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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Oct 10, 2006 |
"A teacher affects eternity; they can never tell where their influence stops." Henry B. Adams
"Montana University pay raises some questions" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
2006 Montana Elections
Come Home Montana
- New Virtual Handshake - Candidate uses Internet TV channel in political campaign
Video, like Caprio's new online TV channel, makes a far more powerful impact. It appeals to our emotions. It shows us how the candidate walks and talks and interacts with people."
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Student Film Captures The Nature Of A 'Lively' Downtown
"Film can play a stronger role in shaping communities,'' Westphal said. "Like it or not, people don't read a whole lot of stuff anymore. Film is uniquely suited to communicating planning concepts to residents.''
Montana Education Excellence
- Rise of the Entrepreneurial Class through Entrepreneurial Education at Business Schools
"By and large, business schools have long had the mentality that they're training managers for big established firms," Rice said. "But if you ignore new product and market development you're missing the boat."
Education
- MAPS, Media Arts In The Public Schools Concert Fundraisers, 10/14, Bozeman, 10/21 Hamilton, 11/11, Helena
“We look at kids as partners and colleagues,” says Rosten, who plans to expand the program to five more communities in 2007. “It really empowers students, and makes them believe in themselves.”
- Montana Teacher of the Year - Passion for the past - Whitefish's Gary Carmichael has been hooked on history since he was a kid
“You always have to push the envelope,” Carmichael said, “for yourself, and for your students.”
Montana Business
- Montana University pay raises some questions
What can Montanans expect in return for their added expense?
- Utah high school science buffs get statewide scholarship program
The program is intended to increase the number and quality of students entering science-related fields, Wright said. "It's an effort to improve our community by improving our work force."
- Low science, math education funding threatens California's tech leadership
"California has a window of opportunity to prepare the highly educated work force we need to maintain our position as an economic leaders," said Bill Hauck, president of the California Business Roundtable, at a press conference this spring. "If California fails to provide this work force in time, we are likely to lose the edge we now have over other states and international competitors."
- California's schools — once leaders — now laggards. California underspends every state in the United States on education except for Louisiana and Mississippi
In the 1960s and 1970s, when California public schools produced scores indicating high-achieving students, spending per pupil here exceeded the national average by about $400 a pupil, RAND said. Beginning in the 1980s, California lagged the nation in spending per pupil. Now, it spends about $1,000 less per student than the national average.
- Recent State STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Initiatives. What can your state learn from these examples?
71% of Americans believe that "our nation’s public high schools are coming up short or falling behind in efforts to put students on the path to compete for highly technical scientific and engineering jobs with their counterparts from other countries."
- Measuring Up- Higher Education 2006 - national report card for higher education and fifty state report cards.
Its purpose is to provide the public and policymakers with information to assess and improve postsecondary education in each state.
Montana Meth Project
- Camp democracy - Project Vote Smart on the shore of Moose Lake near Philipsburg, Montana
How did my state representative vote last year? Didn't my senator make some wild-eyed statements last week on a talk show? What happens in the U.S. House of Representatives now that Republican Mark Foley has resigned in the throes of a scandal?
- Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation finds success, hope in conservation efforts
Across the nation, the Rocky Mountain Elk foundation funded more than 400 new conservation projects in 34 states this year alone with an estimated value of more than $25 million.
Montana Economic Development
- Rocky Boy Tribe to utilize a unique approach against meth use
“I worked on a similar project at Alkali Lake in British Columbia. We were able to turn around a situation where there was 99 percent of the population involved in alcohol abuse to the point where the community was about 99 percent alcohol free within a decade,”
Funding and Building your Business
- Expert finds Missoula's on right path for bike town
“It's a pretty incredible city for bicycling.”
- Kids' vision of the future vital to master planning efforts
"These kids are the future,"
- A Different Way: New Kinds of Developments in The West - Sage Spa Living
“Can a home inspire a healthier more vibrant life?”
- Montana Independent Telecommunications Systems 12th Annual Technology Symposium, 11/13-14, Helena, MT
During our symposium, you will hear about consumer needs and how those needs may be met using various technologies. We will update our audience on where telecom and IT policy appears to be heading at the state and federal levels. We will talk about how those policies are likely to affect both telecom and IT providers and Montana consumers.
- Richland Economic Development announces speaker for 11/9 annual meeting. Liz Marchi
"I am absolutely excited about having her as our guest speaker," Leslie Messer, executive director of Richland Economic Development, said. "She will bring an outside perspective of how to continue the work we're doing in Richland County."
- 11 northcentral Montana counties receive $1 million telemedicine grant
The grant funds telemedicine programs that allow some patients in rural areas to receive the same levels of service as patients in more urban areas do.
Regional Economic Development
- Gay-friendly is good for business
"I hear from corporate leaders every week, that they went after a very sought-after person, and they hear the question of whether they have domestic partner benefits. For straight applicants, it's a measure of the corporate culture."
- Facing a Tight Labor Market, Employers Dish Out the Perks
Take Motek, a Beverly Hills, Calif.-based software firm, where all employees get an annual $5,000 bonus to pay for their vacations. The only catch? Their trips have to last at least three weeks. Founder and CEO Ann Price says that "the vacation is required, it’s not a carrot on a stick." In her view, it’s a necessary break from work that lets employees recharge their batteries. It also sends the message to job applicants that Motek takes care of its own. "We’ve never had to recruit anyone," Price says. "The problem is weeding out all the people that beg us for a job."
Other Economies
- Throwing Cold Water?
Does this lesson apply to your town?
- Got skills? Jobs await
To partially meet that need, the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council has created a nationwide program to train, test and certify workers in entry-level skills for openings among today's 10 million factory jobs. Its goal is to credential 4 million workers in the next 10 years.
- Starting even a tiny company can reap big economic payoff
Business Development Solutions is a not-for-profit microenterprise development corporation, one of about 500 such programs nationwide. These programs make a difference for aspiring entrepreneurs because readiness for business matters.
- Retirees power a new boom - Older adults are a new catalyst for economies in the region
Active people 55 and older, experts say, can serve as a new economic development tool or a complement to efforts to replace jobs that vanished, decimating local tax bases.
- Saving the Ranch: Cows Just Don’t Pencil on $10,000 an Acre Land
If I'm a realtor, a developer, or a landowner, and I want to do the right thing in terms of innovative, sustainable development, what do I do, and where do I go?
- Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers' Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century U. S. Workforce
Business leaders must take an active role in outlining the kinds of skills we need from our employees for our companies and economy to thrive. This report is a first step in articulating these necessary skills. But we can do much more than that. As business leaders, we must also play a role in creating opportunities for young people to obtain the skills they need. Businesses can partner with schools and other organizations that work with young people to provide internships, job shadowing programs and summer jobs. Businesses can encourage their employees to serve as mentors and tutors. Businesses can invest in programs at the local and national level that have demonstrated their ability to improve outcomes for young people. Finally, business leaders can use their expertise in innovation and management to help identify new and creative solutions.
- Retirement Migration as an Economic Development Tool
Empty-nesters don't crowd schools. They don't clog roads at rush hour. They can bring a wealth of time and talent. And they spend money on local goods and services, creating a financial impact more than three times greater than that of a new factory job, studies have found.
- Real Estate Pressures Changing the Face of the West
"There are some who moved here to get away from growth," she told the Salt Lake Tribune. "But others, like those who are raising children, want to see something that can offer jobs."
Incubators and R&D
- Charting Maine's Future: An Action Plan for Promoting Sustainable Prosperity and Quality Places
This report concludes that for all of its challenges the state of Maine stands within reach of a new prosperity—if it takes bold action and focuses its limited resources on a few critical investments.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- Where has the Money Gone? Declining Industrial Support of Academic R&D
It was pointed out that U.S. companies increasingly choose to work with foreign rather than U.S. universities, encouraged by the more favorable IP rights that foreign universities offer and the strong incentives for joint industry-university research that foreign governments provide.
Small Diameter Timber Utilization
- Report from the Center for Arts and Public Policy "The Rebirth of Arts and Culture" and the Resulting Impact on the Economy
It has become clear that plans for economic development go handin- hand with plans for improvement in quality of life. Corporations, governments, and public service organizations are all recognizing that arts and culture improve quality of life through educational, cultural, and entertainment opportunities while also improving job training, enhancing social services, repopulating our cites, etc.
Non-Profit News
- Purdue study sees trees as possible source of ethanol
Researchers at Purdue University are fiddling with poplar tree genes, attempting to produce trees that could grow fast and yield as much as 1,000 gallons of ethanol an acre.
Connectivity & Communications
- CEOs of non-profits say they bring in top dollar
With average compensation of $114,000, the chief executives of Seattle-area non-profits are among the lowest paid in the nation, though most still bring in six-figure incomes.
Community
- Sun CEO writes to SEC about blog rule
With a growing number of major companies now publishing corporate blogs or online diaries, and an SEC chairman with a penchant for technological innovation, Schwartz is making the case for blogs, including his on the Sun Web site, as a way to expand investors' access to information.
- Beginners discover blogs easy as 1, 2, 3
Starting a blog can take as little as around half an hour, and you can do it for free. You do need an Internet connection and a computer that runs Windows 2000 or higher, or an up-to-date Apple Macintosh.
- Cutting out the cords. New cell phones are coming that could sound a death knell for landline home phones
New wireless technology is about to allow cell phones to further assert their supremacy over landline phones. By switching to Wi-Fi networks in their homes, cell phone users will soon be able to ditch their landlines altogether if they choose.
Leadership Montana
- The O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West Newsletter - October - November 2006
This marks the one year anniversary of our bi-monthly newsletter. We hope that you find it a useful tool to keep informed of our work throughout the year. We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions.
- University Of Montana Hosts First-Ever "Day Of Dialogue", 10/18, Missoula
“Sometimes we get stuck bringing diversity down to just race,” said organizer Emily Yaksitch. “Race is important, but diversity is a lot of things.”
City Club Missoula
- The Three C’s of Leadership
”You are called upon to lead your colleagues, manage your budgets, work with your counterparts to help your state or community meet the needs of its residents,” said Ridge, who also served as the first secretary of the federal Department of Homeland Security. “It requires leadership at all levels.”
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- City Club Missoula - 2006 Missoula Open Space Bond, 10/20, Missoula
This November 7, we will have the opportunity to vote on a $10 million Open Space bond. City Club Missoula’s October 20th forum will feature a look at open space preservation and the ballot measure. Join us for an informative and timely discussion.
- Experts: Technology Could Save or Destroy Civilization This Century
"We are watching the birth pangs of a Type 1 civilization and it's not clear that we'll make it," Kaku said, describing a Type 1 civilization as a global community capable of sustaining and controlling its planet. "It's not guaranteed that we'll make this transformation."
- Having "Second Life" is Lucrative
Second Life now has more than 800,000 denizens, of whom more than a hundred are earning a real-world, full-time living there, selling things like virtual land, clothes, jewelry, weaponry and pets, or by offering virtual services, notably sex.
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