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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Nov 13, 2007 |
"Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish." - Sam Walton
Congratulations to the wonderful Montana people who put a lot of effort into bringing this partnership together. "Bresnan Communications and Missoula Children's Theater Partner to Bring Internet Safety Message to Schools Across the Rockies!" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- and congratulations to the folks at Sweet Onion "Montana Start Up Receives National Enviro Award. Sweet Onion Creations of Bozeman chosen as greenest new business in US" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Come Home Idaho
Come Home Montana
- Idaho takes another crack at nursing shortage
"The nursing shortage is here now, and we think there needs to be some quick action done to solve this."
Missoula Children's Theatre
- MATR Offers Outstanding Advertising Opportunities to Montana and Regional Companies and Organizations
We'd like to thank the companies and organizations who've agreed to advertise on MATR. If you'd like to advertise to the growing MATR community, please consider becoming a Rocky or Bitterroot Mountains Level Advertiser.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Governmental Accounting Software Specialist - Black Mountain Software
Education and/or experience relating to common business processes such as billing, accounting, payroll, budgeting, inventory, or assets are ideal.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Human Resources Generalist/Administrator - REC Silicon
REC Silicon is the: *Largest producer of solar-grade polysilicon for the photovoltaic (PV) industry *Largest producer of High Purity FZ Polysilicon for the semiconductor industry
- Montana Career Opportunity - Java Software Engineer - Northrop Grumman
Working knowledge of the theories, principles, and practices of computer systems and equipment.
- Grant helps Watkins and Shepard of Missoula train more truckers. Company cuts the usual $4,000 tuition to $1,000.
The award from the Montana Department of Commerce will allow the Missoula-based company to train and employ 63 newly created truck-driving positions.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Bresnan Communications and Missoula Children's Theater Partner to Bring Internet Safety Message to Schools Across the Rockies!
The focus of the MCT residency – to provide a professionally guided theatre experience for 50-60 local children in communities throughout the world will remain the same as it has been for 34 years, “But now… “ as MCT Co-founder Don Collins points out: “we have the opportunity to place an important family public awareness issue in the spotlight as well.”
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- Kauffman, Commerce Announce Plans for entrepreneurship.gov
Other countries seeking guidance on how to invigorate their economies through the creation of high-growth businesses will soon have a new resource available to them.
Funding and Building your Business
- Entrepreneurship and the City. Does yours have the "right stuff"
This paper presents basic facts on two measures of entrepreneurship: the self-employment rate and the number of small firms.
Education
- The Due Diligence Process. How venture capital firms choose their investments
What can you expect venture capital firms to examine as they reach a determination regarding funding your enterprise?
- Workplace Coach: Response to conflict learned at early age
Recall a recent workplace conflict and the part you played -- what did you do or say?
- Today's startups are burning midnight oil, not money
Welcome to startup life in 2007.
- Al Gore joins V C Kleiner Perkins to push green business
Gore, 59, is hoping to translate his standing as the top evangelist on climate change to push businesses worldwide to increase their investments in renewable energy and other projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- The Droids You've been Looking For: Get Rich Building Apps For The Google Phone
Yes, Google plans to give away over $10 million in no-strings-attached money to Android developers.
- Software for Rent
He wants to turn Salesforce into a platform like Microsoft’s Windows operating system, a product so popular that it is the foundation for a veritable ecosystem of software developers.
University TechTransfer
- Drumming Up Students for Rural Colleges
Rural colleges are sending admissions ambassadors to city high schools to recruit new students. Out-of-state? No problem - you may qualify for in-state tuition.
- Classroom of the Future Is Virtually Anywhere
Welcome to the brave burgeoning world of online education. It’s a world most of us, whether we like it or not, will have to grapple with, as students, tuition-paying parents or employees.
- Profile Rises at School Where Going Against the Grain Is the Norm
“The reality is that every school district could use a Village School because one size does not fit all.”
- Increased Compensation Puts More College Presidents in the Million-Dollar Club. Montana's Presidents aren't even at $200K
“If your aspiration is to be a college president, that is a way to become a millionaire.”
- Students less engaged at community college
Survey director Kay McClenney says community colleges need to create efforts to reach students early on. Schools could require advising and placement tests, for example.
Connectivity & Communications
- Out of the Academy. Tech Transfer Success at the University of Washington
Research at the University of Washington finds its way into start-up businesses, such as these four
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- The New Media Ecosystem: Resistance Is Futile (And Could Even Be Fatal)
Gamers, YouTubers, and MySpace cadets are sitting in the next cubicles. Stop fighting them and, instead, welcome them into your corporate network.
- Google's Latest Efforts Test the Open Waters
Google's first open source play, OpenSocial, is an interoperable toolkit for building social networking apps.
- Be more than a blip in the blogosphere
‘‘No one cares about your blog.’’ It’s a mantra that’s been around almost as long as the blogosphere. But it doesn’t have to be true. There are several things you have to do to help make this a reality.
Incubators and R&D
- Eye-Fi makes pretty ideas come true
The Eye-Fi wireless memory card for digital cameras is rather clever.
Universities and Economic Development
- Research Roundup at Montana State University (#272), Off to Africa, Flying high, Bacterial cowboys, Natural enemies
It's hard to study bacteria when it wiggles, but live bacteria is important for researchers who want to see how it behaves and responds to changing conditions.
- Hamilton, Montana lab unlocks one secret of Staph super-bug
A team of Hamilton scientists has unlocked a key secret behind the unusual potency of an aggressive and hard-to-treat kind of staph infection that is now killing more Americans than AIDS.
- Yellowstone viruses ‘jump’ between hot pools
“We’re in uncharted territory in terms of understanding how these viruses impact the ecosystem of these pools.”
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- MSU College of Engineering Programs Prominent at University Economic Development Association (UEDA) Summit.
Steve Holland, Director of the Montana Manufacturing Extension Center (MMEC) http://www.mtmanufacturingcenter.com/ in the College of Engineering at Montana State University http://www.coe.montana.edu/ , was elected vice-president of the University Economic Development Association (UEDA) http://www.universityeda.org/ during its annual summit in Portland this month.
Montana Business
- Kauffman Foundation: Angels perform on par with VCs
According to the findings, angel groups see investment returns of 2.6 times the amount of money invested in 3.5 years, an internal rate of return of about 27%.
Montana Economic Development
- Wood's Powr-Grip of Laurel, Montana to be featured on TV
Since 1964, Wood's Powr-Grip has been making its innovative vacuum hand cups, designed to ease the lifting and maneuvering of awkward materials such as glass sheets and countertops.
- Tapping Richland County, Montana's liquid gold
America's largest inland oil field discovery in the past half century has made millionaires of many people in Richland County.
- Big Sky Airlines to remain Montana's EAS carrier
Big Sky President Fred De Leeuw says the airline is very happy with the decision made by the EAS task force.
- Montana Start Up Receives National Enviro Award. Sweet Onion Creations of Bozeman chosen as greenest new business in US
“We are humbled to win the Green Award from StartupNation,” said co-founder Jake Cook. “Our clients in the architecture industry are ahead of the curve for sustainable designs. We felt it was important for Sweet Onion Creations to integrate low-impact practices into our business DNA from the get go.”
Regional Economic Development
- Complex GE deal thrusts Big Sky EDA into spotlight
"My job is to get GE to come to Montana, and they chose Billings. There's no doubt in my mind this will be good for Billings. It's not just the 150 jobs; it's clear they want to expand." Sen. Max Baucus
- Bitterroot Resort would have big financial impact on Montana region
The resort’s impacts will affect both Missoula and Ravalli counties.
Utah Business
- NetWork Kansas. Does your state have one as well?
NetWork Kansas connects you to the expertise, education, and economic resources you need when you need them!
- Meeting Minimum Energy Standards May Not Be Enough In Portland
A proposed plan in Portland, Oregon would force builders and developers who only meet minimum energy efficiency standards in new projects to pay a fee, while projects that exceed standards would receive cash awards.
- Six Steps for Reinvigorating America
America at the start of the 21st century has lost its way both as a beacon to the world and as a can-do nation.
Government Technology
- Sustaining the Legacy. Five Years After the Games, Olympic Spirit and Infrastructure Still Ring True in Salt Lake, Utah
Though the expense of maintaining such facilities is sometimes a challenge, the post-Olympic infrastructure appears to be not merely sustaining, but thriving.
Idaho Business
- Pandemic Planning and Response for State IT: "Where's My Staff?"
This issue brief is designed to assist state CIOs and their staffs in preparing for and protecting their state IT infrastructure in the event of a pandemic crisis.
Washington State Business
- Pleo: Idaho's spokesdinosaur for innovation. Ugobe
If you don’t know Chung, you probably know his work. He was the co-creator of the late 90s toy sensation Furby. Much of what Chung learned developing Furby he incorporated into Pleo.
- In an effort to get more of Idaho's high school students to go on to college, education chief Tom Luna wants E. Idaho scholarship idea to be statewide
The Greater Pocatello Chamber of Commerce Education Scholarship Fund is designed to make dual enrollment at Idaho State University more affordable for area high school students.
- Idaho trade mission to China results in sales
"China already is the No. 1 international destination for Idaho products," Otter said. "But relative to the potential that's there, we have barely scratched the surface."
- Idaho nuke planners, Alternate Energy Holdings buy renewable energy firm
"We believe the East Coast is ready to have energy-neutral buildings that will operate for life without any energy bills," said AEH CEO Don Gillispie in a statement. "This cost-effective change makes sense for any new structures and for many high-energy consumption existing structures. We want to be a company that bridges this common-sense green solution to all homeowners, businesses and government facilities."
- Idaho gets "D" grade for kids going to college
There's only a 35 percent chance that a student in Idaho who is 19 or younger will go to college
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Give it a Whrrl: Service blends Net, friends' advice
Share real-world adventures and discover places, events, and people through the chronicles of others.
- Patent Firm Lays Global Plans. Intellectual Ventures Is Seeking $2 Billion As Strategy Shifts
It hopes to raise as much as $1 billion to help develop and patent inventions, many of them from universities in Asia.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- Google Options Make Masseuse a Multimillionaire
“I’m happy I saved enough stock for a rainy day, and lately it’s been pouring.”
Careers
- PPL Montana and Montana State University Billings College of Technology in discussions to start 2 year technical training program
PPL Montana expects 48 percent of its technical employees to retire in the next seven years.
Energy
- Personality trumps skill in new job market
A resumé and a brief job interview can't answer the question that matters most to a new hire's co-workers. Is this person an absolute pain?
Transportation
- ‘Net-zero’ energy home in Livingston, Montana breaks the mold
Having solar capability increases the resale value on a home, and many new subdivision homes in Colorado and California have solar panels or the hookups for panels for future installation.
- New Method Uses Bacteria to Generate Hydrogen Gas
Researchers at Penn State University say they've developed a way to use bacteria to extract hydrogen from almost any biodegradable organic substance, from grass clippings to wastewater.
- Solar Pioneer's Forgotten Invention
Four decades ago, Harold Hay invented a way to heat and cool a home without using electricy. Why won't the world listen?
Montana Education Excellence
- Where Are the Most Bicycle-Friendly Cities in the World?
Virgin has put together a list of the top 11 friendliest cities for bikes in the world, based on criteria advanced by the League of American Bicyclists.
- Broad Bike Plan Approved In Seattle
Seattle has approved a new 10-year bicycle master plan that advocates hope will encourage more biking in the city. Seattle's plan stands out from other cities' bicycle plans, as much of its necessary funding has already been approved.
- No Child Left Behind in Montana
“It’s an all-or-nothing thing,” said Judy Jonart, district curriculum director.
- Huge crowd attends open house for new education center in Lewistown, Montana
The partnerships that became MSU-Northern in Lewistown have worked on the project for a decade, but the idea of a college center in Lewistown goes back at least to 1985, when the former owners of the Lewistown News-Argus, Ken and Scottie Byerly, began talking up the possibilities.
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