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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Jul 31, 2007 |
“Education begins when you are born in Montana and it ends when you die in Montana. We have to compete in the world economy. We are no longer competing with Idaho - we are competing with India; we are no longer competing with Colorado - we are competing with China.”” Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer
A great template for innovation development and coordination in your state - "Oregon Innovation Council - 2007 Innovation Plan" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- As our motto says: "The State with the Best Education Wins!" - "Full-time kindergarten taking off throughout Montana. Big Economic Payoff" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- and three events well worth your time and energy: "Montana Regional Economic Development Conference, 8/1-3, Havre, MT" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- "Montana Telecommunications Association Annual Meeting And Telecom Policy Conference, 08/07, Kalispell" http://matr.net/events ... =1981 --- ""Rural Philanthropy Conference", 8/7-9, Missoula" http://matr.net/events ... =1964
Boomtown Institute
Come Home Idaho
- The Agurban from Boomtown Institute. "The Ten Commandments of Community Leadership"
"The Ten Commandments of Community Leadership" is Maury Forman's newest book, which he co- authored with Michelle Harvey of the Association of Washington Cities.
Come Home Iowa
- Coeur d'Alene Indian Tribe overcomes hardship with education, business ventures. Tribe close to huge contract:
"We feel a lot of responsibility to keep growing," Campbell said. "We want to help better our people. The tribe has given us so much, we want to give back. We're thinking seven generations ahead." The Coeur d'Alene Tribe has about a $250 million annual impact on the region, according to a University of Idaho study released earlier this year. The tribe employs 1,500 through all of its ventures.
Come Home Montana
- State May Not Have Workers To Fill New Jobs - Experts Predict Worker Shortfall
"They're estimating that by 2012 there will be roughly 100,000 vacancies that will be hard to fill in the state."
Come Home Washington
- Inspired Living Finds Home in Red Lodge, Montana
In Red Lodge, Montana http://www.cityofredlodge.com/ (pop. 2,500), next-door neighbor to America’s oldest national park, growing families and retiring baby boomers are settling into second homes and year-round mountain living amid pristine wilderness and an unspoiled pocket of small-town America, with surprising access to urban amenities.
- Preserving Red Lodge: Mountain town working to stay on top of growth
Red Lodge has come a long way since its days as a rough-and-tumble coal mining town. Its scenic location, historic flavor and proximity to Yellowstone Park have made it attractive to many newcomers.
- Busy building in Red Lodge, Montana
New hospital, housing subdivisions popping up in mountain town
- Housing expensive in Red Lodge
Affordable housing is becoming a casualty of the resort town's popularity with retirees and people buying vacation homes.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Spokane labor market tightens. Recruiting intensifies as growing worker shortage vexes employers here
As Spokane’s labor market continues to tighten, employers are left struggling to find workers, and are stepping up their recruiting efforts as a result.
Montana Ambassadors
- University Research Park entrepreneurship program for high school students to begin
"Through this program, they will have the opportunity to experience what it is like start a new business, including developing the concept of a business, creating an executive summary, and then pitching the business to judges of the competition and their peers."
- Wireless cafe's becoming temp offices in Montana
While there are no hard statistics showing how many workers are doing this, experts say an entrepreneurial boom is driving more people to use wireless, or WiFi, hotspots. At the same time, more coffee shops are offering free wireless Internet, an attractive feature for workers on the go.
Funding and Building your Business
- Montana Ambassadors Missoula Chapter - Open Quarterly Meeting, 8/21, Missoula
Please invite anyone that you feel would benefit from this meeting and/or may benefit by learning more about Montana Ambassadors.
Education
- The Importance of Excellence. How to be a Best Company to Work
A logical question at this point might be, what are the changes leaders can implement to become a Best Company to Work For? I propose these five categories as a human resources scorecard.
- Angel investors desire success for entrepreneurs
Just the thought of trying to raise money from angel investor groups is often enough to start dripping acid into the stomach of many entrepreneurs.
- Flip-flop is now on the other foot in Silicon Valley
SILICON Valley is now a breeding ground for takeover targets rather than flotations.
- Small Talk: Hiring the right lawyers or accountants means finding the right fit
''As a small business, we want someone to be sensitive to the needs of a small business - we may need some additional hand-holding sometime.''
- Hang on to those talented women!
Women, who are graduating at higher rates than men from undergraduate, graduate, and many professional programs, constitute the most concentrated pool of highly talented labor. Savvy businesses willing to adapt to women's unique aspirations and constraints will reap tangible economic benefits as a result, she says.
Connectivity & Communications
- What can science teachers learn from a pro golfer?
In its third year, the Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy offers an intense, five-day curriculum that gives teachers new ideas, tools and networking opportunities. It works with the National Science Teachers Association and Math Solutions, an organization dedicated to the professional development of standards-based instruction in mathematics.
- Want to be good at science? Take lots of math
Students who had more math courses in high school did better in all types of science once they got to college, researchers say.
- Consequences: Reading Skills Are Tied to a Longer, Healthier Life
One study found that people who did not graduate from high school lived an average of nine years less than graduates.
Regional Business
- FTC Seeks Comments on Uses of Social Security Numbers in the Private Sector
The commission invites interested parties to comment on the various uses of SSNs by the private sector, the necessity of those uses, alternatives available, the challenges faced by the private sector in moving away from using SSNs, and how SSNs are obtained and used by identity thieves.
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- Hearing For MT/WY Small Business Owners To Comment About Excessive Federal Regulatory Enforcement, 8/21, Billings, MT
Montana & Northern Wyoming small business owners, community leaders and representatives of trade associations, who have experienced their share of excessive enforcement of federal rules and regulations, now have a forum where they can voice their concerns and complaints.
Montana Business
- Angel investors say bill would bolster innovation
Federal legislation would create tax break for qualified investors
- East and West Coast VC's Find the "3rd Coast"
``Coastal investors have clearly discovered the Midwest's abundance of investment opportunities.''
Montana Economic Development
- RightNow Technologies Reports Second Quarter Financial Results
The net loss in the second quarter of 2007 was $(5.7) million or $(0.17) per share, compared to a net loss of $(1.8) million, or $(0.05) per share, in the second quarter of 2006.
- He's more Montana than L.A. . Huntley Ritter and Stafford Films of Montana
Two years ago Ritter found a way to incorporate his love of Montana and his passion for the entertainment industry. With the help of a few buddies from around the state, he launched a Montana-based production company called Stafford Films.
Regional Economic Development
- Montana Regional Economic Development Conference, 8/1-3, Havre, MT
The conference is focused on improving coordination between local and state economic development agencies, in an effort to create more productive relationships and greater economic benefits for Montana communities.
- MEDA Online News for August
Do take a minute to read the MEDA Online News for August so that you will be up-to-date on a variety of issues and opportunities.
Utah Business
- The Health And Education Benefits Of Affordable Housing
A new collection of research shows that people who have access to affordable housing don't just have a better place to live, but more easily improve their health and education level.
- State sees big economic payoff in early education
"Educating our children can't be left only to schools. Businesses must become involved in the process, as outcomes are critical to our competitive position...We view education at all levels — even early K — as a future work-force and business issue."
- Biofuel boom echoes in rural areas
Between government mandates for increased use of biofuels and increased consumer and business interest in those fuels for their supposed advantages in price, supply or environmental impacts, more capital for more refineries, seed-processing plants and supporting infrastructure is headed rural America's way.
- Should Homes Be Banned From Fire-Prone Areas?
Building homes in forested areas is like playing with fire
Idaho Business
- Farm subsidies: A gift for the wealthy?
A billionaire, a U.S. cabinet member, lobbyists, a polygamous clan and a sports team owner are among the few Utahns paid federal farm subsidies in a state where four out of five farmers get nothing.
Oregon Economic Development
- Quadrig of Hayden, Idaho offers motorcyclists a safer, easier ride
"The idea is to help people who want to keep riding," Ohrt said. "For a lot less money than a trike, you can have the opportunity to ride again."
- Idaho Gov. Otter gives grant to help ethanol plant in Burley
A partnership between the state, the city of Burley and Pacific Ethanol Inc. has made the development of a $120 million ethanol plant a little easier.
Washington State Business
- Oregon Innovation Council - 2007 Innovation Plan
Throughout the course of human history, people have found new ways to meet their needs by inventing, applying and trading new technologies. But recent advances in telecommunication technologies—including the internet—along with the global shift toward open, market-based economies have made innovation “the single most important ingredient in any modern economy.”
Government
- HaloSource of Bothell lands $15 million
Access to clean drinking water is a huge issue in developing countries, with an estimated 1.1 billion people tapping water supplies that are tainted with bacteria and viruses.
- Braincandy DVDs, CDs aim to make lessons fun. Keiretsu Forum's Angel Group Votes it one of "The Most Valued Companies". Company will present at Big Sky Venture Conference in August.
"All of your senses develop in phases. Rather than saying, 'Your eyes see,' we say, 'What do you see?' Everything is posed as a question, not an answer," Reich-Dagnen said. "What they are able to do at a very young age is connect the things that they see into the things they do in their world."
- Making the world smaller. Ambassadors Group posts huge growth in student travel
Ambassadors sells packaged trips, mostly to school-aged youths, that are designed to expose Americans to other cultures.
- Aerospace recruitment here had help from clustered economic focus
It was important to Titan to be near companies that could do finishing and heat-treatment work so it could avoid the cost of shipping out products to have such work done elsewhere.
Careers
- Most agree with state’s ‘F’
Transparency is good for everybody. The more information that’s out there, the better. Why should anybody have to wonder?
Non-Profit News
- Companies encouraging retired baby boomers to return to workplace
With the economy sound and the job market strong, many employers welcome the trend. Fearful of staff shortages after boomers retire, companies will offer experienced workers flexible hours, part-time schedules and innovative "snowbird" programs that let employees split a job between summer and winter locations.
Transportation
- For this club, life begins at 50 (%). Members feel enriched by giving away half of wealth
The 50% League, an Arlington-based group of people who contribute at least half their income, business profits, or net worth to charity. Members from across the country have been welcomed into an elite circle of givers and asked to share their stories publicly, even if anonymously, to inspire other givers.
- You're Invited! Rural Philanthropy Reception - Hosted By Sen. Max Baucus, 8/9, Missoula
U.S. Senator Max Baucus would like to personally invite you to help him welcome the Council on Foundation's Rural Philanthropy Conference to Montana. Max wants your help in thanking philanthropy and foundation leaders from Montana, the Northwest and around the U.S. for coming to the Big Sky State to focus on the opportunities and challenges involved in philanthropic investment in rural areas.
Montana Education Excellence
- 'Complete streets' program gives more room for pedestrians, cyclists
The concept of "complete streets" — with bike lanes, sidewalks and room for mass transit — has attracted a diverse national alliance of supporters, including advocates for senior citizens and the disabled.
Community
- Full-time kindergarten taking off throughout Montana. Big Economic Payoff
As Schweitzer and Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda McColloch told legislators, full-time kindergarten will give the youngest students a better introduction to school. It will prepare them more thoroughly for success in first grade and beyond, providing the biggest boost to children with special needs or risks.
- Carol Chandler, University of Montana College of Technology Culinary Arts Graduate Wins National American Culinary Federation Competition
“I took it as a good sign as I watched the judges take a taste and then practically fight over the leftovers, eating the plates clean,” she said.
- Project to bring docs to Montana reservations. Just don't get sick after June 1.
"Every three or four months there's somebody in the paper who went to Honduras or Haiti. If people are willing to do that, and there are many, why not do it at Crow Hospital?"
- Landowners bank against sprawl
Trella Dickerson, 70, is something of a celebrity here: She's the first person in Georgia to sell development rights to her property — only to guarantee that it won't be developed.
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