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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Jan 30, 2009 |
"Nurturing innovative companies (gazelles) with the potential for substantial and rapid growth very well could be one of the most effective strategies for rebuilding tattered regional economies." David Wilhelm, Woodland Venture Management. http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Noteworthy events: "The Pacific Northwest Chapter Of The Montana Ambassadors' Evening With Governor Brian Schweitzer, 2/5, Seattle, WA" http://matr.net/events ... =2628 --- "City Club Missoula - Public Safety And The Issue Of Mental Illness, 2/9, Missoula, Montana" http://matr.net/articl ... .html --- "Economic Gardening Boot Camp, Entrepreneurial Gathering And N2TEC Accelerator, 4/1-3, Fairfield, Iowa" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Urban Mountain Development
Dorsey & Whitney LLP
- What is Community? Urban Mountain Development
It is Urban Mountain Development's focus to reuse established properties to protect the aesthetic of this state's great past as it continues to erect new designs that speak to its future.
Montana World Trade Center
- Dorsey & Whitney LLP - Navigating the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008: What All Participants in the Consumer Products Industry Need to Know
While the full impact of the Improvement Act continues to evolve, the effects of the law will be felt by manufacturers, importers, warehousers, retailers, consumers, lenders and all facets of the consumer products industry, particularly the children's products industry.
2009 Montana Legislature
- Montana World Trade Center January Newsletter
MWTC’S 3RD ANNUAL GLOBAL TRADE CERTIFICATE PROGRAM (MARCH, APRIL AND MAY): SIGN UP NOW!
Come Home Montana
- Request for Support for HB115 at hearing on 1/30 - on the abilities of wireless phone providers to continue our build-out of wireless services in rural Montana
This bill would provide Mid-Rivers Wireless, Sagebrush Cellular (Nemont), and other wireless carriers in Montana with tax relief on wireless properties and tax incentives for future wireless build-outs.
- Bitterroot Valley Community College Hearing 2/11 - 3PM Room 303, Helena
We are very hopeful that the BVCC Resolution will make it out of the Senate committee and onto the Senate floor, however, it is critical that we evidence a strong, solid, and broad base of support at the February 11 committee hearing to ensure success both at this important juncture and at future points in the process.
- Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer's State of the State Address: Governor unveils oil, gas tax for teachers' salaries
The governor said while Montana’s state budget “is in better shape” than most other states; many of its citizens are facing hard times because of the economic recession, having lost their job. In response, his administration is creating a “rapid response team” in the state Labor and Health and Human Services departments that can help Montanans who’ve lost their jobs quickly get unemployment benefits, health coverage and help finding another job, he said.
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- Thanks to those who are supporting MATR through their advertising. Could your company or organization benefit from increased visibility?
We'd like to thank the companies and organizations who advertise on MATR. Please consider becoming an advertiser to the growing MATR community.
- Montana Career Opportunity - PPL Montana - Chemist
PPL Montana operates electric generation facilities with a combined capacity of more than 2,800 megawatts in Montana & is seeking highly motivated, qualified candidates
- Montana Career Opportunity - Pyron Technologies, Inc. - Senior Network Engineer
We are Microsoft (Gold), Cisco (Premier), Citrix (Silver), and VMWare (Enterprise) partners and focus on voice, network infrastructure, managed services, and hosted solutions.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Public Relations Account Executive - Partners Creative
Despite our listing in the Yellow Pages, we are not an advertising agency.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Almost half of Americans want to live somewhere else
"It's a city that ranks high on most of the lists," Morin says. "It's a new city, a growing city, a younger city on what most people would perceive as the doorstep of God's country — the Rocky Mountains."
Montana Business
- A Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship
Broadening attention to the field of entrepreneurship and connecting thought leaders looking to advance it.
- Economic Gardening Boot Camp, Entrepreneurial Gathering And N2TEC Accelerator, 4/1-3, Fairfield, Iowa
The National Rural Entrepreneurial Gathering features presentations of cutting-edge strategies and models from other communities and some of the best experts in the business to explore the entrepreneurial ecosystem or habitat.
- Axed by a big business? Start your own.
America may be in a recession, but that’s not stopping thousands of would-be entrepreneurs from using their severance pay or savings to do something they’ve always hankered to do: be their own boss.
Montana Economic Development
- Tough times ignite Flathead Valley Community College boom - Enrollment up nearly 20 percent
As other industries shrink during the recession, the business of education and retraining is booming at Flathead Valley Community College.
- The Flathead Beacon Debuts ‘Business Monthly’
So pick up a copy. As always, it's free.
- Glacier Bancorp Incorporated based in Kalispell, Montana is nation's top ranked bank
"We're extremely proud and we're proud of a lot of things -- this is something we typically wouldn't talk about, but I think our community and our customers need to know with all the negative things we're hearing about. I think the community should be proud, because they made it happen for us." First Security Bank President and CEO Scott Burke
- Cabela's to hire 200 in Billings, Montana
Interviews of prospective hires will begin Feb. 9.
- Muzeview Practiceviews - Intelligence for Law, Accounting and Consulting Firms - January Newsletter
In this crisis environment the number one question for professional services firms to ask is: "What are our clients' needs?" Everything a firm does should flow from answering this question.
- Stimson Lumber Co. agrees to sell Bonner mill site to Scott Cooney's Montana Improvement Company.
Cooney said he plans to use the site for diverse small industry and education enterprises, including a concrete science program for the University of Montana's College of Technology.
Regional Economic Development
- Blue-ray Business Booming - Considering Montana For New Plants
Hansen is looking at plans for a new US facility, with a focus on two locations and demographics: California and Montana.
- Montana Department of Commerce Director Tony Preite to Discuss Montana’s Forest Products Industry & Deliver Aid for Small Businesses in Missoula on January 30.
“Maintaining the health of Montana’s economy is paramount,” said Governor Brian Schweitzer. “Though we may be facing some tough times, we are actively working toward solutions. The Montana Department of Commerce is playing a critical role in providing aid and assistance to businesses in need. ”
- Richland County, Montana residents discuss goals for expanding economic base
“If we don’t draw in something beyond oil companies, it can be devastating,” Richland Opportunities Inc. director Cindy Eleson said.
- Great Falls Development Authority officials pushing for industrial park
"We will bring everyone up to speed on our industrial park efforts," Doney said. "We also want to engage them in seeking out sites through access to other property owners they might have."
Funding and Building your Business
- "In Your Own Backyard: How National Institute of Health (NIH) Funding Helps Your State's Economy"
The federal dollars that NIH sends out into communities, known as “extramural funding,” provide real, direct economic benefits at the local level, including increased employment; growth opportunities for universities, medical centers, and local companies; and additional economic stimulus for the community. And when NIH funding is cut, communities across the country suffer too.
- National parks - Perfect place for stimulus spending
After decades of fiscal neglect, the underfunded National Park Service has amassed a massive maintenance backlog.
- Innovation ‘will be the path to revive our economy’
Nurturing innovative companies with the potential for substantial and rapid growth very well could be one of the most effective strategies for rebuilding tattered regional economies, said Wilhelm, the founder and president of Woodland Venture Management.
- Education chief: Schools crucial to recovery
"If we want to stimulate the economy, we need a better-educated workforce," Duncan said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. "That's the only way, long-term, we're going to get out of this economic crisis," he said.
Incubators and R&D
- Turning Around a Struggling Business
From increasing your selling efforts to minimizing layoffs, business experts offer 11 practical tips to counteract economic uncertainty
- For Recession Help, an IT Innovation Tax Credit
The thinking: Those who maintain investments in IT will be primed for more aggressive growth when the economy recovers.
- Utah Microenterprise Loans Help Small Businesses Get Started and Grow
"When you are trying to start a small business on a shoestring, traditional funding sources may not be an option."
- Montana's Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program is here to help your company.
The MDT Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program encourages and supports the participation of companies owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals in transportation contracts.
- Financing, With Strings Attached - Entrepreneurs say investors often want too much input
If you have a great business model and an "A" level team, getting money is easier. The challenge is getting the "strategically right" money.
- Montana Community Development Corporation receives loan commitments of $1,750,000 for microloans to small businesses in Montana
Montanabased businesses with 10 or fewer employees and a gross annual revenue of less than $1,000,000 may apply for a microbusiness loan of up to $100,000 through MCDC.
- Online retail could reach $156B in 2009
Online retail sales will likely keep climbing in 2009, even in the recession.
Montana Education Excellence
- ITIF releases “Stim-Novation”: Investing in Research to Spur Innovation and Boost Jobs
In this report, ITIF finds that spurring an additional $20 billion investment in our national research infrastructure will create or retain approximately 402,000 American jobs for one year.
- The Commercialization Guidebook
The Commercialization Guidebook was created by the Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association to help guide entrepreneurs through the complex process of forming and building successful life science companies.
Regional Business
- The State of Higher Education in Montana
As the economy continues to dip, more people of all ages are making the decision to invest in higher education.
- We agree on need for Montana university research grant oversight: Audits of INSA uncovered no violations
It behooves all of us to remember, as the governor stated during the meeting, Montana depends on robust university research and graduate education programs for its economic and social well being.
- Montana Gets "F" on Teacher Reviews - New Report Finds That States Squander Opportunities With New Teachers
Montana was among five states and the District of Columbia, which received F's.
Idaho Business
- Mass. Gov. Deval Patrick heading West to Washington state, Oregon and northern California to strength high-tech ties
"When very significant corporate decisions are being made about employment, consolidation, growth and so forth ... we would like for the governor — directly — to have the opportunity to make the case to these companies of why Massachusetts is a great place to keep their business units right now and, as the economy turns around, to grow again in Massachusetts."
South Dakota Economic Development
- Council to award training grants for at-risk youth in Idaho
Over $560,000 in one-year Workforce Investment Act grants will be awarded on a regional basis by the council, which oversees Idaho’s work force development activities.
- Department of Commerce withdraws PR offer to NY firm
“inappropriate to hire an out-of-state vendor”
Utah Economic Development
- The Fives: South Dakota's rankings, the recession edition
South Dakotans find themselves once again in the popular game of "Where do we rank?"
Washington State Business
- Student research proves return on higher education investment in Utah By Wendy Leonard
"We want to convince politicians that the programs they're funding actually do work."
Wyoming Business
- Vancouver, Washington's nLight gets $10.7 million in venture capital financing
The company will use the new growth capital to drive continued product development of integrated laser modules and increase sales in its core industrial, defense and medical markets.
Education
- Wyoming Economic Developers Association (WEDA) Winter Training Conference, 2/10-11, Little America, Cheyenne, WY
Highlights of the WEDA training include the panel "Lessons Learned from Business Ready Community Grants," along with presentations from the Wyoming Business Council on their strategic plan.
Community
- A national initiative focused on retaining and graduating students at community colleges.
Community colleges must find a way to help more students develop the skills and credentials they need for the 21st-century global economy.
- Researchers Propose Plan for Improving Native American Student Achievement
“The voices of the people validated the direction we need to take to reduce, and then eliminate, the achievement gap,” said Michael Pavel, the associate professor of education who led the research team.
Connectivity & Communications
- 7 NEW community-friendly grant opportunities
"Cultivating Healthier Rural Communities Reduces Poverty"
Government Technology
- Health I.T., Rural Broadband, and Common Sense
Without question, healthcare practitioners and patients need electronic access to personal health records. The trends in social media suggest email between consumers, health care providers, and pharmacists can help keep costs down and can streamline effective communications.
- Google sets up online broadband testing lab
The site, Measurement Lab, addresses a need among academics who want to gather data on how Internet connections work in practice.
- Governments use Twitter for Emergency Alerts, Traffic Notices and More
"One of the things we're considering if we get into an emergency situation like that, we can update Twitter and our blog with our handheld BlackBerry, iPhone or whatever we have. It's a continuity of operations opportunity for us."
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