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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Jan 12, 2016 |
If you're ever sad, just remember that the world is 4.543 billion years old and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie.
Reserve your seat today: City Club Missoula Hosts - The State Of Missoula, 2/8, Missoula, Montana http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Montana Data Focused Business Cluster
Montana Department of Commerce
- Insurance Companies Missing Out on Big Data's Value
"Companies who have launched big data tools, however, are seeing benefits. They are able to model risk and customer behavior more effectively, leading to better analytics."
Great Falls Development Authority
- Join Adventure Cycling To Celebrate The 40th Anniversary Of Bikecentennial, 1/13, Missoula, Montana
"At the Department of Commerce, we're proud to join with the Adventure Cycling Association and its many proud partners to invite bike enthusiasts from around the globe to join in the Montana Bicycle Celebration in July of 2016. We know this is an investment that will have a significant return both financially and culturally not only in Missoula, but across Montana." - Doug Mitchell, Montana Department of Commerce
Montana Office of Tourism & Economic Development
- 2015 commercial construction double over 2014 in Great Falls, Montana
Brett Doney, president of the Great Falls Development Authority said GFDA expects to make more announcements in the coming months for more projects.
- The LaunchPoint- From Concept To Startup!, 1/12, Great Falls, Montana
Have you been thinking about an idea and always wondered if you could make it a business?
Energy and Climate Change
- Registration for the 2016 Governor's Conference on Tourism and Recreation April 10-12 in Kalispell is now open
Register early to reserve a spot at one of the Sunday tours of the Flathead Valley or the Social Media Cafe workshop--and to get the best pricing.
Come Home Montana
- Wyoming's largest utility backs measure to end coal use in Oregon
Wyoming's largest utility is continuing its transition from coal.
- Climate concerns ignite search for next-gen energy
Or maybe the next generation of energy will come from river or ocean tides, from "windmills" floating 2,000 feet high in the sky, or from spent nuclear waste. Or the answer might lie with removing carbon from the air and reusing it.
Montana Business
- Montana Career Opportunity - Integrated Marketing Manager - Adventure Life
Do you love marketing, branding and the wide technology avenues available today? What about world travel and adventure? Want to combine the two passions? Then, Adventure Life could have your next career opportunity.
- More jobs up for grabs in Missoula County
A lot of those are skilled trades. A lot of those are fairly well paying jobs.
MSU Leadership Institute & UM Global Leadership Initiative
- Missoula's "The Nooky Box" Indiegogo Campaign is Getting Excited - YAY SEX
Finally - a simple and fun way to enhance and embrace your sex life (whether by yourself or with a partner), that is both respectful and discreet.
- Montana man attempts to drive for Uber, uncovers fatal flaw in law
"Since my insurance company Progressive says no, I called several other insurances and they do some research and everyone has the same rules for Montana," said Trnka. "They don't let you drive for money basically."
- Colstrip, Montana at a crossroads: Town's future uncertain as pressures build on coal
Anne Hedges, deputy director and lead lobbyist for the Montana Environmental Information Center, said she thinks economic forces will help shut down the older units at Colstrip.
- PSC spokesman: Mountain Water sold to subsidiary of Canadian firm
"We're shocked by this to say the least, and it's frustrating that they've decided to bypass us. And we are certainly not going to let this go forward without doing anything, to put it lightly."
- SoFi Is Out to Solve the Student Loan Crisis
Over the past couple years, SoFi has established itself as the leading student loan refinance lender.
- Invizeon Corporation Investment Loss Recovery Center - Barry G. Hartman
If you are an investor that suffered losses investing in Invizeon Corporation through Barry G. Hartman, you may be able to recover your losses through FINRA arbitration or securities litigation.
- Uber's arrival in Montana brings competition, employment issues
"It was an attractive deal to supplement my income. There's a lot of up-and-coming e-commerce businesses that are changing the world and how we make money."
Careers
- Fellows of Women's Leadership Initiative exemplify University of Montana innovation
Innovative. Individualized. Humane. These are the words I use when characterizing the University of Montana to global partners.
Come Home Idaho
- 10 Questions to Find Your Passion
Figuring out what lights you up and makes you feel completely alive can help you kickstart the new year and make it the best year ever.
- 7 Skills to Thrive, Not Just Survive, in Any Career
The days are gone when you were able to focus on a specific skill set in school and hone that expertise into a satisfying career for the rest of your working life.
Next Generation Broadband in Montana
- Moving company: Way more people move into Idaho than out
The moving company said Idaho sees a higher proportion of inbound moves rather than out compared to every state except Oregon.
Rural Communities
- How a Fiber Master Plan Is Guiding Shawnee, Kan.'s Path to Connectivity
Creative partnerships and modest annual investments allow opportunities for continued growth for the city's broadband network.
- New York to Provide High-Speed Broadband to All Citizens by End of 2018
A $500 million broadband program coupled with a merger between Time Warner Cable and Charter Communications aims to deliver access to high-speed Internet across the state.
Business Plan Forums
- Rural America At A Glance Webinar, 1/13, Online
This report highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas, focusing on the U.S. rural economy, including employment, population, poverty trends, and educational attainment trends.
City Club Missoula
- App to detect dangerous sunlight radiation wins University of Montana startup pitch competition
The app detects the sun's intensity based on the user's location - different strengths of solar radiation hit our skin depending on the time of day, latitude and altitude. The app sends the user an alert when UV intensity is above the user's preset limit, and also when it's time to put on more sunscreen.
Economic Gardening
- City Club Missoula Hosts - The State Of Missoula, 2/8, Missoula, Montana
Featuring Mayor John Engen, County Commissioner Cola Rowley, and University of Montana President Royce Engstrom
Government
- Chamber Addresses Economic Gardening
Wants to Create Destination Image Campaign
Idaho Business
- Missoula encouraged by Mountain Water case developments
Missoula District Court Judge Karen Townsend ruled in favor of the city on the question of who is responsible for $22 million in developer agreements currently held by Mountain Water for future water connections. Townsend ruled those remain the responsibility of the utility, not the city.
- Important Updates in Follow-up to the MTDLI TechHire Grant Initiative Conference Call
We need your help to compile a directory of teams who are currently working on proposals for this grant - and other interested parties - to use as a master distribution list for future announcements and updates on this effort, to help connect parties who may be able to collaborate together, and to provide improved outreach and support from MTDLI.
- The new way police are surveilling you: Calculating your threat 'score'
The "big data" that has transformed marketing and other industries has now come to law enforcement.
- The Innovation the Grantmaking Process Needs
The way governments give out money to solve problems is stuck in the past.
- State Policies and the Future of Work
State policymakers need to understand the trends at work and the actions they can take, not only to respond to the changing nature of work but also to proactively improve economic security for their constituents.
- Cheaper Isn't Necessarily Better for Government Purchasing
Many states and cities get hung up on low prices and fail to consider a company's performance when deciding whether to contract with them.
Incubators and R&D
- Idaho business tax incentive draws fire from employer, conservative group
"Not only does Paylocity get my tax dollars, now I have to compete with them for employees, since they do much of the same kind of work I do," Gersema said. "Well, gee whiz, thank you, Legislature of the state of Idaho. Thank you very much."
- Business led Idaho 2020 wants data to drive decisions on building Idaho economy
"Wouldn't it be nice for our Legislature to be making decisions based on data and real hard information on what has been successful around us?"
- Will Idaho's Governor Convince Lawmakers to Expand Medicaid This Year?
"We want to begin the discussion on what we believe is an Idaho solution to our inability the last three years to provide for those in the (Medicaid) gap," Otter said.
- Governor Otter wants boost for Idaho schools, higher education
"We made promises during the Great Recession that we are duty-bound to fulfill and now, we have the financial means."
North Dakota Business and Economic Development
- A Single Blood Test For All Cancers? Illumina, Bill Gates And Jeff Bezos Launch Startup To Make It Happen
What if a simple blood test could detect any cancer early, when it was still easy to treat?
Other Economies
- More than 200 North Dakota teacher positions still unfilled after 'community experts' program falls flat
"We're at a critical point that the state of North Dakota needs to look at short-term and long-term solutions for this problem."
Regional Business
- Marin County, Calif., Announces Strategic Plan to Develop High-Tech Capabilities
Key to the county's future are customer service, mobile access to data, and information security.
Wyoming Business
- Is Your Company On the Journey to Joining the Smart Manufacturing Revolution?
A convergence of emerging technologies and process improvement initiatives has the potential to radically improve the way manufacturers thread processes and systems in the entire product value chain in order to deliver more options and new service models to customers.
- In Pacific Northwest locations, Albertsons emerges stronger from Haggen's troubles
The boomerang trajectory of that Baker City store shows how the FTC’s antitrust effort to foster healthy rivalry among profitable grocers has failed in the Haggen case.
- Doctors Unionize to Resist the Medical Machine
Dr. Alexander's method is at the center of an emotional debate in medicine, in which the imperative to increase efficiency in a high-cost health care system is often at odds with the deference traditionally accorded to doctors.
- Texas Billionaires Bought Up 38,000 Acres of Idaho Land and Closed It to Hunting and Recreation
The brothers also have reportedly purchased nearly 300,000 acres in Montana in recent years
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."American Prairie Reserve
- NBC News This Principal's 'Electric' Education Strategy Is 'Making A Difference'
The school may be known for their latest viral video hit, but the foundation of Atlanta's Ron Clark Academy is academic rigor and a fresh approach to learning.
- Want kids to listen more, fidget less? Try more recess... this school did
The goal: to help children focus and learn better once they're back in class.
- Schools in Finland will no longer teach "subjects"
Finland is about to embark on one of the most radical education reform programmes ever undertaken by a nation state - scrapping traditional "teaching by subject" in favour of "teaching by topic".
- The Future of Big Data and Analytics in K-12 Education
Many observers hope the next step is the type of systemwide change that has already transformed the financial sector, health care, consumer technology, retail sales, and professional sports, among other industries.
Education
- The Yellowstone of the Future - Montana's American Prairie Reserve
It is one of the few landscapes left that bears some semblance to what Lewis and Clark witnessed about 200 years ago when they passed through.
Montana Education Excellence
- New Federal Rule Decriminalizes Walking to School... Yes, you read that correctly
"It's now legal for your kids to walk to school."
- 11 Ways Finland's Education System Shows Us that "Less is More".
A person not only has to be the best and the brightest to become a primary teacher, they also have to have passed a series of interviews and personality screenings to get in. So, it isn't enough to be the smartest in your class, you also have to have the natural ability and drive to teach.
- The University of Wisconsin wasn't attracting diverse applicants. So it did something bold.
Providing about 14 full, four-year scholarships per year, the First Wave program targets incoming freshmen who have a passion for the program's three pillars: arts, academics, and activism.
- Governors Can Design Higher Education for the Future
f there's one thing I know about (other than the physics of Star Wars), it's higher education. Here are some key points to consider as governor of a state (this should apply to all states).
Community
- UM to Host Third STEM Career Conference for Middle-School Girls April 23
An opportunity for sixth- to eighth-grade girls to engage in workshops led by female scientists, engineers and technology specialists from UM, as well as local STEM businesses and organizations.
- Bozeman's chance to reimagine high school
"The big transformation in education is because of technology," Conwell said. Computers, the Internet and smart devices have shifted schools' emphasis away from memorizing knowledge, he said, because most knowledge now is something "we can look up on our phone." Now students need more complex thinking skills.
- With Help of New Program, Montana's Children Get 'Ready 2 Read'
Ready 2 Read's objective is to help parents recognize teachable moments and integrate literacy learning into everyday activities.
Funding and Building your Business
- How driverless cars will change cities and bicycle planning
Why some say driverless cars won't just change the way we commute, but the way we live,
- The 12 Best Hippie Cities For Stressed-Out Progressives In 2016 - Missoula, Montana
When Missoula was named one of the top places to live in 2015, Mayor John Engen captured something of the nature of the place by saying: “One of the jokes about Missoula is that citizenship requires you to own a Subaru Outback and at least one Labrador retriever.”
- Peterborough is the winner of the 2015 World Smart City Award: a City Shaping Its Own DNA
The smartest cities around the world are sometimes below the radar, transforming their economies with little fanfare.
- Top 10 Websites for urban planning, design, and development.
The annual list of the ten best planning, design, and development websites, representing some of the top online resources for news, information, and research on the built environment.
- Thinking Big: 6 Innovative Ideas from Small Cities
How cities with populations under 100,000 are using tech to provide creative and forward-looking services.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- Taking the wrong angle on 360-degree reviews
This article shows how 360 reviews can do more harm than good.
- Techstars Foundation Opens For Grant Applications
It's looking for both nonprofit and for-profit organizations who are working to impact the diversity in tech entrepreneurship.
- Velociter - Helping Small Businesses Commercialize & Transition
Commercialization/transition of your technology can be challenging. We equip innovators with tools to overcome these challenges.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Montana's Conrad Anker hopes, waits for "Meru" Oscar nomination
Anker sees the positive publicity surrounding the film as "soft diplomacy" for Bozeman and the climbing community.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Cakeage, or How Restaurants Really Feel About Cake Brought In
It's a play on corkage, the fee a restaurant levies to open a bottle of wine brought by the customer.
Transportation
- Virtual dealers make buying used cars painless
Deals can be struck and financing obtained in minutes, with the car delivered to your door.
- Replacing human body parts might come sooner than you'd expect
The aim is to be able to fully grow organs by 2019.
- The Sign of a Successful Bike Plan: Slow Biking
In short, the slower the people on bikes were moving, the more mature the bicycle culture, and the better the conditions for cycling.
- Elon Musk's latest prediction wows ahead of Detroit auto show
Here's a video showing how it works:
- The Clever Way Ford's Self-Driving Cars Navigate in Snow
If snow is covering a sign or lane marker, there's no way for the car to see it.
- The Chevy Bolt Costs $30K and Goes 200 Miles on a Charge
It's hard to overstate the importance of this car to General Motors and to the market for electric driving in general.
- Blind spots in cars could eventually be a thing of the past
With a camera-based system, some drivers also would no longer have the potential problem of struggling to pivot in their seat to check their blind spots.
- Will Self-Driving Cars Cost California Millions in Revenue?
Mayors and governors should adopt GM's forward thinking because driverless cars will inevitably drain hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue from public coffers each year.
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