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| MATR Newsletter - Mon Aug 8, 2005 |
MATR
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"I read and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand." Confucius
Come Home Montana
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Prairies and progress: Exploring northcentral, northeastern Montana
Following Highway 87 north from Fort Benton through Havre to Canada, one travels the western boundary of what is, perhaps, the most magnificent prairie country in the nation.
Education
- KCSourceLink aiding entrepreneurs - Support agencies seek to unify resources online
“There’s a difference in angel investing. This year for the first time we’re seeing angel investing from [local] folks who have never given locally. They’re investing in small little companies that have real revenues and management skills.”
Montana Business
- States invest in the future - pre-kindergarten education for all 3- and 4-year-olds makes children better learners
Research from as far back as the 1960s demonstrates that 3- and 4-year-olds who get high-quality education before entering kindergarten do better in higher grades and are more likely to finish school and stay out of prison, says Sherry Cleary of the University of Pittsburgh.
Montana Economic Development
- This business caters to the jet set - Edwards Jet Center of Montana
"If someone charters our plane, they 'own' that plane for however long the charter is," Edwards said. "The price includes the plane, pilots, aircraft maintenance and fuel.
- Mexican community sets down roots in Big Sky
"I love Montana," Espinoza said, wearing a straw hat, jeans and boots. "It fascinates me," he said of the state, where he and several male relatives have lived and worked together for three years.
- Loan Fund, Stevensville, MT firm perfect fit - Poly Warehouse Inc. receives $250,000 to grow pipe-fitting business from the Montana Fund
The Montana Fund lends up to $250,000 without collateral.
- Montana Manufacturing Extension Center Summer Newsletter
Funding and Building your Business
- Grant from MT Dept. of Commerce allows biotech firm to add jobs - Rocky Mountain Biologicals of Missoula
Fifteen full-time jobs will be created as a result of the new equipment. In accordance with state law, more than half of the jobs will be filled by low-and moderate-income applicants.
- Eastern Montana economic strategy and goals
Government Technology
- Building the Entrepreneurial Advisory Board - Friends and Advisors
Building an advisory board is not a terribly difficult process, but it does carry a tremendous benefit when done with thought and clear structure. As a businessman inclined to seek advice – my employees have chided me for going up to every bum on the street for an opinion – I believe that doing so provides marinade for the brain. The more points of view you have, the more your own thoughts mature.
- A nimble approach to innovation
''Don't just give them the stuff you think they need," Austin proposed. ''Give them extra information and see what they do with it."
- Check out 7 possible signs of entrepreneurial success
"You don't have to fit all seven of these categories to be a good candidate for entrepreneurship," Anthony wrote. "But in general, the more you have in common with these characteristics, the closer you probably are to being ready to try going out on your own."
- 100 Ways to Be a Better Entrepreneur - Learn how to run and grow your business more effectively and efficiently.
Idaho Business
- Picking Up the Tab - Who pays for the web site in your state?
Governments had three choices: build and manage their own Web sites; pay somebody else significant money to build and manage them; or sign a self-funding contract, which unlike the first two options, doesn't cost the government a dime.
Other Economies
- Nampa, Idaho Swift meat processing plant closes, leaving 408 without jobs
It was bad news for the Nampa economy and the laid-off workers but good news to residents of a nearby housing subdivision who had been trying to get government help to reduce odors from the plant.
Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)
- Website promotes region to businesses
"The inclusiveness is important," said Eliza Leadbeater, the BCEDC's executive director, "so that both the breadth and depth of our resources and amenities are recognized. Promotion of the site will focus on cross linkages with other community and state websites."
- Mississippi’s New Momentum in Workforce Development
These recent reforms have laid the foundation for Mississippi's competitiveness and economic growth.
Incubators and R&D
- Planting the seeds - The SBIR Program in Wyoming
Since the inception of the Small Business Innovation Research program in 1982, Wyoming companies have received over $27 million in federal grants and contracts, Watson said. Eleven federal agencies help fund the program.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- Idaho State University creates Research Institute to focus its biomedical efforts
"In a nutshell, we've created the Institute to completely revamp and restructure how biomedical research is conducted on campus," Daniels said. "Currently, we have biomedical research infrastructure, resources and personnel spread all over campus. It has become clear that we absolutely need to do this so we do not duplicate resources on campus."
- Incubators Help Startup Companies Get Off the Ground
There are about 1,000 business incubators in North America, according to the National Business Incubation Association. The incubation model has been adapted to meet a variety of needs, from fostering commercialization of university technologies to increasing employment in economically distressed communities to serving as an investment vehicle.
- Montana Research and Commercialization Board Awards $2.7 Million for Laser Optics, Production Agriculture, Biotech, Proteomics, Remediation, Medicine for projects located in Billings, Bozeman, Butte and Missoula
“The Research and Commercialization program has funded many excellent research projects,” said Bill Crain, Chairman. “A number of projects have resulted in the commercialization of products and these, along with other projects funded by the Board, have the potential to significantly improve Montana’s opportunities for economic growth.”
Energy
Connectivity & CommunicationsCommunity
- When Pigs Wi-Fi - Is your community keeping up with Hermiston, Oregon?
Hermiston is actually a global leader of our Internet future. Today, this chunk of arid farm country appears to be the largest Wi-Fi hot spot in the world, with wireless high-speed Internet access available free for some 600 square miles. Most of that is in eastern Oregon, with some just across the border in southern Washington. 'If they can do it out in the boondocks with a small population, that model can be applied to highly complex areas,' " he said.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- How Technology Is Transforming Urban Planning - A new generation of "decision support" tools are empowering ordinary citizens to participate in planning.
New game-like computer software is empowering ordinary citizens to help design better cities. Can the professionals and the public learn to play well together?
- Daylight-Saving Switch May Cause Tech Woes
And that has technologists worried about software and gadgets that now compensate for daylight time based on a schedule unchanged since 1987.
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