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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Apr 11, 2008 |
"Like mothers, taxes are often misunderstood, but seldom forgotten." -- Lord Bramwell, English judge
Idaho National Laboratory
Montana World Trade Center
- Advanced Test Reactor Shuttle installation at Idaho National Laboratory ahead of schedule with aid of Idaho State University
The Shuttle makes it possible to produce commercial quantities of medical isotopes
Come Home Idaho
- Montana World Trade Center - Global Trade Certificate Program, 4/24-25, Montana State University- Billings Campus
Who should attend? * Industry and professionals supporting global trade and development, this includes: CEO's, Vice Presidents, Controllers, Lawyers, Accountants, Consultants, Economic and Business Development Organizations. * Businesses considering entering the global market place or looking to further develop their current global presence.
- Montana World Trade Center - Global Trade Certificate Program, 5/15-16, Bozeman, Montana
Who should attend? * Industry and professionals supporting global trade and development, this includes: CEO's, Vice Presidents, Controllers, Lawyers, Accountants, Consultants, Economic and Business Development Organizations. * Businesses considering entering the global market place or looking to further develop their current global presence.
- Montana World Trade Center - Global Trade Certificate Program, 6/5-6, Missoula, Montana- -
Who should attend? * Industry and professionals supporting global trade and development, this includes: CEO's, Vice Presidents, Controllers, Lawyers, Accountants, Consultants, Economic and Business Development Organizations. * Businesses considering entering the global market place or looking to further develop their current global presence.
Come Home Montana
- Central Idaho officials trying to lure more teachers
The Blaine County Education Foundation announced earlier this month that it has awarded its first "forgivable loans" to help two Wood River High School teachers make down payments on homes.
Montana Business
- Montana Career Opportunity - Office Assistant/Receptionist - Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Responsibilities include general office duties and limited revision of legal documents and correspondence.
- 36 seek Big Sky Economic Development Authority executive director position. Apps due by April 21
Only three or four of the applicants are considered "local" because they are from Montana.
Montana Economic Development
- Bozeman business, Right Now Technologies, could bring tech boost to Butte
"With technology you don't have to be located in Silicon Valley. You don't have to be located on Wall Street to deal in the world wide market. With the availability of the World Wide Web and broad band access which we have extremely strong connectivity here in Butte, you can operate in a world based economy from a location here in Butte and that's great for us."
Regional Economic Development
- Analysis of 15 Climate Change Recommendations in Montana's Climate Change Action Plan
Based on the survey results, the EQC voted to take a closer look at 15 of the 54 recommendations. By looking at the 15 recommendations, council members noted that they were not endorsing those 15 recommendations or dismissing any of the others.
- Loftsgaarden offers business perspective to Great Falls Development Authority investors
The traditional models of economic development — basically packages of cheap labor, cheap real estate and tax incentives to mitigate costs — are outdated in today's global, competitive economic development environment, Loftsgaarden said.
- Proposed FCC Ruling: Hinder wireless in MT
If adopted, this cap would restrict the ability of wireless companies to expand their networks in Montana.
- FastTrac® Program helps entrepreneurs defy the statistics - First-of-its-kind entrepreneurial training program comes to Bear Paw Development Corporation
Entrepreneurs in Bear Paw Region now have a secret weapon that increases their chances for success
Careers
- Where are the next Biotechnology Clusters?
Every year, more locations promote themselves as hot spots for biotechnology. Do any of them have the potential to become the next San Diego or Boston? Business Facilities has uncovered a few areas showing promise.
Funding and Building your Business
- Montana officials warn of phony unemployment websites
Using these websites instead of the state site can result in fees, delayed benefits and jeopardize the applicants eligibility for the benefits.
Incubators and R&D
- What's the best material for the pre-pitch introduction to a VC?
What do you expect to see from an entrepreneur whom you don't know or have a casual introduction to before scheduling time to listen to a pitch?
- Small Businesses Looking for Funding are Increasingly Becoming Victims of Fraud
"The Internet provides a perfect stage for fraud because bad actors in the loan industry can easily portray a professional image that provides unsuspecting small business owners with a false sense of trust."
- How to manage a successful business like the Mafia
They're violent, they're ruthless, they have caused misery to many, but you can't fault their business sense: mafia bosses know how to make a profit.
- Interviewing skills will help land the right employee for your firm
Without good interviewing skills, however, you could extend an offer to someone who's ultimately not the right fit for your company.
- "Is There Still Upside in the Internet?"
One of the best moderators in tech, she has a way of needling folks and asking the questions they don't want to answer.
- Starting up: Venture out and share business successes
Starting a new venture during difficult economic times raises the stakes. To prosper, companies need the infusion of new and additional voices at the table to tackle issues in a way they haven't been addressed before. Tough times ultimately better the industry because they force companies to change.
Montana Education Excellence
- Four finalists in $1.8M technolgy scientific invention prize
The inventions — DNA fingerprinting, biomaterials for human tissue regeneration, key elements in mobile communication and fiber optic networks — were created by six scientists.
- Itron and Washington State University Applied Sciences Lab (ASL) Establish Research Partnership
“This partnership allows us to move more quickly from research to real-world application and supports our efforts to build new products for energy efficiency and water conservation that will enable us to become better stewards of our natural resources. ASL provides expertise for Itron locally that we can extend globally.”
- U.S. Department of Energy to Invest up to $13.7 Million in 11 Universities for Breakthrough Solar Energy Projects
11 Projects selected from universities across the country
- Montana State University physicists, Alan Craig, Yves Idzerda and Randy Reibel awarded $1 million for defense research
"This DEPSCoR award supports our efforts to explore, using laser optics, the tiniest structures fabricated by man -- only a few hundred atoms in aggregate. The anticipated applications will combine infinitesimal size, extraordinarily fast interaction, and miniscule power to future computing devices."
- Popcorn-ball design doubles efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells
Dye-sensitized solar cells, first popularized in a scientific article in 1991, are more flexible, easier to manufacture and cheaper than existing solar technologies.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- Writing club and Lacrosse - among other things: Flagship Program keeps Missoula's kids engaged with words and activities - "After school shouldn't be an afterthought"
The benefits these students get from the Flagship Program seem to be working, because at-risk behavior has dropped in Missoula since the program started 12 years ago.
- The University of Montana makes sustainability coordinator official position
The UM Administration has expressed interest in expanding the sustainability program in the future. The President’s office and administration is willing to help fund the center.
- University of Montana VP Duringer heads energy initiative
Big changes are on the way for the University of Montana campus if Gov. Brian Schweitzer has his way. He issued a decree in November saying all state agencies must reduce energy consumption by 20 percent in the next two years.
Regional Business
- A Practitioner’s Guide for Effective Alignment of Regional Development and Higher Education
Despite the rise of communications technologies and the proliferation of global supply chains, regions still matter—in some ways, more than ever.
University TechTransfer
- Better Business Bureau Eastern Washington, North Idaho & Montana April Newsletter
Naming Names is a monthly release of the complaint handling activities of the BBB's non-accredited businesses for the previous month.
Idaho Business
- University of Minnesota's Tech Transfer Problem
Ziagen's patents expire overseas next year and in the United States in 2013. That leaves the U scrambling to replace the more than $50 million in annual royalty payments that Ziagen now generates.
- Harvard’s Guru of Tech Transfer: More Seed Funding, Industry Deals Afoot—and the Social Mission is Key
t’s also about doing more to move Harvard innovations—chiefly in the medical arena—out into the world where they can help people in developing nations, and Kohlberg is willing to do royalty-free deals to bring that about.
- iBridge lists available university research from around the country
The iBridgeSM Network http://www.ibridgenetwork.org/ , a program of the non-profit Kauffman Innovation Network, Inc., provides the transparency and access to university developed innovations that will lead to further advances and next-generation products.
Utah Business
- Canadian company buys Boise tech firm - CradlePoint
CradlePoint makes wireless networking products for cell phone companies. The fate of local jobs is unknown.
- Nine new Idaho business laws you might have missed
Gov. Butch Otter has signed these bills into law
- Oracle data center project in Idaho's Treasure Valley falls apart.
Five sources who were aware of the project but would not speak on record said the project was a done deal until the property owner upped the price.
- TechIdaho: Oracle miss, others are losses Idaho can't afford
Oracle isn't talking, but the skeptic in me suspects that Oracle's decision to not build in the Treasure Valley probably had to do with what Utah can offer versus Idaho.
Utah Economic Development
- Qwest plans high-speed fiber-optic network
The technology, known as "fiber-to-the-node," initially will provide Internet users with speeds of up to 20 megabytes per second, and eventually 40 Mb/s
Washington State Business
- Governor Huntsman Signs Utah Fund of Funds Bill
The Utah Fund of Funds program invests in quality venture/private equity firms in Utah and throughout the U.S., which in turn explore investments in promising Utah companies.
- Salt Lake Chamber and World Trade Center Utah Help Utah Businesses Compete
The chamber's annual International Festival is designed to provide a forum for international businesses to share their expertise and services, as well as an opportunity to meet with Utah's honorary consuls and experience international culture, music and cuisine.
Wyoming Business
- Seattle startup Skytap rents out virtual lab space to software developers
It basically rents out virtual test labs in all sorts of configurations, so that software developers won't have to set up labs themselves. Skytap hosts the labs at its data center, and users access them via browsers.
Education
- Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi to host inventor conference 4/12 in Powell
The conference, now in its sixth year, "is becoming a powerful tradition across the state for helping Wyoming citizens to take their innovative ideas to the next level."
Government
- Pittwater High School strives to be carbon neutral. Why not your school as well?
Pittwater High has taken an active stand on the issue of global warming and climate change. We have taken this because we believe that the only way to ensure that our students have a sustainable future is to take action now and show our communities and our nation that a zero ecological footprint approach is possible and indeed necessary in the medium term for the sustainability of all human activities.
- The Alice Project: A Different Way to Teach Introductory Computer Science
The goal of the Alice project is to provide a positive first experience with computer programming (currently the most common gateway to computer science), to middle school students through college freshman.
- High School Seniors Get 'F' in Finance
With home foreclosures at record highs, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed in a speech that young people must sharpen their financial knowledge so they are in a better position to make sound investment decisions throughout their lives.
Other Economies
- Western Governors Association to meet in Jackson Hole 6/29- 7/1
Water use, wildlife migration corridors and routes for new power lines will be among the planned topics of discussion when the Western Governors Association holds its annual meeting in Jackson Hole
Community
- The Report of the High Level Group on Manufacturing
Today, firms need to view monies spent on research, development and innovation, reskilling and training, and organizational change as an investment in the future of the company – and NOT as a cost or outlay that is only too readily cut in times of cost pressures.
- Center for Manufacturing
Get an inside view of the University of Kentucky’s Center for Manufacturing, which works to educate students, research solutions to industry issues and retain the state’s manufacturers.
Connectivity & Communications
- Facilitating A Community Dialog On The Internet
“It’s like a virtual, on-demand city hall,” Kamak said. “People can chime in at anytime and have their issues addressed.”
Energy
- Nationwide cellphone alert system in the works
The network is expected to be up and running by 2010.
- Study Gives High Marks to U.S. Internet
“My gut feeling is that we don’t have the type of deployment you have abroad,” said David J. Farber, an Internet pioneer and a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. “If you are looking at broadband, we have a lot of problems. We are slow as molasses in deploying the next generation.”
Government Technology
- Revolutionary New Super Fast Method For Making BioDiesel - Ever Cat Fuels
Industry analysts have been surprised by how well the Mcgyan Process works and its implications for fuel production worldwide.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- State government computer woes surface once again in Montana
The cost of rectifying the mistake — probably more like a whole string of mistakes that began with one wrong judgment — will be $1.14 million.
Transportation
- The University of Montana Museum of Art & Culture April Newsletter
Highlight: A national touring exhibition of 35 rare etchings created by Rembrandt between 1629 and 1654, from the collection of John Villarino. This exhibition was organized by Landau Traveling Exhibitions. Generously sponsored by Grizzly Riders International.
VIRUS ALERTS
- Montana Essential Air Service routes could return by July
Great Lakes Aviation chief executive Chuck Howell promised Montana aviation officials this morning that his airline should be able to restore flights to seven far-flung Eastern Montana cities by as early as July.
- Anti-virus software isn't the only computer security tool
"The big challenge we're dealing with is the volume and velocity of new threats."
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