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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Sep 9, 2005 |
" 'Hope' is the thing with feathers -- That perches in the soul -- And sings the tune without the words -- And never stops--at all." -- Emily Dickinson
Does your company have openings for the folks coming to Montana? "Hurricane Victims - Looking to Work in Montana." http://www.matr.net/article-15900.html
Come Home Montana
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Hurricane Victims - Looking to Work in Montana.
if you hear of those looking for work or know how to make the right connections to let people know to post on MJN...
- Featured "Come Home Montana" Community~BAKER
The community needs fully-qualified tradesmen such as plumbers, and electricians, painters more than ever to move into the community and start up their own business.
- Montana-Jobs.net Featured Career #1 ~ Server Administrator
The Server Administrator will assist existing Senior Server Administrator to ensure the day-to-day operability and availability of all enterprise servers.
- Montana-Jobs.net Featured Talent - Desired Field: Technical / Manufacturing Professional
Results oriented technical/manufacturing professional with experience developing and streamlining operations and processes for startup and existing organizations.
Education
- 11th Annual Search Under Way for Montana's Top Youth Volunteers
"Young people who take the initiative to serve their communities through volunteerism are a great source of strength for our nation, and give us ample reason to be optimistic about the future," said Prudential Chairman and CEO Arthur F. Ryan. "We want to recognize them, encourage them, and hold them up as role models for all young Americans."
Montana Business
- Chicago opens a rare 'green' school
The school also is designed to use 30% less water than expected for a building of its size and get half of its electricity from renewable resources, and it has a reflective coating to reduce the amount of heat getting in.
- Great Falls High School educator named National Journalism Teacher of the Year
"That's what we're looking for — excellence,"
- College of Business opens Bracken Business Communication Center which offers one-on-one technical expertise in business communications
A new center offering writing assistance for any student taking business classes opened Tuesday (Sept. 6) at MSU.
- Everyone is telling teachers what to teach
Even in an era of standardized tests, state governments and others are adding mandatory subjects to schools.
Montana Economic Development
- Visual Learning Systems of Missoula and Feature Analyst® profiled on CNBC
CNBC introduced the segment with “the Big Sky State is fast becoming the hotbed of high technology software development” and ended with highlighting VLS’ ability to attract and retain the top talent in the state to produce high-quality products and services.
- Omega TV calls it quits in Montana
Omega merged with the Montana Sports Programming Network this fall, and plans were announced to air a variety of prep and Frontier Conference football games.
- Montana companies awarded $13 million in terrorism loans - 9/11 loans mishandled
“There wasn’t any connection with the terrorist attacks,” said Steve Morris, president of Planet X Corp., a Helena-based restaurant and bar company that received an $867,000 loan. “We were never aware of any loan program related to terrorist activity.”
- Tech firm Invizeon Corp. of Missoula lays off eight employees - Second layoff at business during the last six months
Alderson hopes to sell Invizeon's products to federal agencies and departments, including the Department of Homeland Security. He is also working hard to drum up more seed capital to further grow the company.
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- Great Falls Groups hope to get online portal up and running - http://www.greatfallsonline.net
The hope is that http://www.greatfallsonline.net will top the list when folks do online searches for information about Great Falls. The portal is intended to be a comprehensive source of community information.
- Montana Governor Schweitzer Announces Energy Symposium Details - Updated Agenda Available Online at http://www.energyfuture.mt.gov - Eight governors to attend
"To help Montana form a solid, long-term energy vision I am convening the best and the brightest in the energy sector from across Montana and the nation to discuss energy production, renewable energy, conservation, transmission issues, environmental concerns, and other relevant topics," Governor Schweitzer said. "Only by working together will we be able to form a stable, long-term energy policy that protects the citizens and ratepayers of Montana, protects our environment, while further strengthening our economy."
- Montana Ambassadors Fall 2005 Newsletter
Governor Brian Schweitzer was the honored guest at the first meeting of the Montana Ambassadors Seattle Chapter at the Westin Hotel in downtown Seattle in July.
- Montana Senator Burns Ties Trademark Office Purse Strings to Tie Up
The provision means, "the federal government cannot spend a nickel: no man hours on it, no staples, no ink, printer cartridges, filing fees, no postage ... on trademarking the Last Best Place." In a statement, Burns said, "If anyone has ownership rights, it’s the citizens of Montana. This phrase so aptly describes our beautiful state, I can’t see it going into the hands of one operator. Now with this paragraph, the phrase will be protected from a trademark so we can all continue to call our State the ‘Last Best Place’ without concern for copyright violations. It’s nonsense to try to secure the rights to it in the first place."
Montana Biotech
- Oklahoma To Host 300 Venture Capitalists
The governor says the meeting is important because venture capital is needed to help fuel additional breakthroughs in biotech, aerospace, aviation and other Oklahoma businesses.
Funding and Building your Business
- Missoula biotech startup, Rocky Mountain Biologicals Inc. looks to go global
The new business will increase the size of Missoula's budding biotech industry, and that bodes well for the area economy.
Regional Economic Development
- Smaller businesses can tailor a job to needs of desirable candidates
Take advantage of the interview process to show your company's strengths and to introduce your candidate to your other top performers.
Utah Business
- Secret Capitals of Small Business - Clusters that Work
There are powerful benefits of proximity to a cluster in terms of efficiency and productivity. Sometimes it pays to keep your friends close and your competitors closer.
Government Technology
- It's the cyber-plumbing, says Utah firm - Spring2 Technologies
"Until they hit the wall, they don't think much about it," Broadbent says. "That's where Spring2 comes in."
- 2 Utah firms are finalists for national manufacturing award - Nutraceutical International Corp. of Park City and Headwaters Inc. of South Jordan
Each finalist "has demonstrated the ability to overcome challenges, a proven track record in job growth, improved corporate revenues and capital investments, and a strong commitment to its work force and community."
Idaho Business
- Open Source Government - Speak, Search, Create
In government circles there is a sore temptation to think too little of information technology. Government tends to view it as a tool to wring more efficiency out of the act of governing. Yet if you've ever heard the phrase "doing more with less," you know such efficiency comes at a cost, not the least to the public servants who bear the brunt and who must somehow make it all work. Information technology is not a magic efficiency wand.
- Digital Communities Initiative Has Street Smarts
The Digital Communities initiative has the potential, the street smarts and the industry backing to help cities, counties and regions take the next steps beyond "e-government" and "hot zones" and to engage information technology in the task of building the truly connected and prosperous communities we have envisioned.
- American ITIL - May well become the standard by which all IT operates.
"The combination of ITIL, executive support and a good understanding of technology have really reversed our situation. Our output has gone up at least 300 percent, and our downtime has gone from 200 hours per year to 7.42 hours. I would not attribute all these things to ITIL, but it was certainly part of the overall effort."
Washington State Business
- Idaho Office of Science & Technology September 2005
- Boise Idaho group hopes to bring jobs to Valley
The goal is to replace jobs that were lost when area businesses like Zilog, Jabil Circuits, Simplot Meat Packing and Eddy's Bakery closed their local operations in recent years.
- Idaho Business groups pull together
Making sure there's never a dull moment in the Kootenai County business community, the Northwest Women in Business, Northwest Women in Real Estate and Northwest Men in Business networking groups are coming together to hold a business and trade fair similar to, but smaller than, the spring event held by the Coeur d'Alene Area Chamber of Commerce.
- Boise Booms! - Boise’s Rivers of Opportunity
“We’ve always benefited from a great workforce, excellent health care, a reasonable cost of living, a very welcoming population and a strong business tradition,” Oppenheimer said. “We also have a legacy of strong public and private cooperation. I believe those factors will continue to propel our future growth while preserving our many advantages.”
Incubators and R&D
- Washington State urged to pursue creative tech industries
"If we remain complacent, we'll be a second-rate competitor," said Gov. Christine Gregoire
- Venture Capital: Frazier Technology 'on the move' in Seattle
"Our philosophy is, go where the category winner is going to be," said Jordan. "But the primary sweet spot is Seattle. We have been active and we are going to get more active."
- Inside Entrepreneurship: Seattle isn't the startup mecca many think it is
Actually, Seattle didn't rank in the top 20 of any primary measure of technology innovation or entrepreneurial activity. (Ouch!)
University TechTransfer
- Scientists at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton publish new information on brain diseases
The research yielded surprising information about how the size of protein prions relates to their infectivity and gives scientists a target to figure out the infective nature of the molecules that cause the family of diseases called spongiforms, characterized by holes in the brain.
Experience Tourism Cluster
- The Law of Unintended Consequences -Emory University understands tech transfer....$540 million makes a noise when it lands in your bank account.
Emory University earned around $320 million after fees and the 40% cut that belonged to the three Emory inventors.
- Getting a charge out of backpacks - University developed electricity-generating frame can power small devices on the go
The researchers used a backpack fastened to the carrying frame by springs. The up-and-down motion caused by walking powers a small generator, producing electricity that can be used directly or stored in a capacitor or battery.
Careers
- The Growing Popularity Of 'Farm Vacations'
Despite fears that agri-tourism might turn small farms into theme parks, it could be key to saving them. Says Liberty Hill co-owner Beth Kennett, "There's no way we could have stayed and kept the farm going without the extra income."
Energy
- Attitude, Not Training, Makes the Difference
A specific occupational skill was a requirement of only 30% of the owners surveyed, with the knowledge of the business's operations a demand of only 21%.
Connectivity & Communications
- Magnetic energy? Perhaps
"We're not yet ready to talk about what's happening in our lab because, honestly, we don't know what's happening," Goldes told me. "All we know is that we're seeing more energy output than input.
- California To Go Solar
if successful, Stirling Energy Systems will construct a 20,000-dish array over four years, covering 4,500 acres
Transportation
- NerdTV Available by Free Internet Download
"He used a very clever trick of clocking the basic machine synchronous with color microburst, so effectively you could micro-program the NTSC signal."...You can't say you weren't warned.
- New Search Engines Help Users Find Blogs
The new sites are gaining traction with users looking to sample what people are talking about online, from the fallout from Hurricane Katrina to silly celebrity gossip.
- 'WiBro' Has Global Potential: Study
WiBro combined with voice-over-IP is an attractive option for cellular operators because it is inexpensive and fast to deploy, according to the study.
Community
- Without Doubt, Rail Builds Better Economy
This weekend’s conference celebrates the remarkable boost modern public transit systems are giving to dozens of American cities. There is no longer any doubt that a powerful link exists between effective public transit and a region’s economy.
Leadership MontanaCool Stuff That's Coming
- The Essence of Leadership - Leaders are "people who leave their footprints in their areas of passion."
Great leadership seems easy to recognize, and you usually can tell when someone is lacking in leadership qualities. But how do you define it?
- Container Store offers handhelds so customer can walk around, scan barcodes on desired items, and have them delivered to their homes the same day
This system takes away the hassle of carrying items around the store and around town, and also eliminates the limits customers place on themselves both physically and psychologically. The average purchase has gone up 10 times since people no longer need to carry their purchases out the door.
- 'Father of Internet', Vinton Cerf returns to roots with new Google job
Google executives said they expect ``great things'' from the Internet pioneer.
- HP ready to introduce 'smart' television sets - Devices to offer hard drives, Wi-Fi capability
The new TVs won't be able to surf the Web, but they will be able to connect to certain Internet sites to buy or rent movies and download other video content. With their wireless connectivity, they will also be able to send and receive movies, videos, photos and music to and from PCs elsewhere in the home.
- New for cemeteries: solar-powered video headstones
A solar-powered video panel embedded in a tombstone that plays a clip reminiscent of "This Is Your Life."
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