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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Sep 5, 2008 |
"The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer." - Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's
Idaho National Laboratory
City Club Missoula
- Idaho National Laboratory teams up with public and private agencies to drive plug-in hybrids in real-world conditiori
Preliminary demonstration tests reveal PHEVs use about as much electricity in a year of standard driving as a three-person household's water heater consumes in five months.
Idaho TechConnect
- City Club Missoula - "The Rising Cost Of Food", 9/15, Missoula
Where will our food come from in the future? What are the roles of fuel costs and pressures for other uses for food crops, such as ethanol? What can people do to control the costs to their own households?
The Burton K. Wheeler Center
- Starting up: Dozens of local resources can help you start your business in Boise, Idaho
No matter the source - Inc., Brookings, Business Week - Idaho ranks in the top 10 for start-up business activity. More often than not, we are in the top five, and on a few occasions we are number one.
Come Home North Dakota
- The 2008 Burton K. Wheeler Fall Forum - "The High Cost of Fuel - What's Down the Road for Montanans?" Oct. 1 and 2 in Billings, Montana
This statewide conference is expected to give planners, policy makers and the public a broad sense of the problems, and generate new thoughts and ideas to support solutions.
Come Home South Dakota
- Entrepreneurial North Dakota!
Another renewed contact at the Governor’s Conference was with Esther and Shawn Oehlke of SEO Precision. When I first met them in rural Crosby, ND they had recently moved from Albuquerque, NM with their two sons. At the time they had laser technology which could lock onto a nickel from 20 miles away. "We now can keep it locked onto that same nickel from 100 miles."
Highway 12 Ventures
- A Spot in the Black Hills for the Golden Years - Hill City, South Dakota
“Oh my gosh, this is totally reasonable,” said Janna Emmel, a South Dakota native who moved back to the state from Laguna Beach, Calif. “When you’re coming from either coast, it all seems so reasonably priced.”
2008 Montana Legislature
- Highway 12 Ventures Gets Serious about Social Media with new Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) Tac Anderson
Highway 12 Ventures, a leading VC firm investing in high-growth, entrepreneurial companies in the Intermountain West, has brought Tac Anderson on as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence (EIR) to focus on new opportunities in the fast-growing emerging sector of social media.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial MontanaMontana Business
- Pipeline fellowship program seeks entrepreneurs
Started two years ago, the Pipeline program works with entrepreneurs running life sciences, software or other technology businesses. Some ventures are mere startups, and others are beginning to build momentum after operating for at least a few years.
Montana Economic Development
- Gov. Brian Schweitzer Says Montana Economy Strong and On The Move
“We have an unprecedented opportunity here in Big Sky Country, and we need to make sure our workforce is trained for tomorrow’s jobs,” said Governor Schweitzer. “Montana is leading the way in decreasing our dependence on foreign energy sources by creating American energy, produced by American workers in America.”
- Goomzee.com of Missoula, Montana, a Finalist in 2008 Real Estate Olympics
Goomzee Connect is a mobile advertising and lead generation service that provides instant delivery of product and service information to mobile phones via text (SMS) messaging.
- Lawmakers: Butte tries to recruit Blue Cross from Helena
Sensing an opportunity to swipe a major employer from Helena, three Butte legislators have written a letter to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana CEO Sherry Cladouhos, encouraging the health insurer to consider moving to the Mining City if a deal for a new building at the Helena Regional Airport falls through.
Careers
- Government Of Alberta/Montana Trade Mission Sept. 8-12 2008
During the week of September 8th to 12th Mr. Hank Mottl, under contract with the Government of Alberta Department of Advanced Education and Technology, will be in the Bozeman area for the purpose of exploring mutually beneficial relationships with all levels of government, academia, and business between the Province of Alberta and the State of Montana.
- Easements allow Montana landowners to retain ownership
The goal of the easement is to conserve open lands, the goal of the easement is to preserve the elements of a working farm or ranch.
- Consultant tweaks branding plan for Helena - "The West’s Learning Center"
The goal, he said, is to find something unique and specific, that people can’t find at home and that will make them want to come to Helena.
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- Good Work! Does emotional intelligence make people lead a more ethical life?
The research on good work makes clear that there are a sub-set of people (hopefully large), who combine excellence at work with positive values.
Funding and Building your Business
- Montana Angel Network Initiative Launches in Missoula on 9/25 with “Starting an Angel Organization” Bill Payne, Lead Instructor
“With the research being done at the University of Montana, the attractiveness of Missoula as a young, vibrant community and the strong economic development organizations that support entrepreneurship, the opportunities to start and grow innovative companies are enormous” says Liz Marchi.
Incubators and R&D
- Employment interviews are going green
Online videoconferencing companies are targeting “green” companies by promoting the inexpensive, environmentally-friendly virtual interview.
- How do I drive traffic to a brand new website?
Achieving success is simply about taking action and whilst you can succeed online by spending very little money, the chances are that you will succeed a lot quicker by making a bit of an investment.
- Register your trademark to protect it
Technically speaking, it is not necessary to register a trademark with the patent office.
- The Americans with Disabilities Act: Applying Performance and Conduct Standards to Employees with Disabilities
A core function for any supervisor is managing employee performance. Performance management, if done effectively, can help avoid discrimination, in addition to furthering an employer’s business objectives.
- Getting Advice, From a Board or Otherwise
For some small-business owners, the idea of having a trusted set of outside advisers is as integral as the business plan. Others recognize the need for outside advice only much later.
- Considering raising capital, apply for SBA loans first. . .
Putting the documents together that are necessary for the bank is a great way to prepare to meet with angels. You also have a great story. My advice? Apply for the loan ASAP.
- The Art of Raising Venture Capital - Guy Kawasaki
These videos are my recent attempt to explain the art of raising venture capital.
- Deloitte Study: Enterprise Value of Online Communities Yet to be Realized
The tribalization of business is all about “people helping people,” where those who share a similar passion turn to each other for information, recommendations and community feedback.
- Inside Entrepreneurship: Six reasons to consider investors
One said, "I don't want to bring in investors who will ruin my creative vision." Another commented, "Investors will take everything and leave nothing for the employees and founders."
Montana Education Excellence
- Making Spokane a Medical Research Center
Currently, the center is involved in about 300 different research studies, ranging from sleep studies to orthopedic studies.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- "No Child Left Behind" Hurts Small Schools
"Most of them think of urban schools with thousands of students and hundreds of teachers," Morton agreed, "so they certainly didn't create something that would work for the 84% of Montana schools that are classified as 'rural.' And most of them can't conceive of Montana's 53 one-room schools."
University TechTransfer
- Pacific Steel donates $50,000 each to the University of Great Falls, Montana State University-Great Falls College of Technology, the University of Montana and Carroll College
"We are a Montana-based company with a dedication to giving back to our communities," said Ray Wahlert, president and CEO of Pacific Steel & Recycling. "We wanted to do something on an even bigger scale that would reach even further than past efforts. Giving to Montana's schools is one way to make a brighter future for the entire state. It's our way of saying thank you."
- MTA Commentary: E-Rate Benefits Montana Schools and Libraries
Clearly among the universal service programs, the E-Rate is a win/win for Montana’s schools and libraries, and our students.
Idaho Business
- Los Alamos National Laboratory partners with Arch and Verge on tech transfer
Under the new Los Alamos Venture Acceleration Initiative, the lab could provide up to $1 million over three years for Arch and Verge investment professionals to help local entrepreneurs identify marketable LANL technologies and build startups to launch them.
South Dakota Economic Development
- $100K grant lets Idaho man study geothermal
G. David MacGregor will use the grant to study geothermal energy for aquaculture and greenhouse heating, and to develop a marketing plan for other geothermal uses.
Wyoming Business
- NorthWestern CEO: Sioux Falls, South Dakota good for business
"This (South Dakota) is a good place to do business. We believe we have great opportunities to continue to invest here," said Bob Rowe.
Education
- Wyoming county needs more doctors
The study predicts that Campbell County's population will increase by nearly 14,000 people during the next five years. It said that would result in the need for 57 additional physicians in the county.
- Wyoming uranium and wind industries short of workers
Don Blackmon, faculty associate for freshman engineering and advising at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, said the United States has been short about 400,000 graduate engineering students the last four or five years.
Community
- Teacher pay at $100k?
Studies show that a good teacher is the most effective way for a school to boost student academic progress – more than first-class textbooks, more than class size.
Connectivity & Communications
- Eleven NEW Community-Friendly Grants
- Urban planning's future: people, not cars
History suggests gas-powered transport cannot last
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Start-up, M2Z wants to provide free broadband
The free service, if it launches, would run at 768 kilobits a second, 10 times faster than dial-up.
Non-Profit News
- Future trends include the demise of U.S. manufacturing in favor of innovation
Economists and pundits are having a field day trying to predict the future. How high will oil go? Are we in a post America era? What will the impact of a few billion more consumers be on global supply chains?
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- NeighborWorks Montana - 10 Years - Creating Homeownership Opportunities For Hardworking Montana Families
NeighborWorks Montana provides direct services to homebuyers and homeowners through a network of 27 non-profit partners across the state. The success of NeighborWorks Montana is due to the dedication and vision of these partners.
Transportation
- Great Lakes makes Denver, not Billings, the destination airport
Great Lakes switched the destination city from Billings (which was Big Sky Airline's hub) to Denver and started with two cities instead of seven. Miles City will get air service to Denver next, Howell said, although that will take more than a few weeks to finalize.
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