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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Jun 16, 2006 |
When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years. ~Mark Twain, "Old Times on the Mississippi" Atlantic Monthly, 1874
Grand Opening Of PrintingforLess And Discussions On Economic Development And Leadership In Montana, 6/30, Livingston http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Montana Meth Project
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Montana Meth Project launches Paint the State art competition.
The contest offers 13- to 18-year olds a way to get involved and compete for $6,000 in cash awards in each of the 56 counties and a statewide grand prize of $10,000. Prizes total more than $300,000.
Education
- Best places for entrepreneurs. A look at towns actively recruiting innovative businesses
"We are starting to see virtually every community try and bring in and grow new industries," says Jack Schultz
Montana Business
- Montana Governor Schweitzer Says Education is the key to Economic Vitality - Early Education Matters
"Education matters, especially for our youngest Montanans," said Governor Schweitzer.
- Group seeks support for Bitterroot Valley college
The population, now more than 40,000, and a changing economy, with more service sector jobs, point to the need for a community college
Montana Economic Development
- Website designers want searches to work for free. idealbite.com
Simply creating a website for your company isn't enough anymore. The blogging revolution — some 75,000 new blogs are created every day, according to blog directory Technorati — and the popularity of Internet search — Americans conducted 6.6 billion searches online in April — gives firms many more avenues for exposure.
- DirecTV plugging in new jobs
DirecTV also owns and operates call centers in Boise, Idaho, Huntsville, Ala., and Tulsa, Okla., and will open a technical call center in Missoula, Mont., this summer. DirecTV has about 15 million customers nationwide.
- SBE Council Scores Congress on Small Business Votes. Montana Ranks 13th, Idaho Tied for 1st
Today, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) released its annual scorecard of congressional votes in order to show how each member of Congress voted on issues important to entrepreneurs and the small business community.
- Summit Aeronautics still growing and hiring in Helena
“Summit is a global competitor, and we need more businesses like that in our community,”
- Small Business Marketing Guru and President of Ripple Marketing, Kitch Walker, Tapped for National ASBDC Conference
According to Montana Small Business Development Center (SBDC) state director Ann Desch, Walker is the first Montanan ever invited to present at the national convention.
Montana Biotech
- Commuter rail service discussion in Missoula
Proponents said with high gas prices, air quality in jeopardy for both Missoula and Ravalli counties and a large number of commuters in both counties, a commuter rail service seems to be a viable choice for the future, especially considering the Montana Department of Transportation is in the process of planning for the U.S. 93 corridor, a 20 year project.
Funding and Building your Business
- Montana State University scientists, and SpeciGen co-founders featured in cover article of Science
This is an exciting development because we can change viruses from disease-causing agents to disease-prevention and -detection agents.
Regional Business
- Preparation Can Save Brainstorming Sessions
Prof. Paulus conducted research on the number and quality of ideas of four people brainstorming together versus four people brainstorming by themselves. Typically, group brainstormers perform at about half the level they would if they brainstormed alone.
- How to build a bulletproof startup
While birthing a company is easier, succeeding is as difficult as ever.
Regional Economic Development
- Venture capital vital to North Dakota - VeraSun Energy, No. 2 U.S. ethanol producer, a Brookings, S.D.-based company has very successful IPO
When it comes to sizzling IPOs, forget about Silicon Valley. The Midwest is the best place to be. The success of Cirrus demonstrates that venture capital plays a vital and growing role in North Dakota’s economy, area business leaders say.
Idaho Business
- 8th annual Expansion Management Magazine rankings compare quality of life factors among all 362 metro areas in categories that will have a direct impact on your company’s bottom line.
A real leader cares what his or her people think, that they are happy in their jobs, that they feel pride in themselves and satisfaction in knowing that, whatever their particular job may be, that they are important and that they are making a difference.
- Economic Boom in the Northern Great Plains-How long can it last?
Washington State Business
- Caldwell, Idaho's biggest planned business development, Sky Ranch Business Center, attracts California companies
"I'm very excited. I like Idaho so far from what I've seen," Mello said in a phone interview.
Other Economies
- Biotech startup VLST gets $55 million
Typically, early-stage biotechnology companies like VLST don't raise rounds of this size. But Chief Executive Martin Simonetti, a former Dendreon executive who joined VLST in January, said the money will allow the company to focus on cutting-edge science rather than fundraising.
- SIRTI launches loan fund. $3 million in financing available to companies in Eastern Washington
The fund, called the Technology Growth Fund, will provide short-term loans to tech companies that don’t qualify for loans from commercial banks or the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), says John Overby, client services director at SIRTI.
Incubators and R&D
- Flight of Young Adults Is Causing Alarm In Upstate New York
"Sluggish job growth is the biggest driver of out-migration among young upstate adults." University-sponsored programs, local business incubators, and a regional investment group have been formed to encourage area university students’ ideas, support entrepreneurial ventures, and increase access to wealthy investors, called angels.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- UM's acquisition of spectrometers expected to advance research
In other words, ongoing UM research, including work to develop new antibiotics and biodegradable materials, will likely progress by quantum leaps, Waali said.
- U. business dean says researcher collaboration is key to USTAR
But the biggest challenge for USTAR - a government, education and business partnership that aims to bring $4.9 billion in new research funding and more than 123,000 high-tech jobs into Utah over the next 30 years - could be winning over the more staid minds of academics.
- Ethics Issues Raised in University of Montana Space Programs
Although originally developed as a “space-privatization” program in 2003, auditors found the joint efforts of UM's Northern Rockies Center for Space Privatization and the spinoff company it started, the Inland Northwest Space Alliance, do not appear to have significantly furthered the commercialization of space-related technologies in the region.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- College Incubators, Seed Funds OK, IRS Says
Universities and foundations can preserve their nonprofit status and invest in entrepreneurial support programs if these programs serve a necessary role in the educational mission of the institution.
- Skills Shortage Will Worsen Unless Industry Seeds IT Talent in Universities
A new study warns of dire consequences if the industry doesn't work with higher education to promote the viability of IT as a career.
Careers
- PAN UP TO THE FLATHEAD: Partners eye state-of-the-art media center
He imagines a day not too distant when his shadows take substance - nearly 90,000 square feet of high-tech construction, graphics, animation, television, radio, a full-blown movie studio, right here in Kalispell.
Energy
- Finding References When You're Searching on the Sly
To provide names of former supervisors, you must stay in touch with them and know where they're currently working. When a former boss leaves a company, find out where he or she is going and check in periodically.
Hydrogen News
- BP to Invest $500 Million on Biofuels at a Research Center
The energy giant is in talks with several universities in the United States or Britain as possible sites for the research center but says it has not yet picked a partner.
Connectivity & Communications
- Wyoming company wants to convert CBM water to hydrogen
The National Science Foundation has awarded a $100,000 grant to a Wyoming company that wants to determine the profitability of using wind turbines to convert coal-bed methane discharge water into pollution-free hydrogen and oxygen.
Transportation
- Verizon Bringing Ultra-High-Speed Fiber into Homes
The technology is almost limitless in its capacity -- but laying the fiber and linking homes is laborious and expensive.
- AT&T seeks to bridge the digital divide
AT&T on Wednesday launched a $100 million initiative to provide computer equipment, Internet access and training to 50,000 low income families.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Oregon might tax motorists per mile driven, not per gallon
The mileage-fee project was designed by engineers at Oregon State University. The system works by using a Global Positioning System in a car to determine the number of miles traveled inside and outside of Oregon and at what times, which could lead to peak-driving-time fees. When the car pulls into a service station, a radio transmitter sends the data to a reader in a gas pump. The mileage fee is added to the bill, and the gas tax is subtracted.
- Implantable Dust-Sized Sensors to Monitor Health
Tiny, multipurpose sensors, based on flash memory, could detect everything from blood pressure to toxic compounds.
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