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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Oct 10, 2008 |
"Time is that quality of nature which keeps events from happening all at once. Lately it doesn't seem to be working." -- Anonymous
Here's a great opportunity to develop new markets for your company. " Montana World Trade Center Mission To India, January 12-16, 2009" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- and for those of you thinking of becoming and entrepreneur, here's a great new resource: "SBA Introduces its Newest Online Resource for the Baby Boomer Generation of Entrepreneurs" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- and on a different note, here's a financial incentive to ditch the car and ride your bike to work: "Bailout gives tax break to bicycle commuters" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html ---
Idaho National Laboratory
Montana World Trade Center
- DOE- State of Idaho Settlement Fund Creates 5,000 New Jobs
The Idaho Settlement Agreement was designed to resolve litigation among the three parties over how nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel would be managed at the DOE’s Idaho Site.
- Idaho National Laboratory hydrogen breakthrough could have big impacts on oil industry
A breakthrough at the Idaho National Laboratory may lead the way forward for the commercial use of hydrogen produced through high-temperature electrolysis (HTE), specifically in the area of oil production.
PrintingForLess
- International Trader Be Aware: Key Trade Issues Currently Affecting U.S. Producers And Importers, 10/31, Missoula
Conference on International Trade, Export and IP Law
- Montana World Trade Center Mission To India, January 12-16, 2009
WHY SHOULD YOUR COMPANY PARTICIPATE?
- MWTC E-Newsletter
Lots going on that will benefit your company
Boomtown Institute
- Win $1,000 in Free Printing with PrintingForLess.com Economic Stimulus Contest
Do you have an innovative, recession-busting marketing strategy that is helping your small business boost sales? If so, enter PrintingForLess.com’s Economic Stimulus Contest at http://www.printingforless.com/Economic-Stimulus-Contest.html.
- PrintingforLess October Newsletter - Economic Stimulus Contest and Strategies for Growing Your Business
The entrant with the most creative and innovative submission will receive $1,000 in free printing to help grow their business!
Come Home Montana
- The Boomtown Institute - Main or Wall Response
This is not a Main Street, but a Wall Street rescue.
Come Home Wyoming
- Montana Career Opportunities - Advocacy Specialists - Disability Rights Montana
Disability Rights Montana is a civil rights organization protecting the human, civil and legal rights of Montanans with disabilities through legally-based advocacy.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Business Development Specialist (Small Business Development Center Associate Director)
Operational Management: Under the general guidance of the SBDC State Director, the SBDC Associate Director manages the daily operations of the SBDC statewide network according to the cyclical activities of the Small Business Administration (SBA) grant and national associations calendar of activities.
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- Sheridan, Wyoming and Boise, Idaho (North End) designated country's "10 Great Neighborhoods"
Sheridan is a "role model of good planning for communities around the country."
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Survey: Telecommuting Boosts Worker Productivity
Improved productivity is principally due to workers spending less time getting to and from work.
- S.F. traffic noise risks health of 1 in 6
The San Francisco Department of Public Health has ranked "highly annoyed" areas of the city - neighborhoods it says have noise so loud and so constant it could cause psychological and physical harm.
Leadership Montana
- Entrepreneurship and Prisoner Re-Entry: The Development of a Concept
While they are still few in number and small in impact, a number of “re-entry programs” have been established in recent years throughout the United States.
- SBA Introduces its Newest Online Resource for the Baby Boomer Generation of Entrepreneurs
“We believe 50-plus entrepreneurs will drive significant new business growth in the coming years.”
Montana Business
- America's Innovative Leaders - Lessons from Our Best
This article introduces a series of periodic columns on American leaders who are setting the standard for innovative governance.
Montana Economic Development
- Italian Product Importer, Bozeman Montana-Based Flat Earth Imports, Launches Wholesale Website for U.S. Retailers
Flat Earth Imports, an emerging importing and wholesaling company based in Bozeman, Montana, recently unveiled its eCommerce solution http://www.FlatEarthImports.com for promoting and selling one of the fastest growing, exclusive collections of Italian durable household goods currently available to retailers and trade professionals in the United States.
- 3 Rivers buys Blackfoot dial-up customers
“We are planning stages of pushing fiber optic cable into the Teton Canyon and other areas north of town. While customers out that way will still be connected to the new fiber line via their existing copper wire, broadband capacity will be greatly increased,” he said.
- Economist: Montana likely to outperform nation
Montana's economy was extraordinarily robust for four years and surpassed national growth levels for most of the decade, but is now cooling.
Regional Economic Development
- Montana Research & Commercialization Board Awards $2.3 Million for Biotechnology, Wireless Communications, Clean Coal & Renewable Resources, Production Agriculture, & Environmental Remediation
Projects Located in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Hamilton, Missoula
- Montana SBDC Network Announces Selection of Deanna Johnson for 2008 SBDC State Star
“I am pleased to make this announcement, and to recognize Deanna Johnson for extraordinary contributions to the work of the Montana SBDC and small business in Montana,” said Ann Desch, State Director.
- SBA’s Montana District Office LAUNCHES Its first ever small business economic hotline
The purpose of this hotline is to give small business owners a single phone number they can call with business related questions.
- Commission Questions Plum Creek, Forest Service Road Deal
The gathering here was one in a series of public talks with local officials in western Montana.
- Panel at The Montana League of Cities and Towns pushes new version of local option tourist tax
Proposed legislation includes revenue sharing with areas that don't bring in tourists and - a biggie - it also includes property tax relief.
- Supercomputer could be super bump for Butte, Montana
A supercomputing company wants to bring a large investment into Butte, but the kryptonite of tight budgets threatens the project.
Careers
- A Grand Alliance: Fostering a North American Central Economic Region (3rd Coast?)
The concept of cross-border regions in North America is not new.
- Tapping State College Research and Development Capacity in Support of State Economic Development
As states boost efforts to fund and stimulate research as part of an integrated economic development strategy, they should seek to fully harness the research and innovation capacity of all four-year public colleges and universities.
- Idaho's Mexican consulate to open this year
The Mexican government has appointed diplomat Ricardo Pineda to open a consulate in Boise and serve a growing Hispanic population in Idaho and Montana.
Funding and Building your Business
- 5 questions for jobs expert John Challenger
"It does look as though we're heading into a deeper recession or slowdown," Challenger said. "It's likely going to have more far-reaching impact and lead to more layoffs, higher unemployment, longer job searches for people."
- Workforce development: Wisconsin IT group to launch online listing of college interns
The listing will be available to Wisconsin businesses, allowing them find student intern talent at the collegiate level and make available internships that could lead to careers and a slowing of the so-called brain drain.
Incubators and R&D
- Supercharge Your Web Site with Video
It's quickly becoming a YouTube world.
- Social networking sites help companies boost productivity
"Companies are asking, 'How can we make our workforce more productive?' "
- The Montana Manufacturing Center to Offer Free Marketing Webinars in October
The topics to be covered are easy to use and easy to remember, covering the "Laws of Marketing Physics" to create more effective customer pull for both new and existing products; how to get product to market five times faster using four “Fail Fast, Fail Cheap, Get Smart” principles that real-world entrepreneurs use today; and why “Growth Is Not Random.”
- Ok Entrepreneurs, Time to Step Up - Stop Moping and Lead!
My recommendation to all of you entrepreneurs out there is to get off the negative sentiment treadmill, step up, and lead.
- Competitive Analysis – Don’t Take it for Granted
When working with companies in the development of their strategic plan it is essential to create a comprehensive competitive analysis.
- Angel Investor Ron Conway Emails His Portfolio Companies Over Financial Meltdown
In no uncertain terms he outlines a bleak immediate future, and gives advice to his startups.
- Video: Entrepreneurs can't ignore patents
Startups that hold patents make more desirable acquisition targets than those that don't.
- A business idea sparked by a bad battery - 1,200 customers on his first day
And he has already taken the business to the next stage.
- Do Strong Leaders Destroy Leadership?
The modern business press have glorified leaders and leadership.
- Advice On Partnering With The Big and Powerful: Don't
What Do They Have To Lose? What About You?
- The Votes Are In: 100 VCs & Angel Investors Have Chosen the Top 50 Emerging Companies
"I'm sure that we will hear about several capital-raising success stories from this year's winners, as we have in all of the past years' Pitching Across America competitions!"
- Inside Entrepreneurship: Go-getters see silver lining for businesses in bad times
"My advantage is my attitude. All of my competitors are complaining about the market and waiting for it to turn around. In the meantime, there are still opportunities out there, and I will be the only one pursuing them. If you think the market is dead then soon your business will be dead."
Montana Education Excellence
- Montana State University receives $6 million to analyze alternative medicines
Montana State University researchers will receive $6 million over five years to study alternative medicines that target the intestine and lungs.
- McLaughlin Research Center raises $2 million to match grant
McLaughlin scientists study mouse models for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes, peripheral neuropathy and prion disease.
Regional Business
- In Honor Of Tony Rudbach: MonTEC Invitation-Dedication Ceremony, 10/10, Missoula
Tony was a man of many talents, but at his core, he was a true scientist. His name will now be affiliated with a lab that will be home to companies that are commercializing University of Montana research.
- Tell Edvantia about Your Rural School and Community
The purpose of this effort is to gather information about the strengths of rural schools, districts, and communities, and about the challenges they face.
Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)
- Not What, Not How, but Who? Western Companies Face a Worldwide Talent Crunch
Faced with an aging workforce and a growing demand for skilled workers in emerging markets like China and India, companies in the West are grappling with a talent crunch of unprecedented scope.
- Call for Nominations - 2009 BBB Torch Awards for Marketplace Ethics
Know a company that is outstanding in employee support and customer service?
Idaho Business
- Starting up: Small Business Innovation Research grants can help your company. Computer Measurement Laboratory of Boise, Idaho
Learn more by talking to federal agencies that will be at a conference in Boise on Oct. 28-29.
Utah Economic Development
- Gov. Otter will 'throw switch' to connect Idaho to the national high-performance computer network
IRON will connect state government, research institutions, education and health care facilities across Idaho.
- Idaho governor pitches pay-to-drive program
Under the plan, people would disclose their vehicle's mileage when they register the vehicle. Each year, state officials would subtract the current year's mileage from the previous year's mileage and charge the driver accordingly. The more mileage a driver reports, the more he or she would pay.
- Micron Tech reduces global workforce by 15 percent - majority will be cut in Boise, Idaho. President says company will stay in Boise
A company statement said the cuts were a result of declining customer demand and product oversupply
- Depleted uranium company, International Isotopes Inc., eyes two Idaho sites
International Isotopes Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Laflin said one of the Idaho sites is near Idaho Falls, where France's Areva NC Inc. plans a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant.
- Idaho's 21 years of job growth will end this year
"There really is no good way to spin it."
Washington State Business
- Provo, Utah lands aircraft-repair company Duncan Aviation. Company to bring Provo 650 new jobs over next 15 years
"It is a coup for the state of Utah, and for our kids,"
Wyoming Business
- Seattle’s Top Entrepreneurs Band Together To Invest In Local Startups. Founder’s Co-op
The group not only brings cash to a deal, they also bring the partner’s extended Seattle network.
Education
- Wyoming economy avoids meltdown
Home prices in states such as Wyoming, West Virginia and North Dakota continue to rise, wages are growing and unemployment is at record lows.
Government
- Microsoft, universities work to prove that video games can be educational
"When people play games, there is some sort of state they get into," he said. "Nobody has really studied whether or not the brain is more receptive to learning complex concepts when you're in that state. People assume that is the case."
- Well-Paid Teachers? I’m on Board
To effectively recruit and retain the teachers needed to turn troubled schools around and give the kids who need it most a fighting chance, education officials should re-consider how schools are financed.
- Math Skills Suffer in U.S., Study Finds
The study suggests that while many girls have exceptional talent in math — the talent to become top math researchers, scientists and engineers — they are rarely identified in the United States.
Energy
- Montana budget surplus approaching $1B
The legislative report said that the primary reason for this budget picture is “a strong state economy over the past several years and a significantly stronger than anticipated growth in actual and projected general fund revenue collections (primarily individual, corporate and oil and gas production taxes).”
Government Technology
- 'Zero net energy' homes: an experiment in Issaquah, WA
The only other such development near completion is the Geos master-planned community outside Arvada, Colo., that dubs itself the “first fossil-free community in the U.S."
- It's The Batteries, Stupid
We can fuel America with technology we have right now, American energy produced by American workers from the wind and sun, energy that will never be controlled by the petro dictators.
Transportation
- Missoula to refresh Web site
This week, the Missoula City Council unanimously approved a $68,600 contract for CivicPlus to redesign its site and provide other related services, including three years of maintenance. CivicPlus is based in Kansas and specializes in local government Web sites.
- Green Car Showroom: 12 Low-Speed Electric Vehicles
Check out our pictures of green, 25 mph lightweights, which cost pennies to operate, from upstart automakers Zap, Zenn, Dynasty IT, Miles Electric, and E-Ride.
- Bailout gives tax break to bicycle commuters
"It significantly legitimizes bicycling and elevates it to a credible commute mode, like riding a bus or train."
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