|
|
|
| MATR Newsletter - Fri Mar 12, 2010 |
Notable stories and events: "The Central Asia Institute of Bozeman, Montana receives $100,000 of President Obama's $1.4 million Nobel Prize money" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- "Google Fiber For Communities Project Discussion With Mayor John Engen, 3/18, MIssoula" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- "Pivotal Investments launches Pacific Northwestern networking program for clean-tech industry leaders" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- "Can Green Technology Propel Economic Development in Montana?" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Montana SBA
Blackfoot Telecommunications Group
- Montana Small Business Administration Announces Winners of SBA 2010 Small Business Week Awards
The Small Business awards luncheon will be held June 2 at the Gallatin Gateway Inn in Gallatin Gateway (near Bozeman). The public is invited to attend and congratulate not only the 2010 winners, but also help celebrate all small businesses across Montana. Please visit http://www.sba.gov/mt for more information.
Idaho National Laboratory
- Providers question Google Net project, saying Missoula already on major fiber route. Meeting scheduled for 3/18
"Obviously, Google will operate this at a loss and can afford to do so for quite some time. The rest of us can't. That skews the playing field." Dave Martin, Blackfoot Communications
Bill Payne
- Behind the scenes where federal labs facilitate tech transfer
Strictly non-commercial, the 18 federal departments and agencies and several hundred federal labs are among the best-equipped and staffed research institutions in the world. They rely on licensing, cooperative agreements and other protocols to fulfill their mission.
Highway 12 Ventures
- New Zealand Business - Bill Payne Video on Angel Investing
Bill Payne, a prolific US investor who has set up four Angel investment networks, is in New Zealand sharing his knowledge with investors and entrepreneurs
- Angeling in Biotechnology
Angel investors are, indeed, patient investors, but they are generally unwilling to take on projects that involve years and years of qualification testing for regulatory compliance.
Montana Ambassadors
- Ten Years - Where Has The Time Gone? Happy Birthday Highway 12!
While much of our time will be spent on GlobeAware projects, we’ll have some exploration time between these and I’d love to hear from those who have traveled to these countries and learn about their “can’t miss” experiences there.
Come Home Montana
- University of Montana Alumni Director Bill Johnston and Dean David Forbes Receive Montana Ambassadors Awards
Montana Ambassadors is a nonprofit organization of leaders in business, education, and local and state government with a common dedication of doing business in Montana and furthering the best interests of the state.
Three Cups of Tea - The Central Asia Institute
- Montana Career Opportunity - HR Manager - Providence Health & Services
This is newly created role will have the opportunity work with a sophisticated client base to build HR and enhance culture.
- U.S. Freestyle Kayak Team Trials to be held on Brennan's Wave in Missoula
"This is huge for us," said K.B. Brown, owner of Strongwater, a Missoula kayak specialty shop and the chief push behind the successful team trials bid.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Director of Human Resources - Helena COT
$45,000-$50,000+Benefits.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Computer Support Specialist III - MSU-Bozeman
Information Technology Center Montana State University in Bozeman is seeking a Computer Support Specialist III who will supervise the Help desk and Computer Facilities.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- The Central Asia Institute of Bozeman, Montana receives $100,000 of President Obama's $1.4 million Nobel Prize money
The Central Asia Institute's https://www.ikat.org/ co-founder, Greg Mortenson, was also a Nobel Peace Prize nominee this year. His book, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace, One School at a Time, recounts his attempt to successfully establish dozens of schools and promote girls' education in rural Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Leadership Montana
- High-Growth Firms Account for Disproportionate Share of Job Creation, According to Kauffman Foundation Study
"Gazelle" firms (ages three to five) comprise less than 1 percent of all companies, yet generate roughly 10 percent of new jobs in any given year.
- Innovation center? How Israel became a 'Start-Up Nation.'
Start-Up Nation offers a vibrant look at what Israel got right in moving from a socialist economy to a high-tech tiger.
- Startups get great guidance, - Program matches CEOs, entrepreneurs
The institute, a brainchild of Silicon Valley entrepreneur Adeo Ressi, gets the chief executives of local firms to pair with would-be entrepreneurs and teach them — both through lectures and example — how to get their businesses off the ground.
- A Global Perspective on Entrepreneurship Education and Training
By improving knowledge about entrepreneurship, GEM helps governments, businesses and educators around the world design policies, develop programs and provide assistance to help enterprising individuals generate new jobs and wealth in an increasingly global business environment.
Montana Biotech
- Tapping women's leadership potential
Companies such as Goldman Sachs and Google are investing in leadership programs for women in developing markets because these women are seen as critical in directing these businesses in a global economy.
- Leadership Montana Now Available with College Credit Option… Now Accepting Applications for the Class of 2011…
Programs for the Class of 2011 will be conducted in Big Sky, Butte, Missoula, Great Falls, Helena, Havre and Billings.
Montana Business
- Leroy Hood Sizes Up South Lake Union as Institute for Systems Biology Expands - Hood to speak in Bozeman, Montana 3/12
Few people in Seattle know much about Hood’s nonprofit research center, and it puzzles more than a few biologists, but it has definitely been on a roll the past couple years.
Montana Economic Development
- Montana International Business Calendar: Keep Up-to-Date on Montana's International Activities!
The statewide shared calendar of events will open avenues for increased communication and collaboration between Montana’s businesses and the organizations that serve them, in an effort to coordinate international business-related activities in the state.
- Bacterin International Introduces OsteoSelect(R) DBM Putty
OsteoSelect® will be an ideal complement to Bacterin's current product portfolio, which focuses on optimizing handling characteristics and biologic performance of grafting materials for surgeons.
- Made in Montana
The program, which also includes Grown in Montana and Native American Made in Montana components, helps build recognition for products that are "authentically" Montana.
- Blackfeet Construction Supplies in Browning, Montana will create jobs and offer affordable storage units and coffins
“What I’m really trying to do is to create jobs,” Barnes continued. “That building has sat empty for years, so I’m cleaning it up, but I have to make some money, too.” Half of the net proceeds go to support the De La Salle Blackfeet School!
- Pacific Outdoor Equipment moves operations from Southern California and has new home in Bozeman, Montana
Pacific Outdoor Equipment has moved its warehouse from Southern California to Bozeman and consolidated its operations in a new building on the north side of town.
- Schedulicity Mobile Appointment Booking Saves Time, Streamlines Business for Service Professionals Scheduling Appointments
Filling a need for professionals who want to actively manage their online appointment book in real-time, Schedulicity is the only service that offers all the features necessary to run a small appointment-based business from a mobile phone.
Regional Economic Development
- Can Green Technology Propel Economic Development in Montana?
In Montana, the abundance of both wind and state incentives have drawn investment from renewable energy companies like Chicago-based Invenergy and Spanish firm NaturEner. These and other companies say they find the state an ideal place to do business.
Business Plan Forums
- Pivotal Investments launches Pacific Northwestern networking program for clean-tech industry leaders
“We want to secure the Northwest as a center of clean-tech innovation and ultimately a scalable economy here based on clean-tech jobs and green jobs,” said Gregg Semler, managing partner with Pivotal Investments. “And as venture capitalists, we want to be the first call entrepreneurs make when they’re seeking capital.”
Funding and Building your Business
- PIixelture Wins $35,000 Grand Prize in Grow Utah Ventures' Digital Media "Concept to Company" Contest
“The purpose of the ‘Concept to Company’ contests is to stimulate our local economy and create new jobs."
Incubators and R&D
- BYU study looks at how innovation happens
After more than six years of research, Brigham Young University professor Jeff Dyer is convinced that these visionary business leaders and others didn't start out completely hard-wired for creativity and innovation.
- Instant Ads Set the Pace on the Web
Now, companies like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft let advertisers buy ads in the milliseconds between the time someone enters a site’s Web address and the moment the page appears.
Montana Education Excellence
- Scientists at Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana find similarities in diseases for possible future development of possible treatments for Alzheimer’s disease
‘Wow these guys are working on this - it’s not just a tick lab… Now we work on a lot of things, we still do work on ticks and do great work on ticks, but we work on Ebola, we work on neuro-degenerative diseases, like the ones we’ve been talking about.”
- Start-Up Incubators Reborn
Across the nation, specialized incubators spanning clean energy, sustainable architecture and advanced materials have emerged over the past several months to support high-tech ventures.
Regional Business
- Gazette opinion: Raise for University of Montana Presndent Dennison inconsistent with budget austerity
Instead of making an ill-timed gesture to a retiring president, the regents ought to have shown resolve to save money however they can while maintaining quality education.
- High school writing assessment aims to improve Montana students, teachers
The program's goals are twofold: more literate and persuasive writers, and teachers better versed in English education and criticism.
- High school students fill the roles of Big brothers, big sisters
The majority of the volunteers for The Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Lake County and the Flathead Reservation are high school students.
- An Education in Elite Culinary Arts - Chef’s Table at Flathead Valley Community College provides experience for students, high-quality food for the valley
The Chef’s Table program started out three semesters ago as a way to give the students a chance at a quality internship, Karp said. The course requires 150 hours of culinary experience from its students, as well as 15 hours of serving.
- 2010 National Conference On Undergraduate Research, 4/15-17, Missoula, Montana
NCUR is expected to have a significant impact on the Missoula economy, as visitors will sleep, eat, shop and explore the city and the greater western Montana region while attending the conference.
University Business Plan Competitions
- Les Schwab to pay $2M settlement in hiring discrimination lawsuit
“The EEOC will continue to investigate employers and industries that have put women in certain types of jobs, and men in others,” said Mike Baldonado, director of the agency’s San Francisco district.
University TechTransfer
- 2010 Rice University Business Plan Competition to Award $100,000 DFJ Mercury Tech Transfer Investment Prize
To be considered a university spin-out, the business plan can be based on a start-up company that licenses technology from a single or multiple universities, and/or a company led by a student team from a university.
Education
- Utah State University Faculty Embrace USTAR Technology Commercialization Grants
Created in 2009, the grant program was designed to bring innovative new technologies to market from Utah’s public colleges and universities.
Government
- Textbook publishers add online tools to win over professors
Not only does the software tell Hildreth which problems students are getting wrong, it tells him why they are getting them wrong, so he can tailor his class sessions to reinforce certain concepts accordingly. It also relieves him of the burden of grading homework.
- Distance ed students forming college clubs online
Feeling isolated as an online student? Join the club.
- States Bring Purpose-Driven Social Networking Tools to Schools
By integrating social networking strategies with personalized, secure data -- such as transcripts and test scores -- education portals give students more control of their futures, proponents say.
- Taking the state out of state colleges
Several states – including Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Texas and Washington state – are or are proposing to base a portion of funding on degree completion, rather than enrollment. And to make diplomas a little easier to get, 17 states last week formed a pact to ensure that course credits can be transferred from one university to another when students transfer.
- Have We Flunked School Reform? "The Death and Life of the Great American School System" by Diane Ravitch.
Teacher quality, recruitment, and retention have become the new frontlines of this reform, spurred in part by powerful computer programs that can now mine mountains of data with relative ease.
Other Economies
- Two-thirds of Montana legislative races still missing one major party - One Week Left to File for Montana Public Office - Candidate Filing Deadline is Monday, March 15
“Voting and running for public office are two of our most fundamental rights as citizens of this great state,” McCulloch said. “The steady number of candidate filings indicates 2010 is going to be a strong election year.”
Connectivity & Communications
- Rethinking the economy - Cultivating companies seen as key to progress
Successful regions, they found, have invested heavily in technology firms focused on marketplace solutions, from medicine to microchips.
Energy and Climate Change
- Google Fiber Sparks Online Competition Between Cities
First there was Topeka, KS, which renamed itself by proclamation to Google, KS. Then Duluth, MN upped the ante by promising (comedically, we hope) to name all the town’s first-born children after Google. Then Greenville, SC entered the fray with their all-out “We Are Feeling Lucky” social media campaign that included a landing page, YouTube (YouTube) channel, Facebook events, and Twitter hashtag.
- Google Fiber For Communities Project Discussion With Mayor John Engen, 3/18, MIssoula
Missoula Mayor John Engen is holding a forum about the Google Fiber for Communities project from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM Thursday March 18, in Missoula City Council Chambers, 140 Pine St.
- Al Franken Jokes, But Google Fiber Is No Laughing Matter
U.S. Senator Al Franken has been enlisted to lobby Google in a bid by two midwestern cities to get free upgrades to gigabit internet connections.
- The FCC Wants You to Test Your Broadband Speeds
Broadband connection testing isn’t new, and is freely available online, but this might mark the first time that individual tests help to lead to informed policy making.
GIS Technology
- Wyoming Lawmakers Approve $76 Million Funding for Energy Research
The approved budget also appropriates $87 million in total funds to the Wyoming Business Council, which includes $27.7 million for the Wyoming Business Council Division.
- Burning wood as renewable power draws scrutiny in Oregon and nationwide
Community and environmental activists are raising questions about the wisdom of treating wood energy as green power.
Non-Profit News
- GPS: ‘The holy grail’ for advertisers
In the game, players purchase and improve properties with points earned by “checking-in” to businesses and completing tasks, as well as by paying cold cash. Using GPS, advertisers can tell where they are and send them location-specific promotions to lure them into nearby stores.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- Montana Nonprofit Connections makes 2nd round of Assessment Awards to 7 nonprofits for capacity building
MNC is a collaboration of diverse family foundations and administered by Big Sky Institute for the Advancement of Nonprofits (BSI) as one of several collaborative ventures BSI has initiated with foundations to help increase philanthropic and nonprofit sector resources in Montana.
- MONTANA STATE OF THE ARTS newspaper ready to view online
The State of the Arts for March/April is available online in PDF format at the Montana Arts Council's website at http://www.art.mt.gov.
To subscribe or unsubscribe from the free weekly MATR newsletter, please visit our list info page
