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| MATR Newsletter - Tue May 23, 2006 |
MATR
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"We don't have a monopoly. We have market share." -- Steve Ballmer
Attention Entrepreneurs, Angels and VC's --- 2nd Annual Venture Conference For The Northern Rockies, 8/24-25, Big Sky, Mont. -- http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Montana Education Excellence
Education
- Sunburst, Montana High School sends seven students to Intel science fair
Sunburst, Montana may be in the Hi-Line hinterlands, but it's the center of the science universe.
Montana Business
- Universal preschool proposed in Calif.
In a report released Thursday, the National Institute for Early Education Research said it conservatively estimates the state would get back $2.78 for every $1 it invests in the Proposition 82 preschool program. That estimate is similar to a finding in a study done by the RAND Corp.
- Kits let kids add science, engineering, math to art explorations
At MIT's Media Lab, where singing Crickets elicit chuckles from otherwise focused graduate students, Resnick shows off photos of memorable Cricket projects and their creators. In one shot, a girl shows how a light beam, when broken, sets off an alarm. In another one, a boy shows how he makes a toilet paper roll spin just by raising his voice.
Montana Economic Development
- Microsoft targets 'Billings' company
"We received 800 complaints on our hot line," said Matt Lundy, an anti-piracy attorney at Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash. "We take it very seriously when our customers register complaints of this kind."
- RightNow Technologies Inc. of Bozeman, Montana buying Salesnet for $9 million
Boston-based Salesnet makes sales automation software for mid-market and enterprise customers. RightNow plans to begin integrating Salesnet applications by the summer, with all major features to be included by summer 2007.
- Missoula company gets help unleashing its new weightlifting strap. Baldwin Gear LLC
Entrepreneurs seeking success are often told that it's not what you know, it's who you know. For the partners of a new fitness equipment company in Missoula, it turned out to be both.
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- John Kramer president of the Great Falls Development Authority : Parting thoughts
names or other details. "There is never a good time to leave," the president of the Great Falls Development Authority said. "There are some great projects. For whoever takes over, the basket is full. There are lots of clients we have aggressively recruited."
- Grant to aid Montana bio-fuel industry
“We need to convince the youth to stay in Montana. Montana kids want to move back to Montana and we need to give them an economy to come back to,” he said to the group.
- Brainy balance: Education drain, gain offset each other - but newcomers are older in Montana
You've heard it many times before: Montana is exporting its future - our native sons and daughters are moving away to greener pastures.
- Road to increased trade - Montana to Texas
The planned development of the GPITC corridor includes Ports-to-Plains, Heartland Expressway and the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway, among other highways. It runs from the Mexico border in Laredo, Texas, up to Canada at the Montana border.
Funding and Building your Business
- 2nd Annual Venture Conference For The Northern Rockies, 8/24-25, Big Sky, Mont.
This year, the 2nd Annual Venture Conference for the Northern Rockies is being held in Big Sky, Mont., on August 24-25 at the Summit Hotel. The goal of the conference is to provide valuable introductions for both venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.
- State of Connecticut invests in developing state-wide angel network
The Angel Investor Program is part of the Governor’s Next Generation Competitiveness Strategy, which encourages collaboration among business, government and academia and focuses on common or cross-cutting issues that impact economic development.
Global Telework
- The Top 5 Points A Venture Capitalist Wants To Hear
This group of angel investors did a fabulous job covering what is involved in obtaining angel and venture capital funding, and what you absolutely need to be able to answer.
- Why Incorporate In Delaware?
Keep in mind that regardless of where you incorporate, you may still have to comply with laws of the state that you reside in.
- ARCH chief is addicted to making start-ups go - Critiques of investor presentations help novices gain focus
"A headache is real. If I've got a headache and you've got an aspirin, that's an easy sale," Churchwell said. "If you're selling vitamins, they might be good for me, but it's a much tougher sale."
- Focusing on personal finances difficult but important for entrepreneurs
Tanner did what many new business owners do - he cashed out his savings and dipped into credit cards. Putting money aside for his own future just wasn't part of the equation.
- After the Honeymoon
Information for entrepreneurs, focuses on creating new products, raising money, and building a successful startup. The advice stops there, and everyone lives happily ever after. Guess again.
- Inventors learn basics of marketing on the market
The worst thing an inventor can do, he said, is send a letter to a company or person simply asking them to take a look at the product.
- A Basic Lesson in Cash Flow Management. If you don't know the first thing about your business's cash flow, now's the time to learn.
Cash flow is the lifeblood of any business, and it's imperative that you understand the inflows and outflows accordingly.
- The Three "Whys" of Venture Capital
You should have ready answers to these three questions
Regional Economic Development
- Office Work Moves Out of the Office
The good news is that as small businesses outsource more of their administrative tasks and employers seek ways to slash overhead, there's a tremendous opening right now for independent contractors to find work.
- Technology links virtual businesses. Advances spur rise in collaborative work
As contracting out work has become the norm for many companies looking to cut costs and gain efficiencies, the number of virtual businesses cropping up to fill those needs is climbing dramatically, experts say.
- Managing the Distributed Workforce
It's a rare industry in which companies are not searching for ways to trim payrolls and improve control over their staff, which today may include telecommuters, flex-shift employees, and overseas workers all putting in hours at different locations. "With many businesses having trouble finding qualified workers and facing heightened competition, workforce management software provides a relatively painless was to track down and eliminate needless expenditures," says David O'Connell, a senior analyst at technology research firm Nucleus Research. "The software also allows businesses to standardize rules and procedures across different work sites."
Utah Economic Development
- Governors Focused on Boosting State Competitiveness. New Issue Brief Reviews Recent State Economic Development Initiatives
"Governors understand that competition is now based on the ability of firms and individuals to innovate, exploit indigenous strengths or existing clusters and build knowledge-based activity." said John Thomasian, director of the NGA Center. "They are utilizing the skills of the workforce and the capacity for innovation to enhance states' ability to compete in the world marketplace."
- Report focuses on economies of Yellowstone National Park gateway towns
"If you don't guide the future, it simply happens to you,"
Government Technology
- 3 Utah financial economic development incentives for jobs and movies get approval
- No quick fix for rural Utah, panelists say
"In most of rural Utah, you don't have a shortage of jobs. You have a shortage of people. If you look at (Department of) Workforce Services statistics, there are hundreds of jobs that they have a difficult time filling. ... The crisis right now is finding people who have skills in terms (of jobs) that are already there.
Washington State Business
- Computer outage strikes state government throughout Montana
"It's affecting all IT services from the state," she said. "Anything that requires access to a state provided system is not available."
- Montana re-ups NIC for portal services
The Helena, Mont.-based company was hired by the state in 2001 to create and manage e-government services on its Web site. The new contract is worth about $5 million, said Chris Neff, an NIC spokesman.
Wyoming Business
- Washington Technology Center - 2006 Innovation Index -
Twelve state regions were reviewed: Bellingham, Bremerton, Ellensburg, North Central, Olympia, Pullman, Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Tri-Cities, Vancouver and Yakima.
Other Economies
- Wyoming FFA project grows into successful business - only gluten free oats in the world
Forrest Smith, a junior, was pondering ideas two years ago for a Future Farmers of America assignment requiring students to develop a business idea centered on agriculture.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Education levels key in area's bid to draw higher-paying careers
"Education is a fundamental driver of economic growth," said Sean Snaith, the director of the Business Forecasting Center at University of the Pacific in Stockton. "It is something that is probably one of the biggest problems in the region and a long-run impediment to growth."
Universities and Economic Development
- 2 ideas of Maine collide in woods...sound familiar?
"We're not wacky about low-paying tourism jobs selling trinkets," Conlogue says. He'd rather support what's left of the forest products industry and try to attract others.
University Business Plan Competitions
- New Study Says University Contributions to U.S. Innovation Under Estimated
The study "highlights the extent to which additional commercialization of research takes place, suggesting that the contribution of universities to U.S. innovation and ultimately economic growth may be greater than had previously been believed."
University TechTransfer
- MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition names top winners. Top prize: coating technology for catheter use
SteriCoat Inc. won the Business Venture Grand Prize for developing a coating technology which significantly reduces the incident of catheter associated infections by preventing the formation of bacterial "biofilms" and killing bacterial invaders.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- University of Maryland Research Program Teaming Faculty, Companies Gets $1 Million State Boost Up to 22 More Md. Companies, Faculty Could Benefit Annually
MIPS supports about 32 research projects each year teaming university faculty with Maryland companies to develop commercial products.
Business Plan Forums
- Buying power Survey says local businesses could do more to attract Montana Tech students’ dollars
At the request of the Butte Chamber of Commerce, Johnson’s marketing and research class took a scientific look at how Butte retail is serving Tech students.
Careers
- REACHMDConsult Inc. Named Inaugural Georgia Technology Entrepreneurship Competition Winner Inaugural contest rewards $100,000 cash and a Suite of Professional Services
"Through this contest, we learned that tech entrepreneurship is not only alive and well, but thriving in Georgia," said GRA president C. Michael Cassidy. "The winner, finalists and the fifty-plus other firms that participated in this contest presented very impressive proposals rich with new ideas."
Energy
- Tips to ace the job interview
Your goal in the interview is to stand out from the crowd of applicants. So, when you're preparing, learn all you can about the employer, its market and competitors.
Hydrogen News
- Underwater windmills: A new spin on energy
‘‘It’s very, very green energy,’’ said Dean Corren, the company’s director of technology development. ‘‘There’s a lot of energy in that flowing water. Our goal is to capture a small amount of that.’’
- New Judith Gap wind farm causing headaches on the grid
"It's more variable initially than we anticipated. But remember the facility has just gone through startup and there is a shake-down period," said David Gates, vice president of wholesale operations.
Connectivity & Communications
- Iowa company hopes to make gasoline obsolete by building hydrogen auto engines. Hydrogen Engine Center Inc.
"I hope in the future the automotive people will look at our stuff and incorporate some of our ideas," he said. "Somebody needs to do something now."
Leadership Montana
- Georgia Governor Announces Funding for Wireless Broadband Networks
"Broadband is the new dial tone for the 21st century," said Governor Sonny Perdue. "We cannot imagine any business, much less an entire community, operating without access to reliable telephone service. Today, broadband Internet access is just as important to our communications infrastructure."
- Startup Wants To Offer Free Nationwide Wireless
"Grant of this Application would promote broadband deployment; yield near ubiquitous broadband access within 10 years of license grant and commencement of operation; and service the public interest, convenience and necessity," the company said in its grant application to the FCC," M2Z said in its filing.
- "Leading Through Conflict" Moving Beyond Debate: Start a Dialogue
We’re often surrounded by polarizing debates. Here’s what influential leaders know: Dialogue doesn’t seek closure as debates do, but rather discovers new options.
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