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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Nov 28, 2017 |
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"We are standing at the edge of potential workforce abyss." John Cech, deputy commissioner of higher education http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
"Everyone will have 5 years to get their car off the road or sell it for scrap" Former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Montana Manufacturing Extension Center
Montana Politics & Legislature
- MMEC deploys agile strategy for creation of Regional Centers of Manufacturing Excellence
The Montana Manufacturing Extension Center will hold its third regional manufacturing sector growth workshop in Billings on Dec. 5.
Montana's Outdoor Recreation Economy
- Montana Governor Bullock approves six bills to cover $227 million gap in Montana budget, vetoes two others
Bullock called the special session this month to reduce spending to fix a budget shortfall, which was caused by unexpected costs from this summer's wildfires and low revenue.
Great Falls Development Authority
- Montana's new economic champion
Our new economic opportunity is different from boom and bust opportunities of the past.
Montana Office of Tourism & Economic Development
- GFDA Top 10 - Great Falls was ranked the 14th best small city in the nation for 2018 college graduates by Degree 360.
Great Falls was the only city in Montana to be ranked in the Top 15.
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- Tourism office promotes Montana's winter experience
The Montana Department of Commerce is hoping to bring in those winter enthusiasts from all over the country to the Treasure State with its new winter tourism campaign.
Visit Montana
- STEM Students Shortchanged in Entrepreneurship Classes
A study argues the old teaching methods just aren't working. Here's a better way.
VR/AR, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Artificial Intelligence and The Internet of Things
- New York Times: Sip 'n' Dip in Great Falls, Montana is 'campiest place on earth'
"We're rockin' and rollin'," she was shout-singing when I dropped in over the summer. "It's Great Falls! On good-Ole Friday night!"
Big Sky Commerce
- How Artificial Intelligence Is Powering Everyday Tasks
"[Databases are] so generally useful, they got assigned to all the applications. AI is exactly the same."-Frank Chen
Energy and Climate Change
- Big Sky Commerce, Inc. is proud to be the long-time service provider and engine behind Missoula Chamber's payment processing and auto-recurring billing capabilities.
Big Sky Commerce offers superior solutions for businesses using in-store, online, and mobile processing.
Come Home Montana
- Turkey poop could offer a potent alternative to coal
Could actually replace around 10 percent of coal utilized for electricity generation.
- Meteorologist warns collapse of two Antarctic glaciers could flood every coastal city on Earth
Pine Island and Thwaites are among the continent's biggest and fastest-melting glaciers - and they could unleash 11 feet of sea level rise if they collapse.
- Your nature-inspired climate change solution could be worth $100,000
The competition seeks biomimetic innovations (products, services, or systems) that address any aspect of climate change adaptation, mitigation, and reversal in any sector of the economy.
Montana Business
- Montana Career Opportunity - Digital Content Producer - KTVH TV
KTVH TV, part of the Montana Television Network, is looking for a full-time Digital Content Producer, based in Helena, Montana.
Montana Economic Development
- Can Do: Breaking Into The Burgeoning Drone Industry From Bozeman
"If you act, you'll either fail and learn, or you'll succeed. Either one is productive and useful. If you don't act, nothing happens."
TED and TEDX Talks
- Report: Adequate Daycare, Affording Housing and Better Internet Needed in Flathead County
The Flathead Valley has a lack of affordable housing, broadband Internet options and adequate daycare services, according to a new report recently released by Montana West Economic Development.
Careers
- Today's TED Talk - How Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google manipulate our emotions
In a spectacular rant, Scott Galloway shares insights and eye-opening stats about their dominance and motivation -- and what happens when a society prizes shareholder value over everything else.
- TED Talk of the week - Sarah Corbett: Activism needs introverts
Who says an embroidered handkerchief can't change the world?
Next Generation Broadband in Montana
- Simple, Powerful Methods for Becoming a Great Communicator
Before you go into any conversation, take time to consider your audience. How do they speak? What words do they use? What words should you avoid?
- Just How Do I Find My 'Passion' in Retirement?
Are there steps people can take to find or develop new interests in later life?
- Billionaire LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman says his masters in philosophy has helped him more than an MBA
He considers the MBA path to be potentially dangerous for entrepreneurs, because it teaches them to approach business in a safe and ordered way.
Business Plan Forums
- Broadband bang per buck: How your country rates on speed versus cost
An interesting picture of which countries are doing it right, and those where short term gain for the telcos has prevailed.
City Club Missoula
- Budding Billings, Montana businesses win Battle of the Plans co-title
Winning the battle is a rigorous process, Harmon told the audience. During the contest's first phase, potential and expanding businesses must submit a one-page synopsis on opening or growing a business in the downtown area.
Government
- City Club Missoula Luncheon - The Journey To Improved Air Service In Missoula, MT - 12/11
Take Flight Missoula, a partnership between Missoula Economic Partnership, Destination Missoula and the Tourism Business Improvement District, aims to raise several hundred thousand dollars in revenue guarantees to attract new airlines and routes to Missoula.
Idaho Business
- How to argue about net neutrality (and why you should)
Small companies face enough barriers. The last thing they need is for larger competitors to be able to buy faster delivery speeds that start-ups cannot afford.
- Access to Internet is a public benefit. It should be regulated that way.
To illustrate why this is so, let me analogize to a public benefit that all Americans value: access to electricity.
- Montana Viewpoint: How $1 billion in sales netted a $50 tax bill
81 companies with Montana sales between $8.6 million to $1.009 billion dollars had paid only $50 in 2015. More disturbing was that 32 of them paid only the minimum tax for five years running, from 2011-2015 - and 12 of them with sales over $49 million, including one with over $1 billion in 2015 sales. Nice work if you can get it.
- Comcast hints at plan for paid fast lanes after net neutrality repeal Comcast still won't block or throttle--but paid prioritization may be on the way.
Proponents of net neutrality rules say this will harm companies that can't afford to pay tolls to Comcast and other ISPs.
- Experts Say Universal Basic Income Would Boost US Economy by Staggering $2.5 Trillion
The study looked at three separate proposals: a "basic income" of $1,000 per month given to every adult, a "base income" of $500 per month given to every adult, and a "child allowance" of $250 per month for every child. The researchers concluded that the larger the sum, the more significant the positive economic impact.
- MSU grad students plan protest over tax bill
"For a lot of us, myself included, if the House version passes, it's going to be a tremendous financial burden, and it may mean I exit graduate education."
- Rural Case on Net Neutrality
Another potential concern is that internet providers will start splitting various high-traffic websites into bundled packages, much like cable providers do with television stations
Incubators and R&D
- Study: Idaho's taxes the lowest in the region
Not only does Idaho's overall tax burden rank much lower than its neighbors and nearly every state, those rankings have barely changed since the study's been compiled each year over more than three decades.
North Dakota Business and Economic Development
- Research Summit highlights public interaction with scientists at the Williston area's three research labs
One of the most common questions plant pathologist Audrey Kalil heard last year was also one she couldn't answer definitively.
Regional Business
- Refugees thank adoptive North Dakota city by feeding hungry
The Legacy students have done numerous public service projects, including making and distributing hand-tied fleece blankets to the homeless, running a school carnival and helping at nursing homes and day care centers. This is their first attempt at feeding those in need.
Workforce Development
- The Future Of Retail In The Age Of Amazon
As Jeff Bezos's juggernaut continues to grow, forward-thinking competitors are finding creative ways to succeed--and be what Amazon can never be.
- Sen. Schumer warns that companies providing at-home DNA tests can sell genetic info
"The last gift any of us want to give away this holiday season is our most personal and sensitive information," Schumer (D-NY) said.
Education
- "We are standing at the edge of potential workforce abyss." John Cech, deputy commissioner of Montana higher education
The state's Department of Labor and Industry estimates that 20 percent of Montana's workforce will retire in the next few years, he said. Yet the number of Montana high school graduates is expected to be flat.
Montana Education Excellence
- 'Elitists, crybabies and junky degrees'
"There is fear and angst about the future. People are looking around and saying to universities, 'What are you doing for me? You guys at the universities are building robots that are going to replace my job.' "
- Study shows Bridge GED programs help students continue on to college
Classes geared to future careers, one-on-one counseling and time spent in college classrooms encourages GED students to seek higher education after earning their general equivalency certificates
Funding and Building your Business
- Bobcat mentoring program pairs Montana State University students with professionals to foster growth and development
The program is run by the MSU Alumni Foundation with the Career, Internship and Student Employment Services office. It aims to foster student growth and professional development through inspiration, support and shared wisdom.
- An unusual classroom approach is gaining momentum at this Billings elementary school
"I texted Kathy (Olson, another administrator) and said, 'this is transformative' ... If you guys want, you need to go to the Ron Clark Academy."
- Adult ed opportunities abound in the Bitterroot Valley
The programs are unique with various levels of intensity, topics and instructors.
- University of Montana prioritization documents show budget woes, academic achievements
UM is undergoing a process to set academic and administrative priorities, and reviewer reports produced as part of the project underscore some known themes about the campus, such as its financial struggles and academic achievements.
- Seeley-Swan finds success with four-day school week, Friday study day
"We're getting better attendance for these four longer days than we got with a five-day week," Stone said. "We end up with a more productive, focused four days and more actual class time."
Connectivity & Communications
- SEC to regulate crowd-funding
The Securities and Exchange Commission is set to regulate crowd-funding activities in the country to protect the investing public from the abuse of fund-raising innovations typically designed for start-up companies.
- Elon Musk's brilliant email rule at Tesla
This means looking beyond individual achievements and key performance indicators, which takes courage, insight, and emotional intelligence. It means making yourself available to hear as many voices as possible.
- Project Entrepreneur annual venture competition expands to help more women entrepreneurs build scalable companies
Now entering its third year, Project Entrepreneur (PE) -- an initiative from the Rent the Runway Foundation and UBS Elevating Entrepreneurs -- is expanding the number of winning companies in the accelerator from three to five.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Meet the People Building Their Own Internet in Detroit
The Equitable Internet Initiative (EII), a group that is building their own wireless networks from the ground up in order to provide affordable and high-speed internet to prevent the creation of a digital class system.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- One-On-One Interview With Apple CEO Tim Cook
"Coding should be a requirement in all schools."
Transportation
- Must read article on how our lives will change dramatically in 20 years.
What happened to Kodak will happen in a lot of industries in the next 10 years - and most people don't see it coming. Did you think in 1998 that 3 years later you would never take pictures on paper film again?
Events
- Want longer-lasting roads? Just add graphene
While roads may not seem like the most logical area for technological advances, two Italian companies have come together to combine graphene and asphalt and create a more durable and sustainable road surface.
- Hydrogen: The next wave for electric vehicles?
Battery electric vehicles are making headlines, but fuel cells are gaining momentum--with good reason.
- Case Studies in Autonomous Vehicles, Part II: How Do We Accommodate Passengers with Non-Routine Needs?
The need to accommodate passengers with non-routine needs has been overlooked. The amount of miles traveled by families and others with non-routine needs represents a significant percentage of vehicle miles traveled each year.
- Atlanta says all new construction must be "EV ready"
The new ordinance requires 20 percent of parking spaces in new commercial and multifamily parking structures to be EV ready, and new residential homes must also be equipped with the infrastructure needed to install EV charging stations.
- 'Shared Space' Design: Road Signs Suck. What if We Got Rid of Them All?
99% Invisible teamed up with Vox to bring you this video story on how "shared space" approaches are challenging road design conventions:
- Car-Free Cities: "Gridlock Sam" and the Drive to Reclaim Urban Roadways
The city of Paris recently held its third iteration of a "Day Without Cars," this time banning vehicles from around 40 square miles of the city.
- Missoula turns thoughts to self-driving cars, future of transportation
"As early as 2021, just over three years from now, traveling by a shared vehicle will be four to 10 times cheaper than buying a new car. Even if your vehicle is paid off, it will be two to four times cheaper to summon a shared vehicle."
- Los Angeles to Test New 'Mobility on Demand' Partnership
"We're making our systems more inclusive -- because access to public transportation is a right, not a privilege." LA Mayor Eric Garcetti
- 'Everyone will have 5 years to get their car off the road or sell it for scrap' Bob Lutz
The tipping point will come when 20 to 30 percent of vehicles are fully autonomous. Countries will look at the accident statistics and figure out that human drivers are causing 99.9 percent of the accidents.
- Seventh Annual Veterans Court Mentor Training - 12/2 - Missoula
- Baucus, Simpson To Talk About Fixing Broken Politics - 12/4 - Billings And NPR
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