|
|
|
| MATR Newsletter - Thu Jul 14, 2005 |
"There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction." --John F. Kennedy
The newsletter is a little early because we're all heading up to the mountains for the weekend. You should too!! The Montana summer is a joy. Russ
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
Education
- Selling for Survival
The ability to show people that your product helps them succeed is a basic skill crucial to any venture.
Montana Business
- Montana schools are not factories
The legislative committee charged with proposing a new system of public school funding will mire if it listens to recent advice from its hired consultants, who say the state has too many small school districts for efficiency.
- Governor Schweitzer Announces Jan Lombardi as Montana Education Policy Advisor
"I'm honored to work with Governor Schweitzer and the Board of Education to ensure that all Montanans have access to excellent education and can learn all their lives," Lombardi said. "As I tell my children, we're students for life, and must be responsive to the world around us. Education makes our families and community strong."
- Making movies - Corvallis' media arts class brings a bit of Hollywood to the classroom. - MAPS has quickly become the envy of other school districts.
"Every class has its genius," Rosten said. "And Luke is our genius. And these girls are actually so talented, I'm hiring them to write my next movie."
- U.S. governors' push to reform high schools gaining
"We have to send a message to our kids so they know we're serious that if they don't take these classes they won't get into college," Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Suellen K. Reed said.
Montana Economic Development
- Computer Institute of the Rockies Named Microsoft Small Business Solution Partner of the Year
“We are extremely honored by this award and proud of the solution we provided for NCS Communication, a small business.
- Strategix Vision (Bozeman, Mont.) Wins Top 2005 International Product Design Award from BusinessWeek
“This award is a distinction beyond compare,” said Bill Clem, founder and chief visioneer at Strategix Vision. “We’re thrilled to be recognized for our achievements in innovation and design, and for this product in particular, for our ability to capture the human sensibility of the products we help bring to market.”
- Missoula Mayor Kadas: Shareholder talks boost effort of Missoula Cities to buy NorthWestern Corp.
"They have been very supportive of our offer and we urge them to make their views known to the NorthWestern board" of directors.
- Montana health IT center plans National Health Information Network bid. Conference Scheduled
Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said, “Providing quality, affordable health care is a top priority. This conference is an excellent first step in looking at ways technology can help us deliver better health care services to the people of Montana."
- Valve job - Symposium explains ventricle procedure to restore the heart's 'geometry' The International Heart Institute in Missoula
"You know, Missoula is a very interesting place, always interested in the new technologies," said Hvass, who spoke at the 15th annual Rocky Mountain Valve Symposium, which is sponsored by the International Heart Institute of Montana Foundation. "The doctors here are always looking to move ahead."
Funding and Building your Business
- "Collapse" author Jared Diamond starts the book by looking at the challenges facing Montana. How will the state guide its future?
Montana is considered the most pristine state in the lower 48. It's got a low population and half the area is national and state forest. So you would think that Montana is the state with the fewest ecological and environmental problems. But scratch the surface of Montana and you find a very different story.
- International trade talks in Great Falls draw little guys, heavy hitters - Intent of negotiations is to lower trade barriers between U.S., Thailand
"Trade can be the tide that lifts all boats, but sometimes we don't understand it," Sen. Baucus said. "This is your chance to ask questions and find out what this agreement will mean to you." Baucus said, "We know if we are going to do better economically, we have to learn a lot more about the opportunities in our country and worldwide. Trade agreements are very important. The benefits for some are huge and will continue to grow."
Regional Economic Development
- Protective Layers: Securing Corporate Networks
With so many types of malware stalking the Internet, companies pile on their e-mail defenses.
- Food for Thought - How to stay on the right legal track when starting an organic food business
Your sense of the market is right on--organic food is one of the fastest--growing segments in the food industry.
- Town meetings planned by State Auditor John Morrison for new Montana health care law
"Business owners want to offer health insurance to their employees. We know that more than just anecdotally," Morrison said. "In the state planning grant survey, 80 percent of business owners answered yes when asked. And almost that many said they can't afford it."
- Givin' it to Google: Using an XML Sitemap to Boost Your Site
When Google recently introduced the beta version of Google Sitemaps, they showed experts that they have been listening - at least in part.
- Five Thoughts About Partnering. (Hint- if you don't, you die)
Don't go it alone unless you absolutely have to! Every business has a compelling value proposition – otherwise you wouldn’t have gone into business in the first place. Develop, nurture and grow partnerships with companies that are already well-established to help tell your story.
- Government RFP Finder and Notification System
Government RFP Finder helps you boost your revenue and profitability in this lucrative market by searching, screening, and notifying you of new government RFP and government RFQ and bid instantly, so you will never need to worry about missing an opportunity.
Utah Business
- Meridian, Idaho makes Money's top 100 places to live list
The magazine evaluated towns with a population of at least 14,000 with above-median household income, population growth and real estate appreciation over the past five years.
- Economic Imperative - Medicaid expenditures take center state in economic development
"Medicaid expenditures will exceed public education expenditures for the first time this year," said Leavitt. "If health care begins to push out all other priorities, it throws off the economic equation."
- Report ranks Denver 2nd in climates for business
The report examined three factors: the economy, the environment and equity - or how well wealth and social services are spread out.
- Declining Rural Towns Offer Free Land
"My daughter is growing up. She's in middle school," says Jim. "She's getting a little too ghetto, a little too urban. We want to be someplace with family values."
- INL (Idaho) wants to double its revenue revenue, increase research - Success linked in part to collaboration with businesses
"We want to turn that place upside down. We want people to say, 'How would we live without it?' " Grossenbacher said. He said INL's chief mission is to become a "preeminent internationally recognized nuclear energy research and development laboratory." He added that the lab is also focused on national and homeland security technology and is forging alliances with businesses, universities and foreign researchers.
- Special Report: Best Cities for Entrepreneurs - Five Easy Places - From Oregon to Vermont, here are some cities and towns with that special something that's so attractive to entrepreneurs including Provo, Utah and Medford, Oregon
Quite literally, the sky is fast becoming one of the only remaining limits on small-business locations. Spots that were previously written off as being too small, too remote, too rural, or too touristy are now attracting an increasing number of entrepreneurs. Smart cities and towns have found success by marketing their high quality of life, low costs, and growing stockpile of business resources.
- SBA Solutions Newsletter - July 2005
Government Technology
- Utah firm gets $40M boost - Omniture Inc. -- Funding Environment Bodes Well for Utah
"We're looking at multibillion dollar opportunities," James said. "And in this industry, whoever gets the largest the fastest is going to win."
Washington Business
- Oregon Awards $73 Million Medicaid IT Contract
The Oregon MMIS will be based on EDS' interChange Medicaid system currently operating in several states, including Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, modified to meet Oregon's specific functional and technical needs.
- Kentucky's Next Generation Information Highway Has Arrived
The new KIH2 is already beginning to offer lower rates, improved performance, greater reliability and new services that should carry the state well into the 21st century.
Incubators and R&D
- Better education, better businesses - Washington State Gov. Gregoire leads effort to improve work force
In recent weeks, Gregoire said, she also has been in "constant contact" with other employers considering relocating to the state. She didn't name the companies but said the state's education system and labor pool are key factors they're considering.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- UM researchers decode complex chickadee chirps - The whole world is a-twitter...
The pair's research was featured in the June 23 issue of Science, one of the world's top research journals, and since the publication, stories about their work have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, on major Internet news sites and in newspapers in Pakistan, China and India.
Non-Profit News
- It's Official: Pearl Jam for Tester August 29th in Missoula
Rocker Jeff Ament and U.S. Senate candidate Jon Tester have a lot in common. They're both Big Sandy, Mont. boys who want Jon Tester in Washington D.C.
Energy
- Entrepreneurial Spirit Meets the Philanthropical
"The new generation wants more than just their name on something; they are looking for ways to show that they have really made a difference."
Hydrogen News
- Energy incentives available from Idaho Power for new commercial construction
The incentives are designed to cover about half the cost businesses incur when they implement features that decrease the energy use of a building's lighting and air conditioning systems.
Connectivity & Communications
- Start-up coins new way to harvest hydrogen
New York City-based Signa says it has come up with a new--and fairly efficient--way to produce hydrogen, one of the vexing problems for boosters of the hydrogen economy.
Lewis and Clark Bicentennial
- Newspapers Confront the Blog Question
The concern seems to be that blogs will undermine newspapers' standards - but that's not really the issue at all.
- Comcast's VoIP Rollout Looks To Replace Carrier Voice Service
Cable giant will make service available to 40 million homes by 2006
- Instant Influence - A new generation of web scribes is shaking up state capitol politics.
Nowhere is the influence of blogs felt more than among the statehouse press corps. Mainstream reporters and bloggers have a weird relationship, one that is symbiotic and competitive at the same time.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Idaho's big Lewis & Clark anniversary is about to begin - Crowds aren't as big as anticipated in other states
"You have to think that this will be the big time for Idaho," Idaho Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Coordinator Keith Petersen said. "... I think the Boise event will be one of the best attended in the country."
- "Beam me up Scotty." Military getting closer to use of sci-fi-style beam weapons
Almost as diverse as the electromagnetic spectrum itself, directed-energy weapons span a wide range of incarnations.
To subscribe or unsubscribe from the free weekly MATR newsletter, please visit our list info page
