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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Mar 6, 2015 |
"Seeing half the town show up to hear a scientist speak -- that's wonderful. Tonight I am proud to be a Bozemanite." -- The Montana State University Leadership Institute Hosts Neil deGrasse Tyson As He Speaks To His Largest Audience Ever -- http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
" Night Of Too Many Stars" America Comes Together For Autism Programs, 3/8, Comedy Central http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- City Club Missoula Presents:Mansfield Center: Promoting Global Education, 3/9, Missoula, MT http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html ---
2014 Montana Politics & 2015 Legislature
AAA Mountain West
- Rally with Queen Elsa from the movie "Frozen" in Great Falls spotlights Bullock's "Early Edge" pre-K program
Sheriff Edwards noted, "I see it personally. I have folks that are in my jail that cannot read, they cannot write, and I truly believe that if they had been given that opportunity as a child, between zero and four-years-old, to develop and get on a right path, I don't think they'd be in my jail."
Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
- AAA e-Traveler: March 2015
We've compiled a list of options from scenic excursions to adventures across the country.
Montana Data Focused Business Cluster
- Kalispell Chamber of Commerce Joins More Than 250 Chambers Urging Congress to Fund Transportation
"We know a reliable and resilient transportation network is vital to the economy," says Joe Unterreiner, president of the Kalispell Chamber. "We need a sustainable source of funding to grow jobs and keep the country moving."
Sustainable Business Council
- Data science projects - what skills do you need and where can you get them from?
A couple of years back Harvard Business Review suggested that 'data scientist' is the sexiest job title of the twenty first century and the hype around data science shows no sign of abating.
The Frontier Medicine Better Health Partnership
- Public Lecture "The Circular Economy - Waste As A Resource" Mark Buckley - VP Staples, 3/17, Missoula, Montana
SBC Executive Director Jenny Mish, PhD, says "Mark Buckley is a stellar example of the kind of business leadership that is needed for a sustainable future.
- Sustainable Business Council - Good Morning Forum, 3/18, Missoula, Montana
James Stephens, founder of Blue Marble and Patrick Collins, founder of Montainer, will join Mark Buckley in a panel discussion on using waste as a resource during this Good Morning Forum!
Women - Fast Forward
- Missoula conference focuses on rural health care - March 20-22
"Positive changes are happening across rural America," said Diane Smith, CEO of American Rural and a judge at the event. "We are entering a Rural Renaissance of sorts, which includes the redesign of rural medicine."
PrintingForLess
- John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers says tech, VC firms would do better 'if they hired more women'
When asked by a juror why there aren't more women in venture capital -- were they simply not interested? -- Doerr said the shortage of women VCs is the result of too few women entrepreneurs. Venture firms often recruit tech founders and CEOs, but that group does not include many women.
Visit Montana - Montana Dept. of Tourism
- Plans that get foiled aren't always a bad thing - PrintingForLess
"How do I make my piece more impactful?"
Yellowfin Business Intelligence Solution
- Travel and Marketing Trends for Montana - March 2015
Nothing shuts down during the winter in Montana!
Big Sky Commerce
- Governed Data Discovery Best Practices Webinar
Discover how a centralized browser-based platform can give IT complete control and transparency without taking freedom away from end-users
Great Falls Development Authority
- Big Sky Commerce Earns Accolades for Excellence
"I wish I had started the Buttercup Market and Cafe http://www.thebuttercupmarket.com/ partnered with Big Sky. They are fabulous! I have saved so much money since I switched over to them. Their equipment is superior and their service (and patience!) is thorough and complete." Molly Galusha
Inteneo Systems
- REMINDER: Register now for the Networking with Purpose Training Event: The Fire Within presented by Embark Credit Union on March 11
The Fire Within: Networking with Purpose A training event about the etiquette of effective networking
Come Home Montana
- It's Time For A User-Driven Enterprise Business Intelligence Strategy in Your Organization
An innovative action plan that gets both technology management and business professionals aligned in order to win, serve, and retain customers.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Montana Career Opportunity - Project Coordinator - NextGen Global Resources, LLC
Project Coordinator, with many more roles to come!
- Job postings solicit next Bozeman police and fire chiefs
Wanted, in Bozeman: A pair of "proven" leaders to fill vacancies in the top spots at the city's police and fire departments, job postings say.
Montana Business
- Bias adds an extra hurdle for women entrepreneurs
"I found the participants systematically rated women-led businesses to be less investment-worthy and less likely to be successful."
- Blackstone LaunchPad helps entrepreneurs start businesses
Over 300 students, alumni and faculty have registered with the LaunchPad, and around 170 ideas have been pitched. All are in various stages of development.
Montana Economic Development
- Sunburst Sensors Advances to Phase 3 of $2 Million Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE
"Because the affordability purse does not require the same level of accuracy or measurements in deep water, we could greatly simplify our design using less expensive parts," said James Beck, President of Sunburst Sensors. "It's not pretty but it works well."
- Hamilton, Montana based Freightmonster expands, hiring 16 low to moderate income people
Freightmonster provides logistics for customers who need trucking services.
- EMV Credit Cards are Coming. Is your Business Ready?
"If we are going to have a massive infusion to replace the infrastructure, card-not-present fraud needs to be addressed early in the process, so we don't have a blind spot where fraudsters have a wide open field," says Eric Lindeen, marketing director for Zoot Enterprises, a Bozeman, Mont., firm that provides credit decision and loan origination solutions to financial institutions.
- Women business owners find success in Bozeman
She estimated that more than half the downtown businesses in Bozeman are owned by women, and the 2014 State of Women-owned Businesses report found that the number of women-owned firms across Montana had increased 37.5 percent between 1997 and 2014.
MSU Leadership Institute & UM Global Leadership Initiative
- University of Montana Researchers Predict Commerce Park Will Spur Economic Gain for Billings, State
By 2030, the study projects the economy will have an additional 3,655 permanent jobs across a wide spectrum of industries and occupations, $255.7 million in recurring annual household income, $862 million in recurring annual gross sales by Montana businesses and other entities, as well as a permanent population increase of 4,352, including 1,200 additional school-aged children.
Next Generation Broadband in Montana
- The Montana State University Leadership Institute Hosts Neil deGrasse Tyson As He Speaks To His Largest Audience Ever
"Montana has, like, the friendliest people I ever met" and he was astonished that the Bozeman audience was the largest he has ever addressed.
- Social Media Reacts: Neil deGrasse Tyson at Montana State University
Collected postings and photos from the social Web about scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson's appearance at Montana State University.
Rural Communities
- Improving Cities by Investing in Next-Generation Internet
The goal of the advocacy group is to assist cities in gaining improved, competitive Internet options - something their members see as essential for economic development, civic progress, and prosperity.
Government
- YouthBuild USA National Rural Youth Caucus -- Watch for It
Though their hometowns and individual identities are unique, they share a common sense of what it means to grow up and live in rural communities.
Idaho Business
- John Oliver Breaks Down America's Crumbling Infrastructure
Everyone agrees America's infrastructure needs attention. But no one seems to be able agree on how to provide that attention.
Workforce Development
- Idaho legislature introduces $125 million teacher salary career ladder
Upon implementation in 2019-20, the career ladder would increase minimum teacher salaries to $37,000.
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- Why Women Who Code Can Close the Wage Equality Gap
I believe strongly that getting more women into STEM fields is the right place to start addressing this problem.
Education
- Standardized Tests Suck. But the Fix Is More Data, Not Less. Teaching should be the test.
Big data has revolutionized practically every other aspect of our lives. Shouldn't schools be able to benefit from it as well?
- A Toy Ball That Teaches Kids to Code
It's a fairly simple toy, but it can do a lot and withstand a lot.
Missoula Children's Theatre
- Should Students Be Required to Work in College?
Could there be benefits for all students, fortunate and less fortunate, if colleges required them to work?
- Here's What Will Truly Change Higher Education: Online Degrees That Are Seen as Official
Information technology is poised to transform college degrees. When that happens, the economic foundations beneath the academy will truly begin to tremble.
Missoula Schools Excellence
- The buzz at MCT - Where in the World are Montana's Little Red Trucks This Week?
Do you have relatives or friends in any of these communities who have children who might benefit from the MCT experience?
Montana Education Excellence
- University of Montana spring enrollment drops 4.7 percent; Missoula College down 11 percent
"We are where we projected we would be, given our fall enrollment numbers," UM President Royce Engstrom said. "Our enrollment picture remains challenging as several smaller classes continue to move through our system, but we see encouraging signs for the future."
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- University of Montana construction sign: 'Smoke weed everyday'
Some traveling through the University of Montana campus Monday night saw a digital construction sign that offered an interesting and unexpected bit of advice.
Community
- RML researchers lead afterschool science program in Corvallis
The program is designed to introduce middle school students to the fundamentals of scientific research in order to encourage them to see the relevance of science and to continue studying science.
Funding and Building your Business
- Missoula reluctant to fork over wave funds
"The more education and thought we put into it, the better it's going to be for everybody."
- Nextdoor--the 'Facebook for Neighborhoods--Catching on with Investors and Users
"Building community is really, really hard," Nirav Tolia, chief executive of Nextdoor, said in an interview. "Trust is essential, and it has to be authentic."
Energy and Climate Change
- Frontier Capital Raises $390M, Eyes Utah, Colorado Investments
Frontier Capital is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, but has been very active looking at investments in the region.
- Are you thinking about starting a new business? - Infographic: Path to Bakery Ownership with the Great Harvest Franchise
If you are exploring franchise options and looking at which businesses might be a good fit for you, our new infographic is a great way to get a quick overview of the path to bakery ownership with Great Harvest.
- Strategic Pizza Infrastructure Goes High-Tech at Pizza Hut
At 200 people, IT is one-third of the company's corporate staff and they want to hire 50 or 60 more this year.
- Mark Zuckerberg's hiring secret
In response to a question about what he looks for when selecting employees, Zuckerberg said he always poses one simple question to himself when he hires a direct report:
- Michael Dell: Stop "dropping bombs," start fostering entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurs and small, fast-growing businesses create between 70 and 90 percent of the world's jobs. This is where the next billion jobs will come from and what will propel forward global progress. So, we all have an obligation to encourage entrepreneurship, not hinder it.
Government Technology
- New Incubator Network to Help Clean-Energy Entrepreneurs
Through its newly launched website, http://incubatenergy.org, networking opportunities, and identifying industry best practices, the network provides nationwide coordination that addresses the unique challenges facing energy start-ups.
- Case studies in renewables integration and the evolving grid
Utilities continue to provide reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean electricity around the clock to customers, all the while tackling new disruptions such as integrating new renewable power resources and optimizing the power grid for operational efficiency with an evolving distribution grid.
Non-Profit News
- Chief Data Officer Proposed for California
Typically a chief data officer sets data retention, sharing and publication policies, and engages the civic hacking community and internal staff to use the data to drive innovation.
- CIOs, Dashboards and the Cobbler's-Children Syndrome
CIOs need to invest more effort in building dashboards to track critical projects and feedback from key stakeholders.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- The Hunt is Over - Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Love is alive! Or love is pretending to be dead, I don't know.
- Missoula nonprofit awarded $250K to aid new farmers; workshop is Wednesday - 3/4
Our overall population of farmers is aging rapidly and we need to be replenishing that pool with young people if we want Montana to remain an agricultural state.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- The Making of J.K. Simmons in Montana
And the Oscar went to J.K. Simmons.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- What would you do if a Bison came running down the road at you?
Tom Carter captured this video last month in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone Park.
HACKING AND VIRUS ALERTS
- Digital keychain brings online cookie functionalities to the mall
The Physical Cookie is a system that brings online cookie functionalities to the real world, enabling businesses to collect and use data about a consumer's shopping practice.
- Device retrofits any whiteboard with smart capabilities
Smartmarker enables users to stream their notes and presentations in real time without having to change their working style or materials.
- This Guy Is Creating an All-New Cell Network Built by You
He calls it the "Uberization" of mobile phone networks, a nod to the controversial startup that can turned anyone into a taxi driver.
Transportation
- Cybersecurity: Taking a Proactive Approach is Key
If we are to proactively defend our cybersecurity, we must move away from historical algorithm audit and analysis to real-time pattern recognition audit and analysis.
Events
- Neptune Aviation to Offer Direct Flights From Missoula To Billings
Missoula is more than 300 miles from Billings and takes upwards of five hours to get to by car.
- John Oliver saved net neutrality. Can he save our roads, too?
When John Oliver turns his gimlet eye on your particular business or industry, you'd better pay attention. And last Sunday, he focused that gaze on America's crumbling infrastructure.
- Senator Tester: Montana needs a long-term highway bill
Senator promotes ideas from his Montana transportation roundtable
- Insane Mercedes self-driving concept car spotted in San Francisco
The concept car is part of Mercedes' vision for urban autonomous driving, which could look vastly different than the system we see today with "safe zones" in dense urban areas where only autonomous cars could travel.
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