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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Nov 4, 2005 |
"The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, 'In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this afternoon.' " -- President John F. Kennedy
Congratulations to the Montana Economic Developers Association http://www.medamembers.org/ for focusing their fall conference on Education and Workforce development. The sound you hear is that of the workforce getting older. Now is the time (please see the above quote) to step up our efforts to educate a state's most important "product" - human capital. Every one one of us must do everything we can to ensure that the children of our state have the very best education possible so they can compete in the global economy.- Russ
Come Home Montana
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Montana-Jobs.net Featured Career Opportunity - Web Developer - Missoulian
Missoulian.com is seeking a web developer who is skilled in an enterprise environment and understands not only how to build good technology, but also how to build scalable technology.
- The National Endowment for the Arts will fund four Your Town: The Citizens’Institute on Rural Design workshops for 2005-2006.
Each workshop is intended to bring together a community's leaders to learn about the importance of design in building their community's futures.
Education
- Entrepreneurs - Nature vs Nurture
Entrepreneurs play a unique role in the economy. Are they born that way or can their behavior be taught?
Montana Business
- Rhode Island Action Plan Calls for Improvements in Science and Math Education
To improve the way students learn and teachers teach in the areas of science and mathematics, Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri's Blue Ribbon Panel on Mathematics and Science Education recommends 12 specific strategies in four key areas including governance and culture; teacher recruitment; teacher quality; and learning opportunities for students.
- Engineering apprentices. Hamilton High School students receive national recognition for design projects thanks to revolutionary technology used by innovative minds
Recently two of his students, Austin Athman and Robert Hill, finished first and second place, respectively, in a national competition held by Mastercam, a CAD/CAM software producer.
- Kentucky Governor Fletcher Announces "No Child Left Offline" Program
"No Child Left Offline" is a project that will provide 500 refurbished surplus computers to 8th grade students across Kentucky.
- Idaho task force revises plan to toughen high school - Lack of electives, dropout rate cited as key concerns
"The heart of the plan includes math and science,"
- Tech Colleges to Be Workhorses of New Economy
“We are closely tied to the region’s labor market and our focus is on job placement and employer satisfaction,” he added. “Our goal is to meet future workforce needs.”
Montana Economic Development
- Missoula Company, The Inland Northwest Space Alliance to sign International Agreement in Live Video Conference on November 2.
The agreement between INSA and CAPTEC provides partnership opportunities for both organizations in the biomedical and aerospace fields.
- Butte police department scraps new computer system
Morale dwindled because of the difficulties employees were having with the new software, Walsh said. He hopes abandoning the software will fix that.
- NewWest.Net Wins Two National Online Journalism Awards
NewWest.Net was the winner in the General Excellence category for small publications – a rare honor for an enterprise that has only been in operation for eight months.
Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana
- Site selection company requesting responses to their site solicitation for a new semiconductor manufacturing facility - possibly in Montana
Our office has been contacted by a site selection company to submit responses to their site solicitation for a new semiconductor manufacturing facility. Please see the included Cover Sheet explaining the project; project questionnaire; and the project specifications.
- Montana Chamber of Commerce November EYE on Business
- Governor Schweitzer Announces Members of Economic Development Boards, Councils and Commissions
- Harvard honors Blackfeet Innovation - Siyeh Development Corp.
"I think it recognizes that the tribe's efforts to find an alternative way to develop their economic resources have been recognized as successful and could be used to help other tribes do the same," said Dennis Fitzpatrick, general manager of Siyeh Development.
- Montana economy faces new generation of workers - "The No. 1 issue: workforce availability
"The No. 1 issue: workforce availability," Evan Barrett, chief business development officer in Gov. Brian Schweitzer's office, told the more than 145 members of the nonprofit Montana Economic Developers Association who gathered for the three-day conference.
- Schweitzer tells Indians to seize day - Governor says tribes can take lead in technology to produce clean energy
"It starts in Indian Country," he said in a speech at the 62nd annual convention of the National Congress of American Indians in Tulsa. "We have the energy. We have the young people. And, yes, we have the tribal colleges. It's time for Indian Country to take the lead."
GIS Technology
- U.S. Senate Introduces Bill Creating VC Program to Stimulate Investment in Small Businesses
- Commercial Lending – Ideal for Growing Businesses – Takes on a New Form in Montana - Montana Growth Capital
A new breed of commercial lender in the state, Montana Growth Capital is unique in its ability to complement the services of the banking community, while providing an alternative for higher-risk capital to new and growing businesses — many of whom traditionally do not have access to bank financing.
Funding and Building your Business
- GPS researchers try to zero in on pinpoint accuracy
"Technologies are coming to the forefront that will impact billions of people and millions of businesses," Spilker said. "Our humble goal is to create the top-ranked university center in the world for this realm of technology."
Regional Business
- What Does the CEO Really Need from a CIO?
What does a CIO need to do to make sure a company can successfully align its technology with the business to drive growth?
- Search strategies help you find answers on the Web
Type the words "miserable failure" into any of these search sites.
- Inside Entrepreneurship: Where to look before you take the leap
Genuine entrepreneurship is not about producing a replacement salary. It's about building an entity separate from you that has growing value. If you are not passionate about building a business that one day be sold at a juicy profit, entrepreneurship may not be right for you.
Regional Economic Development
- Entice 'boomer workers' to stay on the job
Now, the boomers might rock our society once again - this time with their absence - as they reach retirement age.
- Manufacturers struggling to find skilled workers - BattleBotsIQ might help in Arizona
The BattleBotsIQ program teaches students from middle school to college practical engineering and design experience by getting them to build robots. The hope is the fun they have competing to create the best robot will generate interest in engineering and manufacturing careers.
Utah Economic DevelopmentIdaho Business
- Speed-Dating and Venture Funding Collide at Speedpitching Luncheon; 10 Entrepreneurs to Pitch to Dozens of Utah Investors During One-Hour, Speed-Dating Styled Luncheon.
"The speedpitching luncheon will benefit busy investors and entrepreneurs alike,"
Washington State Business
- Bike trailer business will relocate to Boise, Idaho - Lower housing costs attract California firm
"In addition to bringing new jobs and opening new markets, BOB also brings with it a group of talented individuals that will add to the city's most valuable asset — its people," Jones said.
Other Economies
- $350 million Washington state fund to finance life-sciences research is being "nudged" already
"I felt it was important to provide some accountability" for how the state's money is spent.
- Seattle biotech incubator helps another young fledgling to fly
"It (the incubator) saves me from doing the part of the job that I don't like to do,"
Incubators and R&D
- Rhode Builder Business Retention Program - helping established companies in the state to develop business strategies to address challenges in their industries.
“Our premise is that (participating companies) are stuck in day-to-day firefighting and don’t have time to develop business strategies,” said Bret Hall, director of Rhode Builder and adjunct professor of management at Bryant.
Non-Profit News
- University of Deleware lands $52.9 million solar power grant
UD is among the leading academic solar research centers in America.
- $3.2 million National Science Foundation grant to the University of Montana to establish the Montana Ecology of Infectious Disease (M-EID) program.
"This award will allow the University to attract, support and train researchers to focus on some of the most important social and environmental issues facing us,"
- Incubator hatches success stories
The center's companies and its grads have revenue of nearly $131 million annually. The businesses employ 630 people with average wages of nearly $61,000.
Hydrogen News
- Ebay founder takes lead in social entrepreneurship
"We ought to be looking at business as a force for good," Pierre Omidyar - Founder of E-Bay
Connectivity & Communications
- California Family Taking the Hydrogen Future for a Drive. "They're the first in the world."
"We're going to prove to ourselves and the world that a fuel cell propulsion system can go head to head with the internal combustion engine,"
- Massachusetts Hydrogen Coalition (http://massH2.org) Reports Local Companies Receiving More than $50 Million in Venture Capital As Clean Energy Initiatives Gain Momentum
"This is just the beginning of a significant Massachusetts business segment driven by hydrogen, fuel cell and other clean energy technologies.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Microsoft Introduces Web Services, Competing With Google and Yahoo
The strategic shift also represents an acknowledgment by the company, the world's largest software publisher, that the Internet has once again changed the rules of business, forcing Microsoft to scramble to catch up.
- Bill Gates: "In 5 years, 40 to 50% of people will read their news online."
Are newspapers condemned?
- Blogging Enterprise Consensus: RSS Is Plumbing
Several of the panelists say they're in the "Kingdom of Greg" when they are asked what reader they use. Now that's an interesting phrase. Greg is the new Google?
VIRUS ALERTS
- Nucleus Research Predicts Top 10 IT Trends for 2006
One of them is: SOA - Adoption Will Replace Skepticism - Savvy adopters are already using SOA to integrate siloed applications, retire costly legacy systems, and tighten relationships with partners. As these early adopters increase both the number of services developed, and the frequency of reuse, the higher their ROI will be.
- New Worm Targets AOL Instant Messenger
When a machine is compromised with such software, it gives hackers the ability to execute remote commands and install anything they want on the vulnerable PC.
- Patch issued after CD users complain
A firestorm quickly erupted over what appeared to be an attempt by the music company to retain control over its intellectual property by secretly installing hidden software on the PCs of unsuspecting customers.
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