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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Aug 17, 2007 |
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“Rural communities that are trying to go it alone and not focusing on a regional strategy are pretty much doomed to failure.” John Molinaro, associate director of the community strategies group at the Aspen Institute
Good examples of rural economic development from other regions: Young professionals are the key to vibrant economies in rural communities. How will communities attract and keep them? http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- Missouri has a DREAM (Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri (DREAM) communities assistance program) http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Come Home Idaho
Come Home Montana
- A cinema success story. How filmmaker Regina Crosby found a film career in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
"I feel like we only scratched to surface of the potential here."
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Montana Career Opportunity - Economic Development / Loan Officer Position in Miles City
This full time position will act as Executive Director for the Miles City Area Economic Development Council (MCAEDC) and as a Loan Officer for Southeastern Montana Development Corp. (SEMDC).
- Cutbank, Montana welcomes new family medicine doc
Spanos originally called Utah his home, growing up in a small town called Heber City. "It was a town of about 7,000 people and surrounded by mountains, which is something I love," he said. He never lost his love for a mountain range and knew that wherever he finally settled, it would have to be a place near the mountains. Cut Bank was that place.
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- Colleges' students experience Entrepreneurship Immersion for Undergraduates
It was organized by faculty members at seven local colleges and universities who teamed up to form the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium last year.
Funding and Building your Business
- Young professionals are the key to vibrant economies in rural communities. How will communities attract and keep them?
"The biggest solution we've come up with is education -- pretty much across the board," Hardesty said. Kids need to be educated in financial literacy, high school and college-age students need to know there are opportunities here in the state, today's workers must learn to turn their ideas and research into commercial enterprises, and some members of the older generation could get acquainted with changes needed for economic development.
- Missouri has a DREAM (Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri (DREAM) communities assistance program)
"Smaller cities need the same access as those cities that can hire armies of lawyers and consultants."
Education
- How Employers Are Helping To Reduce Job-Related Stress
Glaxo's "team-resilience program" is an example of the innovative approaches some employers are using to combat work-related stress. Experts say job stress and burnout cost businesses hundreds of billions of dollars annually in absenteeism, medical insurance and reduced productivity.
- How a Company Made Everyone a Team Player
Companies are experimenting with different kinds of teamwork as competition and complexity increase and business problems cross departmental or geographic boundaries.
- Fewer degrees of separation make companies more innovative, creative
Researchers at the University of Washington and New York University who examined networks of companies in relation to their creative strengths have discovered that it is, indeed, a small world.
- Firms Go Online To Train Employees
"This would have been next to impossible if we had just standard [face-to-face] training," "We're getting more done with less money,"
- Why start-ups fail
"Marketing must invent complete products and drive them to commanding positions in defensible market segments."
- Good Technology Is Nice; A Good Idea Is Better
It has never been easier to start an Internet company.
- Inside Entrepreneurship: Funding possible without a patent?
Angel investors and venture funds are unapologetic in their quest to back entrepreneurs who have a "sustainable and unfair advantage" in the marketplace.
Connectivity & Communications
- Teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan transformes the space shuttle and space station into an Idaho classroom
"Astronauts and teachers actually do the same thing," she answered. "We explore, we discover and we share. And the great thing about being a teacher is you get to do that with students, and the great thing about being an astronaut is you get to do it in space, and those are absolutely wonderful jobs."
- Imported From Britain: Ideas to Improve Schools
“What have all the great school systems of the world got in common?” he said, ticking off four systems that he said deserved to be called great, in Finland, Singapore, South Korea and Alberta, Canada. “Four systems, three continents — what do they have in common?
- Montana, keep your hands off Yellowstone
There seems to be an underlying deviousness to what MSU is trying to do. Its officials admit they want people to think of the Montana university first whenever Yellowstone is mentioned, so it can boost student and faculty recruitment, as well as fundraising. It plans to spend millions of dollars on a Yellowstone-focused research and teaching center at Big Sky.
- Forced to Pick a Major in High School
Some parents have welcomed the requirement, noting that a magnet school in the district already allowed some students to specialize. But other parents and some educators have criticized it as preprofessionalism run amok or a marketing gimmick.
- Idaho ranks eighth in high school graduation rate
The Department of Education reported that Idaho had a graduation rate of 81 percent in 2005, 6 1/2 percentage points behind the top state, Nebraska.
Incubators and R&D
- See Who's Editing Wikipedia - Diebold, the CIA, a Campaign
Wikipedia Scanner -- the brainchild of Cal Tech computation and neural-systems graduate student Virgil Griffith -- offers users a searchable database that ties millions of anonymous Wikipedia edits to organizations where those edits apparently originated, by cross-referencing the edits with data on who owns the associated block of internet IP addresses.
- Why Wi-Fi Networks Are Floundering
Faced with weak user demand, AT&T and other telecoms are vowing to tear up their muni Wi-Fi contracts if cities don't foot more of the bill
- A Free Mesh Network for San Francisco
Can tiny Meraki bring Wi-Fi to a city where Google and Earthlink have failed?
- Bandwidth fairy tales: When will the "Three Little Pigs" get it right?
When did we fall from being the “global leader to set the direction” to a “weak follower looking at which path of one of the global pack to follow?"
- Waging War Against Cybersquatting
Even though the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) was enacted as far back as 1999, cybersquatting still remains a threat according to the CADNA.
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- Photons flout the light speed limit. Was Einstein Wrong? "Captain, we have a problem"
This would be in direct violation of a key tenet of Einstein's special theory of relativity that states that nothing, under any circumstance, can exceed the speed of light.
- University of Montana Conference Examines Health Effects of Biomass Smoke 8/21-22
Because of the number and intensity of wildfires raging through the region this summer, residents of Western Montana are getting firsthand experience with biomass combustion’s effects on ambient air quality.
Montana Business
- Investor symposium seeks to build momentum for the “IQ Corridor”
When investors get together, stuff happens.
Montana Biotech
- State awards $216,000 to Butte upstart - Masters Group International
Masters will use the money from the Community Development Block Grant-Economic Development to buy machinery and equipment. The company makes everything from briefcases to pens.
- Top NorthWestern earners take home nearly $6 million
The six-member board of directors of NorthWestern, the largest electric-and-gas utility in Montana, also approved ample compensation for its own members, totaling more than $1.6 million in cash and stock.
- Tourism plays major role in new Montana economy
"For a long time, extractive natural resource industries did have a strong impact on Montana's economy," she said, "but as population grew and jobs became more diverse, the welfare of the economy of the state has become far less dependent on extractive natural resource industries, with jobs in other industries, particularly services, taking a larger role."
- Sonju Industrial Inc. of Kalispell,Montana Locks Down Contract with Department of Defense
Last week, Sonju and his two sons, Jon and Jason, were in high spirits when they landed another client with big pockets: the federal government.
Montana Economic Development
- Montana Department of Commerce to Provide $2 Million for Bio-Medical Research
"Montana has unlimited research opportunities," said Governor Brian Schweitzer. "We have groundbreaking research taking place every day across Montana. This funding will foster continued development in our growing technology sector and allow Montana to remain competitive in the world of bio-research."
Regional Economic Development
- Montana World Trade Center August Newsletter
Since its inception, MWTC has undertaken a dual role as consultant and advocate, assisting our member businesses to establish and strengthen international commercial capabilities, while striving to develop untapped international trade opportunities.
- Is Montana Gaining Decent Jobs? Assessing the quality of newly created jobs in Montana
Employment growth does not reflect the quality of the jobs created. There is concern that, as Montana’s economy grows, the jobs that are being added are not high quality jobs.
Utah Economic Development
- How Tucson Can Learn From Portland
One of the least-known cottage industries in this very civilized city amounts to a tutoring clinic for other cities experiencing growing pains or merely having an identity crisis.
- Northwest Area Foundation Great Strides Award! 4 Communities will receive up to $100,000
The Foundation will select up to four communities from its eight-state region: MN, IA, ND, SD, MT, ID, WA, and OR. At least two awards will go to rural communities.
- Hawaiian Angels begin to see return on their investments
"The group has been doing very well," said Rob Robinson, founder and chairman of Hawaii Angels. "We've had two IPOs and a couple of other exits already, and it's still early ... it's only been a couple of years for the more recent investments."
- Northwest Angel investors spread wings with new funds
"It's a great time to be an angel investor."
- Sustainable Rural Community Development: An Annotated Bibliography
This is the first edition in what we intend to be an ongoing publication project focused on sustainable rural development.
- How Businesses Can Implement Sector Workforce Development Strategies for Jobs and Economic Growth
This guide provides a step-by-step method for bringing together partnerships that connect individual efforts, social supports, training and education, and highroad employment.
Idaho Business
- Fasttrac Program Helps Entrepreneurs Defy The Statistics
FastTrac connects entrepreneurs to the best resources available to help them pursue and realize their entrepreneurial dreams. The program provides small business owners with business insights, strategic visioning guidance, professional networking connections and other resources, preparing them to create a new business or expand an existing enterprise.
- Utah Fund of Funds thriving. Program a boon to 23 firms that employ 974
"Basically, as we have $100 million at work, we sure want to see that $100 million come back in Utah companies," Neilson said. "And we're already 50 percent there, and we've been doing this about a year and a half, so we've already had some great successes."
Oregon Economic Development
- Crews expand cleanup of nuclear weapons waste at Idaho National Labratory
The majority of the waste material came from the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant near Denver. From the 1950s through 1970, the waste materials were shipped in drums to Idaho and buried in a 97-acre section of the INL facility, said Amy Lientz, spokeswoman for the Idaho Cleanup Project.
- Expanding the workforce in Idaho
"Our wages are still pretty low," Isakson said. "Many of you are finding that you have to raise your wages."
- Meridian, Idaho call center, Dial 411, to add more than 300 jobs
Dial 411 http://www.tvdial411.com offers an alternative to print and online Yellow Pages. The company plans to go nationwide over the next 5 years.
Washington State Business
- Funding Frustration for Oregon's Fund of Funds
The fact that so many of the firms investing Oregon's money are based outside the state is inconsistent with the original mission, said David Garten, CEO of Eugene's SeQuential Biofuels LLC. "Prudent investment of pension funds and targeted, local economic development don't mix." Harold Bradley, chief investment officer at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Mo.
Government
- Urban Villages Struggling To Attract Jobs
For the most part, urban villages in Issaquah, Redmond and Snoqualmie have yet to provide one missing link — jobs." "And without nearby jobs, the traffic woes brought on by more development only continue."
- University of Washington's College of Engineering wins three of Technology Review's TR35 awards
"This speaks to the exceptional talent we've been able to attract to the College," he added. "Top-notch young engineers choose the University of Washington because we have a culture that supports creative, interdisciplinary work."
- Exporters ride wave of growth in Washington State
If you want to do business with the world, you have to look like the world.
- The Institute for Systems Medicine Planning Authority hopes to open in 36 to 48 months in Spokane, Washington
Systems medicine group to launch recruiting effort for top national scientist
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Bipartisanship Aiding Rookie Governors
Most of the successful governors, Democrat and Republican alike, have taken a moderate and bipartisan approach and reaped the dividends.
Energy
- The World Clock. (Amazing....)
While the actual numbers cannot be precise the rates of change are what is most interesting.
2007 Montana Legislature
- Silicon Nanocrystals for Superefficient Solar Cells
Research shows that silicon can wring two electrons from each photon of incoming light.
- Backyard treasure. The National Center for Appropriate Technology in Butte, Montana
Information on energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies will be in abundance, and in these days of ever-rising utility costs, options such as wind and solar power and building technologies that promise savings on heating costs are increasingly attractive.
Transportation
- How to repair the Montana Legislature
Given the deteriorating performance and behavior in the Montana Legislature, particularly the House of Representatives, we should be considering how to correct the performance of our legislature.
Montana Education Excellence
- Allegiant to fly from Mesa to Missoula, Montana
Starting Oct. 26, you can fly directly from Mesa to Missoula, Mont., the third of 13 destinations announced for Allegiant Air’s http://www.allegiantair.com new hub at Williams Gateway Airport.
VIRUS ALERTS
- Higher education center offers COT classes in Hamilton, MT
“This is an exciting time to oversee the education center as this serves as a wonderful opportunity for valley residents to entertain a possible interest in higher education.”
- The National Science Foundation awards Montana Tech large grant to fund science scholarships for incoming freshmen.
The scholarships will be awarded to students intending to major in biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, or software engineering.
- New lab training program at Montana State University will serve patients, hospitals, students
Nationally, hospital laboratories need more than three times as many employees as are being trained in the field.
- Using a business model to run public schools topic at Helena Education Foundation’s fifth annual leadership institute
“In some ways, the foundation has been the marketing for public schools,” Lewis said. “But we know there is a lot to do on their own.”
- Public Forums On Montana University System, 8/28-29, Bozeman, Livingston, Belgrade
"This is the first of a number of visits across the state and is an opportunity for representatives of the university system to open a dialogue with community leaders about the future of the system and how we can best meet the needs of our students and the state."
- Storm Botnet Puts Up Defenses And Starts Attacking Back - Universities Potential Targets
Researchers are warning universities that they're at risk of being hit with massive distributed denial-of-service attacks when they scan their own networks.
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