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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Apr 23, 2010 |
"When you focus on the things that matter you begin to create a movement strong enough to turn long odds in your favor." By Stephen Green, Ed.D. President and Chief Executive Officer, Kauffman Scholars, Inc. "The Ride of Their Lives" http://matr.net/articl ... .html
"The old ways of state and local governments chasing traditional smokestack industries is obsolete. We need a different framework that is more sustainable. At the core of this framework is innovation.” -- "The United Regions of America - States and Cities Need To Collaborate Instead of Competing Against Each Other To Meet Global Challenges" http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Glacier Raft and Outdoor Center
Blackfoot Telecommunications Group
- Canyon Businesses Push to Market Beyond Glacier National Park
“We have nine months of the rest of the year,” Foley said. “They don’t know in the winter time they only have to drive 30 minutes and they can step into a different scene.”
- Glacier National Park at 100: A storied past. An uncertain future.
This is a rare jewel of unblemished nature. This is Glacier National Park.
Idaho National Laboratory
- Blackfoot Returns 2009 Profits to their Member Owners
We believe our customers deserve more than just advanced technology and great customer service they deserve a company that honors loyalty and truly understands corporate and civic responsibility,” says Joan Mandeville, CEO of Blackfoot.
MAPS™ : Media Arts in the Public Schools
- Idaho National Laboratory host symposium to promote education, offers scholarships for Idaho's Latino teens “Sí Se Puede!” - 4/23-25
Since 1990, Idaho National Laboratory http://www.inl.gov has hosted the Hispanic Youth Symposium as a collaborative effort with the U.S. Department of Energy, federal management contractors, Gem State Diversity Initiatives, state agencies, Hispanic organizations, state and private educational institutions, and private employers who help sponsor the event.
Come Home Idaho
- Ravalli County, Montana health video to be filmed by MAPS Media Institute -Students competing for prizes on YouTube. Please VOTE for your favorite!
MAPS students made 6 short, short videos about their MAPS experience and they can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/peterrosten
Come Home Montana
- Pocatello call center to add 200 jobs - Convergys Corporation
Convergys Corporation, one of the largest human relations firms in the United States, with 85 call centers in North America, announced Thursday that it will hire more than 200 full- and part-time workers at its call center in Pocatello
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- Montana Career Opportunity - Sales and Service Associate - Plum Creek
As the Sales and Service Associate for Plum Creek's Plywood business, you'll have the opportunity to assist with creating, auditing, and invoicing order transactions for the sales and marketing group and provide administrative support.
- Montana Talent Available - Matthew J. Smith - Environmental or International Development
I hope that there is an opportunity in the Bozeman community for learning about something completely different or even alternately, within the scope of environmentalism or international development that I already possess some experience in.
Leadership Montana
- Six Ways to Manage a Virtual Work Force
With Earth Day just days away, consider greening your office. Or better yet, get rid of it altogether.
Montana Business
- Building the Next-Generation Business Leader - The Challenge of Business Schools
Garth Saloner, dean of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, discusses the challenge business schools face in educating students for a new world of companies without borders.
Regional Economic Development
- Going 3-D at Rocky Mountain Labs in Hamilton, Montana
The artistry and the science of RML's new microscopy unit will be on display Friday 4/23 night when Fischer hosts "Through the Microscope: Science in Wonderland," at the Performing Arts Center of Hamilton High School, starting at 7 p.m.
- CenturyTel to Buy Qwest
The merger will unite two of the country's largest landline phone companies, with operations in some 40 states across the country. It also represents a long-awaited consolidation play for Qwest, a remnant of the regional "Baby Bell" companies that has struggled to stay competitive with the national ascendancy of the wireless operations of AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc.
- Missoula, Montana based Intelligence, Surveillance System Developer, TerraEchos signs deal with IBM
The deal could also alter the way the nation secures its inland borders, including the 550-plus miles between Montana and Canada.
- Montana Mom's business goes global with 'green' diapers - Kim Ormsby and The Natural Baby Company
Since it was introduced in 2009, Ormsby's GroVia cloth diaper design has sort of exploded in the world of cloth diapering, selling about 4,000 diapers a month worldwide and emerging as one of the top-selling cloth diapers in the global market. The success has propelled her family-owned company into a multi-million dollar business.
Business Plan Forums
- Why businesses relocate in Utah instead of Idaho
It’s not enough that institutions such as Boise State University produce quality graduates with the skill sets employers need. There must also be a continuing commitment to excellence — including education funding — from the governor on down to school board members in communities.
- The United Regions of America - States and Cities Need To Collaborate Instead of Competing Against Each Other To Meet Global Challenges
The Obama administration wants to change the way politicians fight for jobs by encouraging regions—instead of individual states and cities—to compete for economic development projects.
Economic Gardening
- Boise State University student business team earns international award at New Venture Championship
With a total prize package of more than $60,000, awards were given for categories such as “best elevator pitch” (a 60-second summary presentation of the business opportunity), “best written business plan” and “best presentation” in several divisions.
Funding and Building your Business
- Ten Tips for Implementing an Economic Gardening Project
To sustain an economic gardening program, a community must assemble its key players, develop a common understanding of the process and goals, be committed for the long haul, and share a passion for doing things differently.
Incubators and R&D
- Looking for venture capital? Start editing - The One Sentence Challenge
Capturing your essence in one sentence gives you the ultimate clarity that is needed in making strategic decisions and moving fast.
- Google Places: Google’s Local Business Center Gets an Upgrade
The re-branding effort is accompanied by a handful of new features designed to help local business owners gain an edge in search engine marketing.
- Why Men Get VC Money and Women Don’t….and How that is Changing
He who has the gold makes the rules!
- 5 Questions for an Angel Investor
How does a start-up know when it is ready for Angel funding?
Montana Education Excellence
- Boise State University professor gets $211,500 grant for cancer research
The project uses preferential cytotoxic actions of metal oxide nanoparticles against cancer and it aims to address one of the greatest challenges facing the chemotherapy treatment method.
Regional Business
- Big equipment rodeo for Montana's high school students. TekNoXpo
Three events were scheduled for the Big Equipment Rodeo: Skid Steer Races, Backhoe Basketball and the Excavator Simulator. The students actually ran the machinery in the event, some of them using the big equipment for the first time.
University TechTransfer
- The Best Places For Business And Careers
Business Thrives In The Midwest
Developing an Angel Network in Montana
- New Standard Licensing Agreement Expedites University Startups, According to Kauffman Foundation Paper
As the federal government calls upon academic institutions to improve the way they translate basic research into the marketplace, a new standard licensing agreement will accelerate the formation of university startups and maintain American competitiveness.
- University of Washington energy- and water-sensing technology acquired by Belkin
Zensi, a research startup that uses simple technology to monitor home electricity and water use, has been acquired by electronics company Belkin International Inc.
Idaho Business
- Taking pot shots at angels: Federal regulation could kill investing
The financial sector reform bill being pushed by U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., takes direct aim at the wings of angel investors for reasons that defy explanation. If passed, this “Washington-knows-best” attempt to regulate some of the nation's most productive risk-takers could destroy the entrepreneurial economy.
North Dakota Business and Economic Development
- Idaho 'angel investors' worry about new financial regulations
Investors think reform could impede local startups - and the local economy.
- Boise clothing company, Core Concepts, gets $100,000 from the Boise Angel Fund
Core Concepts Inc. http://www.corelayers.com/ , which began in Boise in 2007, is looking to raise up to $500,000 through a stock offering.
- Idaho property tax exemptions provide breaks for businesses
The new law allows businesses to exempt more of their facilities from property tax rolls, even making it retroactive back to 2008.
- Healthy downtown key to Boise’s overall vibrancy
“I don’t know of a city who can say they are healthy and vibrant with a crumby downtown.” Charles Royer, former mayor of Seattle
Utah Economic Development
- North Dakota - A State With Plenty of Jobs but Few Places to Live
When Joey Scott arrived here recently from Montana, he had no trouble finding work — he signed almost immediately with a company working to drill in the oil fields. But finding housing was another matter.
Education
- Mentoring firm looking for high-tech entrepreneurs
"This is big for Utah because our state is such a hotbed for solid tech companies and entrepreneurs," Blackham said. "This connects them with the mentoring and the capital to bring their idea to market with the help of great minds."
Making the Most of the American Prairie
- Boulder Valley School District pushes science teachers to use podcasts
"When they're plugged into their earphones, they're locked in. You have the person's brain."
- More states drop out of 'Race ro the Top' for education funding
Strong union buy-in is seen by many education experts as an essential component of a successful application for federal money.
- Where Do Children with Disabilities Fit Into the Debate Over Quality Early Learning?
As the number of preschoolers labeled with a disorder continues to grow, where do they fit into the new system of quality early learning being built around the state?
- State program to award scholarships to early graduates
A five-year pilot program will set the stage for early high school graduates to be eligible for a scholarship of about $1,500 per year, for a maximum of $4,500 for a student who graduates three years early.
Government
- American Prairie Foundation in Montana - April Newsletter - "American Serengeti" on the National Geographic Channel - 4/22
American Serengeti will premiere on the National Geographic Channel, which reaches 69 million U.S. households, on Earth Day, April 22nd, at 10 pm EST. Narrated by actor Tom Selleck, the film features the work of American Prairie Foundation and World Wildlife Fund.
Energy and Climate Change
- Running Cities Like A Business - Sustainability Planning Lessons from New York and Mayor Bloomberg
Politicians since Warren Harding have been vowing to “run government like a business,” usually with less success than advertised.
- States shaving costs with reverse auctions
“The good news is that they work well on large-scale commodity purchases such as electricity and road salt,” he says. The bad news is that in smaller markets, states have to work hard at recruiting, training and retaining vendors to participate in the auctions if states want to see significant savings.
- Montana Passes the Piggy Bank and Calls the Landlords for Cost-Saving Ideas
The Montana Accountability Project attracted more than 1,000 suggestions that included placing sensors in state buildings to turn lights off, switching to a four-day workweek for state employees, abolishing the death sentence and reducing the cost of appeals.
Government Technology
- California Utility Deploys Smart Grid with Stimulus Funds
As part of GWP's smart grid initiative, the organization plans on deploying meters for detecting water pipe leakages.
- Facebook, Greenpeace at odds about energy supply at new data center
Greenpeace argues that IT companies should care more about where the power comes from.
- NorthWestern Energy Kicks Off Bright Future Challenge on Earth Day with Cash Rewards
Over the next year, the challenge is for NorthWestern Energy customers to join together and save 10 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity. First Prize is worth $5,000; Second prize -- $3,000, and Third Prize --$2,000.
- Wind farm developers eye Montana school trust land
The state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation said Wednesday it would consider leasing almost 27,000 acres of school trust land in northcentral Montana to private developers interested in using the property as part of larger commercial wind farms.
Non-Profit News
- Town Hall Meetings Find New Home, Broader Audience Online
E-town hall meetings offer a cost-effective alternative that lets residents participate from the comfort of their own homes.
- Hopa Mountain of Bozeman, Montana Announces 'Learn and Serve America' Grants to Six Communities in Montana; Encourages Organizations to Apply for Upcoming Grant Awards
"Our youth are our future," said Jan Lombardi, Director of the Governor’s Office of Community Service. "Hopa Mountain’s programs give youth a chance to set their sights on a hometown problem and learn how they can personally invest in creating a brighter vision for the future."
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