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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Nov 13, 2015 |
"The best way to predict the future is to create it." Peter Drucker
B2B Luncheon With Gov. Steve Bullock, 11/16, Bozeman, Montana http://www.matr.net/ev ... =5695
Northwestern Energy
PrintingForLess
- No buyer yet for NorthWestern buildings in Butte, Montana
"It's a great building, it's in great shape and it's extremely marketable."
Energy and Climate Change
- PFL Newsletter: Giving Thanks and Debunking Myths
November is the month to give thanks, and we're thankful for all your support and business. We're sure you are celebrating your customers and giving thanks for the opportunities you have as well.
Great Falls Development Authority
- Groundbreaking Discovery: Man Solves Tesla's Secret To Amplifying Power By Nearly 5000%
The ramifications of the mass application of SERPS technology are nothing short of paradigm shifting.
- Sunverge Is On A Mission To Marry Solar Power And Energy Storage
At the Energy Storage North America conference in San Diego last month, the floor was packed with vendors. One of them was Sunverge, and they were interesting because they were focused not only on the issue of on-premise storage, but specifically how to combine solar power and storage together. Sunverge currently manages 5.3 megawatt-hours (MWh) of distributed storage, combined with 1.9 MW of solar.
- Governor Bullock Signs Executive Order Creating Interim Montana Clean Power Plan Advisory Council
Interested Montanans will be able to apply to serve on the council by visiting http://svc.mt.gov/gov/boards/ . Applications are due by November 30.
Come Home Montana
- New businesses get advice at Great Falls Development Authority session - Two more events Nov. 19
"The response so far to these meetings has been fantastic," Nitschke said. "Bringing business professionals, entrepreneurs and community leaders together to meet and ask questions of local, state and federal agency partners really creates interesting discussions that are beneficial to everyone."
- Great Falls Development Authority Quarterly Investor Letter
The summer and fall have proven to be very productive months for GFDA and the overall Forward Great Falls effort. It's very satisfying when long-term projects such as the Great Falls AgriTech Park move into construction.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- 10 things out-of-towners learn quickly after moving to Montana
Montana is a great place. The people are a lot warmer than the average temperature. The scenery is amazing. The fishing, boating and skiing are world-class. The history is profound.
- Montana Career Opportunities - Director Of Human Resources, Manager of Information Technology - Butte-Silver Bow County Government
Submit applications by 11-30-2015.
Montana Business
- Small business in the Big Sky: Blackstone Launchpad at the University of Montana turns students into entrepreneurs and ideas into cash
In the 18 months Launchpad has been on campus, they have seen over 500 students and alumni. People come in with ideas across the spectrum, from concepts to fully-formed businesses.
Careers
- Bank to pay Billings man $2 million for 'mistaken' foreclosure
A District Court jury has awarded a Billings man just over $2 million in his action against a bank that foreclosed on and sold a house that he and his wife had purchased outright for cash two years earlier.
- Indiegogo campaignSomers, Montana's Joe Clark creates Eclipse Rover, a radio-controlled device that can take a camera across almost any terrain.
Clark has spent a year developing the product and is ready to make it available to the public, but first he needs money to put the wheels into production.
- Help Wanted: Must Like Heights And High Voltage
The jobless rates were at extremely tight 2 to 3 percent levels before the recession in the five northern Montana counties surrounding Havre, says Paul Tuss, executive director of Bear Paw Development Corporation.
- Kalvin Kovatch's wattles are in a Montana rut... exactly where they should be.
Having grown up west of Great Falls, Kovatch knows that farmers struggle to keep irrigation-pivot wheels from gouging ruts in their fields. If ruts get too deep, a pivot sensor turns the water off because the structure is strained.
- California company Cypress Creek to build solar farm near Helena and they're hiring
Cypress Creek spokesman Jason Carr says the company is looking at about 10 projects in Montana, including facilities in Helena, Hardin and Missoula.
- Sun brewed: Bitter Root Brewing praised for use of solar power system
Bitter Root Brewing has two solar arrays on its roof that have saved $2,000 in energy costs since June. USDA Rural Development and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., recently recognized them for their efforts.
Next Generation Broadband in Montana
- Adobe contest aims to attract new talent to field of big data analytics
The Adobe Analytics Competition aims to pique the interest of college students around the country in big data analytics, a career sector that's skyrocketing and needs qualified employees.
- Where have all the high-voltage linemen gone?
The industry is also looking for more women, a rarity in a field with only about one woman for every hundred men.
- Starbucks Offers All Veteran Employees Free College For Their Spouse Or Child
Starbucks announced that it has already succeeded in hiring more than 5,500 veterans and military spouses, fulfilling more than 50% of the commitment made just two years ago to employ at least 10,000 vets and their spouses by 2018.
- Consider what motivates you when defining career success
Instead of looking for external avenues of what others might use as a definition of success consider what motivates you as a starting point.
Government
- Southern Maine to Expand Rural Broadband Network
Like its neighbor to the south, Portland is seeking to build a municipal broadband network to offer affordable high-speed broadband to its residents and businesses.
North Dakota Business and Economic Development
- Why We Need More Women Running Our Local Governments
Our research showed that the lack of gender diversity and women in senior-level positions could very well be hindering government organizations from reaching peak performance.
Other Economies
- Expanding state-owned North Dakota flour mill will be biggest in U.S.
The Grand Forks mill, the only such state-owned operation in the nation, currently grinds about the same amount of wheat as a Nabisco facility in Toledo, Ohio.
Regional Economic Development
- Selling the State: Economic Development Policy in Kentucky
We need a good debate about the role of government in assisting businesses in the name of job creation. Much is at stake. I hope Selling the State --a pun if ever there was one--contributes to the discussion in some way.
Utah Business
- The 'Two-Body Problem' (also known as "trailing spouse") Challenges Small Town Workforces
More career women means more two-career couples
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- Redesigned Utah.com offers improved tools for planning a trip in the Beehive State
"What we're doing now is trying to introduce some humor and some fun and really present (information) in a better way -- in a way where people don't read it because they have to but because they're having a good time."
Montana Education Excellence
- 5 critical 21st century skills that go way beyond the 4 Cs
At the core of Metiri Group's work is the belief that the skills that are necessary to be a successful entrepreneur are the same skills that all students require in order to be voracious, engaged learners.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- Helena School Board starts over with first listening session
Five more general public listening sessions are scheduled, as well as two for school district staff.
- STEM role models, sponsors needed for MSU conference
Volunteers who would like to share their expertise and enthusiasm on a STEM topic will develop a 40-minute workshop and hands-on activity.
Community
- Urban-rural partnership "One Montana" helps students learn about state's business diversity
"This should be part of the curriculum"
- Jobs program helps Montana students find success before the real world
Riverside Middle School is the only middle school in Billings -- and one of only 15 around Montana -- to have the program.
Funding and Building your Business
- People on the Land: Rural Resilience Shines in Vermont - Community developers should take note.
Vermont, in myth and reality, offers sense of place in its own right.
Connectivity & Communications
- Is your firm helping veterans or just hiring veterans? - "Veterans need careers, not just jobs"
"There are times when people may think they are doing veterans a favor by giving them a job. If we want to be able to make sure they succeed in this industry, however, we need to make sure they are the right fit for a position and placed in a situation where their unique skill set is best applied."
- How To Take Money From Friends And Still Be Friends
This is a sensitive and critical area for new entrepreneurs, and it's important to get it right the first time.
- The US economy is turning into a nightmare for recruiters
They just can't find enough qualified people to fill jobs.
- Advice on managing a new generation, from the head of HR at Facebook
What's the best solution you've heard so far to get more women into tech?
Non-Profit News
- Congress Seeks to Bolster Nation's Broadband
Another part of the discussion draft includes a placeholder for what is known as a dig-once policy.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Nonprofit Governance: Developing A High Performing Board, 12/3-4, Missoula, MT
This is an ideal opportunity for board members and executive staff to learn together from some of the preeminent leaders in the field. Participants will take a deep dive on the significant responsibilities of governing boards
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- What drives Elon Musk?
Elon Musk's many ambitious projects stem from a belief that it's possible to make conscious choices about the direction the future takes us in.
Transportation
- Tool lets beginners design and print walking robots
"We aim to reinvent the way in which personal robotic devices are designed, fabricated, and customized according to the individual needs and preferences of their users."
- TensorFlow, Google's Open Source AI, Signals Big Changes in Hardware Too
In open sourcing its TensorFlow AI engine, Google can feed all sorts of machine-learning research outside the company, and in many ways, this research will feed back into Google.
- Smartwatch 'internet of things' uses body as antenna
The smartwatch therefore could automatically start a timer when the wearer begins using an electric toothbrush, unlock a keyboard without a password when users touch their laptops, or play the latest news when breakfast is being prepared.
- Why Facebook's $2 Billion Bet on Oculus Rift Might One Day Connect Everyone on Earth
The first time Mark Zuckerberg put on the awkward headset he knew. This is ready, he thought. This is the future.
- D3 Rockfall Mitigation to shut down for winter
"Working in Montana this year has been a pleasure - it's a beautiful state filled with neighborly people," stated Dan Rivas, project manager for Hi-Tech.
- Need an EV battery fill-up? At many charging stations, get in line
In some spots, demand for charging stations has outstripped supply.
- The Dream Life of Driverless Cars
Autonomous vehicles might remain an expensive novelty, or they might utterly transform society. Either way, they have much to teach us about how to look at the cities we live in.
- This is the stupidest misuse of Tesla's Autopilot yet
One Dutchman took it upon himself to leave the front seat entirely while autonomously driving down the highway.
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