MATR Newsletter - Tue Dec 23, 2008 |
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"I stopped believing in Santa Claus when my mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph." -- Shirley Temple
As the ever-growing blanket of snow settles all around us, I'd like to wish all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah and the Best of the Season to all. Russ
2009 Montana Legislature
Come Home Montana
- Watch, Listen to 2009 Montana Legislative Proceedings
During the 2009 legislative session, Montanans will be able for the first time to use the legislative website to watch their elected representatives debate policy issues in the House and Senate.
Come Home Wyoming
- Montana Careerr Opportunity - Internal Auditor - Northwestern Energy
Responsible for the independent appraisal of the effectiveness and efficiencies of internal controls.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Executive Officer - MBIA
The Missoula Building Industry Association is seeking a full time Executive Officer.
Montana Business
- Wyoming Medical Center looks out of state for nurses
About 5,000 health care workers, including many nurses, have been laid off in Minnesota recently and the medical center wants to recruit some of them to Casper, Blise told hospital board members this week.
Montana Economic Development
- Digging out a solid business - Montana Hydraulics Acquires Felco Industries
“This has more than doubled our fabrication output capacity, our shop size, all of those things,” Ehlke said. “It will allow us to take on bigger projects.”
- Agreement pending with the Anaconda Chamber of Commerce to operate local excursion train - The Copper King Express
"It's a huge undertaking ... but it's a big drawing card for the area," said chamber director Edith Fransen. "People love railroads." The railroad started the excursion train a few years ago, offering rides between Butte and Anaconda on summer weekends, during special events and during the holidays. The train has also been available for fundraisers and corporate events.
- Flathead Foreclosures Increase Five-Fold
According to the Flathead County clerk and recorder office, the number of trustee deeds, or foreclosed properties, has jumped from 29 in 2007 to 149 so far this year, more than a 400 percent increase.
Regional Economic Development
- Bozeman, Montana seeking input on economic development plan
“We have received input from Bozeman business leaders and we would like to hear the broader community’s opinions and suggestions on the city’s role in and support for economic development in Bozeman,” Bob Hietala, Prospera’s CEO
Funding and Building your Business
- Farm-to-Table Co-op seeks investors in Eastern Montana and Western North Dakota
The Farm-to-Table Project is a marketing cooperative, restaurant and microbrewery, shared-use commercial kitchen and a culinary arts program.
Incubators and R&D
- Venture Capital's Favorite Startups
Investment capital flows to lean-and-mean startups with the best track records and favors growth industries like clean tech and biotech
- Virtual Worlds and the Transformation of Business
The study’s author, Robert B. Cohen, notes that these virtual collaboration platforms are no longer an “add-on” to other innovation efforts. They will become a core activity that will change how businesses are structured and managed.
- 10 Reasons to Design a Better Corporate Culture
Strong, adaptive cultures can foster innovation, productivity, and a sense of ownership among employees and customers. They also outlast any individual charismatic leader.
- Lean Manufacturing Workshop, 1/13, Bozeman, Montana
Lean manufacturing techniques, which are based on the Toyota Production System, can reduce waste at companies by cutting down on overproduction and overstocked inventories, which frees up money for other purposes.
Montana Education Excellence
- University of Idaho research zaps cancer with gold-coated nanowires
The team – led by U of I associate professor of materials science and engineering Daniel Choi, and supported by a $425,000 grant from the South Korean government – is engineering gold-coated nanowires that can “swim” through the bloodstream, seek out cancerous cells and zap them with heat generated by a low frequency electromagnetic field.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- Regents' Bitterroot decision doesn't end dream
The Montana Board of Regents may have rejected the idea of opening a community college in the Bitterroot earlier this month, but that hasn't stopped Bitterrooters from forging ahead with plans for one.
- Montana State University solar physicist, Charles Kankelborg receives White House award
"Your discoveries and intellectual leadership provide an example to your colleagues and to succeeding generations and will help shape the future. Our nation applauds your accomplishments and expectantly awards your future contributions," Marburger wrote Kankelborg when he notified him of his award.
- Research Roundup at Montana State University (#283), Jell-O and lake trout, Gardening in Iraq?, Lance Armstrong and Blackfeet, Tinkering with engines, Sunny Montana
Yoshiko Colclough, assistant professor of nursing at MSU, has a two-year grant from the Lance Armstrong Foundation to introduce and offer recommendations about palliative care to the Blackfeet Nation.
University Business Plan Competitions
- PPL taking applications for school grants until Jan. 30
Energy company PPL Montana is inviting teachers to apply for grants that will support environmental education.
Idaho Business
- The Washington State University College of Business Announces Winners of Fall 2008 Business Plan Competition
The fall competition, hosted by the WSU Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, was a virtual competition with teams submitting a two-minute video “sales pitch” of their idea electronically along with a one-page business plan summary.
North Dakota Business and Economic Development
- Idaho aims to harness cow pie power
Idaho is now America's No. 3 milk producer, trailing California and Wisconsin. That also means it's cow pie central.
- The Power of Community. Get Involved.
Why did people feel the desire to have a meeting? Because as humans we have a deep-seated desire to build community. It’s what we do.
South Dakota Economic Development
- North Dakota State University reports $115.5 million in research spending for 2008
The National Science Foundation ranks NDSU 41st nationally in research and development expenditures among 537 research universities that don’t have a medical school.
Utah Business
- Sanford hires developer for Sioux Falls, South Dakota Research Park
The development, near the Interstates 29 and 229 interchange, eventually will house the bulk of Sanford's future research activities. It's part of the four major initiatives set by the health care system after receiving its $400 million donation from T. Denny Sanford last year.
Washington State Business
- OrangeSoda: You have to ask them what they do
You'd think this was a soft drink company.
Education
- Seattle biotech Kineta funds research step by step
"Our fundraising strategy is to grow in an organic way," said CEO Charles Magness.
Montana Meth Project
- A new way of learning
Started this fall, the Energy Academy is the only career academy in the state. Established to keep youth in school and focused on their futures, the Energy Academy is based on the three Rs: relationships, rigor and relevance.
Energy
- Montana Meth Project will pass review
We remain convinced that the Montana Meth Project is making real inroads against methamphetamine use by convincing young people not to take it “even once.”
Transportation
- Lifeline for Renewable Power
Without a radically expanded and smarter electrical grid, wind and solar will remain niche power sources.
- How the West's Energy Boom Could Threaten Drinking Water for 1 in 12 Americans
A rush to develop domestic oil, gas and uranium deposits along the Colorado River and its tributaries threatens its future
- U.S. Department of Transportation seeks companies willing to finance high-speed rail
"For it to work, it must be viable, efficient and competitive," Peters said at a news conference in Manhattan's Pennsylvania Station, in promoting the search for proposals due Sept. 30. "Such a system would offer public benefits all of us would like to see: reduced demand on congested highways, reduced fossil emissions and decreased fuel consumption."
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