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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Feb 15, 2011 |
"rather than impose upon your kids or try and steer their lives in a certain direction, recognize what their strengths are and support their strengths and support the development of the things they’re passionate about.” Edward Zuckerberg - Father of Mark Zuckerberg - Founder of Facebook http://matr.net/articl ... .html
University of Montana Tech Transfer Director, Joe Fanguy, Touts Research at City Club Missoula Forum http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- Montana's Ambassadors Invite everyone to meet in Helena for Learning, Networking and Planning http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- Bring Missoula Children's Theatre to Your Community In the 2011-2012 season! http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html ---
Everlog(TM) Systems
Montana Department of Commerce
- Concrete Log Homes
Our logs are made of concrete not wood. However, our products offer the exact character, texture, and warm appeal of quality wood logs. Additionally and of equal importance, EverLogs™ eliminate the structural instability, costly maintenance, and susceptibility to fire, mold, insects, and other problems commonly associated with wood log construction.
Northwestern Energy
- Montana Economic Development Facts February 11, 2011 Income Tax Wage Withholding at Record Rate Topping $400 Million (1/31) for First Time
Montana individual income tax withholding was over $400 million on January 31 for the first time in Montana history ($401,240,000).
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- NorthWestern Hosts Community Meetings to Discuss Distribution System Infrastructure Project
NorthWestern Energy is planning a series of community meetings in Montana the week of February 14 to share information about its multi-year Distribution System Infrastructure Project (DSIP) that kicks off in 2011.
City Club Missoula
- Bozeman High School puts greater focus on careers
"We need to prepare our students for their future, not for our past," Miller said. The district's goal is to make sure every student is exposed to career possibilities before leaving high school.
- Cutting class: Plasma metal-cutting machine offers Florence students new opportunities thanks to the Valentine Foundation School Technology Program
"The whole purpose of this machine is to open different doors for the career possibilities for them that are out there," Jones said. "That's really our job - to get our students prepared for careers. It's kind of a canned answer, but it's true."
- Missoula's Paxson Elementary offers after-school science, forensics discoveries
The after-school program gives kids a fun slate of studies, Monday through Thursday, in computers, science, writing, Chinese and even clog-dancing.
- Montana high school students interested in medical careers urged to apply for free MedStart camp
The camp is free for accepted students, and housing, food and other associated costs are provided. MedStart camps are sponsored by Montana's Area Health Education Centers, which work to improve access to health care in rural and disadvantaged communities by encouraging students to consider and prepare for careers in health.
Vision Net
- University of Montana Tech Transfer Director, Joe Fanguy, Touts Research at City Club Missoula Forum
Patents, when partnered with private industries, sometimes become businesses that are located in Missoula, create jobs and may eventually generate revenue for the university.
Come Home Montana
- Vision Net wows visitor - Technology erases miles for students
People are often surprised to see how far video conferencing has come, said Rob Ferris, CEO of Vision Net. "I'm sure the person visiting from Florida was just stunned to see we're doing this right here," he said.
Montana Ambassadors
- Montana Career Opportunity - Managing Director - American Prairie Foundation
MISSION The mission of American Prairie Foundation is to create and manage a prairie-based wildlife reserve that, when combined with public lands already devoted to wildlife, will protect a unique natural habitat, provide lasting economic benefits, and improve public access to and enjoyment of the prairie landscape.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Corporate Operations/Management Team Member - Electrical Consultants Inc.
Individual(s) would work within an existing staff of > a dozen individuals to handle a variety of corporate duties.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Engineer - Northwestern Energy
NWE has an immediate opening for the following positions: Engineer (Standards)-Butte, MT Operations Planning Supervisor- Helena, MT Journeyman Lineman-Butte and Great Falls, MT
Montana Business
- Montana's Ambassadors Invite everyone to meet in Helena for Learning, Networking and Planning
You don't have to be a Montana Ambassador to attend
Montana Economic Development
- Flathead looks to tourism for economic boost; wood products down
Financial experts predicted growth in cities across Montana at an economic outlook seminar Friday, while local business leaders here singled out tourism as the Flathead Valley's biggest boon.
- Missoula, Montana coping with closures - Can-do attitude key to economic survival
Missoula is the only major Montana city to experience three straight years of economic declines, from 2008 to 2010, according to University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research.
- PartnersCreative wins state's top advertising honors at Montana ADDY Awards
The state chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AFF), the Great Falls Ad Club, presented PartnersCreative http://www.partnerscreative.com with 16 Gold ADDY awards, including Best of Show - Broadcast for its "Jesse" television commercial created for Advanced Imaging that encourages women not to procrastinate about getting a mammogram. The same commercial also won the competition's overall Best of Show award.
Regional Economic Development
- Education programs critical to Montana jobs
Labor Commissioner Keith Kelly noted, "Montanans have always put a very high value on education."
Careers
- States' offers of tax breaks are no guarantee of jobs - Many factors go into businesses' location decision
"Concerns about taxes are overstated," said Matt Murray, a professor of economics at the University of Tennessee who studies state finance. "Labor costs, K-12 education and infrastructure availability are all part of a good business climate. And you can't have those without some degree of taxation."
Economic Gardening
- San Diego tech companies can't fill thousands of jobs
Even though the jobless rate continues to hover in the double digits, there are literally thousands of high-paid job openings in San Diego County just waiting for the applicants with the right skills, according to the leaders of the local high-tech community.
Funding and Building your Business
- Micro-enterprises and Economic Gardening in Iowa - BrainBelt Consulting
Burt Chojnowski has been instrumental in organizing community leaders and other key players in the development of an ambitious economic gardening project for Fairfield.
Montana Education Excellence
- What to do when your organizational structure sucks
Organizations rarely show people how to operate in a new structure, which can also undermine effectiveness.
- Let Your 'Story' Frame Your Business Plan
Don't think of it as a formal document but as a collection of your stories, combined with concrete goals.
- Blending social into earned, owned and paid media
Social media should be a part of every component of a brand's media strategy -- even its paid and owned media -- provided it's done in a transparent, honest way that respects the audience and maintains the integrity of the brand.
- Sun Tzu's The Art of War--What's In It For Women?
There are certainly women who've read The Art of War and applied it to their lives and their businesses. But if you're like most, you may wonder how you can possibly adapt the wisdom of a Chinese military strategist from 500 B.C. to your daily business challenges.
- Innovating with Business Data
Are we only at the beginning of an era of IT-driven productivity gains?
- Social-Media Frenzy - Every employee in your company has a role in social media
Instead of leveraging the power that employees bring to social engagement, many companies remain overly-wary of social networks.
- 7 Deadly Sins of Business Storytelling - Let Your 'Story' Frame Your Business Plan
Tapping the right side of the brain allows for deeper engagement by uniting an idea with an emotion. The best way to do this? Tell a compelling story.
- Use social tech tools, improve business
How can social technologies become part of an organization's strategic direction?
- Webvan co-founder thinking big, spending small
Peter Relan has known the thrill of watching a startup land tens of millions in venture capital and go through a spectacular initial public stock offering to become an overnight sensation. And boy, he doesn't want to go through that again.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- Astronaut tells Helena, Montana preschoolers, 'Do smart stuff'
"It feels like an earthquake -- you shake, rattle and roll with power and, wow, it's really exciting," Acton said. "You look out, look down, and say, 'Wow, God did a good job,' "
- Kalispell Schools Ask Public for Cost-Cutting Ideas - MCPS Schedules Building Reserve Meetings
Superintendent Darlene Schottle said the survey should help show what the public and school staff think are the most important and least important aspects of the district's budget, which would be considered in the event that cuts need to be made.
Universities and Economic Development
- NASA, Montana State University activity for grades 3-5 students is available online - "Signals and Noise, Oh Boy!"
"Signals and Noise, Oh Boy!" is about the NASA New Horizons mission to Pluto and helps students better understand how spacecraft communicate with Earth and how that communication is affected by all the background noise of objects in the universe.
- Auto ed classes rev up in Montana
"About half of the students who go through this program go to work right after they graduate, and the other half pursue more education," Wilkins said. "We get great support from our local auto body shops and they keep us on our toes, too."
University TechTransfer
- How universities play a regional role
"The key message is that countries are looking to find ways to make higher education more accountable, responsible, engaged, and the way to do this in practice is at the grassroots level, in cities and regions," Puukka told University World News. "Quite often it will take a big change of attitude."
Idaho Business
- University Finds Rewards and Risks in Business Start-Ups
Taken together, these three faces of campus enterprise reveal the risks -- and rewards -- as business incubators continue to spread across the academic world.
North Dakota Business and Economic Development
- Two plants in Idaho could turn 250 tons of trash a day into power for 10,000 homes
"Burying our waste is the second-dumbest thing humans do," said Mahaffey, CEO of Dynamis Energy, which already has built a plant to turn trash into power in Alaska.
Utah Economic Development
- New North Dakota tax forecast estimates $47M revenue growth
"When you are the governor, and you go around telling everybody that everything is going well, it's always nice to have the revenue forecast come in and actually confirm that what you have been saying is correct." Gov. Jack Dalrymple
MAPS™ : Media Arts in the Public Schools
- Westminster Presents 2011 "Lectures in Entrepreneurship" Lineup
"The course is designed to illustrate various ways people can go into business for themselves, highlight the common keys to entrepreneurial success and create networking opportunities for our students."
Missoula Children's Theatre
- The Ravalli County Health Department asks MAPS to develop new video to increase awareness of services.
MAPS inspires, educates, and trains high school students in filmmaking, digital media and Real World documentaries. In addition, students learn many essential life skills: communication, teamwork, problem solving, leadership, public speaking, budgets and deadlines.
Other Economies
- Bring Missoula Children's Theatre to Your Community In the 2011-2012 season !
Don't miss your opportunity to book a week in the 2011-2012 season.
Connectivity & Communications
- Investors: New venture capital fund will boost state entrepreneurs despite occasional disappointments
"We're not going to keep them all. We're going to keep enough to grow all sorts of seeds here, because if you follow the tree of who worked for whom, you can follow who was in these companies that were acquired. A lot of them stayed and started other companies."
Energy and Climate Change
- The Dirty Little Secrets of Search
Despite the cowboy outlaw connotations, black-hat services are not illegal, but trafficking in them risks the wrath of Google.
- Those with disabilities are underserved by technology
The Internet is underutilized by those with disabilities. While 81 percent of American adults use the Internet, just 54 percent of adults with disabilities do.
- State returning $23 million grant for broadband
In the end, the federal government apparently had no interest in helping to put down broadband infrastructure that would ultimately be owned by private companies.
Legislative Newsletters
- Wind power now competitive with coal in some regions
"For the past few years, wind turbine costs went up due to rising demand around the world and the increasing price of steel," he added. "Behind the scenes, wind manufacturers were reducing their costs, and now we are seeing just how cheap wind energy can be when overcapacity in the supply chain works its way through to developers."
Government Technology
- Senator Jon Tester's address to Montana State Legislature
'I'm bullish on Montana. In fact, I can't think of a single reason not to be.'
Non-Profit News
- Dozens of Cities Show Interest in Code for America
More than 60 municipalities have expressed interest so far in the 2012 fellowship of Code for America, the nonprofit program that assigns volunteer computer programmers to work for city governments. Is your community participating?
- Idaho Non-Proft Makes a Go of Public Transit
Big distances plus small populations equal transportation predicaments for residents in many rural towns. A non-profit group in Twin Falls, Idaho, is working out a solution.
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