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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Sep 22, 2009 |
(Insert the name of your state here) has only one economy. Strong cities needs strong towns, and vice versa. Rural areas provide markets for urban goods and services as well as many urban workers and leaders.... If rural and urban areas don't work together, they might not work at all.
"With expenses rising California college kids have another way to get great education - The University of Montana" http://matr.net/articl ... .html
Montana Matters - What you can do to help guide the future of Montana
Montana SBA
- Montana Matters to singers: Wildlife to benefit from CD, acoustic concert and more
"I think this campaign is trying to epitomize what Montana is all about around the world."
Idaho National Laboratory
- SBA to Ease Limits on Loans for Buyouts
The Small Business Administration, after enduring a backlash from lenders and business appraisers, plans Oct. 1 to modify a restriction it had placed on loans used to finance acquisitions of small companies.
TechRanch
- Energy corridor location key to economic development
"We will need a paradigm shift in energy to meet the challenges of the future," Aumeier said. "Using a hybrid energy system approach could combine a variety of energy sources in order to reap the advantages each has to offer."
Boomtown Institute
- TechRanch Client, Foundant Technologies, Celebrates its 100th Customer Milestone
Foundant Technologies is the leading provider of online grant management solutions, partnering with grantmakers to enable funders to focus on their core mission by operating more efficiently, facilitating strong, collaborative relationships between grantmakers and grant seekers, and creating intuitive, cost effective technology solutions.
MSU Leadership Institute
- Boomtown Institute - More on Rural Broadband Access
“Online course offerings for students in primary, secondary, post-secondary, and continuing education programs have improved educational opportunities, especially in small, isolated rural areas. And interaction among students, parents, teachers, and school administrators has been enhanced via online forums, which is especially significant given the importance of ongoing parental involvement in children’s education.”
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Two Time Pulitzer Prize-winner And Humanitarian, Nicholas Kristof, 10/12, Montana State University , Bozeman
Considered more than just a two time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times and credited with almost single-handedly bringing the Darfur genocide crisis to the world’s attention, Nicholas Kristof will speak at MSU on Monday, October 12 at 7:30 p.m. in MSU’s Strand Union Ballrooms.
- Harvard Leadership Expert-Sharon Daloz Parks, PhD, 10/8, Montana State University - Bozeman
“Parks' view is that leaders are formed gradually, over time and through deliberate effort - not merely born with special traits,” says Griffin Stevens, a MSU Leadership Institute staff member and one of the event organizers.
Montana Business
- Entrepreneurs: Good experience with company spurs own business in Montana
We think that being an entrepreneur is a dream job. Every job is what you make of it, and what you put into it and take from it…A job is not what it is, it is what you do.
Montana Economic Development
- Bitterroot companies recycle waste wood for energy
ABCO, which has offices in Washington and Idaho, has collected 1.1 million tons of wood waste used to generate electricity in facilities across the Northwest.
- Montana's child care system suffers from low wages, high demand
Child care is an enormous industry in Montana, employing more than 6,600 people — significantly more than trucking, real estate, logging or coal mining. Yet, according to child care experts, providers and employees, Montana's child care system has serious flaws.
- Cable Tech of Great Falls, Montana earns top Lockheed award
Cable Technology President Ed Buttrey said only two companies out of 1,500 Lockheed Martin suppliers won the award at a ceremony in Minneapolis for meeting stringent performance standards.
Regional Economic Development
- Congressional Delegation Speaks on Hardin Jail - Web sites offer hints about jail company - Job Fair for Jail Next Week
American Police Force said it intends to have prisoners in Hardin's Two River Detention Center by early next year. An attorney for the company, Maziar Mafi, said Friday that a jobs fair for the jail is planned next week.
- Development Council selects Montana Growth Through Agriculture projects ~ Next Application Deadline is December 31, 2009 ~
The Montana Agriculture Development Council has offered a total of $316,599 in grants and loans to nine Growth Through Agriculture projects for agricultural development, according to council Chair David Tyler.
- Green energy development in Montana slow - Small wind projects get better price in Idaho
"It all comes down to what the rates are set at, by the PSC," says Ted Sorenson, who has developed small hydroelectric projects in Idaho and Montana. "It's price-driven. The rates have been too low in Montana to have any significant development." Potential developers also are frustrated by having to wait months or years for the PSC to resolve price-related issues on these small projects, and say they're now looking to other states for opportunities.
- The Montana Legacy Project - Environmental groups log former Plum Creek lands for sake of preservation, access
"I can understand why people who treasure a place would be upset to see it logged," said Chris Bryant, outreach director for The Nature Conservancy. "But it's not a question of what Elk Rock will look like in 10 years. It's not the first time it's been logged. We should be asking: What is the potential for the landscape in 20, 30, even 50 years? This is not a project for short-term thinkers."
- The Big Sky Economic Development Authority (EDA) and Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Plan to Court Alternative Energy Firms
“Billings is a good hub for that sort of thing, as a headquarters for the companies, themselves, and as a location for the support businesses for warehouses and supplies.” Both kinds of businesses will be targeted as prospects for recruitment efforts.
Careers
- Tax-Friendly Places for Retirement
Montana is one of five states that do not impose a sales tax--good news for retirees in Big Sky Country.
- Filmmaking incentives losing glamour in cash-strapped states
More than 40 states offer tax breaks for movie and TV production, drawing business away from Southern California. But in the face of budget crises, several states are having second thoughts.
- Creating Communities To Grow Old In
The nation's sprawling suburbs may have been a good place to grow up, but they're a tough place to grow old. Here's how towns are beginning to 'retrofit' their neighborhoods—and what your community might look like in the future.
Funding and Building your Business
- How to Decide if Entrepreneurship is Right for You
Here are five questions to ask before you start your own business:
Incubators and R&D
- Enology 101: Three Things Every Startup Should Learn from Seattle’s Zino Society
1. Don’t be afraid to change course.
- Redbeacon Wins Top Prize for Best Startup of 2009 At TechCrunch50
Redbeacon (http://www.redbeacon.com), an innovative new product that will enable users to find local service providers, receive price quotes for jobs, and schedule service appointments, won the grand prize at the prestigious TechCrunch50 Conference this week.
- Redesigned Website Educates Employers/Employees on Discrimination in Montana
On the new site, employers can go directly to the Employer section and learn about Montana's discrimination laws; how to respond to a complaint; as well as several other issues that they may face as an employer.
- Considering venture capital: Preliminary questions for entrepreneurs
The interesting questions are why so few entrepreneurs who seek venture capital are successful, and why so many of those who do get venture capital end up regretting it.
- Finding a business model competitors can't copy
Ask yourself these questions to see how you can beat your competition by provide some services at reduced costs without hurting client relationships.
- Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking
Should Alice be concerned?
Montana Education Excellence
- University of Washington researchers to study impacts of climate change on health in the Pacific Northwest
Scientists will evaluate the impact of climate change on human health in the Pacific Northwest, work with local communities to study health risks that will likely occur in the next 35 years and uncover how communities might mitigate those risks.
Idaho Business
- With expenses rising California college kids have another way to get great education - The University of Montana
"Going to a school at the University of Montana gave me a chance to broaden my horizons, meeting people with different backgrounds, experiences and an interesting political and social environment — as well as just experience the natural beauty that's wildly rampant in the state," said Feuerbach, a Scotts Valley High School graduate.
- Public invited to meet Montana State University president candidates
Each will spend two days on the Bozeman campus meeting with faculty, deans, students, staff and representatives from MSU’s sister campuses in Billings, Havre and Great Falls. The public is invited to meet the candidates on these dates:
- Recruiting on the rez: University of Montana appeals directly to American Indian students
UM President George Dennison - with nine administrators, faculty and staff in tow - completed a statewide tour of Montana's Indian reservations with trips last week to Rocky Boy's and Fort Belknap. It took 14 months to visit all seven reservations, promoting UM's new $10 million Native American Center.
- Expanding horizons: Mandarin Chinese at Montana Tech draws diverse class
"Certainly they use and will be using engineering services," Gerbrandt said of the world's most populous country. "It was important for our students to get at least some comfort level of the language over there." Tony Ost, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering, is one of those students. He said some basic Mandarin could help him down the road if he does work in China.
- University of Montana law school dedicates new $14.8 million 'beauty' of a building
The school was recently ranked No. 6 in the National Jurist's "best-value law schools."
- University of Montana Forum Newsletter
Welcome to ForUM, the e-newsletter for University of Montana staff, faculty and administrators. ForUM is published weekly during the academic year except during scheduled academic breaks.
Oregon Economic Development
- Idaho inventor,Dr. Forrest Bird, honored with nation’s highest science and tech award
Bird earned the distinction because of his groundbreaking work in respiratory and cardiopulmonary care.
- German solar company looks at Nampa, Idaho for new plant
Nampa is one of two finalists being considered for the solar manufacturing plant, said Boise Valley Economic Partnership Executive Director Paul Hiller. The company is looking at the 200,000-square-foot building that used to house MPC Computers for a plant that could grow employment up to 1,200.
- Missing pieces: After the loss of Dell and others, Twin Falls tries to put its economic development picture back together
"Twin Falls has become a little more careful about who we were inviting in or who we're looking at," he said. "Years ago, we just looked at anyone who wanted to relocate and say, 'Great, let's go.'"
Wyoming Business
- Electric car help will come from Oregon - EnerG2
“It’s the rage in terms of the next generation of electric transportation,” said Chris Warner, Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s transportation adviser. “The way I look at it is the first cell phones were the size of bricks. As consumers became used to them, they got smaller and smaller.”
Education
- Wyoming carbon-capture plant seeks funds - Refitted to Bury Emissions, Plant Draws Attention
A Wyoming coal plant owner and two partners plan to build the nation's first commercial-scale carbon capture and sequestration coal-fired power plant in Campbell County.
- Wyoming crafts plan for carbon sequestration
"The financial community is wanting the long-term liability addressed."
- Laramie business installs new type of turbine
Entrepreneurs Jeny and Mike Stoesz are now using the wind in downtown Laramie to support their mission of offering "natural, sustainable, energy-efficient, organic and recycled products," with an emphasis on Wyoming producers.
Other Economies
- A lesson from ‘The Apprentice’ At Babson College, young entrepreneurs learn to compete and give back
In the “The Ultimate Entrepreneurial Challenge’’ class, 50 students are divided into five-person teams and they earn an “A’’ by competing against one another in 13 business challenges.
- Education secretary learns from Wyoming
Duncan told educators that he would prefer assessing growth to absolute assessment under No Child Left Behind. He said having the best third-grade test scores loses meaning when there's a high high school dropout rate.
- www.sciencenewsforkids.org
The site has articles on topics from agriculture to weather that make science accessible to kids, with interactive games and puzzles.
- University Of Texas Moving Into Second Life
The University of Texas launched a year-long, state-wide initiative to use Second Life in the curriculum for all 16 of its campuses, experimenting with using the platform as a means of providing innovative, low-cost undergraduate instruction involving students, faculty, researchers and administrators.
- Skills Set Drafted For Students Nationwide
Experts convened by the nation's governors and state schools chiefs on Monday proposed a set of math and English skills students should master before high school graduation, the first step toward what advocates hope will become common standards driving instruction in classrooms from coast to coast.
Community
- Illinois not such fertile ground for start-ups
"It's a terrible problem. It's a very hard state to be in," he said. "We have no public-private partnerships. We have no incentives to move people here. We have no assistance for entrepreneurs. It's easier to do the Olympics. ... You can't get a single dollar for the start-up."
Connectivity & Communications
- Search for volunteer opportunities on Serve.gov
The website, launched in June by the Corporation for National and Community Service, lists around 250,000 volunteer opportunities, which are searchable by one’s interest and location.
- Losing Touch With the Changing Definition of "Community"
“Community is one of the most powerful words in the language, and perhaps because of this it is frequently misused. A profoundly emotive word, it is also a coercive one, and a key political buzzword in modern times. That community is being eroded in modern Britain is a matter of cross-party consensus, and it is also widely agreed that one of the state’s roles is to devise means of counteracting the decline of communities.”
- Great Falls, Montana resident Walter Breuning celebrates 113th birthday
A party for Walter Breuning is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Monday, September 21 at the Rainbow Retirement Community in Great Falls. Gov. Brian Schweitzer is among those expected to attend.
Energy and Climate Change
- Text-to-Speech Technology Reaches an Inflection Point
Every now and then, we hit an inflection point where things change in a drastic fashion.
- FCC Position May Spell the End of Unlimited Internet
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski’s unsurprising affirmation of support for network neutrality is a victory for the high-minded principle of open, unfettered internet access. Too bad it means the days of all-you-can-eat, flat-rate internet access are probably over.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Saskatchewan ahead of world in carbon-capture technology says United States Sen. Lindsey Graham
Gov. Schweitzer is working with Wall on a joint $270-million carbon capture and storage (CCS) proposal that would capture carbon from one of SaskPower’s southern coal-fired power plants, and see it pumped into Montana and stored underground.
- Birth control could help combat climate change
More than 200 million women worldwide want contraceptives, but don't have access to them, according to an editorial published in the British medical journal, Lancet. That results in 76 million unintended pregnancies every year.
- 10 Ideas Changing the World Right Now - Ecological Intelligence
"We can know the causes of what we're doing, and we can know the impact of what we're doing," says Goleman, who wrote the 1995 best seller Emotional Intelligence. "It's going to have a radical impact on the way we do business."
- Free widgets for your PC can save energy
The energy widget is the latest of several ideas from HP, Google, Microsoft and others for cutting down on unnecessary power consumption by the nation's PC users.
Non-Profit News
- SF Mayor Newsom and wife welcome baby girl - Montana Tessa Newsom
Daughter named after best state in the union
- The Smart List: 12 Shocking Ideas That Could Change the World
Warning: The ideas expressed here may be dangerous. But this is no time to play it safe.
Transportation
- Parents as Teachers develops young minds - Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies, The Montana Coalition
The goal of Parents as Teachers is to connect home educators with families for the time from prenatal care through a child entering kindergarten.
VIRUS ALERTS
- Legislation for a 21st Century Transportation System Doesn't Come Easy
Transportation officials are talking more and more about drafting a brand new type of transportation bill, one that diverges from the patterns and old thinking of the past. But that's easier said than done.
- Anti-virus software doesn't work half the time
Cyveillance has issued a new report showing anti-virus programs fail more often than they succeed in protecting you from bad things on the Internet.
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