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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Aug 25, 2009 |
"Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness. And they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy... or they become legend." Jim Harrison
Thanks and congratulations to Sen. Tester for advancing the cause of Montana businesses "Two Montana firms, CTA Architects Engineers and Clinton Contract Services win big federal stimulus contracts for border ports" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- Have you made your plans to attend the MEDA conference? "Montana Economic Developers Association Fall Conference, 9/14-15, Libby, Montana" http://matr.net/events ... =2877 --- Are you ready to "Ignite" your passion? "Ignite Missoula- Are You Ready For 5 Minutes In The Spotlight?, 9/2, Missoula, Montana" http://matr.net/events ... =2868
Glacier Raft and Outdoor Center
Idaho National Laboratory
- Late summer discounts at the Glacier Outdoor Center
Aire rafts, Liquid logic kayaks and Esquif canoes as well as an array of paddling gear from Northwest River, Stohlquist, Kokatat and Sawyer are all on SALE!
PrintingForLess
- Idaho National Laboratory receives national recognition for Small Business Program
“Dana is recognized as a national leader in small business development by the Department of Energy,” said Maria Mitchell, Small Business Program manager at DOE-Idaho. “Her efforts to maximize small business opportunities at the laboratory assist in the development and stabilization of our local small business community.”
TechRanch
- Big Foot Sighting by PrintingForLess.com Team in Chicago
“We were setting up our booth for wholesale print brokers, and it was very quiet,” says Jessica Cooper, PFL Marketing Manager. “Out of nowhere, a huge, ape-like creature walked up to us, grabbed a handful of brochures and disappeared. It was terrifying.”
Come Home Montana
- The Valley of Death Funding Gap
We hear a lot of rhetoric from our elected officials that small business is a key economic driver of the Nation's economy. It's unfortunate that this recognition does not turn into action.
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- Harlowton, Montana diversifies to survive
"Our economy hasn't been that great, not since the railroad pulled out," said Peccia. "But this is a good community. We have a hospital and good schools. I've never had a reason to move."
- Montana Career Opportunity - Software Developer - Martin group
Martin Group has an immediate opening for a Software Developer.
Leadership Montana
- Giving Rural America a Competitive Edge
Corporate America has rediscovered its backyard too.
Montana Business
- Tawnee Boham is Montana's sole student at National Youth Leadership Conference
Boham, a soon-to-be senior at C.M. Russell High School was the only student from Montana who attended the National Youth Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. at the end of July.
Montana Economic Development
- Rivertop Renewables of Missoula, Montana Website Launched
Applying proven science to renewable resources, Rivertop Renewables is creating an abundant and economical supply of green chemicals and bioproducts. Rivertop products are biodegradable and built from renewable plant sugars.
- Matchmakers link veteran farmers, wannabes
Farm matchmaking is an increasingly popular idea across the country as a growing number of states try to pump fresh blood into graying fields.
- Montana's Tipu’s Tiger Chai Tea hitting the big time
Missoula can no longer boast about having the best and most unique tea in the country because Tipu's Tiger Chai Tea is on its way to becoming a global sensation.
- Libby, Montana firm, Stinger Welding Inc., hires core group of workers. 200 is the goal
"Lincoln County has the highest unemployment rate in Montana and Stinger Welding will bring 200 jobs to the area."
- Two Montana firms, CTA Architects Engineers and Clinton Contract Services win big federal stimulus contracts for border ports
"I've always said if Montana companies compete on their merits, they'll win," Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said Monday.
- Goomzee Simplifies Photo Management for Realtors; Introduces Drag & Drop
Sales professionals realize that photos are essential when marketing any product or service today, and real estate marketing is no exception.
Regional Economic Development
- North Central Montana Launch and Appreciation Day
North Central Montana Transit begins service August 24, Monday
- Missoula should consider Swiss example for economic development
The longer that Missoula waits to take bold steps to bolster its local economy, the greater the loss to this "brain drain."
Careers
- States Turn to Colleges to Help Reinvent Economies and Retrain Workers
But from the midst of decay also came urgent calls for renewal. And community colleges emerged as central players in policy makers' plans for remaking state economies in the region and retraining their work forces.
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- University Of Montana Job Fair, 9/3, Missoula
It is open to any business, organization or department that needs college students for part-time jobs, internships or volunteer opportunities. Employers with work-study openings also are invited to participate.
Funding and Building your Business
- Instituting a New Way to Fund Innovation
Roth's ideas should be of particular interest those of you who have followed our coverage of the funding crisis. In addition to chronicling the broken venture capital model, we have written about the resurgence of angel investors, as well as alternative funding models.
Incubators and R&D
- Six Startup CEOs On Their Company Culture, Boiled Down to One Word
A startup’s culture is what sets it apart from its peers. It is the essence of the operation. It directly affects the company’s strategy, hiring practices, and the personality of its products.
- Five Unsung Heroes of the Seattle Tech Scene
You don’t see these companies mentioned in the media very much. They generally aren’t built on large venture funding rounds, and they tend to be not very flashy. That’s why I call them unsung heroes.
- Top 10 Ideas for Restarting an IP Program
The big question here is how will patents pay for themselves?
- Interpreting Turndown Lines
Whether those rejections come from potential customers or investors, the corollaries are many.
- How to Create a Leadership Development Strategy
Although every organization will have it's own nuances, the following general framework has always served me well.
- Corporate marketers atwitter over Twitter
What corporate marketers are discovering is that many of the strategies they have used for decades don't apply in the new social realm.
- The Funded Publishes Ideal First Round Term Sheet
“Chris laid out the ideal set of first round terms and I agree with them. What’s interesting is that Chris is a serial entrepreneur and I am a VC. And yet we agree on what the term sheet should say. That’s progress.”
- An Angel Investor Group Move That Makes Me Vomit
I think it is grotesque that an organized angel investor group would charge an entrepreneur to present to their members.
- Six Ways to Speed Up SBA Loan Approval
Attention small-business owners: Time is running out on an opportunity to access fee-free business loans that are guaranteed up to 90%.
- Tapping Talent Through Internship Programs
Small-business owners are discovering an upside to the economic downturn: a deeper pool of talent to tap through internship programs.
Montana Education Excellence
- The University of Montana’s Native American Research Laboratory to Research Biofuels
“This is an exciting time in Native science education and modern Native science,” Benn said. “I am amazed and elated at how NARL is able to attract some of the best Native science students in the country and pursue some of the most cutting-edge research being done in the nation. There is a very rich but not well-known history of scientific achievement in pre-European America. I believe that this project will change the level of awareness of Native contributions to science.”
University TechTransfer
- Hefty salaries - Montana Tech degrees are top wage earners
"Students are following the market," he said. "They're looking for the programs that provide the best and most lucrative job opportunities." The offers at Tech include the highest starting salary, petroleum engineering. Tech's own survey of its graduates found that on average they earn just shy of the national average at $82,538 per year.
- Montana's Carroll College preparing for the next 100
It is a remarkable milestone and one that school president Thomas Trebon wants to savor. After all, the past 20 months have been hectic, marked by endless celebrations and a tireless effort to raise $30 million.
- Sidney, Montana teachers take part in NASA Airborne Research Experience for Education
This airborne research campaign was designed so that while the students conduct research and present their findings, teachers write curriculum materials based on their experiments that will eventually become available as NASA materials to teachers and students.
- Billings, Montana Catholic schools put $200K into labs, visual systems
Started in 2004, its goal was to provide the Catholic school system with a plan for keeping up-to-date with technological advances in the classroom.
- Student Assistance Foundation awards $1.2 million in grants to Montana students
The Student Assistance Foundation will distribute $1.2 million in Acce$ Grant funds to help students pay for schooling at 21 Montana postsecondary institutions during the 2009-10 school year.
Washington State Business
- How to create more Midwest university start-ups: looking to Utah for an example
Since the restructuring in 2005, the University of Utah has averaged 20 start-ups per year.
Wyoming Business
- Growing Spokane lab joins cancer fight - Signature Genomic
If successful, the test developed at the company’s north Spokane lab will likely change how doctors diagnose cancer.
Education
- University of Wyoming advertises nationally
"Adventurous Minds Wanted."
Government
- Is America scientifically illiterate?
"Science is more essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, our environment, and our quality of life than it has ever been before," said President Obama, in April at the National Academy of Sciences.
- How To Go To MIT For Free
MIT now gives away its curriculum to anyone smart enough to learn it. It has posted its curriculum on-line for free. These days, this means a staggering 1900 courses. This number will grow.
Montana Meth Project
- Tech's new love: the governor's seat
"Silicon Valley 1.0 was all about changing the world with technology first and with good works second," he says. "And in Silicon Valley 2.0, the two were in equal balance. And now it's Silicon Valley 3.0: 'We can take the skills of Silicon Valley and apply them to the larger social, political and economic problems.' "
Other Economies
- Catalytic Philanthropy - The Montana Meth Project
Thomas Siebel does philanthropy differently from other donors. Rather than writing a check to a local nonprofit, Siebel took the time to find out why people become addicted to meth.
Community
- California strikes back at Nevada ads wooing Golden State businesses
The Golden State won't let its businesses go easily, especially not to Nevada, if one California lawmaker has his say.
Connectivity & Communications
- Denver’s Revamped Zoning Code Could Set Precedent
“I think it will be a model for the rest of the nation.”
Energy and Climate Change
- Internet speeds vary across USA, leaving a 'digital divide'
CWA says results — both domestically and internationally — underscore what the Obama administration has been saying for months, that the USA needs a cohesive broadband policy.
- Facebook pages to automatically publish to Twitter
Administrators will decide which info to share from a Page including status updates, photos, notes and events.
Government Technology
- Water pollution starts at home
Previous estimates may have underestimated water pollution from homes by up to 50%, the study says.
- In wind-farm debate, concerns mount over leasing of private property
"My goal is to stay in agriculture, be able to pass on our generations of history," Grant said. "This gives us that opportunity."
- 350.org - International Day Of Climate Action, 10/24, Globally
This is an invitation to help build a movement— to take one day and use it to stop the climate crisis.
- Fueling speculation - Joule Biotechnologies Inc.
Researchers at Cambridge firm are tight-lipped about their secret ingredient for turning sunlight into liquid energy
- Fuels for Schools Grapples with Funding Difficulties - Program has installed 10 biomass boilers in Montana
“If we’re going to keep the program going beyond two years from now, we’re going to certainly need to find some more support,”
- Montana singers provide "hold" music for state government
"Now, when I get put on hold - and absolutely, I get put on hold - I whistle," Governor Schweitzer said. "I whistle along."
- Vice President Biden Announces Availability of Nearly $1.2 Billion in Grants to Help Hospitals and Doctors Use Electronic Health Records
“With these programs, we begin the process of creating a national, private and secure electronic health information system. The grants are designed to help doctors and hospitals acquire electronic health records and use them in meaningful ways to improve the health of patients and reduce waste and inefficiency.”
- New HIPAA breach notification regulations require immediate attention
Once published, covered entities and business associates will, as a practical matter, only have 30 days to comply with the new rules—a very short time and one which will force them to work very diligently to comply with the new rules.
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