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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Sep 24, 2010 |
Education is a holistic, lifelong, multi-generational process that starts with quality pre-natal care and continues with efforts to insure physically and mentally healthy children to build the foundation for the future. " The importance of your child's education - Join the conversation " http://matr.net/articl ... .html
MATR is going to be taking an extended trip for a few weeks so updates may be spotty so please upload any stories or events that you feel will contribute to a better economy. Login: http://matr.net/login.phtml --- Also wanted to remind you that "Education Nation" starts on Sunday on NBC and all of its affiliates. Great way to see best practices in education. http://matr.net/news.p ... ation --- Russ
First Call Computer Solutions
Montana Department of Commerce
- Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer Gives a Shoutout to Montana based First Call Computer Solutions
First Call is a local Montana technology resource, offering straightforward IT advice, and reliable computer solutions that are worth the money.
Montana Manufacturing Extension Center
- Final Report: Montana's Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED)
The WIRED initiative in Montana has come to a conclusion. The full $15 million was utilized and resulted in 3,618 individuals completing training, 634 educators prepared and hired for instruction in the alternative energy industry, 101 new curriculums developed, resulting in 1,447 additional students that can be trained annually.
Globalization Partners International
- Two weeks left to register for Compete Smart Conference
Come Celebrate Manufacturing Week with us and hear your favorite - real stories from Montana Company Leaders and how they Change the Game.
- MMEC Forward Focus Newsletter
Compete Smart Manufacturing Conference, Oct. 7-8, Billings, Mont Discover priceless peer perspectives and an eye for opportunity from plant tours, high value breakout sessions and compelling speakers at Compete Smart on Oct. 7-8, your Opportunity to Change the Game!
Highway 12 Ventures
- Webinar: How To Reduce DTP And Translation Costs With FrameMaker 9 And DITA, 10/12
Join Adobe Partners and Experts for an interactive eSeminar to learn how the experts at Globalization Partners International eliminated unnecessary DTP steps and solved several critical challenges in English, and 27 target languages for a major medical device manufacturer with 200+ page manuals with Adobe FrameMaker 9.
City Club Missoula
- Highway 12 Ventures - Our Newest Investment - Kapost
The Kapost offering fills an important need in a market that is in the midst of transformation –Kapost will be an important tool in helping publishers successfully navigate that transformation.
Montana SBA
- National Endowment for the Humanities chairman calls for civility
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” The Inaugural Address of President Abraham Lincoln
- Forum series to highlight contentious Bitterroot Valley issues
The forums will open with a brief presentation providing facts and background on the issue du jour, followed by an open discussion among those in attendance.
Visit Montana
- SBA is seeking nominations for the Montana’s top small business owners and advocates!
Nominations are being accepted for outstanding small business owners and advocates in a variety of categories.
- SBA Awards Contracts to Help Foster Business Clusters
"Maximizing a region's economic assets is one of the best ways to create long-term job growth, and that's what SBA's new Innovative Economies pilot initiative is doing," SBA Administrator Karen Mills
Come Home Montana
- Roaming Gnome gets lost in Montana
According to Travelocity CEO Sam Gilliland, the company's four-month long campaign to promote Montana began two months ago when it began showcasing the state on its Web site. Since then, hotels that advertise with Travelocity have seen a 40 percent increase in bookings, Gilliland said, while featured bookings have seen an 80 percent increase.
- Crown of the Continent conference addresses tourism, region's future
"My name is Jonathan Tourtellot and I am a tourist," he declared. "And this is my wallet."
Developing Tech Jobs in Rural Communities
- Happy Birthday Walter! - Montana resident billed as the world's oldest man turns 114 today
Walter Breuning, who was born Sept. 21, 1896, in Melrose, Minn., plans to attend a small, invitation-only birthday party at the Rainbow Retirement Community in downtown Great Falls.
- Montana Woman Fends Off Bear Attack With Zucchini... Yes, Montana zucchinis are deadly weapons
She flung the zucchini at the bear from a distance she estimated to be 3 feet. The vegetable bopped the bruin on the top of its head and the animal fled.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Small Towns and Rural Areas Can Be Livable
Do urban areas have the monopoly on livability? Transportation 4 America says no, and presents 12 case studies to prove it.
- IT Management: 10 Myths of Telework: Why You Aren't Working from Home
The benefits U.S. businesses and employees could gain from adopting virtual work policies, include reduced stress, increased productivity, better work and life balance, and reduced absenteeism.
Missoula Public Schools Excellence
- Are you raising an entrepreneur? 5 lessons to teach your children
Here are a few qualities that I try to instill in my kids – for success in both life and entrepreneurship:
Montana Business
- Forward Thinking, High Achieving: Missoula County Public Schools 21st Century Initiative
Join the District as it embarks on this highly collaborative process during the 2010-2011 school year. The goal is to identify the 21st Century teaching and learning model that will best serve students and educators, the facilities needed to support that model, and a plan for implementation.
Regional Economic Development
- Is you home and business really energy efficient? Missoula based Fill THE Gap can help.
A home energy audit is often used to identify cost effective ways to improve the health, safety, comfort and efficiency of buildings.
Bill Payne
- The New 'Cluster Moment': How Regional Innovation Clusters Can Foster the Next Economy.
In the aftermath of the bubble and associated orgies of consumption and financial engineering local innovation clusters represent an important locus of sustainable job creation, entrepreneurship, and productivity that policy should judiciously support.
- Business Leaders for Michigan Partners with Universities to Push Innovation - Innovation and new ventures are key to recovery, experts say
The goal is to create a public-private alliance that rivals other tech hubs in Massachusetts and North Carolina, said Doug Rothwell, CEO and president of Business Leaders for Michigan, which has about 75 member companies and whose board includes the presidents of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University.
- Congratulations to the 2010 Excellence in "Technology-based Economic Development" (TBED) Award Winners!
Four organizations were named winners of SSTI's 2010 Excellence in TBED Award, serving as national models for states and regions investing in science, technology and innovation to grow and sustain their economies and create high-paying jobs.
- Governor pushes for regional approach to economic development
“From day one, my top priorities as Governor have been to create jobs and move our economy forward, which is exactly what this strategic economic plan will do.”
- Neighbors: A Small Town's Best Investment
If Hardwick, Vermont, can build its economy through food entrepreneurship, can any rural place do so? Two new books say yes and explain the how of it.
Business Plan Forums
- Valuation of Pre-revenue Angel Deals
I spent my summer developing a new ½ day workshop on the valuation of pre-revenue start-up companies for angel investors and entrepreneurs. It is now complete and will be delivered in Tucson, Grand Forks, ND and Philadelphia in the next six weeks. This was a volunteer project I completed for the Angel Capital Education Foundation.
Careers
- Six Finalists Vie For $100K From the Zino Society
Zino Society, the Seattle-based investor and entrepreneur network, just wrapped up one of its biggest annual events—the Zino Zillionaire Investment Forum. Now it’s time to follow up on who made the initial cut in the competition for its two $50,000 investment prizes.
Funding and Building your Business
- The Montana Economic Development Summit Recap - "What would you suggest to some of the speakers to make their presentations more effective?"
Congratulations to everyone involved for a powerful Economic Summit in Butte! After the event, Russ asked us to share our impressions of the effectiveness of the presentations. We'll do that below, but since we spoke to many of you, we'll also share yours.
Incubators and R&D
- Web Start-Up Values Soar Investors Bid Up Internet Firms to Levels Reminiscent of the Last Dot-Com Boom
In an echo of the 1990s dot-com boom, some investors also are giving lofty valuations to Web firms that have no revenue and that barely have a product out.
- The Three Most Common Pricing Mistakes
What’s the right price for this service? How should you price a new product?
- 15 Questions to Shake up Your Next Team Meeting or 1on1
Maybe you’re not asking the right questions. Uninspired questions lead to uninspired answers.
- Stanford opens entrepreneur course to public
Participants must have at least a bachelor's degree but they cannot have a business background.
- How to Build a Bootstrapping Culture
Here are some tips to the art of building a business with little or no cash.
Montana Education Excellence
- Boise to open Greenhouse incubator on Monday
The Greenhouse is a city project in partnership with the Idaho Small Business Development Center at Boise State University, focused on supporting and advancing alternative-energy and sustainable businesses.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- Department of Labor and Industry Announces Montana's First Formally Recognized Pre-apprenticeship Training Program
Today the Apprenticeship and Training Program of the Montana Department of Labor and Industry along with, Passages Culinary Arts Program, and the Department of Corrections announced the State's first formally recognized Pre-apprenticeship and Training program.
- State needs greater expectations for Montana's education success
“We truly believe the state needs to set an expectation that every student graduates. If we don’t have that expectation, I don’t know why we would be sitting here in public education.” Montana Superintendent Denise Juneau
- Reinventing Montana colleges: Regents OK plan for student success
It calls for basing how much state money each campus receives on how well each campus fares in achieving the regents' goals -- like getting higher numbers of students to stay in college and graduate.
- Royce Engstrom Named University of Montana's 17th President
“I am excited and deeply honored to take on this responsibility,” Engstrom said. “The University of Montana is truly a special place."
Universities and Economic Development
- Gov. Schweitzer: Otter Creek coal could be boon for education in Montana
Gov. Brian Schweitzer says Montana could gain $7 billion over the next three decades from the mining of Otter Creek coal near Ashland, and he wants the Legislature to consider earmarking some of that money for college students in the state and energy research.
University Business Plan Competitions
- Podcast - Community Colleges Explore New Paradigms for Workforce Development
Community, technical, and vocational colleges play an important role in preparing the workforce for immediate labor demands of local employers and promoting full employment in their service regions.
University TechTransfer
- David Eccles School of Business Creates Nation’s First Independent Student-Run Venture Capital Fund
The University Impact Fund (UIF – http://www.uimpactfund.com) taps into the emerging “impact investing” industry that applies the disciplined methods of private equity investing—from due diligence to exit strategies—to the desire to solve some of the world’s most vexing social and environmental problems.
- U-M Student Group, MPowered, Gears Up for 1,000 Pitches, Looks to Help Build Startup Ecosystem
MPowered Entrepreneurship aims to cultivate and support student entrepreneurs in hopes that they turn their ideas into successful startups, and ideally keep those businesses—and the talent that comes with them—in the state.
Developing an Angel Network in Montana
- University of Michigan students start nation's first venture capital fund for social benefits
The twist: The new investment vehicle, called the Social Venture Fund, will seek out investments that will eventually reap financial returns for the fund in addition to societal benefits.
- A One-Size-Fits-All License Agreement: The Holy Grail of Tech Transfer?
It’s not that surprising that the two factions of the life sciences ecosystem—the intellectual property generators in academia and intellectual property seekers in companies—clash over their perceived value of this key asset.
- Why Technology Transfer Offices Should Focus on Sponsored Research and Ignore Royalties: In Praise of UNC's "Express License"
"They call it the holy grail of tech transfer, though critics, I reckon, think of it more as heresy. Either way, it's gutsy."
North Dakota Business and Economic Development
- Yes, There Is a Super-Angel Conspiracy
It dark, it is devious, and it is far-reaching.
Education
- North Dakota could see $696 million surplus by June
"The state’s broad-based economic growth will enable North Dakota to fund priorities, provide sustained tax relief and continue to build a strong reserve for the future," Gov. Hoeven
MAPS™ : Media Arts in the Public Schools
- Oprah Winfrey gives Denver charter school $1 million - "Waiting for Superman"
The big check will help DSST open three new campuses by 2020, but it was also Winfrey's way to promote a documentary "Waiting for Superman" that reformers hope will rock America's public education system.
- Efforts to Build Rural Education Leadership Gain Steam
Faced with state and federal mandates to reverse the course of failing rural schools—in some cases, by replacing teachers and principals—school districts and researchers say just finding bodies for empty spots is no longer enough.
- Does bonus pay raise student scores?
Rewarding teachers with incentive pay, in the absence of any other support programs, does not raise student test scores.
- Value of College Degree Is Growing, Study Says
According to the report, the median earnings of full-time workers with bachelor’s degrees were $55,700 in 2008 — $21,900 more than those of workers who finished only high school.
- The importance of your child's education - Join the conversation
What your child learns has a lot to do with how you as their parent or guardian, role model the importance of education.
- 'Waiting for Superman': Is it the next hard-hitting documentary?
Superman is one of four recent what's-wrong-with-schools films released with the aim of spurring people to action. These films attest to the power of what Lesley Chilcott, one of the producers of Superman, calls "heartbreaking entertainment."
- "Measuring Effective Mathematics Teaching", 10/8, Montana State University, Bozeman
A free public lecture on the methods used by U.S. policymakers to measure effective mathematics teaching, and the implications these measures have for teachers and education, will be given Friday, Oct. 8, at Montana State University.
- Katie Couric talks with the director of "Waiting for 'Superman.'"
Katie talks to Davis Guggenheim, director and producer of the provocative new documentary about education in America, "Waiting for 'Superman.'"
- Movie Review - Waiting for Superman
Consider the following statistics cited in the film: the annual cost of prison for an inmate is more than double what is spent on an individual public school student.
- PreK-3rd Movement Needs Superintendents and Report Says How and Why
The brief lays out the basic steps superintendents should take to integrate early learning and the first grades of elementary school, including starting slow and simple, showing progress, and supporting professional development.
- Report: Poor science education impairs U.S. economy - "Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5"
If U.S. students matched Finland's, for example, analysis suggests the U.S. economy would grow 9%-16%.
Government
- Montana's First Lady Goes Green with MAPS
The commercial is part of a larger campaign the Governor and First Lady are sponsoring about the value of studying math and science and how these studies can positively impact a green future for Montana.
Ignite Missoula
- Utah leadership group pays visit to Livingston, Montana
From taxes to Twitter, Livingston-area leaders on Friday swapped ideas for running cities and building community with a 55-person delegation from Park City, Utah.
Community
- Ignite Missoula v.3 - We need your help
We need your help. We need you to spread the word and help us get some quality speakers for the night. It’s that simple!
Connectivity & CommunicationsEnergy and Climate Change
- Fastest Net Service in U.S. Coming to Chattanooga
Only Hong Kong and a few other cities in the world offer such lightning-fast service, and analysts say Chattanooga will be the first in the United States to do so.
- Swedish's Young Social-Media Ace Coaches Docs in the Ways of the Web
It has everything to do with how physicians can better communicate with patients over the Web in the 21st century.
- Wi-Fi on steroids. - FCC gives go-ahead to 'super Wi-Fi' on TV frequencies
Since even before the widespread advent of wireless Internet, people have envisioned long-range wireless networks that envelop whole cities or communities. That may soon become a reality.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Sensors Use Building's Electrical Wiring as Antenna
Wireless sensors scattered throughout a building can monitor everything from humidity and temperature to air quality and light levels.
- Video: This is what global warming looks like
"The extreme weather fits a pattern long expected by climate scientists as a consequence of climate change."
- Montana Green Power Newsletter
“It will take decades to transition away from oil. Let’s not kid ourselves. But let’s start now.” — U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, speaking at the 2010 Montana Economic Development Summit
- Solar Roads Fix The Grid And Crumbling Pavement
Scott Brusaw is working on a project http://www.solarroadways.com/ to encapsulate solar panels in high-strength glass capable of standing up to thousands of cars and trucks passing by each day.
Government Technology
- Seriously: Stephen Colbert to testify at immigration hearing
Stephen Colbert make light of a serious subject?
Non-Profit News
- Hawaii Collects $100 Million in Unpaid Taxes With Tracking Technology
The state paid no upfront costs to start the project.
Transportation
- Local Missoula Entrepreneur Runs 30K to Raise Money for Camp Mak-A-Dream
As of September 21st, he's raised over $1,000. He's currently seeking sponsors to help meet his goal.
- Allegiant announces nonstop service from Bozeman to Phoenix
Allegiant airlines announced today that it will offer nonstop service between Bozeman and Phoenix, Ariz., beginning Nov. 12.
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