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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Oct 7, 2016 |
"Innovators are the ones whose dreams are clearer than the reality that tells them they're crazy." Simon Sinek
Kalispell Chamber of Commerce
Montana Department of Commerce
- Kalispell Celebrates National Manufacturing Day With Lineup Of Events, 10/7-31
This year, 26 events have been scheduled from September 20 through October 28, and over 200 participants have attended events so far. Please see the following schedule of upcoming events.
Montana Governor's Office of Economic Development
- Montana Main Street Program Awards Grants to Eight Communities
"Strong, vibrant main streets are the core of communities across Montana," Lt. Governor Mike Cooney
Montana Politics & Legislature
- The Innovate Montana: Small Business Roadshow Will Be Rolling Into Columbus On October 18
As part of Governor Steve Bullock's Main Street Montana Project, the Governor's Office of Economic Development and Innovate Montana are hitting the road to support entrepreneurs and small businesses in an effort to enhance their potential to achieve growth and sustainability.
- The Innovate Montana: Small Business Roadshow Will Be Rolling Into Big Timber On October 20
Come with ideas and be ready to INNOVATE Big Timber!
Montana Technology Innovation Partnership
- Montana Gubernatorial Debate - Bullock And Gianforte, 10/8, Great Falls
It will be broadcast live at 6PM on all MTN stations: KPAX-Missoula; KAJ-Kalispell.KRTV-Great Falls; KXLH-Helena; KBZK-Bozeman; KXLF-Butte; and KTVQ-Billings
- Voters Overwhelmingly Approve Kalispell School Bonds
District to build new elementary site, upgrade other schools to address overcrowding, deferred maintenance
- Montana's Crumbling Infrastructure
The Montana Infrastructure Coalition is an association of over 60 public and private organizations involved in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of our most critical infrastructure in Montana.
PFL
- Montana Technology Innovation Partnership: Innovator Training November 2-3, 2016
Come together with other inventors, innovators, and researchers in your community to learn key concepts all idea people need to know.
Spika Welding & Mfg Inc
- PFL Newsletter: Treat Yourself to Print
Days are getting shorter and temperatures are starting to drop, but end-of-year marketing is about to heat up! With the holidays just around the corner and the clock ticking, there's no reason to delay your project any longer.
Big Sky Code Academy
- Spika Design & Manufacturing To Demonstrate Upper-Level Access, Fall Protection, and Support Equipment Solutions at the ASSEMBLY Show in Rosemont, IL in October
"What's great about Spika is that we have both design and manufacturing under one roof," said Katie Spika, COO of Spika Design & Manufacturing. "If a customer wants to change a design mid-stream, we can apply the change in our model right away and put it through production the next day. There's no delay between design and production."
Dorsey & Whitney LLP
- Tech educator Devin Holmes looks to expand computer science programs, boost job skills - Big Sky Code Academy
"The writing is pretty obvious," said Devin Holmes, founder of Big Sky Code Academy. "We need to do a better job developing our K-12 and higher-education workforce to create a talent pipeline that's big enough for people to build large, economic anchors in the state's tech sector."
Great Falls Development Authority
- Dorsey & Whitney - EEOC Releases Final Reporting Form for Compensation Data
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") has finalized a reporting form that requires certain employers to report summary compensation data categorized by gender, race, and ethnicity.
Energy and Climate Change
- GFDA Top 10 10/02/2016
Here's the GFDA Top 10 for the week, celebrating great things happening to move Great Falls Forward.
Come Home Montana
- Lifeline worth billions was thrown to European utilities
By moving electricity grids into the digital age, utilities can get low-risk, government-regulated rates for distributing their power, as well as new revenue from running more efficient networks or providing household battery-storage and electric vehicle systems.
- V3Solar's spinning solar cells generate 20 times more electricity than flat photovoltaics
The company believes that the Spin Cell could be a game-changer in its market.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Montana Career Opportunities - Director of Development, Commercial Loan Portfolio Manager - Great Falls Development Authority
We are a public-private partnership whose mission is to lead Great Falls economic development efforts to promote growth, diversification, and the creation of high wage jobs.
Montana Business
- UM Blackstone LaunchPad Hosts Problem-Solving Competition
UM's Blackstone LaunchPad first asked students to embrace creative problem-solving by brainstorming problems and attempting real solutions with failure as an option. Now, 13 finalists are in the running to receive "failureships" or cash scholarships during Wednesday's event.
- Senator Tester Announces 17th Small Business Opportunity Workshop, 10/27 , Great Falls
The event, held leading into Veterans' Small Business Week, will feature veteran-owned businesses and businesses that employ veterans. Additionally, it will connect veterans with job opportunities.
- Montana's robust startup scene
The Montana that Kauffman put at the top of its list of states ranked by the strength of their entrepreneurial sectors.
Careers
- Montana Near Top in Construction Job Losses
Regardless of the manner in which one supports an investment of public monies into infrastructure projects and whether it is good economic policy, the economic effect of not investing in infrastructure is indisputable.
- Credit agency FICO to expand Bozeman office, hire 50 people
"Montana is a great place for us to source talent. We've gotten great people working here and it's been tremendous," Lansing said. "We have not had trouble recruiting."
- Bucks and Bulls: Exploring the Economic Value of Hunting Montana's Backcountry
A recent financial study released by Headwaters Economics--an independent, nonpartisan research group headquartered in Bozeman--shows that expenditures from hunting in this region contribute significantly and sustainably to the local economy.
- Red Ants Pants a perfect fit for Montana
Red Ants Pants Owner Sarah Calhoun celebrates a decade in business this month, and the milestone provides her with a chance to look back on the past, look forward to the future - and throw a party in the present.
- Missoula's Galactic Farms an Integral Component of the Mars City Design 2016
Galactic Farms has been creating a hydroponic fertilizer using recycled materials like food scraps and lumber byproduct.
Rural Communities
- How To Not Be A D*** Calling Tech Support And Maybe Even DIY Your Own Fix
Here's the good news: calling tech support is one of those insta-karma situations where not being a d*** actually pays off. Since most techs have access to your account finances, we'll be happy to toss a little money at you, if you can be decent and snarkless for all of five minutes.
City Club Missoula
- A Tough Row to Hoe: Economic Growth in Rural America
The government may say the economy is getting better, but many of the people in non-metropolitan counties aren't feeling it.
- Giving Rural Youth Reasons to Stay, Thrive in Smalltown America
In many small towns, adults often say, "I think I'll be OK, but what about the kids?"
Government
- City Club Missoula Presents: Prison Reentry: What It Means To Missoula, 10/10, Missoula
The transition from incarceration back to the community can be a complicated process.
Incubators and R&D
- Missoula considers paid leave for expecting moms
"We need to acknowledge there is no short-term state disability in Montana," said Ward 3 council member Gwen Jones. "That's actually a strong reason why this has to come from the bottom up, because it's not going to come from the top down. It's very hard to go from income to zero income when you're whole family is in transition."
- Loyola Speech and Debate Coach Says He 'Would Have Walked Off' VP Debate Stage
"While I want my students to be informed about the world around them, I hope our debaters didn't watch, because that's how you don't debate," Stergios said.
Other Economies
- The sleep tracker that wakes you every 3 minutes to help you sleep better
If a partner or a pet kept waking you up three minutes after you fell asleep, you'd be kicking them out of bed pretty quickly, but a new sleep tracker does just that, with the goal of training insomniacs to fall asleep faster.
Regional Business
- Sacramento, Calif., and Bay Area Make Pact to Lure Tech Companies Away from Competing States
The idea is to create a kind of unified Northern California market for companies seeking a place to locate -- a Bay Area-Sacramento mega-region.
Regional Economic Development
- A Voter Revolt Against 'Shareholder Value'
Now we can see what four decades of pursuing shareholder value at the expense of everything else has yielded.
South Dakota
- Mississippi's Longitudinal Analytics Project Drives Economic Development Policy
Uniting information on all levels of education -- from early childhood education to post-secondary -- policymakers can make projections about workforce needs and adopt policies that drive economic development.
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- Minnehaha County to join White House data-driven program
The Data-Driven Justice Initiative has city, county, and state governments taking data-driven approaches to reduce the jail population and address the prevalence of people behind bars who have a mental illness.
Funding and Building your Business
- It's Now Called STEAM - Colleges and Universities Using Arts Integration to Prepare for the New Economy
Arts integration not only enhances memory and retention. It engages students and dramatically fosters empathy, a must have skill in the new knowledge economy.
Montana Biotech
- How to Tell Google What Your Content Means
And if you're a WordPress user I've got even better news.
- Facebook may launch 'Facebook at Work' next month
Soon, your boss might actually require you to use Facebook at work.
- MailChimp and the Un-Silicon Valley Way to Make It as a Start-Up
No venture capital, no Bay Area presence, no crazy burn rate: MailChimp's founders built the company slowly by anticipating customers' needs and following their instincts.
Non-Profit News
- Thinking of crowdfunding your science? Study suggests some tips
Scientists have tried to tap internet donors, too, with mixed success. Scientists raising funds for the world's first imaging study of the brain on LSD raised more than $65,000 earlier this year, more than twice their goal.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Nonprofit Groups Attract CFOs From For-Profit Companies
Charities seek executives who can instill financial discipline, but new jobs require some readjustment
Transportation
- It's not you. Bad doors are everywhere. Norman Doors
This video is about doors that frustrate.
- Our Computers, Ourselves
Are computers changing human character? Is our closeness with computers changing us as a species? Alix and Lulu look at the ways technology affects us.
- California opens the door for driver-free autonomy
California has approved unmanned autonomous vehicle testing, allowing self-driving cars to roam the streets with no human backup behind the wheel.
- How Cities Are Slimming Down on Parking
Cities around the world are finding ways to go on a parking diet, freeing up unused space. San Francisco and Philadelphia are two U.S. leaders, while cities like Paris, Copenhagen, and Zurich pursue even more aggressive measures.
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