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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Jan 6, 2017 |
"Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do." Steve Jobs
How good is your broadband service? Here's a chance to share your experiences: City Club Missoula Presents: Conquering Montana's Digital Divide: Rural Broadband, 1/9, Missoula http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Montana Department of Commerce
Montana Politics & Legislature
- Montana Small Business Development Centers Partner with Governor's Conference on Tourism and Recreation
"Tourism, recreation and business development go hand in hand," said SBDC State Director Chad Moore.
Northwestern Energy
- Governor Steve Bullock Urges Legislators to Work Across the Aisle to Pass Infrastructure Bill
Governor Bullock asks Legislature to put Montana jobs ahead of politics
Great Falls Development Authority
- NorthWestern says grid is secure despite latest cyber threat
"We're as protected as we possibly can be. It's something we talk about as a company nearly every day. (Hackers) are trying to find the weak spot, and sometimes it's the person. It's part of our daily focus."
Montana Office of Tourism & Economic DevelopmentThe MDT Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program
- Shark Tank Live Pitch Business Plan Competition, 3/12-14, Helena, Montana
Got a Business Idea? Win $5,000!
- 2017 Governor's Conference On Tourism And Recreation, 3/12-14, Helena, Montana
We don't want you to miss your chance to grow and represent your contributions to Montana's tourism and recreation industry. That's why we've created the First-Time Attendees Scholarship Program!
Missoula Schools Excellence
- Registration Is Now Open! 2017 DBE Annual Summit, 2/7-9, Helena, Montana
Everyone is invited and welcome to join us. This is a FREE event.
Energy and Climate Change
- Become A Writing Coach For Grades 7-12 - Writing Coaches Of Missoula Training Sessions, 2/6 Or 2/9
Our goal is to encourage writing and help students improve their written communication skills.
Montana Manufacturing Extension Center
- Solar Could Beat Coal to Become the Cheapest Power on Earth
Solar power is now cheaper than coal in some parts of the world. In less than a decade, it's likely to be the lowest-cost option almost everywhere.
- The makers behind Solar Roadways discuss the future of clean energy
Their innovation aims to provide clean energy to the world by taking smart solar panels quite literally to the streets.
- German green energy company making wind deals in Montana
Combined, the projects will install 41 to 50 wind turbines north of the Yellowstone River with enough power for 30,000 to 40,000 homes.
- Israel to test electric roads that wirelessly charge vehicles as they drive
The team has already performed successful tests of the technology, and will be demoing the electric roads on a larger scale with a public bus route in Tel Aviv.
1 Million Cups
- MMEC and Cascadia Business Development Partner to offer Capacity Building Roundtables
The "Capacity Building Roundtable for Manufacturing Executives" is a business development program to help leaders of regional manufacturers grow their businesses responsibly.
Come Home Montana
- 1 Million Cups - Missoula, 1/18
Start 2017 right by networking more at 1 Million Cups.
Montana Business
- Montana Career Opportunity - Software Developer - Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
The Software Developer analyzes, designs, develops, documents, maintains and supports custom software solutions and systems.
- Economic forecast: Montana faces workforce crisis
Among their assessments: Due to an aging population and faster-than-average economic growth rates, Montana's labor force is not expected to keep up with businesses' demand for workers over the next 10 years.
Careers
- Big Storm Interactive Marketing Company
A Web Design and Marketing Firm, Offering Smart Solutions for Better Results
- Make 2017 the Year You Build Your Business's Capacity
While you understand at some level that you must focus on fixing the problems behind these descriptors to stabilize and grow, emphasis on doing so is often lost in the business of day to day business.
- Montana's Tarkio Fund Named Top Midcap Core Fund In U.S.
Tarkio Fund's portfolio manager, Russ Piazza, said "It's a great honor to be recognized alongside the very best performing funds in the nation, especially during the current cycle of pessimism toward equities and actively managed funds."
- Food Network to feature Missoula's The Notorious P.I.G. BBQ restaurant
26-year-old owner Burke Holmes said on Wednesday that the success of his restaurant stems purely from the town's support, which literally began on the very first day.
Rural Communities
- Beyond the Resume - HackerRank coding competitions can help companies find talent
HackerRank uses coding challenges to help aspiring programmers and software engineers break into the IT field.
- Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Oprah Winfrey All Use the 5-Hour Rule
Top business leaders often spend five hours per week doing deliberate learning.
City Club Missoula
- Bridging the Rural-Urban 'Conservation Gap'
An Oregon resident who helps maintain and protect backcountry trails in the National Forest says urban conservation groups aren't doing enough to find common ground with rural residents. It's there, he says, if you know how to look for it.
- 8 Rural and Small Town Trends for 2017
New trends that apply in rural places, small towns and any community under about 20,000 in population.
Government
- City Club Missoula Presents: Conquering Montana's Digital Divide: Rural Broadband, 1/9, Missoula
Featuring Geoff Feiss, Director of the Montana Telecommunications Association http://telecomassn.org/
Idaho Business
- How Seattle Houses the People Who Need it Most
The Seattle Weekly explores the question of how Seattle, a quickly growing and desirable city, is working to ensure housing options for its low-income residents.
- France just made every single one of its citizens an organ donor
The new rules, which came into effect on 1 January, sees France's policy align with a number of European countries such as Spain and Austria, where "presumed consent" means anyone can become a donor of organs and tissues when they die unless they specifically choose not to.
Incubators and R&D
- How Agriculture in Ada County (Idaho's Most Populous County Including Boise) is Being Edged Off the Map
As the city of Boise and surrounding communities in Ada County, Idaho continue to grow and sprawl outward, agricultural land in the county may become a thing of the past.
- Moving company: Idaho was highest percentage of inbound migration state
States with the highest percentage of outbound moves were, in order, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, Connecticut and Kansas.
Oregon Business
- Compound cuts melanoma's spread by up to 90%
Neubig's coauthor Kate Appleton, a postdoctoral student, says the findings are an early discovery that could be highly effective in battling the deadly skin cancer.
Regional Economic Development
- Oregon's most in-demand jobs are at low end of the wage scale: Here's why
Among broad occupational groups, Oregon forecasters say work in such industries as construction and health care will be the fastest growing in the coming years.
Workforce Development
- What will happen to the economic development profession in 25 years?
Mechanization and computerization cannot cease. You can't put the genie back in the bottle.
Wyoming Business
- Playbook provides workforce development guidelines
Challenges facing both workers and employers in today's market include more complex technologies in the workplace that require advanced worker skill sets, changing educational requirements, and finding workers to fill middle-skill level jobs.
Education
- Wyoming bill aims to bolster tourism with incentive for filmmakers
The committee believes SF 24 would bolster Wyoming's image and increase tourism.
- Obamacare repeal would result in 4,000 jobs lost in Wyoming
Repeal would lead to 2.6 million jobs lost across the United States
MAPS : Media Arts in the Public Schools
- Senator Bernie Sanders and Gov. Cuomo Proposes Free Tuition at New York State Colleges for Eligible Students
Under the governor's plan, college students who have been accepted to a state or city university in New York -- including two-year community colleges -- would be eligible, provided they or their family earn $125,000 or less a year.
- Finland Will Become the First Country in the World to Get Rid of All School Subjects
"There are schools that are teaching in the old-fashioned way which was of benefit in the beginning of the 1900s -- but the needs are not the same, and we need something fit for the 21st century.
- An alarming new study says charter schools are America's new subprime mortgages
There are several factors that appear to be edging the charter industry toward a bubble premeditated by the same factors that encouraged banks to start offering risky mortgage loans.
Montana Education Excellence
- Montana's MAPS (Media Arts in the Public Schools) program continues as one of top after school programs in the US
The program continues to find a unique balance between the classroom, and actually running as a business with "MAPS Works", with more paying projects on the calendar for 2017. And for students from 8th through 12th grade those are important lessons.
Funding and Building your Business
- University of Montana Mourns Death of Longest-Serving President, George Dennison
"George was not only our longest-serving president, he was among our finest," UM President Sheila Stearns said. "With his expansive vision, tenacity and optimism, he seemed to think the University of Montana could take over the world. That confidence was always half-scary and completely contagious. The University of Montana has lost a wonderful champion, and I've lost a dear friend."
- Montana can't pay for STEM scholarships promised to hundreds of students
The STEM scholarship program was created by the Legislature in 2015 and was supposed to be funded with revenue from the Montana Lottery.
Connectivity & Communications
- Opportunity for local food business partnership with the Missoula Food Co-op
MCFC would sublet retail, office, and/or production space to business partners; there are many additional cooperative business opportunities, such as co-marketing and co-staffing.
- 4 Things Every Entrepreneur Needs to Do the First Week of the New Year
Whatever the size of your firm, whether you're B2B or B2C, and regardless of the industry in which you operate, here are four must do's that you need to launch if you're aiming to increase profits and market share over the next 365 days:
Government Technology
- Mixing It Up: Communities Get Behind Hybrid Broadband Systems
Fiber to the premises has been the holy grail of broadband deployment. Some smaller communities are finding that combining fiber with fixed-wireless delivery (either as an interim or permanent solution) can be more effective.
- Don't Gut Net Neutrality. It's Good for People and Business
While abolishing network neutrality might initially increase profits for telecom and cable companies, long-term, it would harm both internet-focused companies and consumers.
- Montana's broadband network growing at unprecedented pace, transforming rural communities
2016 State of Rural Broadband report details rural initiatives to conquer Montana's divide
- Broadband MT - Conquering Montana's Divide
On this site you can learn more about how we, the member companies and cooperatives of the Montana Telecommunications Association, are addressing Montana's unique challenges.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- The Data Revolution Hits Kansas
Deep in the heartland there's a data revolution taking place. In a range of initiatives, municipalities across Kansas are mobilizing information to inform the citizenry and drive government performance.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- In 2 seconds, this simple trick will tell you if your batteries are dead or not
Now you can easily check out all of those Christmas batteries that power everything under the tree...
Transportation
- Hempcrete Could Change The Way We Build Everything
Walls made from this material are breathable which regulates humidity within the structure. These insulating properties control temperature as well.
- CES 2017: 5 cool showstoppers
How many people do you know with cracked smartphone screens?
Events
- MIT says 3,000 ride-sharing cars could replace all 13,000 New York City taxis
Less cars on the road would mean less traffic and less pollution, and MIT researchers even say drivers would make as much money as they do today.
- BroadbandUSA Community Connectivity Webinar Series, 1/12 & 1/18, Online
- Learning Environments For Tomorrow: Next Practices For Educators And Architects, 3/14-16, Cambridge, MA
- Join The U.S. Green Building Council Montana Annual Summit In Helena February 8-9, 2017
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