Jeff Riggs is a self-described “serial entrepreneur.” He has been at least since his days playing basketball at Montana State University, when he used his scholarship money to buy property.

Riggs grew up in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He wasn’t big, but he was a star athlete. He was All-State in football and basketball, and he won a state championship in the triple jump. He was recruited by colllege football teams to kick, but he chose to go to Oregon State to play basketball.

After two years playing for the Beavers, Riggs transferred to MSU, where he found a home. He points out that he finished his career with a winning record against the Montana Grizzles.

In 1997, Riggs came to Butte with some teammates for St. Patrick’s Day. While his friends and teammates were enjoying the party, Jeff, who was the designated driver, noticed the buildings in Uptown Butte.

He fell in love with those buildings, and he now owns some of them. He and his partner have a handful of buildings in the Mining City. That includes the Thornton Building and the Elks Building.

Thanks to Jeff and his partner, the Thornton Building is triving like it hadn’t in years. The Elks is undergoing a renovation that is bringing new life to the old building.

By the way, Jeff is giving the Elks Lodge a pretty good deal so the group can still utilize the building. He’s charging them $1 per year rent, and they signed a 100-year lease.

Probably the coolest part about the way Jeff’s work on these buildings is he is not just renovating them. He’s restoring them to be as close as possible to the way they used to look. He has a great appreciation of history, and he wants to preserve that.

Jeff comes to town two or three days a work to work on the million things he has going on in Butte. He finds time to coach and chase his kids around the state as they play basketball, too.

Oh, and he can be heard as the color commentator on SWX coverage of Montana State basketball games.The man is going 100 miles a minute all the time.

Listen in to this podcast as Jeff talks about how tiny he was when he left high school. Listen as he talks about playing against some future NBA players.

Listen as he talks about playing for the Bobcats and going door to door through the MSU dorms with Danny Sprinkle to recruit students to watch their games.

Listen as he talks about playing his final season at MSU through horrible pain in both knees.

Liten to hear his plans for his buildings in Uptown Butte.

Today’s podcast is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.