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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Aug 28, 2007 |
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"The more we live and work in cyberspace, the more important real place becomes." John M. Eger
Last week's 3rd annual Big Sky Venture Conference was an unqualified success. http://matr.net/articl ... .html Brad Feld, who spoke at the closing event, also had some interesting observations about the future of Montana http://matr.net/articl ... .html Brad also passed along a great resource to encourage more girls to consider careers in IT. --The National Center for Women & Information Technology -- http://matr.net/articl ... .html
Boomtown Institute
Come Home Montana
- The Agurban from Boomtown Institute - More New Economy News
The Intuit- IFTF report foresees a new economy increasingly composed of micro-businesses led by a much more diverse bunch of entrepreneurs.
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- Montana Jobs Network Employers Update - Lots of Great Opportunities in Montana
Helping to bring Montanans home.
- Whitefish, Montana - Our open public lands, clean water and friendly business community is an aspiration to the rest of the nation.
Whitefish is the fastest growing city in Montana. Recently, we grew at the staggering double digit pace of Helena. I can see why.
- Great Fall's effort to lure anonymous company coming down to wire. "Call your friends"
"This is the time to call your kids and grandkids who have moved out of state," said Brett Doney, president of the Great Falls Development Authority. "Call your classmates and acquaintances."
- Madison Valley’s greatest resource - The Madison River is a flyfishing mecca. Festival kicks off this week.
A headwater tributary of the Missouri River approximately 132 miles long, the Madison River is a fly fishing Mecca for anglers and a vital resource for the valley’s agricultural and recreational bases. Starting in Yellowstone Park at the confluence of the Firehole and Gibbon Rivers, the Madison was named by Lewis and Clark in July 1805 for U.S. Secretary of State James Madison
Funding and Building your Business
- Telecommuters: Live in Great Falls, Montana - Work in San Francisco, CA
The share of telecommuters in the United States would grow to 25 percent of the adult workforce if everyone who had the option to telecommute or whose job lends itself to telecommuting did so, according to the University of Maryland survey.
- The Montana Future
While there will always be regional concentrations of activity, the Montana Future is here. And it’s awesome.
Business Plan Forums
- Workplace Coach: Good delegation is sign of effective leadership
The more senior you are in the organizational hierarchy, the more you will need to rely on delegation to be successful.
Education
- Big Sky Venture Conference an Outstanding Success!
If this year was any indication, which I think it was, next year will be bigger and better and a great way for your company to find that critical funding and advice to move it to the next level.
University TechTransfer
- Yahoo enables teachers to share lesson plans, ideas and more. Yahoo for Teachers
The product, Yahoo for Teachers, is a sort of social network that allows teachers to collaborate on course work and store information that they find online and want to showcase in class.
- The National Center for Women & Information Technology
It's imperative we don't lose sight of the huge transformations occurring in the foundations of our civil, societal, and commercial foundations that are the result of information technology. Informed women were not at the table as these systems were evolving; they need to be, now.” -Lucy Sanders, NCWIT CEO and Co-founder
- Making a Difference in Schools- the big brothers big sisters School-based mentoring impact study
Mentoring programs produce tangible outcomes for students “including decreases in drug and alcohol use, enhanced peer and parent-child relationships, better school attendance and improved attitudes about performance and school.”
Connectivity & Communications
- Drug developed by Duke prof returning millions in royalties
Duke University this year expects to drum up about $6 million in royalties from a single drug, marking the biggest tech transfer success in the program's 20-year history.
Incubators and R&D
- Yahoo e-mail to let users send text to phones
The enhancements make it easier to send e-mail, instant messages or text messages from a single Web site -- no need to launch or toggle between separate applications or devices.
- It's easy and relatively cheap: Back up your computer
"People tend to trust their computers for some reason, and when the disk drives fail they feel betrayed," said Gaidano, who preaches the gospel of frequent backups as the best way to avoid having to spend $500 or more recovering lost data.
Regional Business
- Montana Dinosaur Hunter, Jack Horner, Seeks More Than Just Bare Bones
Prof. Horner is searching for something that many scientists believe no longer exists: dinosaur bones that harbor blood cells, protein and, perhaps, even DNA.
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- Health Care System Not Built for Rural America. Montana Chamber Choices Health Insurance Program Reaches 8,000 Lives
Rural economies have plenty to shoulder when it comes to toting the load. One of the biggest loads is health care.
- WhiteDove Herbals spreads its wings
The mission behind WhiteDove is to create herbal alternatives to everyday products and make them available to more people.
Montana Business
- New rules would expand the definition of “accredited investors"
In anticipation of the proposed regulation changes, many feared that the SEC would take an aggressive approach in limiting the number of individuals who would qualify as accredited investors.
Montana Economic Development
- Grains of Montana spreading its seeds across nation
"Once I get the stores open in Biloxi, Tucson and Boise, that will add some credibility."
Regional Economic Development
- Missoula Greenhorns: Twenty-something professionals start networking group.
All of them are 20-something professionals who found good jobs in Missoula - and now want to reach out to help support their peers.
- Lawmakers get to work on money for Montana projects
Democratic Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester requested federal dollars for 276 projects across Montana worth about $978.8 million for fiscal year 2008. GOP Rep. Denny Rehberg asked for funding for 250 projects worth about $816.9 million.
- MEDA on BEAR
What is the Montana BEAR Project?
Idaho Business
- New SBA Rules Increase Access to Bonds for Small Businesses
“The big winners,” said Steve Preston, Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), “are the small and emerging contractors who need access to surety bonds so they can bid on public construction projects. These changes will support small and emerging businesses nationwide, particularly construction contractors in the devastated Gulf Coast region and other disaster stricken areas around the U.S.”
- Bush Administration Declares War on Mountains and the People Who Live There
President Bush is poised to issue regulations that will permit and encourage mountaintop mining, a controversial practice in which the tops of mountains are blasted off and dumped in nearby valleys.
- "Filling America's Jobs" - How Businesses Can Implement Sector Workforce Development Strategies for Jobs and Economic Growth
“We are committed to investing time and money in the education and training of our employees to help them advance in a rewarding manufacturing career path. Only with highly trained employees can we meet our goals of providing a quality product in a timely manner for the best value.” — Elizabeth Abraham, CEO, Top Tool, Minneapolis
- Promoting Small and Medium Sized Enterprises for Sustainable Development
“Wealth creation, one of the core competencies of the private sector, is a vital part of the poverty alleviation process.”
- Higher Education, the Health Care Industry and Metropolitan Regional Economic Development: What Can “Eds & Meds” Do for the Economic Fortunes of a Metro Area’s Residents?
There are good reasons for policymakers to be interested in eds and meds as a boost to a metro area’s economy.
- Aging, Low Pay Leave West Short on Labor
Record low unemployment across parts of the West has created tough working conditions for business owners, who in places are being forced to boost wages or be creative to fill their jobs.
- Proposals for Community-Based Job Training Grants Due October 10th
The primary purpose of the CBJTG grants is to build the capacity of community colleges to train workers to develop the skills required to succeed in high growth/high demand industries.
Wyoming Business
- Eagle, Idaho firm, Sky Detective says tracking devices will hold their signals, regardless of location
Such devices aren't new, but Thompson says his devices are superior to the ones currently on the market because, unlike devices that rely on GPS tracking, the Sky Detective devices don't lose the signal in obstructed environments like inside buildings and tunnels. They are able to accomplish that by using a combination of GPS signals and cellular signals.
- Boise Valley Entrepreneurs invited to technology grant workshop
Nearly $2.5 billion in federal grants is allocated each year through a program called the Small Business Innovation and Research Grant.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Jackson Hole, Wyoming gets daily Chicago flight
"Chicago is such an important hub for both American and United," he said. "This gives more opportunity for the traveling public -- both locals and visitors."
Careers
- Top dollar for talent- Startup VMware is competing with Google for programmers
Chowdhry estimated that Palo Alto-based VMware is paying $130,000 to $160,000, plus stock options — compensation that only Google can match, he said.
- Shift Happens
Here are two presentations that will make you think.
Non-Profit News
- On the Job: Giving a speech is an opportunity & Top Tips For Nailing That Speech
The secret, experts say, is that anyone giving a speech or presentation - no matter the size of the audience - needs to be prepared.
- Business Insight: Does big school mean a big job?
Although a degree from a prestigious college certainly can help, candidates who possess a combination of hands-on experience via internships, specialized technical knowledge and well-developed "soft skills" are also highly marketable to prospective employers.
Energy
- Loveland, Colo., Livingston, Montana vie for the Federation of Fly Fishers Headquarters
Rumors that the Federation of Fly Fishers http://www.fedflyfishers.org/ has decided to move its headquarters sparked a meeting that drew representatives from federal, state and local governments to the back of Dan Bailey’s Fly Shop Wednesday morning.
Hydrogen News
- Forecast for solar power: Sunny
A few dozen companies say advances in technology will let them halve the price of solar-panel installations in as little as three years.
- Montana energy forum examines storing CO2
Between 2003 and 2030, the worldwide amount of carbon dioxide released from burning coal will equal all the coal-generated carbon dioxide from the previous 252 years, according to a scientist speaking at an energy forum in the Bozeman area on Wednesday.
- The Hydrogen Economy and South Carolina’s Role --Is hydrogen the panacea that will solve our energy and pollution problems for future transportation needs?--
Hydrogen offers a possible long-term solution for a sustainable energy system that would address America’s future transportation requirements, including others such as stationary power generation and portable power generation.
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