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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Apr 14, 2009 |
"That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong." -- William J. H. Boetcker
Do you know someone who'd like to contribute to a better Montana economy at a great institution? "Montana Career Opportunity - Director-Technology Transfer - University of Montana" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- Very interesting discussion at City Club Missoula yesterday "New Glacier superintendent wants more wilderness - Diverse group pushes for more Montana wilderness" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- (Plan on making your reservations early for the May 11 luncheon where Governor Brian Schweitzer will give a wrap up of the 2009 legislative session 406-541-CITY http://www.cityclubmis ... a.org)
Montana World Trade Center
TechRanch
- Patent And Copyright Legal Advice For Stimulus Price- FREE!, 5/22, Missoula
As part of International Trade Week, and MWTC’s International Business Seminar Series, Toni Tease, a patent attorney, and the Montana World Trade Center have partnered to offer one on one consultations on intellectual property rights at no cost.
2009 Montana Legislature
- Why Are You Writing a Business Plan?
If you are a start up, especially in the tech fields, I see the act of writing a business plan as more detrimental than helpful and here's why;
Highway 12 Ventures
- Montana Governor, universities remain at odds
“It's inexplicable the actions of the two major universities over the last two weeks,” Schweitzer said in a telephone interview. “I'm their biggest advocate and they are their biggest opponent to getting more money.”
- Changes to rules on green energy draw ire
The bill says if NorthWestern buys power from certain small producers, it can apply that power toward the renewable-power quotas without buying renewable-energy credits from the producers. Under current law, green power can't count toward the quota unless the utility also buys the credits.
- Higher education funding paradox in Montana
The people who have been left out of the conversation and debate are the students, faculty and staff who face the actual substance of whatever slips out of the bureaucratic maze of budgeting and funding.
City Club Missoula
- The Intermountain West: Part I (with apolgies to Eddie Vedder)
People often ask me what I mean when I describe that our firm’s geographical investment focus is the area known as the “Intermountain West”.
Montana Community Finance Corporation
- City Club Missoula - New Glacier superintendent wants more wilderness - Diverse group pushes for more Montana wilderness
“Times have changed,” said Edwin Fields, a Flathead Valley building contractor. “All of us agree that protecting Montana’s last wild places as wilderness is good for business in the state, and a priceless legacy for our children. After 26 years, now is the time to act.”
Come Home Montana
- April Interest Rate on SBA 504 Loans Declines to Record Low - 5.25%
Linda Kindrick, Executive Director, Montana Community Finance Corporation (MCFC), Helena, further commented, “This program is an excellent tool for Montana’s small businesses to help them take advantage of the softening real estate market. Now is also the time to get new projects approved as the stimulus bill will cover fees normally paid by the eligible small business owner, but the allocation of dollars is limited.”
Montana Business
- Montana Career Opportunity - Director-Technology Transfer - University of Montana
Primary responsibilities are to (1) identify and protect intellectual property; (2) encourage and facilitate invention disclosure reporting, (3) market, commercialize and audit UM technology, and (4) foster local, state, and regional economic development.
Montana Economic Development
- Eating elk? Try the Shiraz - International Kiosks Solutions Inc.
"For the wine person, it's like coming to the candy store."
- Sweetgrass Rods, hand-crafted in Twin Bridges, Montana, keeps bamboo craft alive
Sweetgrass is turning free trade on its head by bringing the raw material, bamboo, from China and adding value to it here in the United States. Kustich said they're proud to be putting up a new building on Main Street USA that will create jobs for years to come while preserving a tradition long after he and Bracket retire.
- Web Presence Index News from Muzeview, LLC
We are a research and consulting firm, helping our clients grow by converting market and competitive intelligence into decisions and actions.
- The View From Main Street Missoula, Montana - It’s not as bad out there as we feared.
I'm generally no Pollyanna when it comes to business news, and I don't mean to downplay the crisis or suggest that every place is holding up as well as Western Montana. But my day-to-day business dealings suggest, at the very least, that loose talk about a new Great Depression is premature indeed.
Funding and Building your Business
- Touting the benefits of biofuel in Montana
"Heaven knows, we need economic development in rural areas like where I live," said Shirley Ball, executive director of Ethanol Producers and Consumers, which is based in Nashua. "It's good for our nation. We can take raw materials and turn it into energy that we now import from countries that don't like us."
- Missoula Area Economic Development Corporation Newsletter - 4/13/2009
Beyond the Current Economic Slowdown... Positioning Missoula for Future Economic Success
Montana Education Excellence
- Volunteering offers broad benefits
Organizations should encourage, value and support extracurricular volunteer efforts, not just because it is the right thing to do but because these volunteer activities will increase employee engagement, underscore the employer brand, support recruitment and retention initiatives, and develop valuable workplace skills that ultimately will help the employer succeed.
- One way to fix the conference call
Everyone dreads conference calls, but combining online chat rooms with conference calling encourages participants to be more involved in a meeting.
- YouNoodle helps startups to connect
The goal is to take what is still a secretive process - thinking of an idea, checking to see who's doing it, shopping it to investors - and open it up so that people and funding can get connected, regardless of where they're located.
- Want VC Funding? Throw Out Your Business Plan
It sounds counterintuitive, but you're better off investing in your idea, building your social network, and attracting potential customers than spending hours refining how a plan looks on paper.
- Why PR Is the Prescription
The right story told at the right time can bring valuable attention to your business, even during a downturn
- How To Avoid Making A Bad Pitch
“If there’s an elephant in the room, we should all acknowledge it.”
- How to Conquer Your Business Startup Fears with Mind Mapping
We question our business skills, product performance, and financial competency. The dreaded, “what if I can’t do it?” question creeps into our daily thoughts. We start reasoning that it might be better to “just wait another year.”
Regional Business
- Center for the Rocky Mountain West , The University of Montana - Spring Newsletter 2009
Keeping you updated on the activities of the Center along with timely features of history, regional trends and headlines of the Rocky Mountain West.
- Montana Superintendent Denise Juneau announces American Indian Youth Leadership Training to be held on April 16.
"Leadership training empowers students, enriches their education and provides skills they can use in their daily lives," said Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau.
University Business Plan Competitions
- What recession?
"As long as everybody can make a fair living and put food on the table, it's good," Harder, 43, said. "The economy is pretty good if you just don't read the newspaper or watch the news."
Idaho Business
- Students win money with big business plans
Many of the student participants will graduate and instantly move into managing their new or growing companies, said Nile Hatch, faculty advisor for the Business Plan Competition.
Oregon Business
- Wine industry contributed $73 million to Idaho economy in 2008
Idaho had 38 wineries last year, up from 11 in 2002.
Utah Business
- Startup: Vital signs of a young regional company
Think of the market as iTunes for digital maps.
Washington State Business
- Utah Finds Surprising Benefits In 4-Day Workweek
Last summer, amid surging gas prices, Utah became the first state in the nation to mandate a four-day workweek for state employees.
Education
- Tacoma, WA web design company, Sitecrafting, does it right
Brian Forth is being recognized this month as the Small Business Leader of the Year by the University of Washington Tacoma Milgard School of Business.
Other Economies
- Alternative programs make connections with students that keep them coming back
The principal’s office at Havermale High School is more like a lounge, with a open door and rare moments of solitude.
- Yahoo Partners With Universities On Cloud Computing
The Internet portal is teaming up with academia to promote cloud-based research.
- Montana Governor Schweitzer hopes to freeze tuition - University of Washington is getting a big demotion - No cuts in Colorado
Scarcely any state, even those with worse economies, is punishing higher education funding more than the Washington Legislature is about to do. So long, first tier!
Connectivity & Communications
- States Slashing Social Programs for Vulnerable
A large majority of states are slicing into their social safety nets — often crippling preventive efforts that officials say would save money over time.
- More States Look to Raise Taxes
California and New York lawmakers already have agreed on multibillion-dollar tax increases that went into effect earlier this year.
Energy and Climate Change
- Inventors' device blocks cell use around driver
"I witness it every day on the road, and I just thought, 'There has to be a way that you can prevent this electronically.'
Government Technology
- O Interview: How Daniel Goleman Is Changing Our Ideas About Living Green
Daniel Goleman wants to start a revolution to save the Earth. The unlikely weapon? Your brain.
- InformationWeek Government IT Site Launches
InformationWeek Government is timed to serve the government IT professionals tasked with that responsibility and to analyze the IT products, services, policies, and vendor strategies aimed at the government sector.
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