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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Jan 24, 2012 |
“It’s important that our educational leaders and policy makers recognize that that’s where we’re heading. It’s a completely different competitive dynamic. We have to start thinking not just about our schools, but … how we transform our state systems by bringing together a P80 (pre-kindergarten through age 80) view of each student.” Michael King vice president of global education for IBM "The State with the Best Education Wins!"
Allegiant Air to innagurate flights from Missoula, Kalispell and Billings to Oakland, CA http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- 2012 MEDA Gubernatorial Forum And Annual Meeting, 2/28-29, Helena, Montana http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- Governor demands 'Lean management' for all state agencies http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Globalization Partners International
Montana Department of Commerce
- Localization challenges in translating elearning content
Ask someone: "What is elearning" and chances are you will get as many different responses as the number of people you ask.
PrintingForLess
- 3rd Annual ServeMontana Symposium "Growing Montana Communities!", 2/23-24, Helena, Montana
This exciting 2-day conference will explore how volunteers are Growing Montana Communities everyday through their time and commitment to making a difference.
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- Getting Your Resolutions to Stick - PrintingForLess.com
Do the hard stuff
- Southwest Color, LLC Joins Forces with PrintingForLess.com
Andrew Field, CEO of PFL, stated, "Southwest Color is a great addition to our company and will be an important component for our future success and growth. We fully expect to explore further strategic acquisitions in 2012."
Workforce Development
- How the Finnish school system outshines U.S. education
The Finnish school system might sound like a restless American schoolchild's daydream: school hours cut in half, little homework, no standardized tests, 50-minute recess and free lunch. But the Finns' unconventional approach to education has vaulted Finland to the upper echelon of countries in overall academic performance.
- Don't bet against Neeru Khosla's idea to save our schools - CK-12 Foundation
Teachers nationwide have downloaded textbooks and other material from the nonprofit's website, passing them along to millions of students, by CK-12's estimate.
- Predictive analytics can help schools quickly identify at-risk students--so they can intervene before it's too late
These breakthroughs come at a key time for U.S. education, which is under enormous pressure to innovate and provide better learning opportunities.
- Innovations for Learning
We seek to form partnerships with other nonprofit agencies and for-profit entities in a common quest to improve public education, and as part of the larger effort to bring families out of poverty.
- The Unique Challenges Facing the IT Professional in K12 Education - Survey Report
You are still forced to face the huge challenge of managing and supporting an increasing amount of technology assets with an overworked and understaffed department. When compared to your counterparts in the corporate world, the numbers are simply shocking.
- Wolfram Alpha launches free portal with tools for math instruction
Numerous studies have highlighted the importance of U.S. students' math achievement, and now math teachers have a new resource, aligned with the Common Core standards and available free of charge, that might help them teach abstract math lessons.
- 26 Amazing Facts About Finland's Unorthodox Education System
The children are not measured at all for the first six years of their education.
Visit Montana
- Montana State University's workforce and professional development spring courses open for registration
New courses include Search Engine Optimization, How to Start a Business in Montana, and Climate Change in the Northern Rockies, among others.
- Rural Health Delivery Winter 2012 - A Quarterly Update from Montana AHEC / Office of Rural Health
Together, these organizations are working to address the healthcare workforce needs of the state and improve the health of all Montanans.
Come Home Montana
- Bird-Watchers Revel in Unusual Spike in Snowy Owl Sightings in Montana
Mr. Holt suggests that the draw of the snowy owls may be partly a fascination with the birds' coloring. "White wolves, polar bears, white whales, white buffalo -- there is something about white plumage that signifies innocence or purity," he said. "People don't flock to see any other animal the way they do white ones."
Come Home Washington
- Montana Career Opportunities - Account executives and Video Contest - Short Sale Success Inc
SSS Facilitates short sale real estate transactions by training and certifying agents, providing them a dedicated virtual assistant, implementing transactional software, and mentoring.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Chief Executive Officer - Mountain-Pacific Quality Health
Chief Executive Officer Mountain-Pacific Quality Health http://www.mpqhf.org is an affiliation of four corporation located in Montana, Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii.
- Libby, Montana mayor, mechanic looks to repair town image
"We're trying to get this 'death town' stigma behind us."
- Montana Career Opportunity - Business Coordinator - Northwestern Energy
Provide operational accounting activities and financial analysis for areas within the Operations division.
MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association
- Washington Career Opportunity - Manager, Data Services - Expedia
As the Manager of Data Services you'll be leading the team that is responsible for the data layer in the CCT technology stack.
Montana Business
- 2012 MEDA Gubernatorial Forum And Annual Meeting, 2/28-29, Helena, Montana
A recent poll of the 500+ individuals that subscribe to MEDA's listserve listed the following as top priorities:
Careers
- The Bigfork Promotion Group Promoting Bigfork, Montana Year Round
"We can find more opportunities for events to fill (Bigfork) up."
- Helena-area start-up lender writes off $680,000 in 3 years - Montana Business Assistance Connection
The Montana Business Assistance Connection is in the business of making loans, often to entrepreneurs and others who might struggle to get start-up financing from a bank.
- Montana Goes To Brazil Group Tour Offered
This exciting vacation is open to anyone, not just members of the state chamber, and is for the pure tourist, as well as offering business networking options.
- City Council OKs grant to help small Missoula tech company TerraEchos expand by 25
TerraEchos counts the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Department of Energy among its customers. Philp said the company is increasingly looking to hire veterans with expertise in networking and communication, especially Montanans who need good jobs after being stationed overseas.
Funding and Building your Business
- SETH GODIN: If You're An Average Worker, You're Going Straight To The Bottom
The days when people were able to get above average pay for average work are over.
- The Perils and Pluses of the Off-Script Resume
Paper resumes aren't in jeopardy of extinction, but these days some aggressive job hunters are going off script to get noticed.
- Finding Their Way to the Fast Track
"Solving thorny business problems creatively helps rising stars get on the screen of upper management and provides the kind of leadership development experience they need to advance."
- Job seeker uses social media to spread the word
"It's an easy way to cast as wide a net as possible. You can reach a lot more eyeballs through social media than you can through reaching out to people on a one-on-one basis.''
- Your Résumé vs. Oblivion
One small error, such as listing the name of a former employer after the years worked there, instead of before, can ruin a great candidate's chances.
- What's your narrative? Sam's story.
How can you switch gears, as Sam did?
Government and University TechTransfer
- This VC Has Heard 10,000 Pitches: Here's What Works
It's really important to understand how you get in front of people. We only meet with 15 to 20 percent of the teams that talk to us.
- Why Some Startups Succeed And Others Fail: 10 Fascinating Harvard Findings
After scouring the 35 page document, here are the fascinating answers to all of those questions and more.
- A Smart Business Knows 8 Ways to Pivot Their Vision
The pivot can be applied to any element of the business model, without changing the underlying vision.
- Leadership tips from John le Carré
"If the real work of your company is done outside your office, why are you spending so much time in it?"
- Pay-to-Play Becoming Less Common in Venture Capital
Pay-to-play provisions encourage investors to reinvest when the condition of a business isn't encouraging. If fewer venture capital deals have pay-to-play provisions then VCs will be less likely to put additional money into start-ups in down rounds than they used to be.
- Six Lessons in Entrepreneurship
#1 - Get everything in writing.
- With New Law, Profits Take a Back Seat
In the past two years, lawmakers in seven states, including Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey, passed legislation to create benefit corporations as an alternative business model.
- Top ten lies of entrepreneurs and investors - Guy Kawasaki
Do you know what the difference is between the lies of entrepreneurs and the lies of investors? The investors have money.
Incubators and R&D
- Conflict of interest program: SBIR/STTR
The Office for Technology Commercialization will guide faculty in the formation of the company. Faculty members will hold a majority interest, and the university will hold a significant equity position. In the early stages, the held equity will have no financial value.
Montana Education Excellence
- Fungus research at MSU could help biofuels production
"When I dried it out, it just oozed oil."
Developing an Angel Network in Montana
- Higher Education Commissioner Clayton Christian To Hold Listening Session, 1/25, University Of Montana - Missoula
After a welcome and introduction by UM President Royce Engstrom, Christian will share a brief overview of system goals, and then invite questions, interests or concerns from the campus and Missoula communities regarding their perspectives of higher education in Montana.
- Bozeman schools emphasize real-life problem solving to prepare kids for 21st century
The goal is to prepare children for the 21st century world, where knowing facts -- readily available on the Internet -- is no longer enough. U.S. students competing with kids from China, Japan and the rest of the world will need to be creative thinkers, good at adapting and solving unexpected problems.
Idaho Business
- Angel Investing: The Real Make-or-Break Issue
How does one intelligently invest in a limited number of startups, when we all know how unpredictable their outcomes may be?
Oregon Business
- Intermountain inks deals for $47.3M capital raise
Castle Creek Capital Partners IV LP, affiliates of Stadium Capital Management LLC and certain other unnamed investors have agreed to buy Intermountain shares, the company said.
- Chobani, other Greek yogurts on a marathon-like growth spurt
Company officials helped break ground Dec. 19 on a $128 million, 45,000-square-foot production plant in Twin Falls. Chobani expects to employ 400 people there.
Washington State Business
- Oregon venture capital investment totals $238.6 million in 2011, highest level since 2007
A number of high-dollar deals inflated the growth, NVCA president Mark Heesen wrote in the release. That means the increase doesn't necessarily point to more funding for all startups and industries
Education
- Governor demands 'Lean management' for all state agencies
The Lean philosophy aims to break down management barriers, amplify workers' voices in designing the work process, cut waste in time and materials, and improve the product.
Connectivity & Communications
- College rocket scientist finds happiness in Fab Lab
Century College instructor John Rupert is a retired rocket scientist who has found a new passion - turning students onto science.
- Even in Washington County's Silicon Forest, boys vastly outnumber girls in science, technology and engineering classes
In the heart of Oregon's Silicon Forest where parents are engineers and technicians for Intel, Tekronix and a dozen other technology companies, the shortage of girls in high school physics, engineering and technology courses is staggering.
Energy and Climate Change
- Victory! Reid Calls Off Protect IP Act Vote
On Wednesday, as thousands of websites blacked themselves out or altered their appearance in protest, Republican and Democratic lawmakers in both the Senate and House began distancing themselves from the non-partisan bills they had once supported.
- Super Wi-Fi May Bring Longer-Distance Wireless Internet to More of U.S.
"The entrepreneur and researcher in me is very excited with what kinds of systems might emerge."
- Unprotected videoconferences found vulnerable to hackers
Videoconferencing equipment is often left vulnerable to hackers.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Underground Wind Turbines? You Betcha "Double-tiered, skyward-facing phonograph horn"
A Chaska, MN-based renewable energy development company, SheerWind http://sheerwind.com/index.php , is putting a new twist on wind power by moving the spinning blades on top underground.
- LED lightbulb prices are falling and so will household power consumption
Industry experts say that within a decade LEDs will eclipse conventional lighting such as halogen and compact fluorescent bulbs - and not because of any new government regulations, but rather because it will just make sense economically.
Non-Profit News
- New diabetes device developed that checks saliva instead of blood
A new device developed by scientists in the United States measures blood sugar levels in saliva, so that diabetics do not have to draw blood when checking their levels.
Transportation
- Mass. Launches 'Pay for Success' Program to Support Social Services
In the approach, also known as "pay for success," social entrepreneurs, charities, and other private entities will design and finance programs to address to social ills.
- Clay Christensen sees non-profits' dilemma as the innovator's dilemma
"If we don't invest to have a common language and a common way to frame the problem, we will never get any answers."
- Corporate Congress benefits AWARE and the people it serves
AWARE has 1,100 employees in 26 communities across Montana and has been providing homes and training for adults with developmental disabilities for more than 30 years.
- Inaugural Conference on Electric Roads & Vehicles Promises a Bold Approach to Electric Transportation
The conference will focus on a new approach to transportation that includes integrating vehicle and highway infrastructures into a network of electric roadways and cars.
- Car-sharing networks flourish in the Bay Area
Car-sharing services help to reduce the number of vehicles on the road.
- Allegiant Air to innagurate flights from Missoula, Kalispell and Billings to Oakland, Ca
- New Report Ranks Top Cities and States for Bicycling and Walking
NYC has started thinking about streets as places, where limited space needs to be allocated to the safety and benefit of all users. Perhaps the first and most visible evidence of this paradigm shift, Sadik-Khan said, was turning Times Square into a pedestrian plaza.
- Startup: Portland-based BikeTrak helps owners track down their stolen bike using GPS technology
Owners can use BikeTrak's data to track down their bikes and share the details with police.
- Let the Robot Drive: The Autonomous Car of the Future Is Here
"This car can do 75 mph," Urmson says. "It can track pedestrians and cyclists. It understands traffic lights. It can merge at highway speeds." In short, after almost a hundred years in which driving has remained essentially unchanged, it has been completely transformed in just the past half decade.
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