|
|
|
| MATR Newsletter - Tue Feb 3, 2015 |
"The one who follows the crowd will usually go no further than the crowd. The one who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before." Albert Einstein
All are invited - City Club Missoula Presents:The State Of The Community: Better Jobs, Better Lives, 2/9, Missoula, Montana http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
2014 Montana Politics & 2015 Legislature
Montana Data Focused Business Cluster
- Bills to expand net metering killed by Montana Senate panel
"They've got to come forward and negotiate like any other power supplier, and with a good fair price," said Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell. "Until they do that, I'm going to vote 'no' on all of these net-metering schemes."
- Montana must invest in infrastructure
Build Montana is proposed as one bill to illustrate that all of Montana has a claim in making the right investments in our future. One bill helps us bridge the urban-rural divide and unite East and West as one Montana.
- Young lawmakers making Montana a leader in digital privacy
Whether it's government cameras recording you in public places, or police seeking your emails or other private communication, a group of young, tech-savvy Montana lawmakers says it's time to make it harder for the man to snoop in your digital stuff.
- What Happened When An American Used Britain's 'Socialized' National Health Service?
American Jim Edwards has spent half his life living in the US and half living in the UK.
- Debate Ramps Up Over Early Education in Montana
The argument over early-education funding boils down to fundamental questions over how the state should educate its children and what role the government can play.
- Montana Lawmakers asked to OK $15 million for university research
Commissioner of Higher Education Clayton Christian said the state's university system would use the money to grow the state's economy by developing new ideas in university research labs that could be scaled up by industry.
- Montana superintendents support early education
While we unequivocally support Gov. Bullock's proposal, we caution lawmakers to remember that Early Edge done right means it needs to remain a priority long-term, and not just for the two years specified in the current initiative. Local districts too need resources to ensure their facilities are up to date and able to provide the space our youngest students need to learn and grow.
Great Falls Development Authority
- 7500 companies hiring data scientists
This is an update to our December 2013 article: 6000 companies hiring data scientists. Microsoft and IBM still dominate, but we've seen some shift over the last 12 months:
Come Home Montana
- Great Falls Development Authority Top 21 2/2/15
Downtown Great Falls racked up some pretty amazing numbers in 2014: 17 new downtown businesses, $5,056,509 in renovations, and 26,972 volunteer hours!!
Montana Business
- Montana Career Opportunities - Quality Assurance (QA) Team Members - Education Logistics, Inc.
We are in an exciting time of growth and potential for our QA team, and are looking for enthusiastic, hungry-to-learn persistent colleagues who thrive on a fast-paced environment.
- Video: Montana State University Entrepreneurs - Limitless Possibilities Under An Endless Sky
"I'm in love with Montana. For other states I have admiration, respect, recognition, even some affection. But with Montana it is love." John Steinbeck
- Montana Career Opportunity - Director: Information Technology - Ravalli County
Required Skills Extensive knowledge of current principles and practices of information systems management including managing personnel, projects and resources. Extensive knowledge of the state and federal laws as they apply to information systems and the dissemination of information.
Montana Economic Development
- As Canadian dollar drops, concerns rise for Montana economy
The Flathead Beacon reports ( http://bit.ly/1zrQFT4) that more than 913,000 Canadians visited Montana annually in recent years, collectively spending $275 million on average.
- Jim Kerr is D.A. Davidson's fifth CEO
"We have more employees in the Los Angeles basin than we do employees in Montana."
- Stevensville, Montana's Bitterroot Tool and Machine seeing expansion - looking to hire seven more employees
Jones is shopping for at least seven more workers to add to the payroll, and hopes his success fuels more young Montanans to study tool and dye.
- Montana Photonics Industry Alliance - Representing Montana at the SPIE Photonics Conference in San Francisco Feb. 7-12
Optics and photonics are a significant component of the southwestern Montana economy. On a per-capita basis, Bozeman, Montana has one of the highest densities of optics companies found anywhere in the United States. Many of these companies were founded by Montana State University graduates, often through MSU technology transfer.
Careers
- February MEDA News and Updated Legislative List
- North America's Top 50 Economic Developers Include Brett Doney, Great Falls Development Authority and Jeremy Vannatta, Big Sky Economic Development
The list is compiled by Consultant Connect's robust site selector community and voted on by peers.
City Club Missoula
- The 5 highest paying degrees of 2015
Because more of us are college-educated, this makes it so that "just any" degree will not necessarily suffice for some people anymore.
- Forest Service hiring for 1000 Jobs
Recruiters will fill the seasonal positions for USFS's Region 1, which covers northern Idaho, all of Montana and the Badlands of the Dakotas.
Government
- City Club Missoula Presents:The State Of The Community: Better Jobs, Better Lives, 2/9, Missoula, Montana
Featuring University of Montana President Royce Engstrom, County Commissioner Bill Carey and Mayor John Engen
Idaho Business
- Obama to propose a $478 billion road and bridge program
"These investments will increase infrastructure funding by over a third, support hundreds of thousands of American jobs, and lay the foundations for long-term economic growth," said a White House statement.
Regional Business
- FCC report dings Idaho's broadband Internet access
Idaho falls far behind the national average, the report said.
Regional Economic Development
- Builders go big with tiny house construction business
Tiny Texas Houses start at about $38,000 for a smaller unit, with the price rising for homes with more square footage and intricate architectural elements.
- Specialist Doctors Head for Exit as U.S. Shifts Payments
The government set a timetable last week to extinguish Medicare's "fee-for-service" system, which rewards the quantity of care over quality.
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- Vying for Funding, Rural Counties Often Lose to Big Cities But Here's a Change - The America's Best Communities contest
"The future is going to be people living where they want to live, working from where they want to work, and when you print up your sneakers for your kids on your 3D printer, then it changes how close you have to be to the mall."
Education
- Here's a Plan to Turn Around U.S. Education -- and Generate $225 Trillion
Break down any political discussion of education policy and you'll get the kind of rhetoric typical of a wealth manager. The need to invest in our kids. The untapped resource of our young minds. Children as our greatest asset.
- Speed drills teach kids to hate math
"There is a common and damaging misconception in mathematics--the idea that strong math students are fast math students,"
Montana Education Excellence
- Going to a public college isn't as affordable as it used to be
For the first time ever, according to a recent study, families are shouldering more of the cost of public university tuition than state governments.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- Montana University system officials say they are meeting accountability goals
"The point is to give students the tools to think for themselves. That's the goal. It's not to get a job."
- Montana Superintendent Juneau outlines priorities in State of Education address
During her State of Education address, Juneau said she stands by Governor Steve Bullock to provide high quality education for preschoolers.
Community
- Galactic Farms - Fish food for thought: University of Montana experiment uses fish as local, sustainable farmers
Galactic Farms designs aquaponic systems and provides local businesses with sustainable food from its own aquaponic system.
Funding and Building your Business
- EIGHT New grant announcements
- With SRS Funding in Limbo, Rural Communities on Edge
Local governments in Northwest Montana and across the West are bracing for big budget cuts after Congress failed to reauthorize a federal timber payments program that are critical to rural communities.
Energy and Climate Change
- The One Factor That Predicts an Entrepreneur's Success
This is one of the most compelling findings from my 20-plus years of conducting research with women business owners.
- A Super-Bowl Ad Is Just Half the Battle
It is equally important, ad industry executives say, to make a splash at retail stores with elaborate displays that stand out to reinforce a brand's message and--fingers crossed--actually lead to a purchase.
- It's all about data - The Man Who Knows Whether Any Startup Will Live or Die
Think of it as something akin to Moneyball for investors.
- The Chipotle effect: Why America is obsessed with fast casual food
The market for fast casual food, which is almost but not quite fast food (I'll get to that in a second), has grown by 550 percent since 1999, more than ten times the growth seen in the fast food industry over the same period
Connectivity & Communications
- Seven Reasons Cheap Oil Can't Stop Renewables Now
Here are seven reasons why humanity's transition to cleaner energy won't be sidetracked by cheap oil.
- Glacier Park's Prominent Role in Global Conservation
The National Park Service and other organizations are exploring potential ways to enhance Glacier-Waterton's status on the global stage as a gathering place for international conferences or workshops.
- Show reason in Montana net-metering debate
If legislators do pass net metering bills this session, such as raising power output caps, they should try to make those changes reasonable. Legislators should also try to fashion Montana's net metering system to be as fair as possible, not only to property owners who want to erect a wind turbine or solar panels, but to their fellow electricity customers, who already subsidize those projects in several ways.
- Running on renewable energy, Burlington, Vermont powers green movement forward
In a state known for socially conscious policies, the feat represents a milestone in the growing green energy movement.
- Scientists Seeking to Save World Find Best Technology Is Trees
Oxford University scientists, after a year of research, have determined the best technology to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and try to reverse global warming. It's trees.
Government Technology
- This Guy Found a Way to Block Robocalls When Phone Companies Wouldn't
The states care about this, because Americans are getting hammered by junk phone calls.
- Verizon Will Let Customers Sidestep Its Privacy-Killing 'Perma-Cookie'
The digital marker, which is viewable by any website a user visits, is meant to be a tool central to the wireless carrier's internet advertising business.
- New York Doubles Down on Broadband Expansion
New York has launched a $1 billion broadband program that could raise the bar for state-level high-speed Internet expansion efforts.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- With a Full Year of Data, Chattanooga Begins First Budgeting-for-Outcomes Cycle
"The aim is to make departments use data to change the way they do business. That's just a foreign concept in government."
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- A Montana First - Insane Inflatables Coming to Missoula - May 2, 2015
Made up solely of 11 crazy custom-created inflatable obstacles, the 3.1-mile course is challenging, surprising and unlike anything you've done.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World
Hugely ambitious and highly original, The Beginning of Infinity explores and establishes deep connections between the laws of nature, the human condition, knowledge, and the possibility for progress.
Transportation
- Video: Ceramic 3D Printing at Medalta
Amazing...
- Tesla Model S P85D update of 'insane' acceleration coming, Musk tweets (+video)
With these updates, the Model S P85D should be an even more potent performance car than before. And thanks to its relatively silent electric powertrain, no one will ever hear it coming.
- U.S. transportation chief visits Google to unveil 30-year plan
"If we don't get ahead of those challenges we're going to find ourselves stuck in traffic for a very long time," Foxx said.
- Google reportedly wants to compete with Uber
Google is preparing to offer its own ride-hailing service, most likely in conjunction with its long-in-development driverless car project.
To subscribe or unsubscribe from the free weekly MATR newsletter, please visit our list info page