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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Mar 4, 2011 |
“My heart lives in New York, where I was born and raised. My body lives in Los Angeles, where I do much of my work. My soul lives in Montana, where I fish.” Henry Winkler " The Fonz takes up fly fishing in Montana " http://matr.net/articl ... .html
Grupthink Consensus Builder Comes to MATR - What questions or answers do you have or think are best? How can we find consensus on the challenges of the day? http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- City Club Missoula Presents: "The Best Place Project: It's A New Day For Economic Development In Missoula,", 3/14 http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html ---
Montana Department of Commerce
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- Montana Department of Commerce Business Resources Division Newsletter Spring 2011 - Contact Information for Business Resource Programs
The Montana Department of Commerce has created this quarterly newsletter to update you on the status of our business resources financing programs and other program news. Contact information for each program is provided.
- Montana Governor Schweitzer says Wind Energy continues to grow in MT - Applauds Seminars focused on helping Manufacturers Enter Supply Chain
The Governor applauds the seminars being held in this week in the state that help manufacturers interested in supplying parts and components set up facilities in Montana.
- Announcing Montana Energy Intern Program
In partnership with the Governor's Office of Economic Development and the Department of Commerce, Energy Promotion and Development Division the energy internship offers students in Montana an opportunity to gain real life work experience while providing businesses like yours with capable and productive Montana university students.
Highway 12 Ventures
- High School students' bison study is a lesson in much more
Bison burgers were the entree Thursday night at North Central High School. But the side dishes were all over the menu: history, geography, archaeology, sociology, climatology, genomics ...
- Innovation and Invention Ideas flow from the MIT Global Challenge! - Help these students change the world by taking a few moments to register for the MIT Global Challenge Community today.
Help these students change the world by taking a few moments to register for the MIT Global Challenge Community today.
City Club Missoula
- GutCheck Steals the Show (and $1 million) - Highway 12 Ventures
GutCheck was voted the winner of the People's Choice Award for DEMO 2011.
- Highway 12 Ventures - Portfolio News February 2011
Why email is hardly dead according to SendGrid CEO Isaac Saldana.
Visit Montana
- City Club Missoula Presents: "The Best Place Project: It's A New Day For Economic Development In Missoula,", 3/14,
Mayor Engen and founding member and co-chairman Jeff Fee will discuss the project at City Club Missoula's March forum. They'll be joined by campaign facilitator James Grunke of National Community Development Services.
Come Home Montana
- The Fonz takes up fly fishing in Montana
"My heart lives in New York, where I was born and raised. My body lives in Los Angeles, where I do much of my work. My soul lives in Montana, where I fish." Henry Winkler
Cleantech
- Montana Career Opportunity - Online Marketing/PR Manager - ALPS
This position is responsible for establishing, and in many cases creating ALPS' presence and strategy for social media: Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, blog pages and other appropriate channels as well as defining appropriate use of public relations for each product within the ALPS Family of Services.
- 6 leadership jobs listed as open Billings School District #2
The district is looking for directors of assessment, human resources, curriculum and instruction, and special education.
Missoula Public Schools Excellence
- Tacoma home for clean-water tech?
An idea that sprang from a dinner party discussion among Tacoma civic leaders 14 months ago is beginning to take flight as a fledgling campaign that, if successful, could make Tacoma an international center for clean water technology.
- SBA Launches Startup America Entrepreneurial Mentor Corps
In line with that, today SBA Administrator Karen Mills announced one of the first initiatives of EMC, a pilot program that will match mentors with 100 startups in the clean energy sector.
Montana Business
- Fiesta For Flagship Fundraiser, 3/5, Missoula, Montana
Please join us on Saturday, 3/5 at 6:00PM at the DoubleTree Hotel to support this important after school program for Missoula's future leaders.
Montana Economic Development
- Plum Creek Montana - Winter 2011 Newsletter
When the transfer of Plum Creek's 310,000 acres to The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land closed its final phase in December, some very old and precious ecosystems were protected. And a new cooperative partnership was created that will benefit our communities for a long time.
- WhoCanHelp.com connects service requests with nearby providers
The Missoula-based startup hopes its simple format - Login. Request help. Review offer. Hire. (It's free!) - will harness the power of the Internet to help empower consumers across the country. Anyone can use it, anywhere, any time, to ask that almost anything gets done.
- Loticwater.com - Turning blue into green - Water is the lifeblood of the arid West.
Blue represents the historic, one-dimensional view of water. To Lotic Water http://www.loticwater.com/ , green can mean profitably leasing water instream to protect trout habitat, reallocating water rights to maximize resource values through wetland and riparian mitigation banks, or increasing operational efficiency by selling conserved water to growing municipalities.
- Missoula, Montana's Snowbowl plans to double terrain is open for comment
The project would include installation of four new ski lifts and construction of a new lodge. The number of ski runs would increase from 52 to 80.
- MMEC Forward Focus Newsletter - March 2011
- Hurraw! - Vegan Lip Balm Goes International - Whitefish, Montana resident expects to ship out 150,000 tubes this year
From a home studio in a little Montana town, Corrie Colbert is trying to remedy a global problem: dry lips. She's calling on organic farmers to join her and they are answering.
- Florida company, Signature Flight Support, buys Yellowstone Jetcenter
Yellowstone Jetcenter is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and has been judged one of the top 40 FBOs - fixed-base operations -- in the United States by Aviation International News.
Regional Economic Development
- RFP - Economic Development Capital Campaign - The Great Falls Development Authority (GFDA)
GFDA's mission is to lead Great Falls economic development efforts to promote growth, diversification and the creation of high wage jobs.
- Bozeman developing website to provide information for new businesses - Video
conomic gardening suggests rather than spending time and resources trying to get large out of state businesses to relocate to Bozeman-city leaders should work to create better conditions for small local businesses to start and to grow.
- VIDEO.AUDIO.PHOTOS: Montana Senator Baucus' Colombia, Brazil Trade Mission
"This was a really good trip, very well worth everyone's time. About 15 Montana business men and women joined me in going to Brazil and Colombia to make connections, to sell Montana products: everything from platforms that repair airplanes to wheat and barley. We made a lot of connections. It was very, very positive. These are the people I work for. These are my advisors, and I took them to all the meetings I had so that the Colombian and Brazilian officials could see that I meant what I said in making these connections. When I talk to our folks, our 15, they all say, "man that was really helpful," because all this comes down to is jobs, jobs in Montana. We just need more good paying jobs in Montana, a boost in Montanans' incomes, and the 15 who joined me are going to help make that happen."
- Department of Labor Funding Notification: Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration
Today, the Department of Labor is announcing the availability of approximately $40 million in competitive funding for Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration grants to increase the workforce participation of low-income and hard-to-employ populations.
- Say Hello to the New Headwaters RC&D Area, Inc. - Resource - Conservation - Development
Every great idea starts somewhere. Naturally, we like to think it's here; at headwaters.
- Experts say Billings, Montana will benefit from energy boom
Dozens of local companies in Billings are hard at work providing services and equipment for the vast Bakken oil field being explored in western North Dakota, Eastern Montana and Canada.
University of Montana & Montana State University Tech Transfer
- Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America
The Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America is a mapping application that provides a spatial interpretation of county-level, economic and social conditions along four broad categories of socioeconomic factors: people, jobs, agriculture, and county classifications.
- Governors call for large-scale forest restoration, realigning federal funding
Western Governors are calling for large-scale restoration of Western forests that have millions of acres of dead trees that impact wildlife habitat, water quality and soil productivity, while placing human life and property in harm's way.
- Alliance of Angels, With Jeff Bezos and Paul Allen, Get Some Airtime on "The Conversation", But Will It Spark the NW Economy?
For those new to the whole concept of angel investment, I tried to make it a little more familiar by dropping a couple famous names like Paul Allen of Vulcan and Jeff Bezos of Amazon--who are a whole lot better known for things other than their angel investments.
- Tom Brokaw and NBC Nightly News Highlights Brain-Drain of Skilled U.S. Immigrant Entrepreneurs Returning to Home Countries
Veteran journalist Tom Brokaw's special report on the NBC Nightly News last night said that immigration rules are roadblocks for enterprising foreigners who want to stay in the United States to create companies and jobs.
- Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Small Business Activities in Big Sky, Montana on May 13-20: Senator Baucus Requests Ideas for Summit Success From Everyone.
Opportunities will abound for businesses to network and contribute to APEC's work on creating a better environment for small business success in the Asia-Pacific region.
Developing Funding Opportunities in MontanaFunding and Building your Business
- State Governments: The Latest Venture Capitalists
With venture capital firms scaling back, state governments are stepping in to fund early-state, high-risk startups.
Incubators and R&D
- Profit Generator Ideas from Solomon Bruce Consulting LLC
Hard work, practice and preparation, reviewing and revising your strategic plan are the tools to beat your competition every time.
- Andreessen Horowitz Charges Employees $10 Per Minute If They're Late To Meetings With Entrepreneurs
Ben Horowitz explains that the firm puts a premium on being attentive to entrepreneurs, and doesn't want to be like other VC firms where partners "show up to meetings late then spend the entire meeting on their phones and computers."
- Can Exercise Keep You Young?
In heartening new research published last week in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, exercise reduced or eliminated almost every detrimental effect of aging in mice that had been genetically programmed to grow old at an accelerated pace.
- When Family Mental Illness Unbalances
Dealing with a family member's mental-health problems is one of the toughest challenges workers face, as I have written in past columns.
- How to Best Use Collaboration IT - Technology Will Make Collaboration Your Next Competitive Advantage
New tools are changing the way people work with each other, their companies' partners, and their customers.
- 8 Tips For Building An Internet Company Outside of San Francisco
I've polled some of my entrepreneurial and venture capital contacts outside of San Francisco to see what advice they could offer for successfully building an internet venture in their towns.
- How organizations can innovate: Lessons from Fred Dust of IDEO
How can an organization, either in the public or private sector, create an innovative culture?
Montana Education Excellence
- VISION from the University of Montana Research & Development
Vision is published annually by The University of Montana Office of the Vice President for Research and Development and University Relations.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- High School Building And Reserve Levy Forum, 3/15, Kalispell, Montana
During their February 22 meeting, the Kalispell Chamber board of directors voted to support this ballot issue.
- Montana State University team, Ethicats, that debates ethical questions has won second place in the nation.
"Several commented that it was the best final match they had ever seen in the history of the Ethics Bowl," Intemann said. "Of course, I couldn't agree more in my humble and unbiased opinion."
Regional Business
- MSU math and science program for middle school teachers receives $100,000 from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
"Bozeman is hundreds of miles away from the schools targeted by the TEAMS program," said Watson. "We have dedicated educators in those schools who want to participate, but they can't make the trip to MSU, either because of the distance or because they are working with students throughout the summer. So we're going to bring the workshops to them."
North Dakota Business and Economic Development
- Amazon warns California over Internet tax plans
Amazon.com, the world's largest online retailer, has threatened to sever ties with more than 10,000 affiliates in California amid a dispute with the state over proposed taxation of Internet purchases.
- "Buy Local" - Does It Work?
We've explored "buy-local" campaigns and found that they may provide only limited and short-lived results for small firms.
Utah Business
- Pride of Dakota Month Raises Awareness of Products | Video
"The showcases, Pride of Dakota day events where they can actually sell. Those are the most popular events," said Sara Kelsch of the North Dakota Department of Agriculture. "We hear that`s where they get the biggest bang for their buck from Pride of Dakota, is those marketing opportunities."
Wyoming Business
- Utah cashing in on record level of exports
More significantly, the U.S. International Trade Administration said Utah was the only state where the value of its exports doubled in the past five years -- an increase that resulted in export-related jobs rising from around 45,000 in 2006 to 93,000 last year.
2011 Montana Legislature
- Wyoming economic development business group disbands after 40 years
The slow economy took a toll on the group Target Powell Valley and the nonprofit has run out of money.
Education
- Stephen Colbert lampoons Montana climate change bill - Video
The Montana Legislature was already being called the laughing stock of the nation, and now Stephen Colbert has piled on.
Government
- The Best Undergraduate Business-Schools of 2011
Looking for the top school in your state? The school with the highest-paid grads? The schools with the best teachers? Create your own personalized ranking using our interactive table
- Complete to Compete enlists the help of all governors to make our nation a global leader in college completion.
States have led the charge to reform K-12 education, and the time has come for governors, higher education executive officers, and campus leaders to work together to make marked improvements in college completion and productivity.
Connectivity & Communications
- NBC Montana Digging Prompts Senator Tester Bill To Take Back Federal Funds
When a Montana community decided to give federal money back to pay down the debt, it took a reporter, an NBC Montana story and an act of Congress to get it done. Now, we're following up.
- Public Universities Seek More Autonomy as Financing From States Shrinks
The University of Oregon's president is proposing a new model for state support: He wants the state to issue bonds raising money to build the university's endowment.
Energy and Climate Change
- Broadband Access Brings Citizen Engagement -- and More Gripes
Citizens who have broadband access at home are often more engaged in their communities, but as a group are less satisfied with their communities and tend to levy more criticism about their surroundings.
Grupthink
- Hydrofracked? One man's mystery leads to a backlash against natural gas drilling
Meeks began developing a theory. The contamination could have come from leaky old waste pits or from a crack in a well pipe. But the more he learned, the more he suspected it had something to do with hydraulic fracturing.
- From brewery waste, a natural gas alternative - PurposeEnergy
PurposeEnergy http://www.purposeenergy.com/purpose.htm is a company that turns brewery waste into a natural gas alternative.
- Pressure Limits Efforts to Police Drilling for Gas - "The industry was going to get what it wanted, and we were not supposed to stand in the way."
"It was like the science didn't matter," Carla Greathouse, the author of the study, said in a recent interview. "The industry was going to get what it wanted, and we were not supposed to stand in the way."
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- U.S. Cities Using Tech to Cull Ideas from Citizens
Now, New York and other cities around the country are trying to un-bog the bureaucracy. Following the example of private companies, they're employing technology to harness the wisdom of citizens, make use of their skills and create virtual civic forums.
- Grupthink Consensus Builder Comes to MATR - What questions or answers do you have or think are best? How can we find consensus on the challenges of the day?
The good folks at Grupthink http://www.grupthinkpowered.com/ of Missoula, Montana have partnered with MATR to offer their suite of Q&A and Consensus building applications to help MATR's members dig deeper into the challenges facing all of us.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Griz fans: have you seen the fan at the rally in Libya yet?
Go Griz takes on a new meaning...
Non-Profit News
- A Laptop that Knows Where You're Looking
Eye-tracking cameras offer a new way to control your computer.
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- Intermountain's community services programs provide mental health services for over 600 kids in the Helena, Montana area.
"The community services we provide are invisible to most people," Long said, "but that's good for our clients."
- Bad behavior - Child abuse claims plague Pinehaven youth home in Montana
A growing number of alumni and former staffers claim that the ranch's young residents are fleeing from physical and emotional abuse.
Transportation
- Missoula, Montana's Monte Dolack is honored with an exhibit of 25 of his posters at the United Nations
Missoula, Montana's Monte Dolack is honored with an exhibit of 25 of his posters at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland as part of the International Year Of The Forests celebration.
- Moving Beyond the Automobile - Welcome to the future.
Cars were then, and this is now.
- L.A. City Council Approves New Bike Plan - Unanimously
The 2010 Bike Plan, to be signed this morning, is perhaps the most ambitious pro-cyclist action in L.A. history, designating a 1,680-mile bikeway system and sweeping new bike-friendly policies.
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