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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Feb 12, 2008 |
"The key to being a good manager is keeping the people who hate you away from those who are still undecided." -- Anon
Hope you're planning on attending this World Premier - "The Little Red Truck" Sixty Kids and One Week That Will Change Their Lives Forever, 2/16, Missoula, Montana http://matr.net/articl ... .html
Boomtown Institute
Come Home Montana
- The Agurban from Boomtown Institute. Recession?
We are not in a recession yet; if we fall into a recession it will be mild; and an occasional recession is not bad. Government would do well to make new business formation easier, especially for small and new businesses. A big step in that direction is to cut taxes and reduce regulations.
Missoula Children's Theatre
- Montana Career Opportunity - Marketing director needed — again - Downtown Great Falls Association
"We're looking for someone who wants to be involved in the community, help downtown continue to grow and expand, bring new businesses and blood to the downtown area and get people involved."
PrintingForLess
- World Premier - "The Little Red Truck" Sixty Kids and One Week That Will Change Their Lives Forever, 2/16, Missoula, Montana
When a little red truck rolls into town, sixty local children take on an impossible task... to stage a full-scale musical in just six days. This week will change them forever.
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- PrintingForLess.com Wins Prestigious 2007 Management Plus Award
“We work diligently to hire and train the best to provide our customers with remarkable interactions they’ll want to tell their friends about,” says Andrew Field, PrintingForLess.com Founder and CEO. “This award recognizes how our investments in technology, training and talent companywide have enabled us to continually raise the bar.”
Funding and Building your Business
- The IT worker shortage: Practical considerations for tech buyers
The shortage of skilled IT workers is not like global warming. We are certain the worker shortage is real, and we are definitely feeling its effects now.
Education
- Guy Kawasaki on VC money, entrepreneurship & Web 2.0
You simply take your best shot, and then you retroactively declare how smart you were. Then you blame the failures on your partners.
- How Secure is Your Business? , 02/28, Missoula
Learn what information can be stolen, and how it should be protected from outside theft. Learn about common scams and schemes and what business documents can be misused by criminals and how to prevent it.
Connectivity & Communications
- Utah lawmakers propose keeping teachers in school year-round
"I was able to afford things I'd never been able to afford before," said the Oakcrest Elementary School teacher. "My children had never been on a vacation because I couldn't afford one."
- Governor, Battelle give science, math a boost
“Our commitment to STEM is a strategic and important investment, not only for the students but for the future of the state.”
- The Landscape of Noncredit Workforce Education: State Policies and Community College Practices and Winning the Skills Race and Strengthening America’s Middle Class: An Action Agenda for America’s Community College.
Noncredit workforce education can play an important role in responding to local labor market demands, while also connecting students to long-term educational opportunities and documenting outcomes in a meaningful way.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Crimereports.com produces online crime maps that locate hot spots Data extracted from police systems - users can get it free
A new service on Crimereports.com, launched last year and expanding nationwide, overlays police reports on maps, so people can view where arrests and other police calls have been made. Users can configure e-mail alerts to notify them of crimes in locations of interest within a day.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- Ex-Googlers Launch Instructional Video Site Howcast, Raise $8 Million A Round
The site is launching with professionally-shot instructional videos on everything from “How to Paint a Wall” (see embed below) and “How to Groom Your Cat” to “How to Get Laid.”
- The Next Generation of iPhone Hacks
Apple's plan to release a software kit that lets people create legitimate add-ons for the iPhone could make the device appeal to an even wider audience.
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- Montana Historical Society celebrates Smithsonian affiliation
“We are honored to have this special relationship with the Smithsonian,” Sims said. “This connects what we believe is the premier historical society in the West with one of the greatest historical institutions in the world.”
Montana Business
- Strategic IP due diligence tips for angel investors
Here are some "quick and dirty" questions that angel investors should ask to identify intellectual property issues to prevent investing in a company that is clearly a bad investment.
Montana Economic Development
- Davidson Co.'s security breach reminds that personal data isn't as safe as we'd like
According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, which keeps a database of security breaches, there have been at least 34, including the Davidson incident, in 2008.
- Bitterroot Composite Lumber Public Stock Offering Meetings, 2/12, Missoula, 2/13, Victor, 2/20, Stevensville
“This is a high tech, clean facility in which the extrusion lines can be changed relatively easily to use different feed stocks or to produce different product lines. Our focus is on decking because of the booming demand, but we can move quickly into new products as the market changes.”
- Nomad Technologies Finds Success Building Emergency Vehicles
The founders are happy they’ve been able to keep their growing business in the Flathead Valley, adding jobs to the local economy. When they outsource, they try to use local industries. “There’s a hard work ethic here, and a lot of cottage industries that do amazing work,” Binford said. And, it doesn’t hurt that being in Montana adds a certain mystique to their business, and an enticing vacation spot for interested clients.
Regional Economic Development
- Feedback on Helena, Montana branding plan sought
“We’re at the point in the (branding) process where we need to gather community feedback, so that’s what we’re trying to do,” said Advantage Helena Chairman Matt Cohn.
- Speaker discusses process of improving Sidney Montana's downtown
"The importance of our downtown can't be underestimated, especially in rural communities," Reetz said. "It's important what we think of ourselves and want others to think of us, too."
- $250,000 DOL Grant to Help Montana's Economy, Which is Doing Fine. State cuts AFL-CIO training program
The timing is odd because Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer is proudly pointing to a Feb. 8 report on Montana's strong economy and low unemployment rate by the respected magazine The Economist, which said the state "is prospering on the back of booms in mining and farming, as well as steady growth in tourism."
Government Technology
- Rural Economies As Dynamic As Suburban And Urban Areas. Rate Of Business Formation And Closure Shows Small Differences
American rural economies are as dynamic as their suburban and urban counterparts.
- Local Leaders in Sustainability: A Study of Green Building Programs in Our Nation’s Communities.
The primary goal of this analysis is to provide a tool for communities as well as other levels of government that seek to design green building programs in the future.
Idaho Business
- Montana’s Last Stand Against REAL ID
Governor Brian Schweitzer is the “left’s answer to Ron Paul,” according to one Arizona blogger.
Washington State Business
- North Idaho lakeside town, Sandpoint attracts eclectic startup businesses
Curt Hecker, chairman of Intermountain Community Bancorp, which has headquarters in Sandpoint, says companies could find other areas where costs are lower. But he says their owners choose Sandpoint for its recreational amenities and quality of life.
Energy
- Infinia Corp. lands $50 million for solar power system
By the end of this year, the 40-person company plans to have the first dishes rolling off the line, with staffing mushrooming to 200 people.
Community
- Ethanol may add to global warming
"Using good cropland to expand biofuels will probably exacerbate global warming."
- Missoula Cultural Council announces the launch of a new site linking Missoulians and citizens of our sister cities
Profiles of Neckargemund, Palmerston-North and Missoula citizens will be featured to encourage correspondence between the residents of each community.
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