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| MATR Newsletter - Tue May 12, 2015 |
"The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places." -- Ernest Hemingway,
iConnect Montana Announces Missoula Raised Floor Data Center Facility Ideal for Many Purposes http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
2014 Montana Politics & 2015 Legislature
Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
- Gov. Bullock to sign bill aiming to help domestic violence victims
Under the new law, those who leave or are forced to leave their employment to escape the threat of domestic violence will be eligible for up to 28 weeks of unemployment benefits, the maximum generally allowed by Montana law. Currently victims are only eligible for 10 weeks.
Northwestern Energy
- Kalispell Chamber gears up for summer with strong May and June luncheon panels
Since 1904, the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau has been a leading voice in strengthening our community and the business climate, with the goal of making Kalispell and the Flathead Valley an ideal location to live and work.
iConnect Montana
- Steve Clawson Joins NorthWestern in Missoula as Manager, Community Relations
"Steve extensive community banking experience and work with community leaders across the much of the state greatly enhances our outreach capabilities."
- NorthWestern Opens Customer Walk-in Office in Great Falls; More Openings Planned Across Montana
Based on our experiences elsewhere in our service territory, we realized that many of our Montana customers would enjoy the ability to interact with our employees and learn about our services on a face-to-face basis."
Visit Montana - Montana Dept. of Tourism
- iConnect Montana Announces Missoula Raised Floor Data Center Facility Ideal for Many Purposes
Currently the site is served with fiber from both CenturyLink and Blackfoot Communications. Charter Communications is also nearby so as to provide further redundancy if necessary.
Come Home Montana
- Public comment sought on Glacier National Park road plan
Might visitors to Glacier National Park one day be required to reserve a time to travel over Going-to-the-Sun Road during July and August? Wait their turn to begin their ascent to Logan Pass? Or steer clear of the road altogether on days when only bicyclists are allowed?
- Montana tourism effort bears down on Chicago
"We want people to be able to see and feel what Montana might be like and encourage them to come out and visit and see these animals for real," Montana Office of Tourism spokeswoman Donnie Sexton said. "People see them and they're like, 'Whoa! Hey, what the heck!'"
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Co-founder(s) wanted to launch Montana ecommerce startup.
We plan to utilize principles of Lean Startup beginning with our MVPs (Minimal Viable Products) which are woven rattan handbags that customers can design themselves (mass customization).
- Montana Career Opportunities - Central Office and Network Translations Engineer, Data Network Engineer and more - Blackfoot Technologies
Thank you for your interest in pursuing employment at Blackfoot Telecommunications Group. We offer rewarding careers along with the opportunity to live and work in picturesque western Montana.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Executive Director - Butte Local Development Corporation
The Butte Local Development Corporation (BLDC) is seeking a new Executive Director after the announcement that Jim Smitham, the organization's current Executive Director, will retire after serving the organization since 2002.
Montana Business
- Lewistown Entrepreneur Workshop May 19th
Interested in starting a business? Wondering what resources are available? Looking for other people that are also thinking about starting a business or have just started a business?
- How can community become business startup-friendly?
Economies increasingly are reliant on smaller businesses that don't work in the same way that large businesses do, and these economies need to change and come up with ways to foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem
Montana Economic Development
- Construction of condo building marks big step for Missoula's Old Sawmill District redevelopment
"We're pretty excited about it," said Leslie Wetherbee http://www.windermere.com/agents/leslie-wetherbee of Windermere Real Estate. "We've been working on this for a very long time.
- Vinoture's Vintage Craft
Furniture company grows in stature with sustainable philosophy & products made from reclaimed wine barrels
- Five on Black owner eyes new Bozeman restaurant as economy shows promise
UM Grad Tom Snyder opened his first Five on Black restaurant location in Downtown Missoula back in 2013. It's a Brazilian cuisine-inspired restaurant, and roughly two years later he's already planning on expanding to Bozeman (on Main Street), in addition to opening a new restaurant at the corner of Brooks and Reserve in Missoula.
- Billings businesses scrambling to boost mobile sites in wake of Google change
As more people use their smartphones to search the Internet, Google has made big changes to favor mobile-friendly sites, and Montana businesses are scrambling to keep up.
- Developers start planning Missoula's Old Sawmill District project - New Neighborhood in the historic heart of Missoula
"I think a lot of people have been watching this and waiting for that first thing to happen."
- Montana manufacturers eye trade deal
The Asian-Pacific region is a natural fit for Montana trade, Sherman said. Roughly 75 percent of the Montana's wheat is shipped to nations in the region, particularly Japan, which is one of the biggest buyers of the Montana wheat.
Careers
- MEDA IMPACT Conference Highlights, Photos, and Presentations
Where do you begin to thank everyone who made such a terrific conference possible?
- Capital projects are critical to Montana communities
This is a good time to consider capital projects, more generally called infrastructure work (which also includes roads, bridges, and utility lines as well as buildings) because interest rates are low. As the economy strengthens, interest rates will rise. So paying less in interest makes sense.
- Jim Smitham - longtime director of Butte Local Development Corp. retiring - Search is on for new director
"He did it without a glitch or a complaint, and to me that's an indication of his professionalism and his ability to put the city first," Shaw said. "He is a humble man, and he will be sorely missed."
Business Plan Forums
- Q&A: LinkedIn's Itamar Orgad, on helping students land a job
Orgad, now a group product manager for LinkedIn's higher education efforts, sat down with this newspaper to chat about what the business-oriented social network is doing to help students find the right careers.
- 2015's Best & Worst States for Working Moms Share
So, in order to help ease the burden on an inherently underappreciated segment of the population, WalletHub analyzed state dynamics across 12 key metrics to identify the Best & Worst States for Working Moms.
Government
- SBA Announces Top Winners of Business Competition for Innovations That Empower Women's Lives
"Today we salute these innovative winners for their remarkable ingenuity and creativity," said SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet.
Idaho Business
- How Strategic Sourcing Can Save a Bundle
It's a way to do procurement with proven benefits, and it's catching on at all levels of government. But some myths need to be dispelled.
- What it would really take to run the government like a business
Want to improve the country's bottom line tomorrow? Invest in the human capital of toddlers today.
Incubators and R&D
- Living and working in Idaho: Where did you come from, where did you go?
Here are some of the telling statistics, and a breakdown of what they mean
Regional Business
- Hello from Ignite Northwest--the Inland Northwest's new business accelerator.
The first question you might be asking yourself after reading that headline is, "What the heck is a business accelerator?"
- Wyoming researchers making big strides with Yellowstone supercomputer
"It's an unprecedented resource."
Regional Economic Development
- Georgia Utility Uses Drones to Assess Damaged Power Lines
Drones could help provide more detailed assessments of storm damage, which could lead to faster power restoration. The drones also could improve routine inspections, and do so more safely and cost-effectively.
Workforce Development
- Inland Northwest Economic Developments, Spring 2015
The following are projects, initiatives and economic developments making news in eastern Washington and northern Idaho.
- Massachusetts' New Economic Development Official Says Government Should Speak Up
Katie Stebbins says government's role in the civic tech, startup and technology arena is to build relationships and let the world know that these things are important.
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- Career Training Institute offers stepping stone for Montana youth
The Career Training Institute hopes to have funding to offer 25 to 30 16- to 24-year-olds from low-income families a chance to find jobs in potential career fields.
Montana Education Excellence
- Some Schools Embrace Demands for Education Data
Their goal is to help improve everything from school bus routes and classroom cleanliness to reading comprehension and knowledge of algebraic equations.
Community
- University of Montana Projected budget shortfall is $5.7 million
UM deans and department chairs will address the gap before the budget is submitted to the Board of Regents, said Mike Reid, vice president of finance at the university.
Funding and Building your Business
- Meet the outsider who accidentally solved chronic homelessness
Meet Sam Tsemberis. According to academics and advocates, he's all but solved chronic homelessness.
- How Cities Can Show Resilience
Resilient: Strong. Healthy. Successful again. But how does a city become resilient? Here are five ways that city leaders can help:
Energy and Climate Change
- At Zappos, 210 employees decide to leave rather than work with 'no bosses'
The high number of departures perhaps shows how hard it is for employees to pass up the chance to receive three months' pay for no work, whether they like the new management system or not--especially when an expanding job market means it's getting a little easier to find a new job.
- 7 reasons your business isn't growing like you want it
If your business isn't growing like you want it to, then it probably has at least one of these seven problems. How many of these problems does your business have?
- Next up in recruiting: Could personality tests replace interviews?
What if you could automate that process?
- USDA Announces $30 Million Available for Food Entrepreneurs and Agricultural Producers to Develop New Products
Funding to support beginning, veteran, and socially-disadvantaged farmers and ranchers to expand businesses
Government Technology
- Accountability office: Gov't waste of natural gas costing taxpayers millions, adding to greenhouse gas emissions
The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office also said the Bureau of Land Management failed to conduct production inspections for hundreds of high-priority oil and gas wells -- roughly 1 out of 5 -- to ensure full payment of royalties to the U.S.
- Historically low snowpacks have hydrologists worried
Across the mountains of the West, spring snowpack depths are well below average. Short of an exceptionally cool, wet spring, communities from San Diego, Calif., to Sidney, Mont., could be looking forward to a very dry summer.
- Idaho water supply isn't in crisis yet, but what about next year?
"It looked like June 1 instead of May 1," said Abramovich, water supply specialist for the U.S. Conservation Service.
- Hawaii Will Soon Get All Of Its Electricity From Renewable Sources
"Through this process of transformation we can be the model that other states and even nations follow. And we'll achieve the biggest energy turnaround in the country, going from 90 percent dependence on fossil fuels to 100 percent clean energy."
Non-Profit News
- Senators press new postmaster general on troubled rural mail service
"You mail a letter in Helena," said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who attended Tuesday's meeting, "and it really has to go 90 miles out of the way to get to a destination a few blocks away. It gets to be a death spiral."
- Analysis Tool Helps Longmont, Colo., Rate Large-Scale Projects
The new system would ensure that a project done by the city's Public Works and Natural Resources department is taking the effects on the environment, the economy and the community into consideration.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Montana-based 'Three Cups' charity reports uptick in donors
Donors are starting to give again to the Montana-based Central Asia Institute
- NeighborWorks helps low-income homebuyers for 35 years
The organization, which got its start as Neighborhood Housing Services and simplified its name in 1997, is a celebrating its 35th anniversary with a staggering amount and range of achievements throughout Great Falls, including helping renovate or build 319 homes and adding $36.5 million to the county tax base.
Transportation
- $9 computer killing it on Kickstarter
Next Thing Co., based in Oakland, put its deck-of-cards-size unit on Kickstarter this month with a fundraising goal of $50,000 and has surpassed $700,000 from 15,000 backers. The campaign closes June 6.
- European Cities Try to Make Cars Unwelcome
Many cities in Europe are rediscovering their pre-automobile roots, using new technologies like ride-sharing and congestion pricing and old-fashioned ones like demolishing parking lots and dense development. Car ownership is dropping precipitously.
- Complaints against airlines rise, Frontier ranks worst
Passengers on Frontier Airlines were 34 times more likely to complain than passengers on Southwest Airlines, which has the lowest complaint rate.
- Seattle Densification Strategy: Build Apartments Without Parking
Developers will still have a "mobility" requirement: In lieu of a parking space, they'll need to provide tenants with transit passes and memberships in car and bikeshare services.
- Ranked: The Most Bike-Friendly States in the US
There's no secret to what the states at the top of the list are doing: They're providing bike lanes and wide shoulders, and allowing cyclists access to major bridges and tunnels.
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