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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Apr 17, 2018 |
"The most notable human endeavor is service" – Max Baucus ---- Have you registered to vote?
'The Bay Area is broken': startups look to Portland, Boise - Choose Montana! http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Montana Department of Commerce
Montana Governor's Office of Economic Development
- Montana Tourism and Recreation Leaders Gather in Big Sky
Tourism is one of Montana's top industries, bringing nearly $3.4 billion into the state's economy last year.
Flathead Valley Community College
- 'The Bay Area is broken': startups look to Portland, Boise - Choose Montana!
Now local startups increasingly are opening satellite operations in cheaper markets _ no longer expecting all their employees to congregate in one Silicon Valley office for work, free food and ping-pong.
- Governor Bullock Announces High-Tech Israeli company, 4Cast, to Open Office in Missoula, Montana - Plans to hire 100 starting later this summer
"Montana is increasingly seen as an ideal choice for companies that not only value a strong business climate and educated workforce, but a place where quality of life matters," said Governor Bullock. "I'm thrilled 4Cast has chosen Missoula as a place to grow their business - a testament to the community's cultivation of a high-tech industry that results in good-paying jobs."
Great Falls Development Authority
- Flathead Valley Community College to Offer New Maker Skills Class Fall Semester
It's a three-credit class that includes lecture, labs and hands-on experience with 3D design and printing, bench-top milling machines, electronics and micro-controllers.
Early Edge Montana
- Great Falls Development Authority Top 10 Success Highlights for the Week.
Montana is now the top producer of pulse crops in the United States and we're spreading the word that the Great Falls region is eager for more pulse processing facilities.
Visit Montana
- Governor Bullock Showcases Early Childhood Education Experiences for Kids, Student Teachers
"Montana's first-ever investment in publicly funded preschool has already opened doors of opportunity - for the kids who will now enter kindergarten ready to learn and for teachers looking to grow in their career," said Governor Bullock. "We are building a stronger future for Montanans, which is why we must keep working to ensure high-quality early childhood experiences are a reality in communities all across our state."
- Missoulian editorial - What works to prevent child abuse and neglect in Montana?
It's as good a time as any to be asking: What works to prevent child abuse and neglect in Montana?
- Montana partners with private providers in trial run of publicly funded preschool
"There's such a need for it. We've got waiting lists in every classroom."
VR/AR, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Artificial Intelligence and The Internet of Things
- Wonderful world of bears: MPG Ranch releases latest video on black bears
Paul is a member of the MPG Ranch's team that documents the lives of the black bears that call the sweeping 16,400-acre ranch east of Florence home. The team uses video captured on about 200 strategically placed trail cameras.
Energy and Climate Change
- AI Could Lead to Job Loss in Near Future, More Dire Consequences Further Off
"The question is, as more and more intelligent machines do better than humans at more and more jobs, what happens to societies?"
Come Home Montana
- Why we need to move toward an economy that can regenerate itself
The old take-make-use-lose model of industrial design has depleted resources and dumped waste into the environment.
- Missoula businesses utilize, explain renewable energy for the masses
From exercise equipment that creates electricity to a how-to guide on financing solar panels for residential homes, some Missoula businesses are putting major efforts into sustainability as Earth Day nears on April 22.
Careers
- 10 neat businesses for sale in Montana
If it's time for something new, check out these possibilities, which range from $12,000 to $58 million.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC) Director - Big Sky Economic Development
Big Sky Economic Development is looking for a dynamic leader to manage the Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC) servicing the three-state region of Montana, Wyoming and Utah.
- Over 90 employers expected at Missoula career fair Today 4/17
So how do you come prepared to find a new job?
Business Plan Forums
- How the "What If" Method of Storytelling Will Help You Move Every Audience, Every Time
Stories are powerful motivators that make us more likely to remember and believe in a message.
- Companies don't have to steal your soul. Here's how to find meaning at work.
Think a meaningful life and success are mutually exclusive? This dichotomy is a myth with real consequences for how we view our work lives.
- Can money buy happiness?
Research shows that once you are above the poverty line, making more money won't necessarily bring more joy, especially if you spend it on more stuff.
- 13 Mental Habits Leaders With Emotional Intelligence Will Avoid Like the Plague
A good first lesson to grow as a leader is to step back and inspect how your thinking patterns impact others.
- Why Entrepreneurs Start Companies Rather Than Join Them
It never crossed my mind that I gravitated to startups because I thought more of my abilities than the value a large company would put on them.
Government
- The Ruffatto Business Plan Competition - Montana University students pitch unique business ideas for cash prizes
"The goal of the competition really is to help students sort of explore entrepreneurship, and to do that by trying to be entrepreneurs," said Paul Gladen of Blackstone Launchpad.
- John Ruffatto Montana University Student Business Plan Competition - Education to eats: Student startup challenge draws next-gen businesses to competition
When Jennifer Sheets first presented her idea for a web-based writing tutorial at 1 Million Cups back in December, her elevator pitch - by her own acknowledgment - needed a little fine tuning. Mission accomplished.
Idaho
- Our small Internet business will end if the Supreme Court makes us pay state sales taxes
We are a couple who started a "mom and pop" online retail business, Sarge & Red's, to pay for the adoption and fostering of two children. So we are highly qualified to explain why if the justices overturn this precedent it will harm millions of families like ours.
- Podcast - Can the Tax Structure Be Tweaked for Social Good?
Is it possible to use the tax structure to encourage people to take on careers that promote social good.
- A $76,000 Monthly Pension: Why States and Cities Are Short on Cash
Governments are struggling as mounting pension obligations crowd out the rest of their budgets. Oregon faces a severe, self-inflicted crisis.
- Ryan Zinke Is Opening Up Public Lands. Just Not in Montana.
He faces allegations that he has violated travel and ethics rules, an examination of his Interior Department record shows that his pro-development bent has not always applied to his home state, where he is viewed as a fiercely ambitious candidate for future office.
Oregon Business
- Idaho Commerce Announces George Lynch As New Economic Development Advisor
In this new position, Mr. Lynch will work with partners throughout the state advising the Director on policy initiatives for issues such as broadband access, affordable housing, and other key challenges the state faces in furthering economic development.
Oregon Economic Development
- Laser manufacturer nLight closes in on IPO
It represents a milestone in the Silicon Forest, which hasn't had a tech company go public since 2004.
Regional Business
- The Portland Innovation Quadrant
The mission of the IQ is to bring together industry, education, and government in a coordinated effort to create the conditions where innovation, equity, and economic growth can prosper through geographic proximity.
Workforce Development
- Wells Fargo could face $1 billion penalty for auto and mortgage abuses
An internal review by Wells Fargo found that about 20,000 of those customers may have defaulted on their car loans and had their vehicles repossessed in part because of those unnecessary insurance costs.
- Podcast - What Wharton Faculty Would Have Asked Mark Zuckerberg
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), for example, asked Zuckerberg, "How do you sustain a business model in which users don't pay for your services?" With a straight face, the Facebook CEO said, "Senator, we run ads."
- Why "Smart" Manufacturing Matters and How Countries Are Supporting It
The digitalization of manufacturing is changing how products are designed, fabricated, used, and serviced, just as it's transforming the operations, processes, and energy footprint of factories and supply chains.
Wyoming Business
- Testing a universal basic income
"The best estimate is about 30% of all jobs that people now do will be lost to technology," said former Labor Secretary Robert Reich. "But most of those will be replaced by new jobs. The real problem is that the new jobs won't pay as much as the jobs that are lost."
- 'Montana Powered' Part-time Butte residents seek to establish pilot project for coding immersion program
"It's to keep the college graduates in Butte and give them the choice to stay in Butte if they want to -- that's it," said Williams when asked for an elevator pitch. "Make it so they don't have to leave to seek really good career opportunities."
Montana Education Excellence
- Wyoming economy expanding despite losses, experts say
Wyoming energy continues to drive improvements for an economy that was greatly weakened by the two-year downturn in the coal, oil and gas industries, according to a monthly economic snapshot.
- Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Buchanan kicks off crowdfunding program intended to help startups
Wyoming Invests Now - or WIN - is a crowdfunding investment opportunity exclusively for Wyoming residents and businesses.
- The Casper Star-Tribune editorial board has agreed upon a set of overarching goals that will guide our philosophy for the year to come.
Economic diversification is crucial for the future of our great state. Our editorials will aim to foster conversation about reasonable solutions to our dependency on fossil fuel extraction.
Funding and Building your Business
- Support a Montana classroom. Build a future. DonorsChoose.org
Choose a project that inspires you and give any amount.
- University of Montana president's wife seeks 'extremely confidential' info for recruitment, outgoing VP says
An outgoing vice president is raising concerns about Elander's requests for information. Tom Crady, vice president for enrollment and student affairs, said Elander does not hold an official job description with the campus, yet she has asked for private records on more than one occasion.
Government Technology
- Co-working: The new way to work - CBS Sunday Morning News
If you want a glimpse of professional paradise, or at least one vision of it, look no further than WeWork. Co-founder Adam Neumann presides over an empire of offices designed to encourage interaction -- along with free goodies, a barista and foosball tables.
- Pioneer Square Labs raises $80 million to invest in Northwest startups
Pioneer Square Labs plans to invest between $500,000 and $2 million in individual, young tech startups, then offer the companies resources from the Labs team - whether its expertise in finding customers, hiring engineers or designing a product.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- Cities Need to Evaluate Wireless Standards for Sensors and IoT
What is the best option for your community?
- Oklahoma Grows its Tech Economy by Developing an Online Portal for Government Innovation
Oklahoma is focused on improving delivery of services for citizens to reduce costs, produce greater efficiency, and improve the state's tech economy.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Part time Montana resident Huey Lewis says he's lost most of his hearing: 'I can't hear music well enough to sing'
He's canceling all of his 2018 performances because he can't hear properly due to Meniere's disease.
HACKING AND VIRUS ALERTS
- Recycled wood waste makes concrete stronger and more watertight Materials
A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a novel new method to recycle wood waste by incorporating it into cement and mortar mixtures, making the resulting materials both stronger and more watertight.
- New studies show hope for turning immune system against lung cancer
"Today is a big day in lung cancer."
Transportation
- A Casino's Database Was Hacked Through A Smart Fish Tank Thermometer
"They then found the high-roller database and then pulled that back across the network, out the thermostat, and up to the cloud." The incident raises awareness about the security of IoT objects.
Events
- 2018 -- 2022 Montana Statewide Transportation Improvement Program - This is your opportunity to comment on Montana's transportation projects
MDT encourages comments on this or anytime throughout the year as various transportation issues arise, but comments must be received by May 18, 2018 to be considered in the final STIP document.
- "I'm going to pay attention to streets and roads," Missoula Mayor Engen says after city survey
"For me, understanding what some of the community priorities are based on this survey is the most significant takeaway." Missoula Mayor John Engen
- How to convince the customer: Daimler's driverless car agenda
"After the robocab on the ground comes the autonomous drone." Stark is convinced that the future has already begun: "We have already completed our first test flights."
- True driverless mobility services will start popping up as soon as next year if automakers keep their promises.
Public officials from Las Vegas and Pittsburgh -- both hubs for autonomous-vehicle testing -- talked this week about the deliberate work of creating smart cities and smart communities to support these autonomous mobility services.
- '60 Minutes' Report - Allegiant Air - Flying Under the Radar With Its High Record of In-Flight Breakdowns
Steve Croft investigates Allegiant Air https://www.allegiantair.com/ , a discount carrier known more for it's ultra-low fares than its high record of in-flight breakdowns.
- This Week in the Future of Cars: Sharing Spaces
This week, we learned the future of the car is not owning one--at least not if Uber gets its way.
- Uber Makes Peace With Cities by Spilling Its Secrets
"The autonomous age is upon us but most cities really don't even have the network password to log in."
- How Self-Driving Cars Could Affect The Real Estate Market
These vehicles will be a part of our lives within the next decade.
- Ford intends to launch self-driving car service 'at scale' by 2021
It's not talking about some small test operation in a single city -- it wants to launch and operate its own service "at scale," with all the necessary components in place to ensure it's both efficient and profitable.
- Global Entry Enrollment Event At Glacier Park International Airport - 4/21-22 - Kalispell, MT
- Bozeman Bunker Brews With EG Construction - 4/18 - Bozeman, Montana
- Bozeman Bunker Brews - Official Launch At Zoot - 5/30 - Bozeman, MT
- Introduction To Government Contracting, 04/27, Virginia City
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