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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Jan 23, 2009 |
"I love to go to Washington -- if only to be near my money." -- Bob Hope
"2009 Montana Economic Outlook Seminar, 01/27 - 3/10, Many Cities Throughout Montana" http://matr.net/events ... =2588 --- "2009 Montana Ambassadors Annual Conference - Special Guest - T. Boone Pickens , 2/26-27, Helena" http://matr.net/events ... =2618
Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Montana World Trade Center
- China's Patent Law Revamped - Dorsey & Whitney LLP
The revisions have addressed various important issues central to the better protection, exploitation and enforcement of patent rights in China.
PrintingForLess
- MWTC E-news
Nominations are being sought for the 2008 State of Montana Governor’s Excellence in Exporting Award. Sponsored by the Montana Governor’s Office and the Montana District Export Council (DEC), this award will recognize a firm or individual that has made a significant contribution to the economy through export activities.
Three Cups of Tea - The Central Asia Institute
- PrintingForLess Newsletter - January 2009
The start of a new year is refreshing in that it affords us time to reflect, analyze and develop strategies for the coming year. This article from StartupNation.com will give you a head start by providing a sneak peak at the top 20 major Internet marketing trends taking shape for 2009.
Come Home Montana
- The Today Show - Reaching young minds Greg Mortenson and the Pennies for Peace program (Three Cups of Tea - a humanitarian tale)
“Kids are so excited,” Bishop said, especially about Mortenson’s Pennies for Peace program, which allows children here to raise pennies that will buy pencils and school supplies for students in Pakistan. “It would feel empowering if kids could read it themselves.”
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Peaks and valleys - Jenni Lowe-Anker’s new book, “Forget Me Not” reveals family life, death of husband, renowned climber Alex Lowe. - The Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation
“Montana plays a huge role in our story, because it was always a place of respite for us no matter what was going on,” Jenni said. “This is home, where our families live, where all our roots are. We’re lucky to be here.”
Leadership Montana
- Are You A Humpty-Dumpty Entrepreneur?
Just because you're smart, confident and hardworking doesn't mean you should run a business.
Montana Business
- Four-week course for managers begins Feb. 10 at MSU - "Applied Leadership Level 1: Lead Great People"
Topics include employee motivation, coaching, leading teams, time management and communication. The course is hands-on and includes several self-assessments, personal strategic plans and time to create measureable goals related to individual work situations.
Montana Economic Development
- Kalispell area firms told they need to take lead in recovery
"The outlook is pretty grim," Semitool Inc.'s Steven Thompson told 250 people at the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon. "The thing now is survival The key is making your customers profitable. If you make them successful, you will be successful."
- Wells Fargo in Montana seeks mortgage-processing help
In Billings, Wells Fargo employs about 650 people, Drumm said. The new temporary workers will work in the Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Center, which is being created by the company to assist in mortgage loan processing, Drumm said.
- Serving up a local solution - Montana Food Products, LLC
Huge potential exists in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of local foods.
- The Logless Log Home - EverLog Systems of Missoula, Montana
EverLog homes have quickly won adherents in the homebuilding world. “It looks good, there’s no shifting or movement of the logs, no need to chink and re-chink. The downside of real logs is gone... It would take a flame-thrower to start this place on fire.”
- EverLog Systems Newsletter January 2009
EverLogs™ are the worry free and environmentally friendly solution to log construction.
- Economic Outlook Seminar Travels To Nine Montana Cities
“The rosy outlook for Montana has unraveled with surprising speed,” said Patrick Barkey, director of UM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. “We are facing the most significant downturn we’ve seen in 20 years.”
- 7th Annual Economic Future Of The Flathead Presentation, 1/28, Kalispell, Montana
The Economic Future of the Flathead will detail the 2008 real estate market and the changes in the buying power of the Flathead Valley over the last 12 months.
- GreenShift Receives Grant from the Montana Board of Research and Commercialization for Algae Bioreactor Technology
“We are excited to have this opportunity as the grant funding provided by the state of Montana further demonstrates Montana’s commitment to the development of alternative raw materials for fuels, chemicals and specialty products.
- Helena in good shape economically, city manager says
Helena hasn’t yet developed a budgetary reliance upon funds collected from new construction, which has slowed over the past year, leaving some other cities in a bind.
Regional Economic Development
- Nominations Requested for Montana’s Tourism Awards - Deadline is March 6, 2009
“Travel and tourism continues to be an important cog in Montana’s economic wheel and it is the hardworking and creative Montanans within this industry that continue to propel its success,” said Governor Brian Schweitzer.
- Lincoln County, Montana lays groundwork for job education program
While free to anyone who wants to participate, the grant proposal suggests focusing on disadvantaged groups, such as the young, undereducated, formerly incarcerated, probationers and those re-entering the workforce, such as mothers and older people.
- Flooring plant in Columbia Falls, Montana future? Maybe
On another note, Bennett said a renewable energy company is considering locating in northwestern Montana, initially in Ronan and later in northern Flathead County — potentially at the county landfill.
- Group aims to build solar plant in the Flathead Valley. Meeting planned for Jan 22 for anyone interested in participating.
Ultimately, the group hopes to build a new facility to manufacture photovoltaic solar panel systems — a technology that does not require direct sunlight to operate and could dovetail well with the local power grid.
- Montana Gov. Schweitzer tells legislative leaders that stimulus will come earmarked - lawmakers could have little say on stimulus
"Anybody that thinks the money is going to come to us as some kind of block grant is smoking pine cones," Schweitzer said.
- Leaving a Legacy for Future Generations - The Montana Legacy Project
When the Montana Legacy Project is fully implemented, all of us will have taken advantage of an opportunity to do something significant to protect Montana's landscape for future generations. It is a gift worth giving. Let's not pass it up.
Business Plan Forums
- Montana Senator Jon Tester: "We need more jobs, not more bailouts"
I wanted to see more accountability. And I wasn’t convinced that those bailouts would work over the long haul. Instead, we need a plan to put folks to work rebuilding the economy from the ground up. We need more jobs, not more bailouts.
- The Perils of 'Shovel-Ready' Projects
We can’t do better now, the lobbying legions say, we need to start the bulldozers fast. Translation: No bridge to nowhere will be left behind.
Careers
- Montana American Indian Business Leaders (AIBL) Business Plan Competition, 4/20-21, Missoula, Montana
AIBL is proud to announce that they have teamed up with the Montana Indian Business Alliance (MIBA) to bring the Montana AIBL chapters another opportunity to develop and grow as entrepreneurs through the Montana AIBL Business Plan Competition.
Funding and Building your Business
- The National Center for Women & Information Technology
The National Center for Women & Information Technology is a coalition of more than 160 prominent corporations, academic institutions, government agencies, and non-profits working to increase women's participation in information technology (IT).
Incubators and R&D
- Look in 'Mirror' for Unvarnished View of Your Business
The name of the game going into 2009 is: "Who will see 2010?"
- Top ten reasons managers become as*(_&#s
#2 They are insecure in their role.
- Innovating your way to the top
As innovation begets innovation, CEOs too believe in engaging more innovation partners by sharing knowledge.
- The Upside of Hiring Now
Why companies who can add employees now should.
- Inside Entrepreneurship: Tips for valuing stock options at startups
How should I price them and when should they expire?
- Keiretsu Forum "Best of" Newsletter
We thank the authors of these "Best of" articles for their valuable contributions about best practices in investing, due diligence, and market trends. We hope their words will both inform and inspire you.
Montana Education Excellence
- New data from the University of Washington shows much of Antarctica is warming more than previously thought
"West Antarctica is a very different place than East Antarctica, and there is a physical barrier, the Transantarctic Mountains, that separates the two," said Steig, lead author of a paper documenting the warming published in the Jan. 22 edition of Nature.
- Yellowstone Park Receives Funds For Unique Research Project
The money will be used to fund a project expected to discover new life in Yellowstone. The shoreline and bottom of Yellowstone Lake contain hydrothermal vents, which are considered rich habitat for microbes.
- Tree death rate in Pacific Northwest doubled in 17 years
Trees are dying twice as fast as they did three decades ago in older forests of the western United States and scientists suspect warming temperatures are a contributing factor.
Regional Business
- MSU to host annual robotics tournament Jan. 23-24, for Montana middle and high school students
High school students compete on Friday in the FIRST Tech Challenge. Using robots built from a parts kit, two-team alliances must get more hockey pucks in the goal than their opponents using both preprogrammed robot movements and remote control.
- Spaces available in MSU class on global poverty
There may be a few spots remaining for students interested in a Montana State University Honors Great Expeditions class on global poverty that will culminate in a two-week tour of the Dominican Republic at the end of the spring semester.
- Montana State University campuses get $1.97 million grant for wind turbines
"We've been researching wind energy technology and industrial technology for more than a year now," said Joe Schaffer, interim dean of MSU-Great Falls. "We've also been kicking around the idea of a regional program."
- Community colleges seen as crucial during economic downturn - lobby Helena, citing economy
A lot of workers are finding themselves asking that same question. Unemployment in the Flathead hit 7.3 percent last month. With that many peope out of work, the pressure on local community colleges and other two-year institutions increases.
- In tough times, higher ed needs even more support
Over the last two decades, the United States has lost its position of world leadership measured by the educational attainment of its citizens. We now rank in the second tier rather than the first. Montana has paralleled the national trend, and the prospects for changing that at this point do not look good. It behooves us to keep this challenge in mind as we think about ways to deal with current economic conditions.
- Researchers at Montana State University, Montana Tech and the University of Montana share in $1.4 million grant for carbon sequestration research
The project will study the environmental effects of geologic carbon sequestration, which involves injecting large volumes of liquefied carbon dioxide deep underground. Storing CO2 underground keeps it out of the atmosphere and keeps it from contributing to global climate change.
- Montana Tech's College of Technology to start wind turbine technician program
With a renewed push for wind energy and German company Fuhrlander planning to build a wind turbine factory in Butte, the demand for qualified employees for the industry is only going to grow, said John Garic, dean of Montana Tech's College of Technology.
Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)
- States urged to help more jobless workers
For the millions of Americans losing their jobs in this recession, the likelihood of getting unemployment insurance benefits depends on where they live.
- An Online Farmers Market (Are you selling your products nation-wide?)
The local food movement has been all about buying seasonal food from nearby farmers. Now, thanks to the Web, it is expanding to include far-away farmers too.
University Business Plan Competitions
- SBIR to Be Victim of Recovery Myopia?
The proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, released last week by the House Appropriations Committee, would dramatically increase federal funding for research in several agencies required to participate in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.
University TechTransfer
- BYU Business Plan Compeition Hosts Speed Pitch
The Speed Pitch Competition, is an opportunity for idea owners to pitch their business ideas to investment professionals under strict time constraints.
Idaho Business
- Intellectual Property Awareness - Building & Protecting IP Value, 2/19, Bozeman, Montana
Attendees will also have the opportunity to hear about the Montana University System's win-win approach to technology transfer.
Utah Business
- 15 Idaho organizations partner to support businesses
"This event will give you the information you need to turn your idea into an Idaho business," said Rick Ritter, chief executive of TechConnect. " Starting a business gives you the chance to make a job, not take a job."
- Starting up: Be an entrepreneur, even if you don't own your own business
I see this as investing in my children's future. I moved back here because I wanted to raise my family where I grew up. I don't want them to have to move away to get a decent job.
- Idaho educators see no easy ways to cut spending on schools
Facing possible reductions of up to $130 million, school districts once planning expanded programs are now talking about saving jobs and protecting student-teacher contact time.
- Boise Region Grapples With Smog, a Growing Threat
After years of growth and suburban development, the region that includes Boise and its suburbs, known as the Treasure Valley, is on the brink of violating federal clean air standards, and experts say the only real solution is one that might seem awfully un-Idahoan: persuading people to drive less.
- Class teaches Idaho high school students entrepreneurship - Idaho Digital Learning Academy
The class, Entrepreneurial Economics, is an alternative to the required senior course in economics, and it teaches students to apply economic concepts to their own business ideas.
- Word-of-mouth advertising gets boost from Facebook and Twitter - Seybold Scientific in Boise, Idaho
Seybold and others involved in social-media marketing have an evangelical zeal for the field's potential. They say social-media marketing combines the mythic effectiveness of word-of-mouth with the limitless power of the Internet to connect people.
Washington State Business
- Changes Made to Americans With Disabilities Act
Under the amendments, more employees will qualify as disabled, thereby requiring employers to reasonably accommodate them.
- Utah's four-day workweek doesn't save as much as predicted
After the Legislature suggested cutting $3 million from an energy-efficiency fund, state officials acknowledged savings from the four-day workweek experiment probably won't save the $3 million originally predicted.
Education
- Microsoft layoffs could boost Seattle's tech industry in long run
Puget Sound area is home to 100 companies launched by ex-Microsoft employees
Government
- Ray McNulty of the International Center for Leadership in Education advocates education overhaul at Billings event.
What's the one word many students use to describe school? "Boring"
- A Female Face on Executive M.B.A.s
Business Schools Step Up Efforts to Attract More Women to Pricey Degree
- Utah-Based Western Governors University to Award More Than 600 Degrees to Graduates from Across the U.S.
WGU is a non-profit, online university founded by 19 U.S. governors to expand access to quality higher education for working adults. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in Education, Information Technology, Business and Healthcare.
Connectivity & Communications
- Obama's words: Inaugural address
"Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."
- Scientists Welcome Obama’s Words - an end to eight years of stark tension between science and government.
Staff members throughout the government’s scientific agencies held inaugural parties on Tuesday, and many reported being teary-eyed with joy.
Energy
- MTA Commentary--Broadband economic stimulus, Part II
As Congress reviews economic stimulus proposals, Montana Senate President Bob Story has proposed an Interim Committee to oversee and evaluate stimulus package funding.
- The Connectors
As touchy-feely as that might sound, the idea of doing good deeds for business associates without necessarily expecting anything in return is a thread that runs through the practices of the people we profile in this section.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Learn How To Profit From Climate Change, 2/3, Boise, Idaho
Hear about strategies for creating value with climate change strategies at a symposium Tuesday, Feb. 3, at the Stueckle Sky Center at Boise State University.
- Dead trees = energy independence?
"This project was developed as a mobile solution to finding ways to use waste wood and other products in an environmentally friendly way." Paul Williamson
Government Technology
- The Car of the Future Promised for October
The world's first mass production-ready vehicle that exceeds 100 mpg.
Non-Profit News
- Revamped Whitehouse.gov Launched
Minutes before President Barack Obama took the oath of office Tuesday, his new administration launched a new http://www.Whitehouse.gov Web site that dovetails with Obama's commitment to new media.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- The Greater Ravalli Foundation Newsletter
We look forward to accomplishing even more and to come even closer to reaching our ultimate goal of ensuring a healthy future for the children of the Bitterroot.
- Intel's Craig Barrett: Small Deeds Done Are Better Than Big Deeds Planned
Here is Paul Mooney's video of Intel chairman Craig Barrett talking about Intel's involvement in the "Small Things Challenge." Intel will contribute 5 cents per click if you visit the site.
- Big Sky Institute launches blog, seeks contributors - "A Closer Look: Climate, Wildlands, People"
BSI is seeking other experts to contribute to the blog through occasional or regular postings and by forwarding science information of interest. Contributors do not need to be affiliated with MSU; experts who work for other organizations and are connected to the science of the region are welcome.
- Profits and charity - How to be bold
A story of penny wise and pound foolish...
VIRUS ALERTS
- A bright idea - Ken Burns' “National Parks: America’s Best Idea” previewed in Bozeman, Montana
An audience of about 700 at Bozeman’s Emerson Theatre stood to applaud and cheer after seeing a 50-minute sneak preview of the new 12-hour Burns documentary “The National Parks: America’s Greatest Idea.” http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/ It will air this fall over six nights.
- MasterCard, Visa warn security breach may compromise data
"We're heartsick over this."
- Computer virus known as Conficker or Downandup is in 1st step of mayhem
A new digital plague has hit the Internet, infecting millions of personal and business computers in what seems to be the first step of a multistage attack.
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