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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Jan 23, 2007 |
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - Will Rogers --- (Thanks to Mel Walters, Coordinator Montana Main Street for passing this along. Russ)
Not the usual economic development or startup info ... just plain cool...and awesome --- "Hubble telescope's top ten greatest space photographs" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Boomtown Institute
Come Home Montana
- The Agurban from Boomtown Institute Newsletter - "Mangum, OK – Artist Alley"
Last week we received a great example from the small community of Mangum, OK that is on its way to becoming an “art mecca”, #3 on our 2007 Trend List.
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- Montana Career Opportunity - CEO/EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - Big Brothers Big Sisters of Gallatin County
- Montana Career Opportunity - Program Director – U of Montana UMOnline
- Montana Career Opportunity - Senior Software/Application Engineer - Image Labs - Bozeman, MT
This is not a pure coding job.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Technical Sales and Service Representative - PrintingForLess in Livingston, MT
"Life is too short to be miserable in your job. Making PFL a fun place to work attracts great people who make things better." Andrew Field - CEO
- Montana Career Opportunity - Computer Network Technician
Computer Geex, Inc., is an IT consulting and professional services company, seeking an individual to join our team as a Network Technician.
- Montana Career Opportunities - IT/Network Sales - Pyron Technologies
$80K+/yr potential
Montana Education Excellence
- Empowering Citizens. How engaged citizens in Moscow, Idaho and Morehead, Ky., created new visions for their communities.
We know that citizens connected to their local places will build strong cities and high-quality communal living opportunities.
- Young adults flee Massachusetts
"It really effects the economic and social character of the region. Businesses that are growing fast, such as technology fields, need the energy of entry-level workers, and if there's a decline in this group they may look to settle elsewhere,"
- Workers who telecommute less likely to be promoted
Human resource managers say that telecommuting and other work-life programs cut turnover and improve productivity.
- Hiring quality workers poses stiff challenge
Working in its favor is the fact that Paylocity gives generous benefits, ranging from comprehensive medical coverage and a 401(k) plan to paid life insurance, a casual dress code and holiday bonuses. "Even with all that, it's still hard to find people,"
Education
- Montana Financial Education Coalition Conference- "Saving And Investing: Our Future Depends On It", 4/10-11, Billings
Montana Teachers and their students are invited to attend the third Annual Montana Financial Education Conference that is scheduled for April 10 and 11, 2007, at the Holiday Inn Grand Montana-Billings.
- Connecting to youth: Dillon mentoring program expecting a busy year
Anyone who has ever worked with children realizes it takes a lot more adults to help you raise a child than just one or two parents. It takes teachers, spiritual leaders, grandparents and a multitude of unnamed others who recognize our greatest asset is our children.
2007 Montana Legislature
- Colleges Push for More Female Engineers
Experts argue that if the United States is to remain competitive with other countries in the engineering field, it will have to find better ways to encourage women to join the profession.
- Micron donates $12 million to Boise State for business school building
The Micron Technology Foundation will donate $12.5 million to Boise State University so the school can tear down a hotel near the campus and replace it with a new building for college of business and economics.
- Planning Schools For A Changing Future
"Planners have to understand what the education of the future will be like to prevent them designing something that will soon become outdated."
Montana Business
- Interactive TV forums link legislators with their constituents in Great Falls
Local legislators will hold community forums in Great Falls — via interactive television from Helena — several times during the current legislative session.
Montana Economic Development
- UM Expert: Montana’s economic boom spreads
Montana’s economic boom is spreading to all major sectors of the economic base, including manufacturing, nonresident travel, agriculture, mining and the federal government, says University of Montana economist Paul Polzin.
- Publication to recognize Great Falls businesses
Applications are being accepting now. Stories about the winners and a list of all nominees will appear in a future issue of Great Falls Business.
Funding and Building your Business
- The Montana Department of Commerce Completes Cost/Benefit Analysis of Missoula DIRECTV Project
It is projected by DOC that in the first year of full operation, DirecTV’s staff of 950 will provide the state with the prospect of $2,209,730 in income tax and another $286,335 in Corporate taxes. With DOC’s initial investment of $2,865,000, the return on this investment will be recuperated in year 2 of operations.
- Better Food Process Control School, 2/20-21, Ronan, MT
Dr. Dougherty will offer two full days of instruction that will certify a food manufacturer in acidified and low acid food processing.
- In Livingston, condos are saving old hotels and increasing affordable housing
"People can walk to the grocery store and walk to the post office," Kathleen added. "It's kind of like a city neighborhood."
- Baucus takes the gavel: For new Senate Finance chairman, Montana will still come first
“There’s a sign on my desk that says, ‘Montana comes first,’ ” says Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. “It has been on my desk for umpteen million years. I have 900,000 of the world’s best bosses, and I do my best to provide for the bread-and-butter needs of our state.”
- Growth in the Bitterroot: new move-ins, crowded schools
Education was one of the biggest aspects Lance and Jennifer considered when relocating. “The schools where we came from were going downhill,” Lance said.
Legislative Newsletters
- What You Need to Succeed. Treat people right and they will eat nails for you, and other lessons I learned building Staples into a giant company.
"The child is father to the man," the saying goes. Just so, the start-up is father to the large successful company. Now that I'm a venture capitalist, helping entrepreneurs build into their small frames the bones of billion-dollar corporations has become my mission.
- Intellectual Property and Technology Law
- Is a Business Plan Necessary?
Before you dedicate your life to crafting a business plan the length of a book, read these two paragraphs from the 1/9/07 edition of the Wall Street Journal in an article called "Enterprise: Do Start-ups Really Need Formal Business Plans"
Regional Economic Development
- Sen. Max Baucus E-Newsletter - Baucus Passes Small Business Tax Relief; Fights to Increase Minimum Wage
“Montana is a small business state,” Baucus said. “Small business is the engine that drives our economy and creates jobs on Main Streets. That’s why I’m proud we are getting them some tax relief from Uncle Sam.”
Utah Economic Development
- "The Future Of The Innovation Economy. How Does America Stay Competitive" 3/18-20, Arlington, VA
Join fellow economic developers from around the country for this important national event exploring what the federal government is doing to support innovation and how future policies will evolve to retain American leadership in the ever-changing global marketplace. The Forum will also be your opportunity to help frame future policy directions that will be included in the new IEDC Innovation Agenda: A Policy Statement on American Competitiveness.
- Community Development Investment Review
There are also two articles about specific and promising new approaches to funding rural business: (1) state government-sponsored venture funds (George Lipper), and (2) rural angel investor networks (Steve Mercil). Finally, we have a collection of essays from Senator Jay Rockefeller, a leading advocate of rural investment, Kerwin Tesdell, the executive director of the primary trade organization for CDVC, and Jaratt Applewhite, the head of a CDVC organization in New Mexico.
- U.S. Department of Labor Commits Up to $65 Million for Workforce Innovation (WIRED)
"This regional economic development strategy transcends political boundaries to better leverage a region's assets to help workers succeed in the 21st century worldwide economy," said Chao. "Investing in area workforces through this collaborative approach will boost entire regions' economic vitality."
- Dreams of Californication - How a wave of migrants from the west has transformed the Rocky Mountains
“THEY are all right in the metropolitan areas. But if I sell a rural property to one, I would never disclose where he comes from.”
Idaho Business
- Utah offers $4.9M in incentives to four businesses
Utah is offering nearly $4.9 million in incentives to help lure four companies into expanding operations in the state and creating as many as 1,033 new jobs.
- Is Utah's success too much for economy?
"The question is not can we and have we done a good job of recruiting businesses to Utah — because we certainly have — but have we done too much? Is the engine heating up too fast?"
Washington State Business
- 18th Annual Idaho Public Policy Survey
Growth, education and jobs/wages/employment are the top concerns identified in public policy survey conducted recently by Boise State University's social science research center.
- Keiretsu Angel investor forum launched in Boise: New “extreme sport” launched enabling you to surf a river
For me, the most interesting company to come out of Keiretsu recently is Idaho-based and I think will be interesting to many valley residents as either future consumers of their product or as potential investors.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Venture capital investments topped $1 billion in Washington last year
Ninety-seven companies in the state raised $1.07 billion -- a 29 percent increase in dollars invested and a 10 percent increase in deals.
Small Diameter Timber Utilization
- Hubble telescope's top ten greatest space photographs
Not the usual economic development info ... just plain cool...and awesome
Careers
- Sawmills branch out to biomass: Practice thins forests to make electricity
“There are the economic benefits, the benefits of healthy forests, and the benefit of a country needing renewable energy - clean energy.”
Non-Profit News
- An Outline on Business Mentoring
The mentoring process should not be overly structured or rigid. Mentoring works best when the environment enables free flowing, relaxed and comfortable discussions in a confidential environment.
- Employment Outlook: Top Fields for Job Hunters
Here's a look at where hiring is projected to grow most in 2007 and what employers are seeking in top talent.
Energy
- Business Insight: No luck fundraising? Ally with a real estate firm
Any foundation that has a network with people who have resources and commercial real estate would be perfect partners.
Connectivity & Communications
- Solar power eliminates utility bills in U.S. home
"People understand that climate change is a big concern but they don't know what they can do about it,"
- Secretive ethanol firm plots a billion-dollar blitz
This is the elusive E85 Inc.
- Nobel laureates say sustainability needs more than science
Without widespread public and government support of energy conservation, technology can only go so far.
- Coal-into-Hydrogen Project Wins $1.6M Grant
Fan said his research team proposed and patented a method called "chemical looping technique," in which raw coal is converted into a synthetic gas, or "syngas," and then into pure hydrogen.
Commuter Rail Development
- VoIP Continues To Pose Technical Problems
Matt Duray of Connect Telephone & Computer Group Explains What Businesses Need to Know When Purchasing a VoIP Phone System
Transportation
- Governor pursues plan for commuter-rail lines
The arrival of commuter rail in Arizona is not a guarantee because some lawmakers oppose rail, saying it isn't worth the subsidy. But involvement by the state increases the chance that it could become a reality. The state's role was a deciding factor in bringing commuter rail to Utah and New Mexico.
Community
- Car-sharing catching on with drivers
Firms provide autos for those who don't want hassle of ownership
City Club MissoulaCool Stuff That's Coming
- City Club Missoula discussion on the Rock Creek Development proposal reveals that the two sides are talking about a compromise.
Details of such talks emerged during and after Friday's City Club Missoula forum, a monthly luncheon that investigates topics of interest to Missoula residents.
VIRUS ALERTS
- Animated Speech raises angel round from members of the Keiretsu Forumto help teach autistic students
The company, among the first angel-backed businesses addressing problems related to autism, creates software-based language-learning tools for children with speech and language impairments.
- Storm Worm Hits Computers Around the World
Computer virus writers started to use raging European storms on Friday to attack thousands of computers in an unusual real-time assault, head of research at Finnish data security firm F-Secure told Reuters.
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