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| MATR Newsletter - Tue May 13, 2008 |
"Honest criticism is hard to take, particularly from a relative, a friend, an acquaintance, or a stranger." -- Franklin P. Jones
Here's a great example of two outstanding organizations working together to export some of the very best Montana has to offer: "Missoula Children's Theatre is a Big Hit In Ireland Thanks to the Montana World Trade Center" http://matr.net/articl ... .html If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to try and catch "The Little Red Truck" if it's playing near you. "Little Film That Could Wins in Hollywood - "The Little Red Truck" Wins Best Feature Documentary at the International Family Film Festival" http://matr.net/articl ... .html
MAPS™ : Media Arts in the Public Schools
Missoula Children's Theatre
- Retired Hollywood producer, Peter Rosten to recast Montana film instruction - Media Arts in the Public Schools (MAPS)
Rosten established a successful program called Media Arts in the Public Schools, or MAPS. Teenagers have learned how to direct and film movies, public service announcements and music videos. And they've been paid.
The Burton K. Wheeler Center
- Missoula Children's Theatre is a Big Hit In Ireland Thanks to the Montana World Trade Center
Not everyone gets through customs with skunks, cow bells, horsemen, castle walls and strange looking wax scars in tow. But the Montana-based Missoula Children's Theatre http://www.mctinc.org company has done just that as it takes on the challenge of getting a Limerick, Ireland city school ready in just four days to host its own musical.
Come Home Montana
- MSU says goodbye to its philosopher cowboy Gordon "Corky" Brittan.
"Corky is someone who doesn't want the university to be an ivory tower. He sees community outreach as part of his mission. In the Wheeler Center he saw a way to put his fascination with public policy to use and tie it to his idea that a professor be a public intellectual."
- Montana’s ag at climate change crossroads - Burton K. Wheeler Center’s conference on climate change
Agriculture -- including the grain farming Roehm said is being impacted by a drying and warming climate -- is Montana’s largest industry. Sixty-four percent of Montana’s acreage is farm and ranch land.
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- Montana may be too far out for "Boston Legal's" Denny Crane, just fine for the rest of us
Montana is gaining momentum in these days of snarled traffic and hectic lives. Many Americans would like to move here, even if most of them don't.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Software Engineer - snapApps.com, Inc.
snapApps.com, Inc. is seeking an experienced, top-notch .NET software engineer to join our development team.
2008 Montana Legislature
- Beehive links distant workers
Beehive is an online portal for employees to describe their expertise so that valuable knowledge doesn't get lost inside the bureaucracy.
Leadership Montana
- 4 Montana Senators to request session on school funding
"We think such economic factors as rising gasoline and food costs were a big reason why people opposed levies," Ryan said. "And we believe the state has enough surplus revenue to help prevent school districts from cutting too many teachers and programs."
Montana Business
- Shaping the Leaders of Tomorrow. Group Picks Students From Diverse Areas, Backgrounds for Hands-On Training
"We're looking for aspiring leaders who we can inspire and enlighten," said Kenneth Barrow, the program's coordinator. "We hope to foster community involvement and show them how they can contribute to the region."
Montana Economic Development
- Blackfoot delivers Unprecedented Broadband Speed to Rural Customers
The business package appropriately named BizBundles is designed to fit the needs of Blackfoot’s rural business owners located in 22 Western Montana communities with affordable long distance service-- great phone features-- and up to 15 Mbps of high speed Internet.
- Coffee from Liquid Planet of Missoula, Montana to be sold in military stores around the world.
Liquid Planet opened in Missoula six years ago and now has three Missoula drive-through locations along with its downtown store. The company also sells coffees, teas and organic syrups on its Web site.
- EMTEQ Inc. Announces Purchase of Cable Technology of Montana Inc.
Ed Buttrey, President of CTI, said, “EMTEQ proves to be the ideal partner in the avionics business. They offer operations, people and processes which provide a level of synergy with our current operations and manufacturing and assembly capabilities to further enhance the growth of CTI in the aerospace and military industry.”
Regional Economic Development
- Competing Through Innovation - Montana Business and Technology - 2008 Spring Issue
Driven by technological innovation, a new set of industries is beginning to put Montana on the ‘technology’ map of the United States. Companies in the biotech, life sciences, information technology, aerospace and environmental sectors are becoming significant contributors to our state’s economy.
- MAEDC April E-Newsletter
Small Business Making a Big Difference
- Missoula, Do You Want Direct Daily Air Service To California?, 5/20, Missoula
It's possible... there's a community effort to make it happen....and your help can make a difference? Join us and find out how.
- Gazette Opinion: Invest in mass transit for Montana
A million dollars in grants recently awarded to a dozen Montana communities will help keep public transportation running in remote towns and larger cities.
- Eureka! Winning Ways Business Growth Seminar, Various Dates Throughout Montana
The focused 30-day TrailBlazer process provided the greatest value to us, getting more done in 30 days than we have on anything we’ve done in the past. We now anticipate annual revenue increases of $300,000.—Tom Spika of Spika Welding & Manufacturing http://spikawelding.com in Moccasin, MT
- Montana Lawmakers Mull Global Warming Recommendations
The legislative Environmental Quality Council agreed to tackle legislation that promotes, with minimal expenditure, the use of local food, recycling and energy efficiency programs.
Careers
- National League of Cities' Green Cities Conference in Portland Next Year April 19-21
The conference, which will culminate in an Earth Day celebration, will bring local elected officials together from across the country to focus on the unique perspective and resources needed by cities as they "go green," as well as to share ideas and successful city programs.
- Young Workers Flee Midwestern States
Without young, educated workers, there's little incentive for businesses to locate in economically hard-hit states.
- CBS: 'America in Disrepair'
CBS' "Early Show" highlights the sorry state of the country's infrastructure, warning that the U.S. may become a "second-rate country" if the necessary repairs aren't made
Funding and Building your Business
- Workplace Coach: Job hunters may face new sort of interview
Prospective employers have all heard the same claims: "I'm a self-starter, an excellent communicator, leader and I work well with others." These general claims are no longer good enough to land a good job.
Incubators and R&D
- How much equity do my investors deserve?
What percentage of the company is typical given away in such cases?
- Words of Wisdom from Howard Hartenbaum of August Capital - "Fundraising is Selling, Not Storytelling"
The real value add was less about what slides, but more about the lessons learned in SELLING your vision.
- A Buyer’s Guide to Inventions, in Plain English
The marketplace is an online registry that will have descriptions of inventions for browsing by prospective buyers.
- How to Ask for the Order
If you don't ask, you don't get.
- New Breed of Business Gurus Rises - Psychologists, CEOs Climb in Influence, Draw Hits, Big Fees
Psychologists, journalists and celebrity chief executives crowd the top of a ranking of influential business thinkers compiled for The Wall Street Journal.
- Transition from employee to owner can be difficult
"A lot of people think that if you own your own business, you can set your own hours. I think that's the biggest falsehood you run into,"
- OK, Partner, We Better Sign a Prenup
"It's important to recognize that even if you know someone in a personal context, you may not know them in a business context,"
- Doerr and Moritz Stir VCs in One-On-One Showdown
If you look at Bezos, or [Netscape Communications Corp. founder Marc] Andreessen, [Yahoo Inc. co-founder] David Filo, the founders of Google, they all seem to be white, male, nerds who've dropped out of Harvard or Stanford and they absolutely have no social life. So when I see that pattern coming in -- which was true of Google -- it was very easy to decide to invest."
University Business Plan Competitions
- The University of Montana Research View Spring 2008
Growing UM center tests limits of human endurance
- Strenuous Science - Montana Center for Work Physiology and Exercise Metabolism keeps going and going and going...
The center, awarded a federal grant in 2006, studies the limits of human performance in harsh occupational environments.
University TechTransfer
- Four left in UM business plan contest
If you want to look sharp in Montana's oilfields and then fuel your body with an organic takeout meal in your “green” home, then some business students have plans for you.
Idaho Business
- Lab mistake leads to Moscow, Idaho startup company - GoNano Technologies
The material shows promise for making technologies more efficient for hybrid cars, cellular telephones and solar power.
Wyoming Business
- Women can apply for $20,000 Zions Bank microgrants
The Smart Women Grants total $20,000 and will be provided to female candidates who excel in the following categories
- Glenn Vaughn, of Glenn Vaughn Restoration Services of Post Falls, Idaho, remembers one special car
He has developed an instinct for what is true to the restoration, and he's known for digging in his heels until he gets it right. Glenn says he's lucky to have a team of extremely gifted people, jacks-of-all-trades who can do nearly anything required to bring the car back to beautiful.
- Idaho's WIRED Workforce Development Alliance officially under way
Short-term, WDA will focus on further advancing existing strengths like construction, ag/biotech & manufacturing,. From there, longer-term efforts will work to diversify the region's economic base and build the capacity of local communities to better take control of their own destinies. Ultimately, WDA's efforts should prove a model for other parts of the state to build upon.
Education
- University of Wyoming plans wind energy center
Through the wind energy center, UW seeks to become a leading national, university-based interdisciplinary research group focused on wind energy.
Connectivity & Communications
- Survey Reveals Top IT Issues in Higher Education
Staffing/HR management/training emerges among issues of strategic importance for the first time since 2001.
Energy
- WiMax deal could lead to universal connectivity
By year's end, it's expected that the next generation of wireless networks will be launched, blanketing initial service areas with a fast Internet signal — accessible to subscribers from homes, streets and traveling vehicles — and capable of giving mundane home appliances a voice.
- MIT students show power of open cell phone systems
What do you want your cell phone to be able to do?
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Solar industry needs workers
Most of the job opportunities will be on the roof, not in the lab.
- Sweden's carbon-tax solution to climate change puts it top of the green list
Buses and lorries running on dead cows and a train station using commuters' body warmth to heat an office block are two innovative solutions to lowering carbon emissions that have put Sweden top of an environmental league table.
- U.S.: Wind could meet 20% of electricity needs
The report envisions more than 75,000 new wind turbines, many of them larger than what is in use today, and expansion of transmission systems to move power from high-wind areas to other parts of the country.
- BioTown, USA
Everyone's heard about individual survivalists rejecting modern society and, instead, living off the land. But how about an entire town?
- Nissan Plans Electric Car in U.S. by ’10
The commitment — expected to be announced Tuesday by Nissan’s chief executive, Carlos Ghosn — will be the first by a major automaker to bring a zero-emission vehicle to the American market.
- World CO2 levels at record high, scientists warn
CO2 levels in the atmosphere now stand at 387 parts per million (ppm), up almost 40% since the industrial revolution and the highest for at least the last 650,000 years.
Non-Profit News
- In the Air. Who says big ideas are rare?
How useful is it to have a group of really smart people brainstorm for a day?
- Purdue IT Staff Builds Supercomputer In A Half Day
The new machine is estimated to be capable of 60 teraflops per second, which places it as number 40 on today's Top 500 computer list.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- Mountain West AAA partners with Helena Area Habitat for Humanity
“As Habitat for Humanity works to bring new homes to those less fortunate in Helena, we’re thankful to begin this partnership with AAA,” said Melony Bruhn, HAHFH Executive Director. “It’s important for us to join forces with organizations and people who share our commitment to affordable.”
- Gates Foundation Names New Chief
The foundation each year will commit to spend the equivalent of the entire endowment of all but the 16 wealthiest foundations in the country in 2006, the latest year for which data exists.
- Meeting And Exceeding Expectations Of Today's Major Donors, 5/27, Missoula
Working with major donors is an ongoing process of cultivation, solicitation and stewardship.
- The May/June 2008 issue of the State of the Arts in Montana
The May/June 2008 issue of the State of the Arts newspaper is now online and ready for viewing!
- The National Folk Festival, 7/11-13, Butte, Montana
The National Folk Festival from July 11-13 in Butte will have what organizers believe will be the largest Native American representation in the event's history, said Julia Olin, executive director of the National Council for Traditional Arts.
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