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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Apr 21, 2006 |
There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer...It is the customer who determines what the business is... Because it is its purpose to create a customer, any business enterprise has two - and only these two - basic functions: marketing and innovation" Peter F. Drucker
Montana Education Excellence
Montana Meth Project
- Coleman brothers earn Presidential Leadership scholarships from UM.
“I like Montana,” said Robert, “so I'll probably teach in the state, and it will probably be high school band.” His program at UM, said Robert, has a 100 percent placement success rate for students making the grade the first year. This summer he plans on returning home to Kiowa and help out with the family business.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Meth success. The Montana Meth Project is back in Montanans’ faces today with the launch of its second round of hard-hitting, anti-methamphetamine advertisements.
While the graphic nature of the advertisements prompted some controversy, Siebel explained that he was dealing with a “tough, jaded audience — kids,” and the data collected indicates that the method has generated increased parent-teen discussion about meth use.
Education
- Young Entrepreneurs Skip Corporate Arena
For some twentysomethings, getting ahead is not about sitting still for a better job or the next raise. It's about unrestrained ambition.
Montana Business
- Milwaukee Public Schools District aims to provide free Web access. Students, staff would get in-home wireless Internet
The district would be one of the first public entities in the country to launch a WiMax system, using television channels that the Federal Communications Commission allocated for educational purposes. A pilot system covering roughly 5 square miles is scheduled to be operating by August 2007.
- Victor, Montana School Board adopts 4-day school week
The benefits to the district include saving money on cafeteria costs, heating bills and transportation expenses, he said.
- A bar raised for all. Baltimore County attracts national attention for its efforts to increase the level of every student's achievement.
What it boils down to, is ensuring that all students are taught well.
- Montana CTE Teachers to Receive $25,000 in Grants from Qwest to Support Innovative Uses of Technology
“Technology plays a critical role in almost every aspect of our lives, especially in learning. We want to help provide Montana CTE teachers and students with opportunities to showcase how technology can be used more effectively in the classroom, said Rick Hays, President Qwest Montana.
Montana Economic Development
- Qwest cutbacks to cost Helena area 70 jobs
“As we look across the corporation, we’re trying to gain maximum efficiencies, and that means moving to larger call centers in the 350 to 500 person range,”
- Western Montana Growers Go Beyond Organics & Get Local. 12 Missoula, Montana-area organic farms have formed a group that will offer an alternative to the USDA organic certification
Finding a market shouldn’t be a problem in Western Montana. Missoula grocers say the demand for fresh, local organics is huge.
- The Sip-N-Dip Tiki Lounge in Great Falls, Montana. - Song and a dip/'Piano Pat,' mermaids put bar on the map
The mermaids only swim on weekends.
- Expanding, Retaining Best Approach to Growth - The "BEAR" Program
"We are in business to serve the business community," said Wardi, "The stuff we are selling are ideas and assistance. If we do that very well other pieces of the puzzle will fall into place."
- The Great Falls International Airpor in negotiations with new tenant; attractive Web site up-and-running
Lu Bourcier is working to sell Front Range Aviation, a fixed- based operator business he began in 1995. The buyer, Mike Cunningham, is a Cut Bank native operating a fixed-base operator business in Saipan and Guam.
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- Bitterroot Resort Developer, Tom Maclay submits new permit application seeking permission to include 1,680 acres of U.S. Forest Service land in his project.
The new application is in response to the Forest Service's decision last year denying Tom Maclay permission to include public land adjacent to his family's ranch in his proposal for the Bitterroot Resort.
- Business folks work to revitalize Choteau, Fairfield and Augusta downtowns
"We are trying to get people to stop, and buy local,"
- Community Hospital of Anaconda Is First to Bring Personal Health Records to Montana
Community Hospital of Anaconda and its affiliated medical staff will be offering the iHealthRecord via the Medem Network, the largest secure online physician communication network in the U.S.
- Mr. Steven Galbavy Is New Executive Director of Opportunity Link Inc. in Northcentral Montana
“The goal of helping to reduce poverty in a 32,000 square mile area of Northcentral Montana will require an Executive who can see the big picture while not loosing sight of the details, and we believe Steve Galbavy has that insight.”
Funding and Building your Business
- Montana Capital Investment Action Group - 5/12, Helena, MT
If you're interested in developing funding opportunities for startups including Angel networks and Venture Funding, please join us in Helena on Friday May 12th to brainstorm and share ideas & resources
- State funds help fill a void on startup investing
Wanted: Investors willing to risk money in "the valley of death."
Global Telework
- Webmonkey Q&A: Search Engine Optimization
Search engine algorithms, by nature, are a well-guarded secret. Search engines do not give away the particulars of how they work. We know, as an SEO community, generally what they do and how they index web pages.
- The Guide to Venture Capital from Inc.com
Here Inc.com shares advice for finding and securing venture capital, including some back-to-basics information on your capital search, ways to target and court the appropriate VCs, and how to make your business plan and pitch irresistible.
- What are Your Barriers to Entry?
There are no sustainable barriers – capital, brand, cost advantage, etc., all evaporate over time.
- A Web site is a key component to your business. Plan ahead.
The best Web sites are those that serve the purpose of their owners.
- Venture capitalists and Angels explain what they look for in investment proposals
"We want to know the good news and the bad news upfront," Dwyer said. "We'd rather know your thoughts on second rounds of funding than learn about it later on."
- Building The 'A' Team
Growth is a good problem to have--if you can add enough good people to manage it.
- 4 Steps to Spectacular Customer Service
A simple, four-step process can help you create the type of business that draws customers in again and again.
Regional Business
- Census: Americans Are Fleeing Big Cities in Search of Cheaper Homes and Open Spaces Farther Out.
Maine, Rhode Island, Maryland and Wyoming, which lost population to other states in the 1990's, have gained residents from elsewhere in the country since 2000.
Regional Economic Development
- Tech economy in Utah thrives, national, state studies indicate. Idaho High-tech exports third highest % in nation.
"Utah's strong work ethic and high level of education make it an attractive location for technology companies to develop new products and techniques,"
Utah Business
- Telemedicine and Distance Learning grants
Here is the funding notice for the USDA Rural Development Distance Learning and Telemedicne grants.
- San Francisco Mayor -- Technology and the Global Economy
Politicians should "get out of the way" of progress. What's going on, he said, is rapid change. The president of Estonia, said Newsom, visited recently, "And he starts telling me how people are paying for parking and their property taxes with their cell phones -- in Estonia!"
Utah Economic Development
- Employers feel the squeeze in Utah. Salaries rising to compete for scarce employees
Staffing and recruiting companies say a number of employers are raising wages in Utah to levels found in other western states - including California.
Government Technology
- More incentives for Utah firms urged
State economic development officials want to help more in-state companies benefit from financial incentives that historically have been used to lure out-of-state firms to Utah.
- Utah trade mission in Mexico is a success. Orders and contracts: At least 3 of the 10 companies that courted the neighbor nation to the south see results in only a few weeks
Bishop attributed much of the success that Chisco experienced to the planning by the state's trade representatives. They worked for months arranging the face-to-face meetings between the Utah business owners and their counterparts in Mexico. "Everyone who I met with already had copies of our product brochures. They were familiar with Chisco and what it did, and many were ready to do business," Bishop said.
Idaho Business
- Online XML Toolkit for Government Agencies
"The Toolkit is for any government agency that is considering XML as a tool for Web site management,"
Washington State Business
- Inc. editor ranks Boise's ECCO as 'Small Giant'
"It's the business equivalent of charisma," he said. "It's a feeling of 'us, too.' You want to be associated with a business like that. You want to work for it, ware its t-shirts, ware its hats."
Government
- Washington State Releases Global Competitiveness Recommendations
The State of "Washington is its own small nation in this new world economy." Gov. Christine Gregoire
- Qpass sold for $275 million. Amdocs pays cash for VC-backed company that saw tough times
It is the third-largest acquisition of a privately held, venture-backed technology company in the state.
- $16 million boost for Seattle's Widevine. Its encryption technology proving popular
"A video service is only as good as the content security component," says Baker.
Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)
- Bozeman's Mayor Delivers His "State Of The City" Address. Krauss: "Cities Exist For Two Reasons: To Facilitate Commerce And Create Wealth"
What’s the state of our city? We are a great place to live because people can earn a living, create a successful business, care for their families, and with hard work and careful savings pursue any American dream. We have a great hospital, a fine university, and we’ve got lots of leisure and cultural activities. We’ve got a great small city.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- 2006 Phase 0 Solicitation Open for Montana Small Businesses
The purpose of this program is to facilitate high quality SBIR Phase 1 proposals and to broaden participation from Montana small businesses through Phase 0 competition assistance grants.
Incubators and R&D
- The 10 Wackiest E-Commerce Sites
To help bring some diversity to your online spending sprees, Wired News asked around for suggestions in order to present you this limited, biased but gem-packed list of some of the coolest online stores.
Small Diameter Timber Utilization
- MSU is granted $4 million for Geological Research on CO2.
The project will focus on the development of instrumentation and protocols to accurately measure the amount of CO2 stored at a specific underground site.
- Research Roundup at Montana State University (#258), Rocket science in Montana, Satellite, heal thyself, Hot time in Bozeman, HAA busters?
Christopher Jenkins, head of MSU's mechanical and industrial engineering department, is working with the U.S. Air Force to create satellites that could repair themselves when damaged by stress, heat or micro-meteor collisions.
Careers
- Skinny wood key material in new bridge in Missoula, MT
The bridge features wood from small-diameter trees damaged by beetles in the Nez Perce National Forest of north-central Idaho. Ordinarily, the wood would have been used for posts, paper or firewood, if it were removed from the forest at all.
Non-Profit News
- Improving Job Matching the Goal of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development
"To the extent possible, we [are] trying to separate the system from the department," he said. "We feel that a less pronounced government presence on the system will increase customer traffic."
Energy
- Survey to measure interest in a community outreach program which would teach skills related to non-profit service and community development in Montana
Please take a few minutes to complete the following survey.
- Financing non-profit facilities in today's culture.
We thought we would send you a list of various on-line resources
Connectivity & Communications
- 16th Annual EPAC Ethanol Conference: Renewable Fuels - Making Progress In America, 6/11-13, Whitefish Lake, MT
This popular conference will be packed with information on Ethanol, Biodiesel and E-85 fuel. These key renewable fuels are crucial to Americaâs energy security and the topics will be very relevant to today's issues.
- University of Montana-Western Campus Breaks Ground on Biomass Heating System
A groundbreaking celebration for the new biomass system will be held at the UM Western campus in Dillon on Thursday, April 20 at 2 p.m.
- Montana gov wants in on Frontier Line electrical transmission route. Economy relies on improved grid, FERC chief says
In concept, the Frontier Line would originate in Wyoming where the state -- and presumably surrounding states -- would add 6,000 megawatts of new coal-based and renewable electrical generation for delivery to points along the southwestern route.
- Proposed Montana PSC legislation would repeal much of failed deregulation
Supporters are hoping such efforts could lead to a ‘‘vertically integrated’’ utility that sells electricity to consumers at cost-based prices — like Montana once had with the old Montana Power Co.
- Teeny Reactor Pumps Out Biodiesel
The device -- about the size of a credit card -- pumps vegetable oil and alcohol through tiny parallel channels, each smaller than a human hair, to convert the oil into biodiesel almost instantly.
- Bill Gates sets a trend in funding energy... $84 million in ethanol last week
"We're finally at a point where some of the alternate energy sources that are more environmentally friendly are worth taking a look at," said David Shaw, whose D.E. Shaw hedge fund manages about $20 billion and is planning to increase its stake in windmills.
- 'Energy crop' research reaps financing. Targeted Growth Inc. pulls in $10 million VC funding
The 7-year-old Seattle bioagricultural company plans to use some of the money to continue field tests on a gene enhancement technology -- licensed from the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center -- that increases the yields of canola, sugar cane and other "energy crops" by more than 20 percent, Todaro said.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Navajo Nation Gets Networked. "Internet to the Hogan" will bring communications and distance learning to more than 250,000 Navajos.
"The benefits of adoption are enormous for our people in terms of education, economic development, access to vital services, preservation and furtherance of our culture," said Harold Skow, Navajo Nation director of information technology, in a statement.
- Survey: Americans use Internet to make life decisions like looking for a new place to live.
An estimated 10 million Americans used the Internet when looking for a new place to live; 8 million when changing jobs.
- Technology Review - 10 Emerging Technologies That Will Change Your World
This year, our list of technologies are worth keeping an eye on is particularly wide ranging-but all of our picks are ready to have a big impact on business, medicine, or culture.
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