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| MATR Newsletter - Fri May 15, 2015 |
The Thrill is Gone. RIP B.B. King
2014 Montana Politics & 2015 Legislature
Sustainable Business Council
- Three steps for coping with your infrastructure problem
But despite important progress in framing infrastructure as a key economic driver, we still have a long way to go to correct a half-century of bad habits and underinvestment and make the delivery, design, and financing of infrastructure the norm rather than the exception.
- Montana school choice bill becomes law without governor's signature
The pilot program will provide income-tax credits for donations of up to $150 made to scholarships for private K-12 education or "innovative educational programs" at public schools.
Visit Montana - Montana Dept. of Tourism
- SBC Member Spotlight: Adventure Life
As travelers ourselves, we realize the importance of traveling responsibly, and we work hard to give back to the places and people that have inspired our company from the very start.
Great Falls Development Authority
- 16 festivals that only make sense if you're from Montana
Only in Montana
- 'Definitely an art to it': Going-to-the-Sun crews march toward Big Drift in Glacier National Park
This year, they've reached Oberlin Bend almost four weeks earlier than last year, but, as is always the case, Mother Nature will have the biggest say in how work progresses from here.
- Montana's Route of Hiawatha railroad bed bicyling trail ready to open
The Hiawatha includes 10 tunnels and seven of the historic railroad trestles, as well as historic points of interest explaining the railroad's development and use, and other events like the great fires of 1910.
Come Home Montana
- GFDA zeroing in specialized agri-processing plants
The Great Falls Development Authority and its corporate and community partners are hoping to soon reach the fabled "next year" harvest that agricultural producers are always dreaming about.
Montana Business
- Montana Career Opportunity - Manufacturing Specialist - The Montana Manufacturing Extension Center (MMEC)
Do you want to control your own schedule, help Montana manufacturers and take advantage of the amazing outdoor opportunities that the Big Sky Country offers?
- Montana Career opportunity -- Economic Development Director - Beartooth RC&D Area, Inc.
The Economic Development Director will provide efficient, professional management and administration of a Board-directed economic development program for our five county region in south-central Montana.
- Montana Career Opportunities - GIS Analyst/Planner, City of Missoula
Under limited supervision, works as part of the City planning team to coordinate Geographic Information System (GIS), prepare maps and databases. Initiates, monitors and oversees Development Services planning projects.
- Montana Career Opportunities - Psychiatrist, Consumer Lender, Firefighter, and more - Anaconda, Montana
Anaconda- Home of the "Old Works" Golf Course, a championship 18-hole course designed by Jack Nicklaus.
Montana Economic Development
- Governor Bullock Announces Grants to Support Bozeman, Helena Business Development Projects and 23 New Montana Jobs
The grant s will benefit Montana Instruments, Simms Fishing Products and Elixiter in Bozeman. The City of Helena and the Helena Business Improvement District also received a grant.
Careers
- Rebuilding The Blackfeet Nation
Two years after a governmental crisis led to protests and arrests, a fresh slate of leaders looks to rebuild the Blackfeet Nation
- Study: Spotted Bear River Project delays hurting economy
UM's Bureau of Business and Economic Research says lawsuits cost a minimum of $10 million and 130 jobs over three years.
- Ravalli County leaders study idea of a food processing center - Please take the survey
The Small Business Development Center of the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority has launched a special survey to "assess the need and feasibility" of a processing center.
Come Home Idaho
- This software can predict when you'll leave your job
Software can now detect trends and patterns that used to be little more than a jumble of random information, which means you could get a call from a headhunter before you've officially expressed interest in leaving your current job.
- Need A Break From Home, But Want To Keep Working? Take A Jobbatical
A site that matches employers and wandering gig-seekers wants to foster a new way to travel. Like everything else, it helps if you can code.
- Silicon Valley companies plan hiring spree in 2015
Companies in Silicon Valley are planning a hiring spree this year, an indication that the economic upswing in the Bay Area has a long way to travel before it runs its course, according to a survey of the region's chief executives released Tuesday.
- Businesses, colleges pledge to Women's Leadership Institute.
"Fathers of daughters in this country need to be outraged that a pay gap exists," said gender strategist Jeffery Halter, the launch event's keynote speaker. "It should be a personal affront to you as a father that our society does not value your daughter as much as your son. Fathers of daughters need to get angry, and they need to do so with a sense of urgency."
Next Generation Broadband in Montana
- After landing contract, AmeriBen will start hiring at least 100 in Meridian, Idaho
AmeriBen has more than 400 employees, Summers said. About 350 of them are in Meridian. The company also has offices in Salt Lake City and Phoenix. The company administers benefits for close to 80 employers and universities, affecting 325,000 people.
Business Plan Forums
- Senator Tester fights to improve affordable broadband access in rural Montana
Senator: Fast, reliable internet is key to rural connectivity
Government
- Hopeful entrepreneurs pitch ideas at state-wide Montana University business plan competition held at the University of Montana
"Over the years, out of the competition has come more than 65 businesses that have started up," Gaumer said. "The latest ones that are real visible to Missoulians are Five on Black and Market on Front.
Idaho Business
- Bozeman looks to future with proposed budget
One significant change this year - an increase in property taxes for both residents and businesses.
- Why Your Government Needs to Be a Hipster Organization
The millennials who will replace today's government workers are looking for a very different workplace culture.
- Grappling with Persistent Growth and Key Issues, Whitefish Forges Ahead
Mayor addresses priorities in time of change, including increased budget proposal, new City Hall
- Keep Austin weird -- but not this weird
Since there's now a female majority on the city council: Be prepared for lots of questions. Don't present the fiscal impact first, because women "don't want to hear about the financial argument." And remember that while "men have egos, women have wish lists." (Whatever that means.)
- Leadership as 'a Kind of Genius'
Twenty-five years ago, as I was growing interested in how cities produce leaders and leaders shape cities, I heard a state business association president define leadership. A leader, he said, "is someone who helps people get where they want to go."
Incubators and R&D
- Airline outsources jobs to partner with Idaho tax incentive
United Airlines is outsourcing about 50 Boise operations and customer-service jobs to SkyWest Airlines at significantly lower wages.
Regional Business
- MakerCon helps modern-day inventors turn ideas into products
"We don't make apps; we make things. In many ways, the maker movement is still an alternative to the world of Silicon Valley."
- University of Montana biologist Mark Grimes wants to 'program' cancer cells to die
Mark Grimes has discovered how to analyze large, complex sets of data to find patterns in the way in which cells interact with each other.
Regional Economic Development
- Honeybee apocalypse? 40 percent of honeybee hives died this past year
"What we're seeing with this bee problem is just a loud signal that there's some bad things happening with our agro-ecosystems," study co-author Keith Delaplane of the University of Georgia told the AP. "We just happen to notice it with the honeybee because they are so easy to count."
Workforce Development
- Northwest Community Development Institute, 6/15-19, Boise, Idaho
Who Should Attend? Organizations, community officials and volunteers associated with city, county and state government, chambers of commerce, private and public sector economic development organizations, utility companies, and financial institutions will find the institute a valuable learning tool for the development of individual and community leadership skills.
Wyoming Business
- Graduates say colleges aren't preparing them for the workforce
According to a study from Northeastern University, 62 percent of graduates said they were unhappy with the way their universities have prepared them for the workplace.
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- Union Pacific will invest $51.5 million into Wyoming's railroad infrastructure this year
Derailments of Union Pacific trains in Wyoming have fallen from 27 in 2008 to just seven in 201
- Groups brainstorm economic future for Casper - Tour 23's Natrona County stop prompts local business discussion
Tour 23 is a project of the Wyoming Business Alliance, in conjunction with several other groups, including the Wyoming Business Council and the University of Wyoming, to assess the needs and strengths of the state's economy and to figure out how to create a sustainable model for the future.
MAPS : Media Arts in the Public Schools
- Khan Academy - Our mission is to provide a free, world‑class education for anyone, anywhere.
You can learn anything
Montana Education Excellence
- MAPS set to hold annual film festival in Hamilton Saturday - 5/16
The Media Arts Festival is a free showcase of the diverse talents of MAPS students working in film, music production, motion graphics, video game design, digital photography and illustration.
Community
- U.S. News ranks Bozeman High No. 1 in Montana
Six out of Montana's 166 high schools won silver medals in the magazine's rankings, released Tuesday.
- The Montana State University Spring 2015 Edition of Mountains & Minds
MSU is on the move.
- Kickstarter - Montana's De La Salle Blackfeet School DRUMLINE Project needs your support!
Please consider Donating to this project to help our school establish music in our community!
- Gov. Bullock discuss breakfast after the bell program - at least 20% of Montana children struggle with food insecurity each day. - No Kid Hungry Montana Program
"I think our next step is creating awareness, creating awareness that there is a need. It was an opportunity for all of us to bear witness to a remarkable program that's been in place for quite a while."
Funding and Building your Business
- Missoula one of the nation's "best college towns"
75 destinations were listed, with Missoula making the top ten, the only Montana community ranked.
- TWELVE New grant announcements
- Unlike Most Redevelopment, Denver's Embraces Its Wild Past
Instead of just turning its underused land into housing and retail like most cities, Denver is building a community that blends its Wild West roots with the 21st century.
- Mayors Say Innovation, Technology Are Essential to Improving City Life
"You're not going to attract those people in the future if all you have is a rundown city and you (only) give them good paychecks."
Energy and Climate Change
- Is a reservation about an employee a deal-breaker?
Sometimes, when you're leading a hiring process, you'll find that an applicant who is strong on paper doesn't "sparkle." Instead, something feels a little off. Here's what you should do when you're uncertain how to proceed.
- Performance reviews are awkward for everyone
Although there is little disagreement that companies need to evaluate and obtain accurate information on its employees and need to have performance management systems in place, the report cites the problems annual reviews inherently present.
- Facebook has a new answer to income inequality
Instead of just donating to charity, Facebook's executives have decided to pay its lowest-wage workers better.
Government Technology
- The solar road in the Netherlands is working even better than expected
Now, six months into the trial, engineers say the system is working even better than expected, with the 70-metre test bike path generating 3,000 kWh, or enough electricity to power a small household for a year.
Non-Profit News
- Edmonton: City of Open Data Champions
A common theme running through Edmonton's activities is constant striving to integrate as broad an array of individuals into the community's civic life as possible.
- Kansas City, Mo., Integrates Public Feedback into Performance Management
The city now uses survey data to help set priorities and provide the "citizen's perspective" on a range of issues, and measure the impact of new processes.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Montana Special Olympics in need of volunteers
The Special Olympics are in need of volunteers to help out with the games. 1,200 athletes are set to compete with competitions getting underway Tuesday, May 19.
- 'We have no end in sight': Nonprofit organizer Dallas Eaton (United Luv Project Inc.) receives national honor
United Luv Project Inc. has purchased and donated more than 190 iPads to hospitals around Montana and in Seattle.
Transportation
- Why scientists put dinosaur snouts on chickens
"Our goal here was to understand the molecular underpinnings of an important evolutionary transition, not to create a 'dino-chicken' simply for the sake of it," says lead author Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar, a paleontologist at Yale University.
- Los Angeles Sets the Track for the Safest, Smartest Train
Because of one of the nation's deadliest train crashes, cities must soon implement advanced safety technology on commuter trains. L.A. got a head start.
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