|
|
|
| MATR Newsletter - Tue Oct 2, 2007 |
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." -- Winston Churchill
MATR is a strong proponent of not reinventing the wheel to try and limit the failures. We can all learn from the success of others. Here's a great template for rural communities who wish to improve their entrepreneurial success. "Advancing Vermont's Creative Economy - Celebrating Models of Community Success" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- Here's a great program that's connecting budding University entrepreneurs with funding sources. Connecting the Dots. "University of Wisconsin–Madison Office of Corporate Relations links startup companies with venture capital" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Boomtown Institute
Come Home Montana
- The Agurban from Boomtown Institute - Five New Realities of Economic Development
What is the next strategy to keep the U.S. economy growing? What do ED leaders need to do today to be able to take advantage of the next big thing tomorrow?"
MAPS™ : Media Arts in the Public Schools
- Montana Career Opportunity - Executive Director Economic Development - Montana Business Assistance Connection
The Executive Director of MBAC is considered to be a “key” partner in the planning and growth of the communities and counties we serve.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Chief Financial Officer - Missoula Electric Cooperative, Inc.
The Missoula and surrounding areas provides excellent recreational activities including hunting, fishing, snow skiing, hiking, and boating.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- The Centers for Disease Control buys rights to Darby, Montana teenagers' anti-smoking announcements. Media Arts in the Public Schools
MAPS founder Peter Rosten says the Darby teens also produced a documentary that shows the consequences of smoking through the eyes of terminally ill tobacco users. He says DVDs of the video have been requested by health departments and schools across the country.
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- Advancing Vermont's Creative Economy - Celebrating Models of Community Success
VCRD developed the CCP to help residents look at their towns and regions through a creative economy lens and identify specific projects to pursue that would make them more vibrant communities—places that would attract and inspire innovative entrepreneurs.
Funding and Building your Business
- Poor People are Moving to Already Poor, Rural Communities
One explanation is that there are structural problems in rural areas that, in a sense, enforce poverty. There are fewer good jobs in rural areas.
- Iowa has to sell itself to younger generations
Iowa needs good jobs, more entertainment options and a better reputation if it wants to stop losing young adults to other states.
- YouTube might attract workers to rural regions
“Testimonials are always one of the best selling tools.”
- India to Outsource to Idaho?
Wipro’s chairman, Azim Premji, told Wall Street analysts earlier this year that he was considering hubs in Idaho and Virginia, in addition to Georgia, to take advantage of American “states which are less developed.”
- Iowa warned again; worker shortage threatens future
State officials have known for years about possible worker shortages in Iowa. The problems are blamed on multiple factors, one of the biggest being the aging baby boomer population who are now between the ages of 43 and 61.
Business Plan Forums
- Intellectual Property And Patent Law With Judy Mohr, Ph.D., JD, 10/4, University Of Montana
These key concepts will be illustrated with actual patent filing and rulings on the Apple iPod and the Callaway D2 golf ball. Who knew that patent law could be fun? Come and enjoy tips from an industry expert!
- Return of 1999? Dot-coms making a comeback
U.S. venture-capital investment in the first six months of the year jumped 9% from the previous year, says a study from VentureOne and Ernst & Young. The biggest chunk went to the San Francisco area, where more than 400 companies closed deals with a median size of $10 million, the study says.
- The Pre-Money Value of a Pre-Revenue Startup
Nothing commands more discussion among angel investors than the often subtle but endless variations in measuring pre-money valuation of pre-revenue investment opportunities.
- Deadly Legal Mistakes
Unfortunately, in the sometimes desperate quest for investment capital, entrepreneurs make critical legal mistakes that can come back to haunt them. In some cases, the fallout from even the most innocent of mistakes can put a growing company out of business.
- Beating expectations a winning plan Best way to expand business is through customer referrals
"You need to be relentlessly service-focused and continuously exceed expectations."
- Back to the garden: An 8-step process for creating a culture of innovation
"Companies are actually living organisms, not machines. We keep bringing in mechanics, when what we need are gardeners." - Peter Senge
- Sharpening Your Skills: Negotiation
How can you negotiate more skillfully and confidently?
- Financial Models for Underachievers: Two Years of the Real Numbers of a Startup
These numbers are eye-opening for most entrepreneurs.
- Did Guy Kawasaki build the stupidest idea ever? "Truemors"
In May, Kawasaki started Truemors, a site specializing in what it calls "true rumors" submitted by readers. It cost less than $13,000 to launch and was almost immediately dubbed "the worst site ever" by a leading European technology news site.
Education
- Finalists Announced for 2007 Bend, Oregon Venture Conference
The Bend Venture Conference will take place Friday, October 19th
Montana Meth Project
- How to succeed in business without really frying the planet. 'Green MBA' concept grows roots in mainstream business schools
"Essentially we've got to change the way we're doing everything and making everything,"
- Students log on and learn at the public library in Wyoming. Initiative encourages students to take on more challenging classes
The library focused the program on students who might not have access to a computer at home, or who simply need extra help in class.
- University of Washington envisions a new Environmental College
Program would unite variety of fields, research
University TechTransfer
- Reason for Hope in Montana's Meth Crisis
"Never make coffee in a cheap hotel room," the cop tells me. "Because at one time, someone probably used the pot to cook meth."
Connectivity & Communications
- Connecting the Dots. University of Wisconsin–Madison Office of Corporate Relations links startup companies with venture capital
First Look Investor Forums are held bimonthly during the academic year and are designed to bring together researchers and investors, specifically those venture capital and angel investors focused on “early stage private-equity opportunities.”
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Why Municipal Wi-Fi Projects Fail
What happened—was the idea all wrong?
Regional Business
- Web site for sharing how-to knowledge
In addition to posting or watching videos, members of the free service can make text annotations or notes on a video for their own use or to share with other community members.
Montana Business
- $675 million revs up Ignition Partners
$400 million will be set aside for traditional venture-capital investments in early-stage technology companies; and $275 million will be earmarked for profitable, more mature companies.
Montana Economic Development
- Earl-Fisher Bio-diesel is recognized by Bear Paw Development
“We wouldn't be this far without the help from Bear Paw Development,” Brett Earl said. “They helped us with the original business plan and writing the first grants.”
Regional Economic Development
- Informational lecture series educates Bitterroot Valley businesses. "Synchronizing Solutions and Igniting Work Place Performance"
“Everything the sessions cover is extremely important and pertinent to the valley's many independent businesses,” Easley said. “There's a lot of development going on in the valley and from a business standpoint, these lectures really bring forth a lot of great advice and ideas.”
- General Electric confirms Billings, Montana is the choice thanks to Sen. Baucus
“I’ve been trying to recruit GE to open an operation in Montana for years,” said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. “Then one of their directors, Jeff Bornstein, was at our Economic Summit in Butte and was blown away.”
Idaho Business
- SBA to Foster Small Business Growth in America's Heartland with New Loan Service
"America's heartland is essential to the nation's economy, so SBA is committed to encouraging entrepreneurship and generating job growth in rural regions," SBA Administrator Steve Preston said.
- 9/11 Is Over
We can’t afford to keep being this stupid! We have got to get our groove back. We need a president who will unite us around a common purpose, not a common enemy. Al Qaeda is about 9/11. We are about 9/12, we are about the Fourth of July — which is why I hope that anyone who runs on the 9/11 platform gets trounced.
- “Understanding the Regional Contribution of Higher Educational Institutions: A Literature Review,”
The idea of higher education institutions having a regional mission is relatively new.
- USDA Awards More Than $22.3 Million for Telemedicine, Distance Learning Grants
Of the grants announced today, 38 will provide access to medical services and 40 will be used to improve educational opportunities. The grant funds will be awarded to the selected recipients contingent upon meeting the conditions of the grant agreement.
South Dakota Economic Development
- No end in sight for Idaho's growth
Chalk it up, in large part, to chips — computer chips and potato chips. And to a state whose climate and rugged outdoor beauty are attracting highly mobile, white-collar newcomers who could work or live most anywhere.
- The Coeur d'Alene Tribe finalizes $400M deal
Coeur d'Alene Tribe Chairman Chief Allan said the U.S. Army finalized a contract with the Tribe valued at up to $400 million. The contract will provide equipment for the Army and high-paying jobs for the region.
- Last chance for tech industry association in Idaho? You can get involved.
Idaho TechConnect will host an Idaho Innovation Summit on Thursday, Oct. 11. The goal is to see whether there is interest among high-tech companies in a trade association. Companies interested in attending can reach TechConnect CEO Rick Ritter at [email protected] or 526-3700.
Careers
- Genesis Of Innovation For South Dakota, 10/22-25, Various Communities
We would like to see business, industry and community leaders as well as area legislators, K-12 representatives, students of all ages and faculty in attendance.
Energy
- Online job hunters grapple with misuse of personal data
The misuse of resume data has become a big issue for the fast-growing sites that are now a main source of talent for some industries, as well as a growing risk to individuals as hackers target the vast databases of personal information.
2007 Montana Legislature
- Nuclear power surge coming
In the next 15 months, US regulators expect applications for up to 28 new plants.
- Melting into history: Glacier Park's glaciers shrinking, streams drying up even faster than expected
We're about eight and a half years ahead of schedule," he said. "Our initial projection has proved too conservative. They're going faster than we thought."
- A boom in biodiesel? Propel Biofuels thinks it has the solution.
Propel executives think they can overcome the retail-distribution obstacles that so far have kept it an alternative fuel for a small circle of green devotees.
- Display Technology Promises Cheaper Solar
Large-scale manufacturing techniques used to build LCDs could make solar power far more competitive.
- New math for utilities: sell less, make more
Beside Idaho, states that this year adopted decoupling for some or all of its electric power industry include New York, Connecticut, and Vermont, according to the NRDC and the Regulatory Assistance Project, based in Hallowell, Maine. At least nine others have seen major decoupling proposals this year: Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Wisconsin.
- "Powering The Planet With Solar Energy" With Harry Gray, 10/15, University Of Montana, Missoula
Gray is a leader in the study of the role of metals in biology. He is founding director and Arnold O. Beckman Professor of Chemistry at the Beckman Institute of the California Institute of Technology.
Montana Education Excellence
- Burton K. Wheeler Center at Montana State University Conference: Repealing Montana's term limits could help divided Legislature
A contentious and divided Legislature that limped through a historic and bitter collapse can be fixed, leading lawmakers meeting here Monday were told.
- University students available to give space program to schools, youth programs and community groups around Montana
"We really focus on research in Montana that relates to current missions so kids know you don't have to go far from home and you can be proud of your state that all of this cool stuff happens right here,"
- Montana State University Dean of Business Rich Semenik is interviewed by Fortune Magazine.
MSU Seniors place in the 90th percentile nationwide.
- Growing strong: Salish Kootenai College is one of the most successful tribal colleges in the United States
The goal is to put more Native Americans in reservation classrooms as teachers, and to put more teachers in reservation classrooms that have taken classes in Native American history, culture and language as well as science, math and English.
- Montana Student Assistance Foundation (SAF) Seeking Applicants for Circle of Succe$$ Grants
“At Student Assistance Foundation, we believe in Montana students and are committed to helping them achieve their education goals.”
To subscribe or unsubscribe from the free weekly MATR newsletter, please visit our list info page
