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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Mar 20, 2015 |
“Nobody understands the value of this business. Electricity storage is a market that can be measured in hundreds of billions of dollars.” Vincent Bollore From Paris, the Anti-Tesla That Costs 20 Cents a Minute http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Hellgate Venture Network - Eric Fulton And Matt Gorecki, Treasure State Internet, 3/26, Missoula http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- Shark Tank Live Pitch Competition - Win $5,000, 4/29-30, Helena, Montana http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
2014 Montana Politics & 2015 Legislature
AAA Mountain West
- GOP Majority Deals Blows to Medicaid Expansion, Preschool Funding in Montana
Republicans use stacked committees to deal blows that could effectively kill Democrat-backed bills - including some of Gov. Steve Bullock's top priorities, like Medicaid expansion, federal funding for preschools, the Flathead tribal water compact, and campaign finance reform.
Montana Department of Commerce
- AAA Mountain West e-Update: March 2015
Summer's Special Vehicles Need Insurance Coverage too
Sustainable Business Council
- Upcoming Training - Community Mobility Institute, 5/11-13, Bozeman, Montana
The training, called the Community Mobility Institute, is a 2.5 day workshop that allows local leaders the opportunity to receive in depth training on issues at the nexus of transportation, community planning and economic development.
- Montana Department of Commerce Director Meg O'Leary Announces Collaborative Effort to Improve the State's Community Development Block Grant Program
This move to bring the CDBG Program under one roof will better assist Montana's vibrant and charming communities in developing their assets to better attract visitors, talented employees, and high-paying industries.
Visit Montana - Montana Dept. of Tourism
- University of Montana setting the pace for growing, consumption, of local foods
"Season extension is a big thing in Western Montana. If we can figure out how to grow in the fall and over winter, and in the spring they we can really have a larger economic capacity to actually have more profit over the year,"
Great Falls Development Authority
- Everyone should visit the Montana Auto Museum in Deer Lodge.
Their collection includes hundreds of beautifully restored cars.
- Montana Office of Tourism, Department of Commerce | Official Tourism Industry News
Submissions for the Real Montana short film competition, hosted by the Audience Awards and sponsored by the Montana Office of Tourism, will be accepted through April 6.
- "Real Montana" video contest is accepting submissions
"We suspect we'll get some professionals, some from amateurs, but either way they're made by people who live in Montana."
Inteneo Systems
- Great Falls Development Authority Top 15 for 3/17/15
Here's the GFDA Top 15 for last week, celebrating great things happening to move Great Falls Forward.
Hellgate Venture Network
- The Redefined No of the CFO
Economies of scale and market clout are no longer the formidable barriers to entry they once were. The allocation of resources must now favor a company's most distinctive capabilities--those differentiating things it does particularly well that enable it to outperform competitors over time.
- Why all organizations should focus on wide data, not big data
"The real impact of data always comes from the intersection of different data sets. You don't get into the earth shattering discoveries until you start to link disparate data sets. It really is the power of wide data, of seeing correlations in spots that have never been connected before."
Montana Business
- Hellgate Venture Network - Eric Fulton And Matt Gorecki, Treasure State Internet, 3/26, Missoula
Treasure State Internet is a new ISP startup in Montana. We are committed to providing the fastest internet speeds, the best prices, and the best service available.
TEDx Events in Montana
- Montana, Wyoming among 9 states where women face the largest gender pay gap
A study from Montana's Equal Pay Equal Work Task Force noted that women in the state earn less than men in every occupational category. It added that lower wages for women reduces their incentive to work.
Careers
- TED Video: Amy Purdy: Living beyond limits
When she was 19, Amy Purdy lost both her legs below the knee. And now ... she's a pro snowboarder (and a killer competitor on "Dancing with the Stars"!). In this powerful talk, she shows us how to draw inspiration from life's obstacles.
- Today's TED Talk Joseph DeSimone: What if 3D printing was 100x faster?
Could it finally help to fulfill the tremendous promise of 3D printing?
- Amid Dire Visions of the Future, Glimmers of Hope at TED
As you likely already know, TED is an exclusive and expensive proposition--guests must fill out an incredibly detailed application for the right to pay $8,500 to attend.
- MSU faculty, grad students to speak at TEDxBozeman on March 27
This year's theme on "Branching Out" features speakers who are pushing the boundaries in their disciplines and distinguishing themselves as leaders, creators and preeminent thinkers.
Next Generation Broadband in Montana
- Should your career have an encore?
If you are like many people who are about to retire, you may be exploring an "encore" career -- a new venture after retirement.
Business Plan Forums
- Fiber-Optic Cable to be Installed in Lewiston, Idaho, Draws Interest
"It just proves how many years, if not decades, we are behind on this technology."
Government
- U of I students win $40,000 entrepreneur contest at BSU
Eight university teams from around Idaho competed in the months-long Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge, hosted by Boise State University and sponsored by Zions Bank.
- Shark Tank Live Pitch Competition - Win $5,000, 4/29-30, Helena, Montana
Do you have a business idea that only lacks funding to become reality? Pitch it to local investors & consultants (aka "sharks") for a chance to win cash for your dream business!
Idaho Business
- Oregon is first state to adopt automatic voter registration
Anyone with an Oregon driver's license will be automatically registered to vote.
North Dakota Business and Economic Development
- Yes, Idaho tax incentives are working. No, the Treasure Valley won't win in biotech or IT.
The Boise Valley Economic Partnership wants to sell the area's strengths more effectively.
Regional Economic Development
- Oil Boom Swells North Dakota Town; What Now?
With crude prices less than half of what they were nine months ago, land-rush euphoria is giving way to concerns that projects will stall and Manhattan-level apartment rents could plunge as drillers cut production and jobs.
Education
- Utah's Secret Weapon for Long-Range Planning
"It works because you're looking at a time horizon far out enough that you can see the results of what you're going to do," he says. "Setting time horizons really matters. You have to get your eyes off of your shoes."
MAPS : Media Arts in the Public Schools
- Senate bill would waive student loans in bankruptcy
Private student loans would no longer be exempt from protections when borrowers file for bankruptcy under a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate.
- "The underexplored area in journalism is big data" - Stanford's computational journalism offers distinct tools for better storytelling
"We're empowering students to produce work that is multimedia, data-intensive, entrepreneurial and influenced by design thinking. This has the impact to change laws and policy,"
Funding and Building your Business
- Encore Careers - Peter Rosten Darby, MT "The next generation needs us and, to maintain purpose in our lives, we need them. Win-Win."
"I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for the influence of Peter and the MAPS program." Luke is currently employed as on-air promotions editor for BYU Broadcasting and recipient of three 2015 regional Emmy awards.
Energy and Climate Change
- What if you could replace performance evaluations with four simple questions?
Deloitte's new approach, which it has piloted among roughly 10 percent of employees so far, would do away with "cascading objectives," those nonsensical attempts to create similar goals for everyone in the organization.
- Onboarding New Employees: A Strategy for Retaining Your Best Workers
It's important to think strategically about onboarding new employees.
- No, entrepreneurs, most of you don't need angel investors or venture capitalists
During an event in Austin on Monday, the Kauffman Foundation outlined research dispelling some of the most common myths that distort America's idea of the business-building process, tops among them the notion that most successful start-ups raise money from outside investors.
- We Cannot Keep UP With The New Guy! I Want Out!
The issue of the millennial age worker and today's workforce environment is one that is being discussed daily.
- Another Sign of Tighter Labor Markets: Time to Fill Rates Getting Longer
"U.S. labor markets continue to tighten, albeit at a modest pace."
Connectivity & Communications
- Renters can now go solar... even if they don't have a roof
Now, startup CloudSolar makes it easy for renters to support and reap the benefit of green energy, by selling them physical panels which will then be installed at a remote CloudSolar farm.
- Texas Town to Flip the Switch--100 Percent Renewable Energy
The city of 54,000 north of Austin says it now has enough renewable power under contract to cover its customers' entire electricity needs.
- Solar Could Meet California Energy Demand Three to Five Times Over
"Integrating solar facilities into the urban and suburban environment causes the least amount of land-cover change and the lowest environmental impact."
- California utility company giving rebates for electric cars?
The proposed rebates are an outgrowth of one of California's most important, and controversial, policies to fight climate change.
Government Technology
- Apple Is Out to Blow Up the Cable TV Model
After years of complaining about having to pay for obscure TV channels they never watch, American consumers might finally be getting their way.
Non-Profit News
- 4 Tenets of a Successful Open Data Plan
Los Angeles Chief Data Officer Abhi Nemani and San Francisco's Open Data Program Manager Jason Lally provide pointers for cities planning open data initiatives.
- How Does Your State Rank for Financial Data Transparency?
California, home to countless tech companies, scored last on the report with a grade of F, just below Idaho and Alaska.
- Whitehouse Launches Website Analytics Dashboard
On Thursday, March 19, the White House unveiled its first analytics dashboard -- where visitors can access real-time traffic updates for more than 300 executive branch domains.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ryan Bingham to play Red Ants Pants Music Festival July 23-26 in White Sulphur Springs, Montana
The festival, held in a cow pasture on the Jackson Ranches surrounded by mountains, has been steadily growing in popularity and drew 11,000 attendees last year.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- "Very high levels of arsenic" in top-selling wines
"The lower the price of wine on a per-liter basis, the higher the amount of arsenic."
Transportation
- Live smartphone tours from locals show remote sightseers the world
Lopeca, which is currently in beta, is recruiting locals to host live walking tours online.
- Is This a 3D Printing Turning Point?
By carefully balancing the interaction of UV light, which triggers photo polymerization, and oxygen, which inhibits the reaction, CLIP continuously grows objects from a pool of resin at speeds 25-100 times faster than traditional 3D printing."
- Spectrum: Vintage Shelby Cobra Gets the 3-D Printer Treatment
If you need more proof that 3-D printing is going mainstream, look no further than this classic Shelby Cobra, printed, yes, printed, at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.
- First street-legal flying cars are about to arrive
The first model for sale will have two seats and feature a range of 435 miles, a take-off speed of 81 miles an hour, and a top flying speed of 124 miles an hour.
- From Paris, the Anti-Tesla That Costs 20 Cents a Minute
"We think that our technology is far superior" to Tesla's.
- Tesla taking big step toward self-driving car - Steve Wozniak tweets his Tesla roadtrip
"You will be able to hit the 'Summon' button on your phone, and the car will find you," Musk told reporters in a conference call Thursday. "You can press it again and the car will put itself to bed in the garage, and close the garage door."
- Communicating Transit Benefits: We Can Do Better
This entire exercise is unfair because it singles out public transit for special scrutiny. How many transportation projects could withstand public funding approval?
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