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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Nov 14, 2017 |
"It's fair to say Next Frontier Capital http://www.nextfrontie ... .com/ has single-handedly leveled the playing field for Montana startups." Submittable co-founder and CEO Michael Fitzgerald - Investment group Frontier Angels announces expansion amid venture capital growth in Montana - http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Montana Politics & Legislature
Great Falls Development Authority
- GOP has votes to expand session; Shelby private prison looks like a flash-point
Their expansion will include consideration of accepting a $30 million offer by owners of the private prison at Shelby - in exchange for a 10-year extension of the company's contract to manage the prison.
- Governor Bullock, lawmakers should work for compromise
Montanans who want to follow the hearings and debates online can find the schedule listed under video and audio on the Legislature's home page at http://www.leg.mt.gov.
VR/AR, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Artificial Intelligence and The Internet of Things
- GFDA Top 10 - Here is our Top 14 for this week, celebrating work and successes to grow and strengthen our Great Falls regional economy.
Thank you Veterans and all who have served, and continue to serve, our nation and our community in so many wonderful ways!
Energy and Climate Change
- How Many Robots Does It Take to Fill a Grocery Order?
The breakthrough and ones like it could help propel the grocery business into the modern era. The industry wants to make buying food online as simple and commonplace as purchasing clothes or consumer electronics.
- What life will be like when the computers disappear
It is still very early, but the era of ambient computing is slowly taking shape, whether in the form of the voice-driven smart speaker on your kitchen countertop, or via the IoT (Internet of Things) devices and appliances that are designed to blend into the background.
- Ray Kurzweil on Turing Tests, Brain Extenders, and AI Ethics
A key Issue I didn't mention with the law of accelerating returns is: not only does the hardware progress exponentially, but so does the software.
Come Home Montana
- Rural Arkansas program offers example of energy savings through efficiency
Residents pay nothing out-of-pocket for the improvements, but instead pay off the loan over time through their monthly utility bill.
Montana Business
- Montana Career Opportunities - Full Stack JavaScript Web Development Instructors, Data Science Instructor, Marketing Interns - Big Sky Code Academy
Big Sky Code Academy is a technology boot camp in Montana that offers immersive full-time and part-time web development and data science courses to train people with little or no coding background to become employable developers.
- Montana Career Opportunities - Front End Developer, Marketing Manager - TOMIS
TOMIS is a machine learning engine that uses AI technology to constantly predict optimal marketing placement options across dozens of platforms (Facebook, Google, Website...) and deliver optimized recommended actions based on recent and historical sales/marketing data.
- Montana Career Opportunities - Technical Writer, Dev Ops Engineer, Senior Java Developer, UI Developer and more... - Arrow Solutions Group
Arrow Solutions Group has a proven success record in identifying and attracting top technology talent for contract, contract-to-hire or direct placement.
- Montana Career Opportunities - Solutions Engineer Manager, Manager of Software Development, Customer Advocate, Customer Success Associate and more... - PFL
We're looking for talented, hard-working people that are passionate about helping customers succeed. It helps if you enjoy clean mountain air and dogs.
- Montana Career Opportunities - Advisory Team Coordinator, Forensic Team Manager - LMG Security
Passionate about careers in cyber security? Looking for a challenging career in a company that values you personally?
- Montana Career Opportunities - Data Engineer, DevOps Engineer, Development Support Engineer and more... - SoFi
Want to work to change the financial industry as we know it? You've come to the right place.
- Missoula County elections administrator job open for applications
"We are at a point in our history where we must have someone dedicated full time to the task of managing and administering elections," Commissioner Dave Strohmaier said in a news release. "Elections are just too complex in our large county, and the public, rightfully, has a high expectation of competency in this role."
Montana Economic Development
- Missoula investment company Front Street Capital Management finds success in companies that empower workers
"We think living and working in Missoula gives us an advantage over the thousands of other mutual funds, since we are less apt to be influenced by the crazy swings and sensitivities of Wall Street. We just stay focused on the quality of the culture of our companies, and we use volatile stock price swings to our advantage to buy our great companies at great prices." Jeremy Brown
- Podcast - Can Do: James Scott Jr. (First Interstate Bank) And Banking As A Family Business
"Developing those meaningful relationships, that to me is what it is all about, and I think how you can differentiate yourself as banker or as any employee, frankly, is just putting in the time," says Scott.
Careers
- Butte, Montana aims to elevate image - "Butte Elevated"
I think anybody who walks down the streets of Butte can feel it, there's a new energy all of the sudden," said BLDC Marketing Director Cooper Fisher.
- Big Sky and the big screen: A star-studded history, an economic motive and the future of film in Montana
"The biggest loss (from productions choosing other states), again, may not be the value of production itself, but the lost revenues from the tourism-related commerce that film generates for its location,"
City Club Missoula
- What Mentors Wish Their Mentees Knew
In this article, we outline six habits of ideal mentees and provide anecdotes and views from our combined years of academic experience.
- 6 Entry-Level Tech Jobs That Pay More Than $90,000 a Year
Want to bring in the big bucks? Try one of these careers.
- Workplace tips: Customer service skills every employee needs
Even if you're not working directly in customer service, per se, that doesn't mean that customer service skills do not apply to you -- it can never hurt to brush up on your people skills, no matter what industry you work in.
Idaho Business
- 91 new faces: City Club Missoula hosts forum on refugee resettlement
"One of the many wonderful and beautiful things about resettlement is being a part of what the larger needs are in our community and how we can benefit everyone in need, not just refugees," Poole said.
Incubators and R&D
- In Idaho, program to fight voter fraud may cause more problems than it catches
Ada County elections employees have been leery of the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program since 2014 -- the year they got burned by it.
- Idaho is sharing your private voter data (even though it promised not to)
Erpelding said he would introduce legislation next session to remove Idaho from the Crosscheck program, citing voter privacy, cybersecurity issues and other concerns.
- A word with Andrew Mentzer of West Central Mountains (Idaho) Economic Development Council
We promote regionalism. We're one of the major conduits to make sure Cascade is talking to McCall, New Meadows is talking to Donnelly, so there isn't a duplication of effort and there could be efficiencies.
Other Economies
- MSU researchers developing improved technology for disease diagnosis
Ideally, a small device would use a small blood draw to make an accurate diagnosis within an hour.
Regional Business
- Why are Millennials Flocking to These Small Cities? Ready or Not, Here We Come
There are other areas whose young, educated populations are growing nearly as fast as some of the most famous youth magnets like Silicon Valley;
- The 19 hottest San Francisco startups to watch in 2018
It's been a wild year for tech in San Francisco.
Utah Economic Development
- How Utilities Can Meet Millennials' Needs in a Data-Sharing Economy
From social media to shopping and now electricity, data sharing is a trend energy providers can't afford to ignore.
Wyoming Business
- Utah grants aid startup firms through 'valley of death' period
The program run through the Governor's Office of Economic Development has $2.5 million available this year for competitive grants to small businesses and university teams to help fast-track commercialization of technology innovations.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- Snapshot shows an improved Wyoming economy, but downturn's fallout continues to mar outlook
The snapshot offers an immediate glimpse of the state's economy, from the amount of monthly sales and use taxes paid by the mining sector, to the number of tourists visiting Wyoming parks and the weekly wages in the private sector.
Community
- Missoula Food Bank received the largest single donation in history for Can the Cats Food Drive from the Missoula Federal Credit Union... but it needs more from you!
The Federal Credit Union definitely went a little extra not only by donating 50,000 pounds of food, but also by volunteering to package it up for Missoula families and it will feed a lot of them.
Funding and Building your Business
- Missoula inching forward with tools to manage design standards, guidelines
The city of Missoula expects to have a set of tools to guide design elements of new construction next spring, with a focus on major corridors and the downtown district.
GIS Technology
- Why the 'end of the startup era' could be great for entrepreneurs
If we define success as building an ever wider assortment of products, shipping them to tens of millions of users and earning hundreds of millions, or even billions of dollars in short time frames, the good times may just be getting started.
- The limitations of Lean Startup: when not to use it
There are three situations where applying the Lean Startup is less appropriate and/or requires extra care:
- The 5 Biggest Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make When Launching Something New
After working with hundreds of entrepreneurs in launching their businesses, I've seen many mistakes and patterns appear time and time again.
- 79 percent of Americans would take a pay cut to work for a more 'just' company
Americans prioritize one thing above all others when evaluating whether a company is a good corporate citizen: how they treat their workers.
- Silicon Valley fumes over Senate GOP proposal to tax vested stock options
The current law taxes only when the employees actually exercise their options.
- The secret to optimizing credit card rewards? Be disloyal
"If someone comes out with a better one, or one that earns better points, I'm always a free agent,"
Government Technology
- The company photographing every spot of land on earth, every single day
Analyzing the imagery over time promises to unlock critical information about the economy and the environment for Planet's customers, which range from investors to activists.
Transportation
- A Wake Up Call for Government Leaders: If we don't invest in innovation now, the U.S. can say goodbye to being #1
Investing in America's digital future is no longer optional. It is an economic imperative.
- 66 percent of Surveyed Cities Investing in Smart Cities Technology
A report from the National League of Cities shows that US cities are incubators for new technology, and a sharing economy is a major part of the plan for many municipalities.
- Bill Gates Buys 25,000 Acres in Arizona for a Master Planned 'Smart City'
"Finally Arizona's getting recognized for being a place for innovation,"
Events
- Daimler gets on board shift to electric school buses Automotive
This affords it a 160-km (100-mi) run on each charge, while additional battery packs can be added to stretch out that range.
- Trucks start rolling down California eHighway - overhead cables to zip along on electric motor power only
"This electrified truck system, what we call eHighway, can modernize the existing infrastructure using the latest technology to accommodate the growing amount of freight travel, reduce harmful emissions, and keep these ports, one of our country's major economic drivers, competitive."
- Self-driving trucks may be closer than they appear
"We are trying to get self-driving technology out on the road as fast as possible," Embark CEO Alex Rodrigues said. "Trucking needs self-driving, and self-driving needs trucking."
- Louisville (and Other Communities) Use Waze Data for Better Transportation Outcomes
The days of sending out crews to deploy traffic counting equipment to measure highway volume could be coming to an end as cities turn to apps like Waze.
- U.S. Optics To Open Doors To The Public For An Open House - 11/17 - Kalispell, Montana
- Global Health Expert Dr. Paul Farmer To Speak At MSU On Jan. 31
- Tell Us Something Storytellers - "Getting Away With It" - 12/12 - Missoula, Montana
- Practical Broadband Conversations: Electric Co-ops Bringing Fiber To Rural America - 11/15 - Online
- Join The Montana State Society This Saturday For The DC Area Cat-Griz Game Watch Party - 11/18 - Washington, D.C.
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