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| MATR Newsletter - Fri May 8, 2009 |
"Never neglect details. When everyone's mind is dulled or distracted, the leader must be doubly vigilant." -- Colin Powell
Hope to see you this afternoon: "MATR Roundtable - (Making Money Online With Jesse Lakes), 5/8, Missoula" http://matr.net/events ... =2751 --- and Monday: "City Club Missoula - Featuring Governor Brian Schweitzer, 5/11, Missoula" http://matr.net/events ... =2755 Have you heard about the Glacier Raft and Outdoor Center and booked your trip or instructional course on the rivers of one of the most beautiful places on earth? "Glacier Raft Company of West Glacier, Montana Offers New River Safety Education for Professionals, Community, and Local Youth " http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Glacier Raft and Outdoor Center
Idaho National Laboratory
- Glacier Raft Company of West Glacier, Montana Offers New River Safety Education for Professionals, Community, and Local Youth
“As the oldest raft company in Montana, our team has a lot of experience and we decided to use this knowledge to create a school to streamline training—not only for our guides—but also for the community,” said Motes-Conners. “While standardizing our own guides’ training is important, interest from community members purchasing their own rafts continues to increase and we wanted to develop education opportunities so people can better enjoy the river and have the skills to stay safe.”
Montana World Trade Center
- Secretary Chu Announces Funding for 71 University-Led Nuclear Research and Development Projects
Idaho's three public research institutions -- Boise State University, Idaho State University and University of Idaho -- will receive more than $6 million for various research proposals.
2009 Montana Legislature
- “Doing Business In China- Keys To Success In International Trade”, 5/28, Missoula
As part of World Trade Month the Montana World Trade Center is offering a seminar on “Doing Business in China- Keys to Success in International Trade”.
Highway 12 Ventures
- Montana Legislators End Session with Mixed Results for TBED (Technology Based Economic Development)
Newly funded initiatives within the department include $3.7 million over the biennium for workforce training grants through the New Worker Training program, $1.6 million for tribal economic development projects, $2 million for high-performance computing and $2.5 million in FY10 for biomedical research grants.
The Burton K. Wheeler Center
- In Extremis Leadership
Over the last three days, my partners and I had the rare and immense privilege to attend an intimate event on leadership at West Point, our nation’s oldest military academy.
Come Home Montana
- Last call for registration - “Montana and Canada: Reaching Across the 49th Parallel,” - 5/13-14, Great Falls, Montana
This is your unique opportunity to learn more about the relationship between Montana and the Provinces on our border. Come and help us talk about successes, identify areas of concern and bring new ideas and solutions to the table.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Montana Career Opportunity - Multiple Positions - Headwaters Economic Development Team
Headwaters RC & D Economic Development District is creating a new Economic Development Team to serve Southwest Montana.
- Rural medical staff recruitment a constant challenge in Montana
The case of Dr. Anna Earl is an example of a facility — Liberty County Hospital in Chester — getting lucky. She grew up in nearby Fort Benton and always intended to return to the area after medical school. True to the dream, she's now chief of staff at LCH.
- Easterner explores life around Chester, Montana
"Successful farmer and ranchers can't let stuff throw them because there's too much stuff out of their control all the time," she said. "Everyone I meet is absolutely interesting. I love the idea of someone coming up to me and saying 'you really should talk to this person.'"
Leadership Montana
- Small Businesses Will Inherit the Earth
This atomization of business is more than a reaction to the current economy. It’s a function of the nature of work today, and of the growing availability of technologies that will soon transform this approach to business-as-usual.
- The Creativity of Rural America
So why aren’t more rural regions looking to the creative economy as an engine for economic growth?
Montana Business
- The Leader of the Future: Ten skills to begin developing now
What will tomorrow’s successful leader look like?
Montana Economic Development
- Airports Contribute $1.56 billion to Montana's Economy
“While it is widely known that airports are vital to Montana’s transportation system and provide access to communities and resources across the state, the value has not been quantified,” said Jim Lynch, MDT director. “Airports provide residents and businesses a direct, efficient link to the national and global economy. Leisure travelers use airports to reach Montana’s national parks, ski resorts, hunting and fishing areas and to visit with family and friends.”
- Going great guns. Firearms firms expanding local manufacturing in Kalispell, Montana
Duplessis was lured to the Flathead by a core of skilled people he has known for several years who were looking for a business leader.
Regional Economic Development
- Conserving Montana's vast horizon
A new program invites innkeepers to make subtle pitches for small sums that will help pay landowners who sign conservation easements -- binding agreements that limit property development.
- Missoula and Great Falls Business Development Organizations Working Together to Get Loan Dollars to Small Businesses
“Montana needs creative ways to get financing to businesses right now, and this Great Falls-Missoula partnership is a good model.”
- The Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana
Its overall mission is to provide information that will help the industry make informed decisions about planning, promotion and management. Thus, the research conducted is designed to assist both private firms and public agencies who provide facilities and services to visitors.
- Dropouts and Poorly Prepared Students Have a Significant Negative Impact on the Montana Economy
Nearly 3,200 students did not graduate from Montana’s high schools in 2008; the lost lifetime earnings in Montana for that class of dropouts alone total nearly $830 million.
- "Last Best Place" to stay where it belongs
And so ends the battle over the Last Best Place, with the popular phrase ending up pretty much where it began - in the hands of all the people of Montana.
Business Plan Forums
- SSTI Accepting Applications for Excellence in TBED Awards
SSTI is looking for programs that have specific and measurable outcomes; serve as a model that can be replicated; demonstrate effective partnerships and leadership; and illustrate effective approaches and stand out among others in its field.
- New Report Shows Path to Economic Recovery for States
“Too many states were too eager to add programs and increase spending during the good times, but we now face very difficult choices,” said Indiana Senator Jim Buck, Chairman of ALEC’s Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force. “While we need to make tough choices to live within our means, we also need to remain focused on policies that foster economic development and job growth as the best solution to our budget woes.”
Careers
- Qualcomm's business-plan contest a capital idea
The QPrize is aimed at giving a financial jump-start to small companies, entrepreneurs and university students with good ideas.
Funding and Building your Business
- Experts agree: Building, tapping a network is crucial to finding a new job
Getting noticed is an increasingly complex challenge.
- Turning the tables - Students, professionals connect in 'reverse job fair'
Students set up booths presenting their strengths, interests, business cards, resumes and cover letters. Professionals in similar fields then interviewed and critiqued the students, a reversal of typical job fairs.
- Research: Entrepreneurs don't think like MBAs
As the economy experiences the most deep-seated changes in decades, maybe it's time to change our minds about what kinds of people are best-equipped to become business leaders.
Montana Education Excellence
- How to Get the Most Out of a Conference
- Value. Could you justify the ROI to your Mom (or your CFO)?
- Bad times let companies discover traits that compose good leaders
If you're the captain of your ship, whether you're a founder, CEO, vice president or manager, this is your moment to stand tall and lead.
- Starting up: Well-thought-out, well-designed logos can help your business succeed
Every business needs a professional image. Your company's logo is the most important part of its graphic identity, often the first chance to make an impression.
- The Zappos Way of Managing
How Tony Hsieh uses relentless innovation, stellar customer service, and a staff of believers to make Zappos.com an e-commerce juggernaut -- and one of the most blissed-out businesses in America
University TechTransfer
- University of Montana Students Learn the Challenges of Philanthropy Through Hands-On $10K Giving Program
With a generous grant from the Sunshine Lady Foundation, students learned about the importance and the practice of philanthropy by disbursing grants to Missoula-area nonprofits that serve needs related to youth, education or health.
Idaho Business
- "University Funds" targets tech transfer from campus to commercialization
they may have come along at just the right time to meet a need that research universities have to demonstrate that they are not just academic institutions but also important partners for their states, creating new businesses and jobs.
Oregon Economic Development
- Idaho universities celebrate record $16.5M biomed grant
The grant, the largest of its kind ever received by Idaho, will fund biomedical education and research through the IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence for the next five years.
- "Heavy Metal and Cashing In" Building the possibilities - Hundreds of area high school students experience construction trades at the College of Southern Idaho
"The goal is to get kids interested in the construction industry."
Utah Economic Development
- Portland area prepares to add another million people by 2030
Metro and the counties are defining the future by designating urban reserves -- areas where the urban growth boundary will be expanded and development allowed -- and rural reserves that will be set aside for farms, forests and natural areas.
Washington State Business
- The Utah Science Technology and Research initiative (USTAR) E-Connection: May
Keep an eye out for USTAR-related research happening at the University of Utah’s Brain Institute, Energy & Geoscience Institute, and the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute.
Education
- Washington Biotechnology & Biomedical Association (WBBA) and Sirti Partner to Grow Life Sciences Companies in Eastern Washington
There is a great deal of momentum that has helped to build a thriving life sciences sector in Washington State, contributing to economic vitality, educational excellence and better health for people everywhere.
- The Rise of Seattle’s High-Tech Cluster, As Told By Madrona’s Tom Alberg (Part 1)
In addition to sharing his thoughts on the future of newspapers and online media, Alberg spoke extensively about his career and how he has witnessed, and participated in, the rise of the technology industry in Seattle.
Government
- Project-based learning engages students, garners results
When asked by Ilene Kantrov, director of the Center for Educational Resources and Outreach at the Education Development Center, what they would tell an administrator who visited the classroom during their work on the project, one student piped up, "I'd tell them they should leave, because there's learning going on and they don't want to get in the way."
- White House seeks comments on education law
"To have a child taking a test that it is literally impossible for them to pass and having that humiliation, and holding schools accountable for that, that doesn't make sense." Education Secretary Arne Duncan
Montana Meth Project
- 10 Ways to Connect with Citizens
Focus on outcomes.
Other Economies
- Meth Project Launches in Colorado
Colorado currently ranks #8 in the country for Meth use and it is estimated the drug costs the state $1.4 billion annually, including more than $73,000 per dependent user.
Community
- California's residents don't feel so good
If states were graded on health status, California would flunk.
- Texas vs. California
"When comparing California with Texas, U-Haul says it all. To rent a 26-foot truck oneway from San Francisco to Austin, the charge is $3,236, and yet the one-way charge for that same truck from Austin to San Francisco is just $399. Clearly what is happening is that far more people want to move from San Francisco to Austin than vice versa, so U-Haul has to pay its own employees to drive the empty trucks back from Texas."
- Tax credit measure aims to entice angel investors
Colorado establishes a one-year pilot program to assess the impact of a 30 percent tax break for angel investors putting their money in startup companies.
Energy and Climate Change
- The Most Bicycle-Friendly Cities - Missoula gets a Silver Rating, Montana is #49
The League of American Bicyclists has released their Spring 2009 list of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the U.S. Davis, CA is one of only three cities given Platinum status, along with Portland, OR and Boulder, CO.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- USTAR Researcher Testifies Before US Senate, Urging Congress to Fund Accelerated R&D for Algae Biofuels
Comprehensive report released on using algae biofuels for carbon recycling
- Lack of money biggest block for biofuels
Engineers and entrepreneurs meeting in San Francisco this week for the 31st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals said the industry stands at a major turning point.
- Biofuels vs. Biomass Electricity
Findings show that turning biomass into electricity is more beneficial than turning it into transportation fuels.
- Is the Internet bad for the environment?
The Internet uses an estimated 152 billion kilowatt hours yearly
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Finally a mans Ringtone
Oooops....
GIS Technology
- Bendable Concrete Heals Itself -- Just Add Water
Its not quite as advanced as Terminator technology. But a new concrete that can heal its own wounds may soon bring futuristic protection to bridges and roads.
Government Technology
- Spooks invest in forest inventory firm
CIA's investment arm provides funding for forest imaging firm that promises to improve market for forestry credits
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- Civic Engagement: Your Next Technology 'Sweet Spot'?
A key priority for CXO and CIO collaboration should be to continue applying new technology to create deeper relationships between government and the public. The new focus should move beyond the one-way transactions of service delivery and toward the more complex two-way interactions of civic engagement.
Transportation
- Stage of Emergency Cultural Groups Ask What to Mount Next. The Answer, Increasingly: Losses
Even a small town like Missoula, Mont. (population 64,081), now boasts its own symphony orchestra, two ballet companies, a prize-winning repertory theater and an annual International Choral Festival.
- Ditching the car saves thousands, study says
"Just two little words will put money in your pocket starting now -- take transit."
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