the presidency is really driven more by dedication and qualification, but there certainly is a "paying your dues" aspect to the progression.
Enott has certainly done that.
He and the Lido have been on the MTA membership rolls "since the beginning," Enott says. He then served as a Cascade County Tavern Association (CCTA) board member before serving as it's president from 1999-2000. At the state level, he's been a board director and has served as a member of the Public Relations Committee and Budget and Membership Committee.
Closer to home, Enott has worked on the DUI Task Force and is head of the county's home-safe program. He is also a member of the locals Elks Club.
He says he is not approaching the MTA president's job with any strict agenda, but rather wants to see the policy direction develop as things move forward.
Statewide, Enott says, all kinds of business operators are struggling to keep their enterprises profitable in this challenging economy. And, he says, he knows state tax revenues are down and that means the state might start looking for more tax revenues generated from adult beverage and gaming and paid by licensed venues.
"That's always the major one (agenda item)," Enott says. "But we've got to be able to afford to stay in business."
"I don't know it all," he says. "I want to learn, get to know everyone in the organization. I admire the people I know in the MTA. Any organization, MTA included, needs help from the members and I thought I could help."
Besides, Enott says, there is a "sense of duty." He cites "60 years of people building something for today's operators. I want to keep that going." He specifically mentions Darrell Keck, Harry and Sharyn Klock, Ralph Ferraro and Tom and Mary Jane Heisler as inspirational mentors.
Enott says the bar business in Great Falls currently is "not gangbusters but is steady." But it involves "stick-to-it-ness," he says. "If we stick with it, it will improve. These are tough times right now.
"But I like the business and am planning to stay in it," he says. "I make a decent living at it." The key is "to get along" with partners, officials, staff and customers, "bending when you have to; being flexible with staff – especially those who have kids; keeping communications open; mixing with business peers and community involvement."
Enott says he has a cousin who has been working at the Lido for 32 years, and that cousin's kid works there, too.
It helps to be "an owner who comes to work," Enott says. "The customers – and staff – get to know you and know you care. Besides, it's fun!" he says.
Well, his definition of "fun" may strike some as a little twisted since Enott’s "fun" begins at 5 a.m. with a round of bookkeeping entries and balancing. Later in the day, he says he catches a nap, then works until about 8 p.m. before calling the work day done.
Despite a heavy work schedule, Enott, a life-long bachelor who says he has "come close a few times," has found time to develop a bowling enthusiasm ("my average isn't as good as it used to be") and indulge his favorite interest: travel.
He's been to Hawaii, Alaska, Mediterranean cruises, Paris, London .... He says he liked his Alaskan trip best which consisted of a cruise through the inside passage and train travel through the magnificent glacial vistas and abundant wildlife.
"It was fantastic," he says. He also says he enjoys sampling foreign and native foods.
As for his travels in the lower forty-eight, he is an ardent fan of Las Vegas, too.
"The casinos are like another world. I love the entertainment and shows; Ceasar's, New York New York, Bellagio, the Fremont Street Experience. I like it all, except that I spend too much," he says with a laugh. "