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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Feb 1, 2008 |
"If this were around when I was in school, I'd probably still be in school." Warren Buffet on the University Venture Fund http://matr.net/articl ... .html
Congratulations to Liz Marchi and Frontier Angels in Kalispell. We need to develop a network of organizations like this throughout Montana to support our growing entrepreneurial community "Founder of Montana's Frontier Angel Fund, Liz Marchi loves to take risks" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Come Home Montana
Funding and Building your Business
- Montana Career Opportunity - Director of Lands - Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
A strong background in land acquisition, natural resource policy or environmental planning required along with demonstrated experience in real estate practices including sales, acquisitions, easements, and the planning and development of related transactions.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Assistant Controller- Davidson Companies
Under the direction of the Controller and Chief Financial Officer, perform, maintain, and/or supervise various accounting systems, processes and personnel within the Davidson Companies organization required to meet various management and regulatory financial reporting requirements.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Director of Economic Development - CSKT
The Director of Economic Development (DED) is a management position appointed by the Tribal Council to oversee Tribal economic development initiatives and functions as part of an Executive Team to provide advice, expert guidance and leadership in the area of economic development.
- The Best Rural Places for Kids. Missoula and Whitefish, Montana included in the 100 Best Communities for Young People
A national alliance of businesses, non-profits, and local governments names the U.S. communities that are best serving youth; fifteen of them are rural.
Business Plan Forums
- Chris Sacca, ex-Google wireless guru turned angel investor, lists admired startups
How do you determine if a company is worth investing in?
- Bread and Butter: What a bunch of bakers taught me about business and happiness
It shows us how healthy organizations support healthy lives and how healthy lives create powerful organizations.
- VC Transparency: TheFunded Exposes Deal Terms
The feature lets entrepreneurs post things like the amount they raised and the valuations that venture capitalists have agreed to place on the company before investing.
- Five Questions to Ask Before You Start Your Corporate Blog
There's little or no heavy lifting required to set up a blog. Search engine spiders respond just as easily.
- Inside Entrepreneurship: Advice about 'part-time' startups
There is a media image of entrepreneurship that seems to favor the work of eager, young innovators. Overlooked in the story are semiretired, secondcareer entrepreneurs who have finally earned the opportunity to work on projects that carry greater creative satisfaction than their former occupations.
- Starting up: Do you have the nerve to handle a start-up tech company?
Great CEOs are always selling.
- Corporate Blogging: More Than Idle Chatter. Do it--and do it as if you mean it.
The trick, say experts and longtime bloggers, is restraint. "For marketers, it's about being more authentic, which is so ironic."
Education
- LiquidPlanner's make-or-break pitch; 6 minutes to sell concept
"You nailed it. God, you sounded good out there."
University TechTransfer
- Rich colleges, poor students
Last week, two key US senators asked the nation's 136 wealthiest colleges and universities for information on their tuition hikes, financial aid, and endowments. With those treasure chests rising rapidly, the lawmakers wonder if a college education can be made more affordable.
Connectivity & Communications
- Building Louisiana’s Innovation Economy. A Plan to Foster University Technology Development and Commercialization
The plan focuses on three important elements of the technology-based economic development process that fall within university purview: strategic investment in building R&D capacity, improving and accelerating technology transfer, and producing the people to start, manage and grow technology-based companies in Louisiana.
Incubators and R&D
- Mashable 2.0
Now he's getting ready for a mid-February launch of Mashable 2.0, which he says will add "lots of visuals, lots of thumbnails" to a site that's now primarily text-based.
Regional Business
- Small business incubator — MAEDC and UM help fledgling companies with business resources during development
MonTEC offers discounted space to fledgling companies - enterprises which might not otherwise be able afford office space, telephones, business equipment and Internet access while mired in the development stage of a product.
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- CH2M HILL Named One of "Best Companies to Work For" by Fortune Magazine
“We owe a huge thanks to every one of our employees whose collective efforts truly make CH2M HILL a great place to work,” said Ralph Peterson, CH2M HILL’s chairman and CEO.
Montana Business
- Founder of Montana's Frontier Angel Fund, Liz Marchi loves to take risks
Montana's first member-managed, organized angel fund, Frontier Angel is part of a multistate network of funds being managed by RAIN Source Capital.
GIS Technology
- Viral marketing campaign from Banik communications hits a home run for Great Falls Voyagers Baseball Team
For the small businesses of America that are trying to figure out how they can get aboard the spiraling trend that has become mandatory for marketing success, it’s good to know that viral can also have the targeted accuracy and cost-effectiveness they need.
- Hacker may have hit Montana investment firm, D. A. Davidson
Clients also are encouraged to immediately report any unauthorized activity on their Davidson accounts and notify credit card and bank card issuers to watch for unusual charges.
- Montana Department of Labor - Workforce Services Division Presents: "Assistance for Business Clinic 2008" - Attached schedule & registration info.
The Assistance for Business Clinics are developed to assist NEW and ESTABLISHED employers, accountants, bookkeepers and lawyers in constructing a proactive approach to prevent unnecessary claims and/or charges by providing updated reporting of state withholding, Unemployment Tax requirements, minimum wage laws, overtime laws, civil rights laws and federal tax incentives.
- Clearfly Communications introduces economical "big business" communications solutions for small and medium sized businesses in Montana
Clearfly Communications is a voice services and broadband provider serving the Western US region with a primary focus on solutions for small and medium size businesses who wish to realize savings of up to 30% in their monthly telecommunications expenses.
- Companies buy manufacturing plant in Billings
The idled Holland Loader property was purchased by Berry Y&V Industrial Contracting of Calgary, Alberta and Bay Ltd. of Houston
- Cabela's kills store in Billings
In Billings, the store was to anchor a shopping center off of South Billings Boulevard.
- Computer hacker incident prompts thousands of calls to Great Falls-based Davidson Companies
"We did not notify clients immediately because law enforcement told us not to."
- Spika Welding & Manufacturing Inc., of Moccasin, Montana Develops Stable New Welding Cart Improving Safety In Workplace
"We are excited about adding the Gas Guardian welding cart to our product line," says Tom Spika, President of Spika Welding & Mfg Inc. "In visiting with numerous safety officers and maintenance personnel in the Army, National Guard, Air Force, Coast Guard - they all see the merit of this system, and are anxious to replace their outdated systems.
- RightNow posts strong growth in ‘07
RightNow added 60 new customers in the fourth quarter of 2007 and more than 250 customers for the year, the company reported.
Legislative Newsletters
- Garmin Adds A Cell Phone To Its GPS Device
The Nuvifone's built-in camera takes pictures that are automatically tagged with latitude and longitude.
Montana Economic Development
- Congressman Denny Rehberg's Jan. 31 E-Newsletter
The American people want results. It’s time for Congress and the President to work together in a bipartisan manner to reach some consensus and find solutions."
Regional Economic Development
- Bootstrap Montana Micro-Loan Program Issues Second Award to Belgrade Business Owner - Sunrise Pack Station
The funds provided by Bootstrap Montana allowed Sunrise Pack Station to generate more widespread interest in their back country trips by attending the International Sportsman Expo (ISE) in San Mateo, California, January 8-13, 2008.
- Business Development in Northcentral Montana is on the move. Several economic developments on the horizon.
"It's a real turnaround for the Hi-Line," Shelby Mayor Larry Bonderud said. "There's good things going on in Malta, Havre, Conrad, Cut Bank.
- Great Falls Airport Authority hires recruiting, air service consultants
The consultants will analyze the existing mix of airline service, evaluate the public demand for new flights and recommend what flights and services the airport should seek.
- The February Montana Economic Developers Association (MEDA) Online News
Of special note: a link to an Appropriations Request Form from Rep. Rehberg, grant updates, tools-for-you updates, a link to the Montana BEAR 2007 Annual Report and a whole lot more.
Utah Business
- Glendive, Montana's Community GATE earns $100,000 cash award from the Northwest Area Foundation
Eagle Butte, South Dakota; Elk City, Idaho; Glendive, Montana; and Roseburg, Oregon Each Awarded $100,000
Idaho Business
- Salt Lake City, Utah, has been ranked as the best city for jobs in 2008 by Forbes magazine.
Even still, Salt Lake City, in all its tech-job abundance, looks like it will remain No. 1 since Forbes.com's most recent ranking
Washington State Business
- Entrepreneur Magazine lists Idaho based Pita Pit Inc. as No. 195 in nation
"This ranking signifies the quality growth of The Pita Pit as one of the leading quick-casual restaurant franchises in the United States," said Jack Riggs, CEO of Pita Pit USA.
- MobileDataforce buys Treetop Technologies. Two of Boise's better-known high-tech companies are joining forces.
"We keep doing bigger and bigger worldwide projects that require bigger and larger enterprise databases and more complex skills and for 11 years Treetop has focused on delivering those solutions."
- Idaho Innovation Alliance Web Site is now Live
The Idaho Innovation Alliance is a statewide non-profit trade association for innovation-based companies. The Alliance serves as a collective voice to raise awareness and advocate for the unique needs of its members.
- French firm talks about $2 billion uranium enrichment plant near Idaho National Laboratory
Lawmakers said they've been drafting legislation to provide hundreds of millions in tax incentives to help persuade the company to build a plant near the Idaho National Laboratory nuclear reservation near Idaho Falls.
Other Economies
- Washington Gov. Gregoire proposes funds for aerospace apprenticeships
"Every one of them said 'We want to add more people.'" Gregoire said. "Some of them said 'We want to double our workforce. But every one of them had the same message: 'We can't find skilled people.'"
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Come Home to Kansas initiative seeks to lure back high-tech workers
The goal is to lure back many of the Kansas-trained scientists, engineers and other professionals who moved out of state after graduation.
Non-Profit News
- Bill would make it illegal to feed the obese
The proposal would allow health inspectors to yank the permit from any restaurant that "repeatedly" feeds extremely overweight customers.
Energy
- The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation reports its best year ever. Completed land protection projects on 366,206 acres nationwide last year
The foundation played a leading role in permanently protecting the largest remaining remnant of Theodore Roosevelt's historic Elkhorn Ranch, which many consider the birthplace of America's conservation movement, said David Allen, the foundation's president.
Montana Education Excellence
- Energy Department backing out of Illinois-bound Clean Coal FutureGen project, officials say
The administration's soon-to-be-released budget would seek to begin the process of reducing federal subsidies and tariffs for ethanol, which is made primarily from corn.
- Cheap Hydrogen
A new process uses sunlight and a nanostructured catalyst to inexpensively and efficiently generate hydrogen for fuel.
- Decline in Snowpack Is Blamed On Warming. Water Supplies In West Affected
"We've known for decades that the hydrology of the West is changing, but for much of that time people said it was because of Mother Nature and that she would return to the old patterns in the future," said lead author Tim Barnett of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego. "But we have found very clearly that global warming has done it, that it is the mechanism that explains the change and that things will be getting worse."
Community
- Low University of Montana faculty salaries hurt recruiting
“When you recruit, you have to pay closer attention to what everyone’s paying,” he said. The result can sometimes be that new hires are paid close to, or even more, than experienced full professors, President Dennison said.
- Teaching Even the Youngest Students at Flathead Valley Community College
While the 7,140 square-foot facility will open next week for infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children, it will also serve as an educational facility for a much older group of students.
- Professor Ken Dial and Two University of Montana Student Researchers Unlock Fundamental Secret of Bird Flight
High-speed cameras at UM's Flight Laboratory reveal all birds use a similar wing angle relative to the ground to gain altitude, glide, descend or run up steep surfaces.
Leadership Montana
- Our Side of the Mountain in Missoula, Montana
I don’t see that particular swatch of mountainside from my front porch, but if the easements go through (which looks very likely), I’ll know, as I drink my coffee on the front steps, that a thousand acres up there on the ever-more-crowded banks of the ghost lake will never see a new house, simply because their owners, in an economic move that bought them nothing but their continuing livelihoods, wanted it that way. There is, I think, something quietly heroic about the whole business.
- The Role of a Leader. Leaders are made, not born. Brian Tracy reveals how to lead your employees effectively.
You learn to become a leader by doing what other excellent leaders have done before you.
- MSU program brings Native Americans into school leadership roles
"The program has forced me to step into a leadership role that others wanted for me and had previously attempted to get me to enter into," he said. "I am alive in a way that I wasn't before, like the way I came alive in the classroom at first. Now I am alive in a deeper sense. I am using my gifts to serve the kids and the community."
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