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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Oct 18, 2005 |
"The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake." -- Alan Greenspan
Any state should take advantage of monitoring the economic development efforts of other states. Here's an excellent example of a old economy state that's addressing the challenge of the new economy. "Michigan: Roadmap to the future - The Millenium Project" http://www.matr.net/article-16467.html
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
Education
- Hot Shot Business Teaching Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs OnLine
A Kauffman Foundation study that found that 41 percent of kids ages 9 to 12 would like to start their own business, but don’t know how.
Montana Business
- Top-notch laboratories in works for University of Montana-Helena College of Technology. Part of a $7.5 million campus expansion and renovation
UM-Helena Dean Daniel Bingham said staff performs “miracles” with what they have now. But he wants to have the best science teaching lab in the state.
- The Value of Indian Education in Montana
Like CMR, public schools in Great Falls that heeded the mandate — well before the state ever funded it — see minority students thrive. They see something else, too: Racial tensions dissipate.
- Gazette opinion: Mentoring to prevent dropping out
"I get goose bumps when I walk down the hall and see kids working with other kids," he says.
Montana Economic Development
- Timeless Seeds flourishing in Conrad, MT
"When we started this business, organic food was not even on the radar screen of most people,"
- Executive Mailing Services of Bozeman, Montana delivers mail by millions
"If Dean and Executive Services did not exist, somebody would have to invent them."
- Biofuels expansion plan drives the Sustainable Systems, LLC close with Sheridan Electric Cooperative for the purchase of Montola Growers Oilseed Plant
- Public power group assures jobs will stay in Butte
“There’s never been any discussion from the very beginning of relocating one person from Butte to another city in Montana. We don’t want to get into the real estate game.”
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- Big Sandy, Montana : Ready for renovation
The town's Chamber of Commerce recently signed on with the Montana State University Community Design Center to plan its makeover.
- The Montana Aerospace Development Association Receives Grant to Continue Promoting Economic Development in Aerospace Technology
“It’s basically pulling together our collective strengths and making Montana a much bigger player in the national and world markets.”
- The Great Falls Development Authority poised to announce another deal - Aviation related?
If the deal gels as hoped, it would come a little more than a month after Cable Technology Inc. announced plans to bring electronic assembly jobs to Great Falls.
- Could your Company Benefit from Increased Trade with China? Tom Swenson of Montana Business Capital will be Traveling in China in October to explore Chinese business relationships
In a trip sponsored by the Chinese government, Tom will have the opportunity to meet with a wide range of potential clients who are interested in building new avenues for products and services with Montana companies.
- Where the techies are :You'd never guess but Missoula, Gallatin and Yellowstone Counties in Montana make the list.
The analysis "breaks the mold that people have been put in," Sneor says. "You can't just write off the smaller markets."
- South African Company Looks at Coal Plant in Montana
Sasol is considering building two coal conversion plants in the United States, with Illinois and Wyoming also pitching for the facilities, Rehberg said. Sasol is the world leader in coaltoliquids, Fischer-Tropsch technology, which allows liquid fuels and chemicals to be produced from coal and petroleum coke, he said.
- Montana group looks north to Alberta, Canada for trade opportunities
"We see, from our perspective in healthcare and information technology, a lot of the same needs that we are working on here in Montana." Jacobson said that currently, Montana's exports to Alberta total some $200 million annually, while the amount flowing from the province to the state is 10 times larger.
Funding and Building your Business
- Linking Startups to VCs - Go Big Network
Business and friendship shouldn’t mix, say the old wives. But business and friend-of-friendships? That magic combo made Silicon Valley what it is today.
Regional Economic Development
- Are CEOs naive about innovation?
When it comes to innovation and creativity, who's clueless here? It looks like many CEOs are naive when it comes to operationalizing innovation in their own companies.
- Intellections
- Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2005
The oldies continue to be goodies -- or rather, baddies -- in the list of design stupidities that irked users the most in 2005.
- Develop leaders at all levels
"It's absolutely critical to develop the senior leadership team," said Donald H. Ruse, partner and senior vice president of New York-based Sibson Consulting, a global human resources consulting division of The Segal Co. "But many companies know they also need to take a look at developing leaders from the bottom up."
- Negative News Search Seeks Shady Connections
LexisNexis is helping its customers sift through news stories with negative content to find out whether potential partners, vendors or customers should be investigated further.
- How Creative is Your Company? A quiz
Creative companies are a joy to work for. They also tend to be top performers, year in and year out — because they understand the economic value of creativity. They work hard to cultivate it. Here's a quick quiz to gauge where your firm stands.
- 10 Networking Tips To Give Sales a Lift
Shy people can be excellent networkers -- because networking is about being genuine and sincerely interested in others.
- Startups that Work: Surprising Research on What Makes or Breaks a New Company
Value, unsurprisingly, turned out to be one of the main drivers of success.
- North Face founder shares insights - "Never trust your banker. Write down your goals. Arrogance is your biggest risk."
"There was a study done and it showed that 93 percent of all the CEOs on listed companies on any of the exchanges write their goals,"
Utah Economic Development
- Turning on the Tap: Is Water the Next Oil?
Water, not petroleum, may emerge as this century's most essential—and contested—product. Here's how new, private enterprises are exploring the complexities of water delivery and treatment globally.
Idaho Business
- Utah urged to boost filmmaking incentives - Skimpy fund costing state millions, officials tell panel
Von der Esch said for every $1 incentive given to a film production, the state captures $6 back in taxes, yet the limited dollars prevented the film commission from going after bigger productions.
Washington State Business
- Stimson Lumber Co. to close its Atlas Mill in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Company says demand shift away from wood required 120 layoffs
- Cheese company will build $27 million plant in Elmore County, Idaho - will employ 250 workers
"We now have three legs to our economy — the Air Force base, agriculture and manufacturing," said Mountain Home Mayor Joe McNeal. "This project gives us an economic boost that will help us accommodate any future developments at the base."
Other Economies
- Washington State technology salaries climbing
"I'm hearing from headhunters that they can't fill all the hiring requests they're getting," said WSA President Kathy Wilcox.
Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)
- Michigan: Roadmap to the future - The Millenium Project
As both knowledge and educated people become key to prosperity, security, and social well-being, the university, in all its myriad and rapidly changing forms, has become one of the most important social institutions of our times.
- Tech leaders call for more creativity - Arts, business, government and academia meet to plot ways to create a more exciting - and inviting - Wisconsin economy
"Creative people attract creative people."
Incubators and R&D
- Positron Systems gets Phase 2 SBIR federal grant for research into techniques for spotting structural defects in aircraft engine parts
Positron, with fewer than 10 employees, originally had its headquarters in Boise, but this past summer moved to Pocatello, where it operates a linear accelerator and shares resources with Idaho State University's Idaho Accelerator Center.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- Scientists at Montana's Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana uncover tricks used by viruses
”This was completely unanticipated,“
Careers
- H. Ross Perot shares life, stories at awards ceremony - Receives The George R. Stibitz Award from The American Computer Museum of Bozeman, Montana
The George R. Stibitz Award is presented every year by the American Computer Museum of Bozeman to those groundbreakers who have advanced technological development.
Energy
- Five Ways Women Can Raise Their Professional Profile
You might be doing an outstanding job, but if nobody notices, your efforts are likely to go unrewarded.
Hydrogen News
- Coal gasification and us: Proposed local plant in Pocatello, Idaho sparks public debate
”Clearly the technology still has bugs to be worked out,“
- Prospecting for Ideas: Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer Brings Western Governors Together for Energy Symposium
Gov. Brian Schweitzer's energy conference this week is being bankrolled largely by the state's biggest utilities and energy companies, and he makes no apology for it.
Connectivity & Communications
- Wind energy gets even greener - A pilot program uses wind to create hydrogen fuel, creating a "battery" to store currently unused power.
"This helps us get more value out of wind energy and helps advance the prospects of hydrogen,"
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Ink and Paper or 1s and 0s? Nervous, Newspapers Look to Technology for Alternate Ways to Put the News in Your Hands
Complaining that her local paper is late on news that she's already seen on the Internet, that stories raise more questions than they answer and the paper as a whole is of little relevance to her, Linda Loomis of San Antonio e-mailed yesterday to say that she often ends her days thusly: "I throw down our local fiber newspaper in disgust, as I do most days when I'm reading the San Antonio Express-News, and exclaim to my husband (the subscriber), as I do most days, 'I'm going upstairs, online, for the real news.' "
- Specialist delves into Internet's dark side - Russell Grimes, technology specialist with the Division of Educational Research and Services at the University of Montana
”Child predators are relentless, and it can't be overstated enough how far they will travel to find a child they have picked out to molest - in some cases, they have been known to send money or bus tickets to have a child meet them somewhere,“ said Russell Grimes, a technology specialist with the Division of Educational Research and Services at the University of Montana.
- Wi-Fi Cloud Covers Rural Oregon - a single entrepreneur is able to set one up over 700 miles of high desert
While politics and telecom companies stifle area-wide Wi-Fi networks in metro areas, a single entrepreneur is able to set one up over 700 miles of high desert. Businesses, law enforcement, even the feds are using it.
- What the Heck Is a Wiki?
Although the name sounds like a pathetic woodland creature, “wiki” actually is the Hawaiian word for “quick.”
- Bridging the Digital Divide in the Rural Northwest. Access Consulting of Missoula helps bring Broadband to 16 underserved communities in North Central Idaho.
The first key to success in each of these communities will be combining the right business model with the appropriate technology.
- Power Companies Enter the High-Speed Internet Market
Known as broadband over power line, or B.P.L., the service is poised to challenge the cable and phone companies that dominate the high-speed Internet market. Instead of burying cables and rewiring homes, B.P.L. providers use the local power grid, which means that any home with electricity could get the service.
- New mouse works in midair
Moving the GO mouse in any direction will cause the mouse pointer to move in the corresponding direction. Normally you would glide a mouse forward and back to move the mouse cursor up and down. With the GO mouse, you actually do move the mouse up and down for those directions. It's very intuitive.
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