|
|
|
| MATR Newsletter - Tue Jan 30, 2007 |
“One of the most feared expressions in modern times is ‘The Computer is Down.’” – Norman Augustine.
"Idaho Tech industry needs its own voice" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- Could the same be said of Montana? What are your thoughts? Is the tech industry in Montana getting the acknowledgment and visibility to ensure it maximizes its success and continues to contribute a significant benefit to the state?
Boomtown Institute
Come Home Montana
- Seventeen Year Old Grocer
This next generation is going be the most entrepreneurial in the history of the USA. What are you doing to cultivate them?
- The Agurban from Boomtown Institute - Become a “Chicken Entrepreneur”
“No, you won’t have to work on a farm or do a funny dance. It just means starting your own business on the side while keeping your day job.”
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- Montana Career Opportunities - Web Coordinator / Content Writer - Missoula
Creative and organized person to help small businesses through the challenges of developing small websites.
- Montana Career Opportunities - Faculty member for the Diesel Technology program and Welding Technology program - Missoula
The College of Technology at The University of Montana - Missoula invites applications for tenure track, academic year faculty members for the Diesel Technology and Welding Technology programs.
- Montana Career Opportunities - IP / VoIP Network Engineer and Network Engineer
360networks is a leading provider of communication products and services who believes that success is built around people.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Corporate Communications / Administrative Assistant - Washington Corporations
Washington Corporations is looking for an individual with desk top publishing experience to work in a collaborative setting to provide a wide range of administrative support while contributing to the writing of outreach and Web materials.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Outreach/Economic Development Coordinator -- Northern Rocky Mountain RC&D Area, Inc.
Position will be housed in the Livingston RC&D Office.
Montana Education Excellence
- High-tech talent crunch
The Bay Area's tech talent pool is thinning, the time to fill jobs is lengthening and promising job candidates are getting multiple job offers.
- Utah hoping to lure engineers to state
"Utah invites you to explore our expanding jobs market," the ad said, adding, "Dozens of Utah companies have placed engineers at the top of their wish list this season. You could be one of those engineers!"
Education
- $25,000 Scholarship Available for Future Librarians
The Montana State Library announced today the availability of scholarship money for people interested in pursuing their Master in Library Science (MLS) degree. One $25,000 scholarship is available to attend library school through a distance learning program at the University of Washington.
- PACE Trek Across America - The Sequel - See Paul Run... One More Time!
Between April and June of this year I will be crossing the continent solo once again, retracing the steps of P.A.C.E. Run 2006
- At UM-Western, students can take it one at a time. The future of education
Montana's smallest university is turning tradition on its ear.
- Learning by looking: Students job-shadow professionals. Local students 'shadow' professionals to sample jobs
The goal of the job shadow program is to give students a first-hand idea of what certain professions are like and to expose them to careers they may not have considered, said Pat Loucks, job shadow coordinator for Great Falls Public Schools.
2007 Montana Legislature
- Intel Head Links Technology, Health Care
"It's a little bit like the education initiatives," said Barrett, who chairs the U.N. Global Alliance for ICT and Development. "Education is the key."
- Utah Governor wants more funding for all day kindergarten programs. Programs a success
In the Salt Lake City School District, children at risk of failing who attend all-day kindergarten have proved themselves capable of catching up with their peers.
- PPL offering 1-year college scholarships to 2007-2008 Montana High School Graduates. Union endows new MSUB scholarships
Any student who will graduate in 2007 from a Montana high school and enter a full-time degree program in an accredited college, technical school or university in the state is eligible.
Montana Business
- Montana Lobbyist listings on the Web
The listings reflect lobbyists and principals registered with the Commissioner of Political Practices, information that's readily available now for the first time to anyone with internet access. Further Legislative info available at http://www.matr.net/news.phtml?cat_id=65&catlabel=2007+Montana+Legislature
Montana Meth Project
- Tribal wireless service, Oki Communications increases competition
"We're very excited about it," said Jerry Beeksof CommunityTel, a holding company of the Ronan Telephone Co., which is partnering with the tribe on the venture. "We're pleased that the demand is there."
- Business is mushrooming in Montana
“Their product is superior to any others that we buy,” said George’s Distributing president Jim George, whose independent company serves restaurants from Great Falls to Bozeman, including many in the Helena area. “We buy mushrooms from California and Utah when (the Rohdes) don’t have enough, but theirs are superior and hold up longer than anyone else’s.
Montana Economic Development
- UM Grad Students To Host Montana Meth Project Fundraiser, 2/9, Missoula, Montana
A major function of the GBSA is to use the collective business talents of students seeking their MBA to raise money and awareness for worthy causes. This year the group is sponsoring the nationally recognized Montana Meth Project. With TV commercials, billboards and radio ads, the Montana Meth Project has been profiled around the country for its vivid images and positive results.
Funding and Building your Business
- Montana Governor Announces $1.3 Million in WIRED Grant Awards
“These WIRED awards are helping fund cutting edge operations in Montana’s bio-product industry,” said Governor Brain Schweitzer. “All of the recipients are devoted to expanding the economic base of bio-products in Eastern Montana, and these grants will allow Montana to advance to the next level.”
- Internet for all: Handful of Montana municipalities test waters of citywide wireless. Not on front burner yet in Montana communities.
Missoula has talked about wireless, but the issue doesn’t appear to be on the front burner yet.
- Gateway communities, Red Lodge and Cooke City, Montana join in advertising campaign
In the works is a $250,000 promotion that will utilize print, radio, television, display booths at trade shows, billboards and the Internet to promote the two towns and the scenic Beartooth Highway that connects them.
- Condos saving old hotels in Livingston
‘‘Condominiumizing is a reasonable way to go on historic buildings,’’ she said. ‘‘It’s a tool to work with. I didn’t do this to make a killing and leave. I did this to save the building.’’
- Census Data Now Available for Montana State Legislative Districts
Specific information such as age, race, gender, household relationship, place of birth, education, employment status, income, and family is presented district by district.
- Education investment needed as Montana cities prosper, expert says
"We can focus all our energy on our biggest problems or we can focus all our energy on our biggest opportunity," said Larry Swanson, a Missoula economist. "This is vitality that needs to be harnessed."
Oregon Business
- Grumpy workers may be the most creative
New research shows it could be the grumpy workers who are actually a company's most creative problem-solvers.
- Consumers search for customer service with a human touch
Outsourcing and automated phone systems can make customers cranky. But some firms are trying to improve.
- The Top Ten Stupid Ways to Hinder Market Adoption
Here’s a compilation of silly and stupid ways companies are hindering adoption of their products and services.
- Using Social Networks To Talk Up a Product
Social networking is "even more targeted than online advertising."
Regional Business
- Freightliner to lay off up to 800 employees in Portland
Up to 800 workers will be laid off by March 30, and the company will scale back operations from two shifts to one. The plant has 1,700 employees.
Regional Economic Development
- Law’s Lapse Brings Timber-County Crisis
When Congress failed to renew the act last year, the stage was set for layoffs and budget cuts in rural counties nationwide.
- Suit could limit National Park access
Should they remain open to everyone, or should access be limited in the interest of protecting them?
Utah Business
- Challenges Facing Rural Economic Development
The emphasis on jobs over the last 30 years has brought to rural areas and distressed counties some degree of development. But, technological change, corporate restructuring and global competition are now changing the nature of work in rural America and causing serious problems of displacement in many communities that were the beneficiaries of post-war rural industrialization. Job losses are mounting in communities where low-skill employment has dominated the economy.
- Seattle based Alliance of Angels invested $5.8 million in '06
Of the companies funded by the alliance in the past three years, all are still in business today and half have received more funding -- either from alliance members or venture capitalists.
Utah Economic Development
- Symantec to acquire Utah firm, Altiris Inc. . $830 million to be paid for company that helps businesses manage IT systems
Altiris helps businesses deploy and manage their IT assets, from servers to desktops, laptops and handhelds.
Idaho Business
- Three companies' decisions will bring 1,335 new jobs to Utah. "Industry Clusters" to compete with anyone in the world.
"We're developing 'industry clusters' where we can compete with anyone in the world, and the outdoor industry is one of those areas," said Jason Perry, director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development (GOED).
Other Economies
- Idaho Gov. Otter's budget kills three existing tech initiatives
Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter did not include funding for TECHConnect, Small Business Innovative Research grants or the broadband tax credit in his fiscal 2007 budget.
- Get out of your car, grab guidebook and really see Boise, historian says
"Through encouraging Boise residents to take a closer look at their neighborhoods, city leaders hope to educate them as Boise planners manage the city's enormous population growth. They're looking for ways to integrate automobiles and pedestrians into the landscape and to create neighborhoods where residents are diverse in age, income and background."
- Idaho Tech industry needs its own voice
“We’re experiencing common shortfalls- we need to form our own group and come up with a strategy on our own,” Wiskirchen told me recently. “There clearly won’t be a state funded mandate.”
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Craft Works! Michigan - A Report on Traditional Crafts and Economic Development in Michigan
An economic assessment of the state’s cultural industries indicated the crafts industry is underdeveloped and offers immense opportunities for rapid cost-efficient growth, cluster development and synergy with other sectors statewide.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- Real Estate Mogul, Tim Blixseth of the Yellowstone Club in Montana, Plans World's Most Expensive House, at $155 Million
The 53,000-square-foot stone and wood mansion will be built at the Yellowstone Club, a members-only, residential ski and golf resort near Bozeman, Montana developed by Blixseth.
- It just comes naturally. Software executive helps open up the technology field for minorities
Michael Fields is not one to preach about giving back to the community, even though he's done more than his share.
- The World's Most Intelligent Communities? U.S. cities don't make the intelligence cut
Pac-Rim telecom think tank names the cities that do. For the second year running, no U.S. city has made the list of the world’s top Intelligent Communities of 2007, as selected by global think tank Intelligent Community Forum.
Non-Profit News
- Initiative aims to expand economic base of communities. Knight Foundation Creative Communities Initiative
"Communities pick us," said Rod Frantz, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Richard Florida Creativity Group. "We want to work with people who want to work with us."
Energy
- Bitterroot, Montana man, Matt Guzik to top $1 million fundraising mark with Kilimanjaro ascent. The Greater Ravalli Foundation
n short order, the Greater Ravalli Foundation http://www.tgrf.org/ was formed from Stock Farm roots with the idea of helping the Bitterroot's school system and students.
Connectivity & Communications
- All Wind, No Sails
"But even while top energy companies are also beginning to invest significant amounts in wind, solar and plants, those investments pale in comparison with the resources they are pouring into making synthetic fuels out of oil sands, a process that emits significantly more carbon dioxide than conventional oil."
- Cheaper Natural Gas from Coal
If Great Point Energy--a Boston-area startup with a low-cost process for converting coal into pipeline-grade natural gas--has its way, coal may start keeping us toasty again before long.
Community
- At Davos, the Squabble Resumes on How to Wire the Third World. Barrett vs. Negroponte
The controversy boiled over on Saturday at a breakfast meeting here where Craig R. Barrett, the chairman of Intel, squared off with Nicholas P. Negroponte, the former director of the M.I.T. Media Laboratory, whose nonprofit organization One Laptop Per Child is trying to develop a low-cost computer for the 1.2 billion children in the developing world.
- An Alternative to San Francisco's Wi-Fi Deal
These two decisions, to focus exclusively on wireless and not to complete a feasibility study, eliminated a priori solutions that combine fiber and wireless to create a more robust, higher capacity network than is possible with wireless alone.
Leadership Montana
- The Sidney Herald - Focusing on Community Service
Community service projects highlight the essence of community journalism.
- Mayor: State of Helena is good
“I am very pleased to be able to say tonight, for the sixth year in a row, that the state of the city is good,” Smith said. “Helena is well-governed, well-managed, well-staffed and well-supported,” Smith said.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Recommended Reading: The Lives of Great Leaders
"If you don't recognize these traits in yourself, then you should probably seek other employment."
- 30 Students Selected to Join UM Advocate Class to assist students with the transition into college.
“After a competitive selection process, we’ve found the most qualified students,” said Erin Rogge, UM Advocates director. “They’re going to add a lot to the organization and the campus community as a whole.”
- A Wheelchair That Reads Your Mind
Patients who suffer from disease or injury that leave them unable to move have little hope of independent mobility. But that may be about to change. Researchers are developing a thought-controlled robotic wheelchair.
To subscribe or unsubscribe from the free weekly MATR newsletter, please visit our list info page
