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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Aug 15, 2008 |
"To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three people, two of whom are absent." -- Robert Copeland
Montana Chamber of Commerce
PrintingForLess
- Montana High Schoolers Vie for Virtual Business Victory with Qwest Foundation Grant
"Many students see the business world as something they can focus on once they graduate, but it's important to teach them real-world principles and theories before they leave high school," said Webb Brown, executive director of the Montana Chamber Foundation, which manages HSBC.
Boomtown Institute
- Printing Matters Newsletter August 2008 from Printing For Less
Let the games begin!
Making the Most of the American Prairie
- The Agurban from Boomtown Institute - Entrepreneurial Activity
In 2007, there are some interesting differences in changes in entrepreneurial activity rates for population subgroups.
MSU Leadership Institute
- American Prairie Foundation E-Newsletter
Join APF For A Reserve Open House Sept. 6.
Come Home Montana
- Stephen Covey to speak at Montana State University freshmen convocation on Sept. 2
The convocation, a celebration for MSU's incoming freshmen, is free and open to non-freshmen who have obtained tickets in advance from MSU's Ask Us Desk or Borders Books.
Leadership Montana
- MSU Extension has new tools to serve new Montanans
"Many people move to Montana and buy 100 acres with the idea that they can farm or ranch," Malone says. "They have basic questions, like 'How do I calve a cow?' or 'How do I get a field of hay started for my horses?' We needed ways to answer those questions and we think this website and magazine will be of real value to rural landowners, newcomers and long-timers alike."
- "Ticket to the West" : A life in Montana - TicketPrinting.com
Yinger started TicketPrinting.com in 1997 so that he could live and work in Montana. The business boasts many things that are typical of start-ups—an ugly building on the outskirts of town and an office foosball table. But it also has easy access to world-class fly fishing.
Montana Business
- Study: Montana women 1st in government leadership
Montana ranks first in a study comparing the number of women in state government leadership jobs, with their representation in the general population.
- Call for Applications: AAPD's 2009 Paul G. Herne Leadership Award (Applications due: Sept. 30,2008
Three individuals, who are emerging as leaders in the cross-disability civil rights movement, will each receive $10,000 to help them continue their progress as leaders and further connect their work with the national grassroots of AAPD.
- Define Your Personal Leadership Vision
Leadership vision is an essential means for focusing attention on what matters most; what you want to accomplish in your life and what kind of leader you wish to be.
Montana Economic Development
- Plum Creek shareholders blast land deal
Plum Creek's reputation, increasingly, is defined as “a former timber company, now a builder of McMansions, that is unconcerned with its impact on sensitive landscapes and local communities.”
- NorthWestern Energy Appoints Robert C. Rowe as President and Chief Executive Officer
“I am deeply honored to be able to lead a company that provides essential services, infrastructure investment and employment in a part of the country to which I am strongly committed. NorthWestern Energy is one of the most important institutions in each of the communities we serve in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska." Bob Rowe
- Montana work force wherewithal severely lacking in "soft" skills.
Many employers say new hires are often severely lacking in "soft" skills like communication and team work.
Regional Economic Development
- Jon "Tony" Rudbach, Associate vice president for research and economic development at the University of Montana left a lasting legacy
We were all saddened to hear of the passing of Tony Rudbach. Tony was an energetic force for economic development and robust Oompah music throughout Montana.
- Roger Lang and Sun Ranch gives The Trust for Public Land $3.9 million to protect the Madison Valley
The president of The Trust for Public Land, Will Rogers, said he hopes the $3.9 million from Lang will "inspire even greater support from both public and private partners for our long-term efforts to protect the Madison Valley."
- A mixed bag of developments in Butte, Montana
It was great to read in Monday’s paper that the SeaCast project continues to advance.
- Prospera business network to lead development of Bozeman, Montana Economic Development Plan
“Prospera has a successful record of completing economic development research and this new project is a natural fit with our capabilities and is perfectly in line with our mission to support the economic development of Bozeman and the surrounding area,” added Kathleen Tonkovich, Prospera’s Board President.
Careers
- The Man Behind Secret Business-Recruitment Industry Corporate Tax Deals
The practice of secret bidding that goes on between cities vying for business to locate in their town has been going on since the 1920s- and there's one man responsible for it all.
Funding and Building your Business
- 10 Practical Uses For Psychological Research in Everyday Life
People love to give each other advice.
Incubators and R&D
- Bend Venture Conference 2008 Announces Investor Panelists - October 16-17
Companies seeking seed and early stage funding are encouraged to apply to present at BVC 2008. The application deadline is September 12, 2008.
- Lessons for Entrepreneurs - The virtue of failing fast.
"Be willing to adapt to what your customers are saying," he said. "Be willing to adapt, and you may find some gems within your product."
- Fifteen Tips To Keep Your Company Growing
Each stage of growth comes with its own challenges
- Putting a Value on a New Venture
How to perform a back-of-the-envelope valuation of a business that's still relatively unproven
- Starting up: How do you go about finding employees with the right mindset?
Once we hire a person - we hire about 1 in every 200 people who apply - it's time to "over-invest" in them.
- 7 Reasons Startups Should Not Take VC Funding - Advice from Serial Entrepreneur Greg Gianforte
Raising venture capital for early stage start-ups seems to be the prevailing path for most entrepreneurs; however, most would-be founders should reconsider.
Montana Education Excellence
- Sirti Summer Spotlight Newsletter
As a technology business accelerator, Sirti's mission is to accelerate the growth of innovative companies. But over the course of the past couple of weeks, Sirti has shown that we can accelerate the rebuilding of them as well.
- Seattle biotech incubator (Accelerator Corp.) to launch its ninth company
For the Accelerator, the launch of Mirina Corp. marks a milestone, coinciding roughly with the incubator's fifth anniversary.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- Montana Senator Max Baucus announces University of Montana-Vietnam exchange program
The program will include student and professor exchanges as well as curricula and information sharing.
- Montana State University program to place American Indians in school leadership roles is working, participants say
The program offers American Indian teachers in Montana an opportunity to earn a master's degree in school administration without having to leave their jobs.
Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)
- McLaughlin Institute Interns delve into Parkinson’s research to enhance Montana high school science programs
The goal of that program was to develop curriculum that would enhance science programs at the schools as well as develop interest in becoming science teachers or other science related professionals.
- Montana State University management class seeks businesses for consultation
During the four-month course, students will help manage special consulting projects requested by area businesses.
University TechTransfer
- 2008 Idaho Regional SBIR/STTR Workshops
Great opportunities to fund your research and commercialization.
Idaho Business
- University of Washington spins off first biofuels startup
An East Coast investment firm is betting on University of Washington technology to create fast-growing strains of algae, an organism that could hold the key to the future of the biofuel industry.
North Dakota Business and Economic Development
- Idaho Innovation News - August 2008
- Boise Looks to Streetcars for Urban Renewal
To city planners, streetcar developers in Portland, Ore., and maybe to downtown property owners, steel track means thousands of eyeballs rolling by their buildings throughout the day. Those eyeballs could become incentive to build "mixed-use development."
Washington State Business
- University of North Dakota awarded $1 million to study Bakken shale formation, ways to tap oil
A report from the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that up to 4.3 billion barrels of oil could be recovered from the Bakken in North Dakota and Montana.
Education
- Redmond, Washington's FiatLux Imaging software lets doctors work with standard PCs or PDAs
If FiatLux's software is widely adopted, patients could have their scans analyzed more quickly. Costs should also drop.
Connectivity & Communications
- Boise State gets funds to beef up grade school science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. The Idaho SySTEMic Solution
“Our children can excel in math and science and become the next generation of innovative scientists and ingenious engineers that the U.S. has always been famous for, and who have contributed so fundamentally to the economic vitality of our nation.”
- Higher Education Should Link Workforce Development to Economic Needs
The issue of the talent gap and tighter labor markets is already upon us in some sectors, but if you ask the faculty in most universities if their primary purpose is to create work-ready individuals, the answer would still most likely be “no.”
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Montana's Internet download speeds tortoise-like
Montana tied in 47th place with Wyoming with a median average download speeds of 1.3 megabits per second.
- Valley start-ups Meebo, TokBox offer new ways to link people online with instant messaging and video conferencing
''Our gut reaction? This was awesome.''
- Commanding Your Browser - A new interface bypasses the mouse for some complex tasks.
The idea is to make it easier to find and share information on the Web while avoiding cumbersome copy-and-paste instructions.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Do you think they really do pay a proof reader?
Police Begin Campaign to Run Down Jaywalkers
Non-Profit News
- Cement from CO2: A Concrete Cure for Global Warming?
A new technique could turn cement from a source of climate changing greenhouse gases into a way to remove them from the ai
- Bill Gates says computers will interact with touch, speech in a software revolution
"People often talk about this as the Internet service revolution," Gates told a gathering of 1,600 researchers and academics in Hong Kong. "That will eventually lead to machines that have lots of server capacity, lots of low-cost computing, low-cost storage. And that will let us write software in an even more ambitious way, eliminating the last constraints we have."
- $500,000 corporate grant from the Coca-Cola Company helps Yellowstone's trails
The nonprofit Yellowstone Park Foundation launched the Yellowstone Trails Fund Initiative in 2006 with the goal of raising $2 million to restore 100% of the Park's most heavily used trails by 2016.
- New West Joins Entrepreneurs Foundation of Colorado
Boulder-based venture capitalist Brad Feld, has helped develop an innovative new way for companies like ours to get involved in community philanthropy even at an early stage.
- Montana State University professor's challenge motivates student to change the world, one peak at a time
"When people find out what we're doing they say, 'That's awesome. I want to do it with you,'" Spencer said. "It's definitely an exciting way to raise money."
- Inside Entrepreneurship: Nonprofit status starts with basics
I want to organize a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization so donors can get a tax deduction for contributions to our organization. Can I do this without the help of an attorney to save money? What's the fastest way to get this done?
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