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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Feb 16, 2016 |
People who do not spend five to 10 hours a week in online learning, he added, "will obsolete themselves with the technology." We're at a crossroads as a business -- and a country -- where education has to keep up with technology." Gearing Up for the Cloud, AT&T Tells Its Workers: Adapt, or Else http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
TODAY IN MISSOULA AT 4:00 - Join Governor Bullock As He Unveils The Montana Business Navigator, 2/16, Missoula http://www.matr.net/ev ... =5822
Big Sky Economic Development
Montana Department of Commerce
- 'Billings Flying Service is a great opportunity with international scope'; Steve Arveschoug Big Sky Economic Executive Director
Billings Flying Service is an air service company owning and operating Chinook helicopters.
Montana Politics & Legislature
- Cultivating Place In Main Street Communities, 5/2-3, Helena, Montana
More details and agenda coming soon.
Northwestern Energy
- Without Legislature's help, Butte finds a way to complete school heating project
"We were truly disappointed," said Superintendent Judy Jonart. "We would never have predicted that. ... Infrastructures have to be funded."
Montana Ambassadors
- Northwestern Energy grant, local donations help Missoula youth center install 72 solar panels
Solar energy continues to gain steam, especially in Missoula. Right now, there are five solar companies in the Missoula area alone - "and everyone's busy."
- A Guide For Submitting A Renewable Energy Proposal to Northwestern Energyh
Please read this entire publication before applying for USB funding from NorthWestern Energy. The greater your understanding of renewable energy, the more comfortable you will be living with it and sharing it with others.
Energy and Climate Change
- Montana Ambassadors Honor Troy Businesswoman Tyann Hermes as the 2015 Entrepreneur of the Year
"It is my honor to recognize the 2015 Montana Ambassador Award recipients, and I am thankful for their dedication, service, and efforts to ensure that Montana is one of the best places in the country to live, work, play, start a business and raise a family." Gov. Steve Bullock
Come Home Montana
- Southern California Edison's Grand Software Plan Is a System of Systems at the Grid Edge
"This whole presentation is about is trying to help people understand what it's going to take to move our more centralized control architecture to a more distributed one."
- Why the Future Looks So Promising for Utilities in a Distributed World
Distributed energy technologies will soon become part of a broader ecosystem on the grid.
- How teachers are getting it wrong on climate change
A significant percentage are including incorrect ideas, such as the notion that today's warming of the globe is a "natural" process.
- Did the Supreme Court Doom the Paris Climate Change Deal?
The high court has never before issued a stay on a set of regulations before their initial review by a federal appeals court.
- Cooperatives formed in the 1930s to bring electricity to rural America are getting into the broadband business, now that it's communication and information that power the economy
The group last year decided to offer broadband in response to frustrations on farms, ranches and small towns that being unconnected hurts business, hampers access to health care and leaves students behind.
- Conservation can likely meet power needs of Northwest states
"By investing in energy efficiency at the levels recommended in the plan, we'll be able to grow without initiating an aggressive program to build new generating resources, and we'll keep Northwest electricity rates low." Council Chairman Henry Lorenzen
Montana Business
- Montana Talent Available - Project Manager, Product Manager, or Managerial positions
Consulted for Silicon Valley start-ups, providing product and marketing advice, organizational restructuring guidance, and crafted employee communications for leadership and structural changes. Feedback from employees was that the new presentations were the best they had seen at the company.
Rural Communities
- Economist: Clean Power Plan Could Have Major Impacts on State Economy
"This would be one of the biggest economic events to hit the state in three decades."
Government
- Funding and Other Disparities Threaten Rural Schools
Compounding their funding problems, rural schools face a unique problem concerning transportation.
Idaho Business
- Daines among western Republicans hoping to break up 9th Circuit
For several decades Republicans have attempted to split up the Ninth Circuit, which has a liberal reputation on environmental regulations.
Other Economies
- Boise State poll: Education top of mind in Idaho
A new statewide poll shows that Idahoans are deeply concerned about education, jobs and the state economy, but satisfied with their taxes and the services they get for them.
Regional Economic Development
- State Gov Backs $51M Plan to Jumpstart State's Innovation Economy
In her budget address last week, Gov. Raimondo strongly backed the idea that advanced industries and cutting-edge research were vital to modern economic prosperity. "It's pretty simple," she said, "Advanced industry jobs create high wages and economic growth."
- Why Are So Many Tech Companies Moving to Kansas City, Mo.?
"By balancing budgets and making smart investments in education and entrepreneurship, we will continue to move Kansas City and the entire state forward."
Workforce Development
- Education and Economic Growth
Focusing excessively on higher education creates problems while doing no good.
Education
- Gearing Up for the Cloud, AT&T Tells Its Workers: Adapt, or Else
Learn new skills or find your career choices are very limited.
- Disabled people are allowed to work for pennies per hour -- but maybe not for much longer
"With the proper training and support, I don't care what disability they have, they can do a job that's worth at least the minimum wage."
Montana Education Excellence
- Solutions for Stressed-Out High-School Students
With growing evidence that students are suffering from the intense competition for college admission, schools around the country are rethinking everything from tests to classes to start times
- Why American Students Are Flocking to Germany -- and Staying
How do you say "sign me up" in German?
Community
- Applicants Needed To Develop Montana's New Education Accountability Systems
The Office of Public Instruction is developing four groups to begin this work of creating a system that fits Montana. Applicants are needed to serve on one of the following work groups:
- Missoula International School wins big at statewide math and robotics contests
The First Lego League theme this year was Trash Trek, and the team picked e-waste as their research project.
- Lack of state funding leaves many Montana schools in disrepair
Montana ranks near the bottom nationally for the state's share of funding for school construction and repair - and education leaders say that has caused differences in the quality of education statewide that might run afoul of the law.
- Best of times for Montana State University, worst of times for University of Montana
So what happened? What went wrong at UM? Did MSU do something right, or was it just lucky?
- Average age of Montana school buildings: 53 years - Montana Schools - A Building Crisis
Nearly 70 percent of Montana's schools were built before 1970.
- University of Montana Students Learning About Sustainability Against the Backdrop of The Lord of the Rings
Led by Prof. Shawn Clouse of the MIS Department, the program examined international business, focusing on business sustainability practices and issues in New Zealand and Sydney, Australia.
- Montana's University System is flawed, fatally from MSU Billings' perspective
It's so bad that Billings couldn't even openly have that conversation without Bozeman's permission because the administration and operation of it is a function of Montana State University President Waded Cruzado. We can't blame her for not wanting to make Billings stronger. Doing that would likely come at Bozeman's expense.
- Levies fund learning - Billings taxpayers foot the bill for schools' technology upgrades
"It's those taxpayers," said Pam Meier, the principal of Arrowhead Elementary in Billings. "We give a lot of credit to them."
Funding and Building your Business
- The February 2016 revised draft Missoula County Growth Policy is available for public review.
Following review and recommendation by the Planning Board, there will be a public hearing before the Board of County Commissioners.
- Eleven Signs a City Will Succeed
If you tell us how a town measures up based on these standards, we can guess a lot of other things about it. In our experiences, these things were true of the cities, large or small, that were working best:
Government Technology
- How can entrepreneurs best break up with a business partner?
I need to "break up" with a business partner. Beyond the legal considerations, what can I do to approach this delicate situation successfully?
- 10 Answers That Make Your Startup Plan Investable
If investors have to ask any of these questions, you raise the specter of hiding something, or of not being astute enough to know what's important.
Non-Profit News
- California to Pilot Statewide Open Data Portal - "Our strategy is to start small, iterate, have low costs and low risks"
"It's open data to push, ultimately, a culture of data-based decision-making."
- Telemedicine Advances Faster Than States Can Keep Up
As recently as 2011, only 11 states had telehealth parity laws, which require that insurers reimburse telehealth providers exactly as they would for an in-person visit.
- L.A.'s Library of Open Data Sparks Better Government
The city has created a path for other municipalities to make it easier than ever for agencies to share information with the public and each other.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Get on your bike and take an EPIC tour of America this summer with the Adventure Cycling Association
Just do it in 2016! Let us help. We have the tools, tips, and tricks to make it happen for you! We've made people's dreams a reality.
Transportation
- The Inaugural Blunderbuss Science & Maker Faire, 4/28-30, Bozeman, Montana
Our goal is to find garage projects, makers, tinkerers, inventors, entrepreneurs, scientists, and problem solvers and provide a community of education, opportunity and creativity.
- 3-D metal printing eliminates 'can't'
Aside from speeding the design-to-market process, metal 3-D printers can create intensely intricate parts, such as molds with swirling cooling channels or parts erected in honeycomb patterns. Parts can be hollow, or include labyrinthine chambers because no drilling is needed.
- Conductive concrete can de-ice itself
Researchers at the University of Nebraska have developed an augmented concrete that can de-ice itself.
- Self-driving cars promise a 'revolution,' but not necessarily a positive one
"If we understand (the drawbacks), we can design for them so their impact is not so negative."
- Like Millennials, More Older Americans Steering Away From Driving
The trend is gaining traction in middle-aged adults, to the point where fewer of them are even bothering to get or renew their driver's licenses, but it's been prominent among younger adults -- millennials -- for years now.
- The Commute of the Future? Ford Is Working on It
In April, the company will introduce FordPass, an app that offers a suite of services including car sharing and electronic payments for parking.
- Will parking meters soon go the way of the pay phone?
It won't be long before parking meters become a relic of the past.
- Google Patents Self-Driving Delivery Truck Idea
Now with federal support for the eventual deployment of cars that could drive without a human inside, Google has won a patent for a self-driving truck that would deliver packages to customers.
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