The State with the Best Education Wins!
	MATR Newsletter - Fri May 20, 2005

MATR Web hosting provided by: Add an event... Upcoming Events Fiscal Physical, 05/20, Missoula Missoula GIS Coffee Talk, 5/20, Missoula Free Workshop On Funding Renewable And Energy Efficiency Projects, 5/24, Helena Jim Rogers And Randy Williams - Founder Of Keiretsu Forum To Speak At Forum Event, 5/25, Seattle, WA Employment Law – What You Need to Know Now, 05/25, Billings Roundtable With John T. Riley – Outsourcing, Global Economy, TCS - Present And Future Impact In Montana, 5/27, Missoula CITY CLUB MISSOULA With Jim Clark, Superintendent, Missoula County Public Schools, 5/27, Missoula New Events Missoula GIS Coffee Talk, 5/20, Missoula Free Workshop On Funding Renewable And Energy Efficiency Projects, 5/24, Helena Employment Law – What You Need to Know Now, 05/25, Billings CITY CLUB MISSOULA With Jim Clark, Superintendent, Missoula County Public Schools, 5/27, Missoula Free Workshop To Learn About Starting A NEW Not-for-profit Organization, 6/1, Billings Business Owners Invited to B.O.S.S., 06/03, Billings Covenants Not to Compete-Are They Enforceable., 06/08, Billings Idaho Science And Technology Second Annual Industry Forum, 6/8-9, Boise Contracts-The Devil is in the Details, 06/15, Billings Surviving A SBIR Audit, 6/22, Helena Small Wood Biomass Workshop, 6/30, Cascade, Idaho To subscribe or unsubscribe from the free weekly MATR newsletter, please visit our list info page

" Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice." -- Thomas Paine

Please plan on joining in another interesting Roundtable next Friday 5/27: "Roundtable With John T. Riley – Outsourcing, Global Economy, TCS - Present And Future Impact In Montana, 5/27, Missoula" http://www.matr.net/article-14584.html

Come Home Montana

• Dreaming on the land
  "Montana is but three days travel from New York; only one from Seattle,'' or that "Montana chinooks make the winters pleasant.''

Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana

• UM business school offers crash course on start-ups
  


• MSU Business professor, Martha Joh Reeder-Kearns publishes book aimed to inspire and guide students
  'a stranger can teach your child in a short time that which you cannot teach in a lifetime.'"

Education

• Montana Tech Infomatics program sees first grads
  "It's about bringing technology into a health care setting,"


• Report Grades States on Education Technology - How does yours rank?
  Education Week ranked states on a range of indicators including computer to student ratio, technology standards, testing students' technology skills, establishing a virtual school, and offering computer-based assessments.

Montana Business

• Visual Learning Systems of Missoula is "Taming the Tamarisk" from space
  


• Wheat Montana finds home in Billings
  


• HKM Analytical Lab
  


• Semitool exec focuses on Asia
  Semitool does almost $200 million annually in sales. Twenty-five percent of those sales are in the United States, 35 percent in Europe and 40 percent in Asia.


• Ligocyte moves into spacious new building to accommodate growth
  Fourteen of Ligocyte's employees have Ph.Ds in science-related fields, and 65 percent of their work force studied at Montana State University or the University of Montana.


• RightNow Technologies of Bozeman Wins CRM Magazine's 2005 Service Leader Award for Second Consecutive Year
  Editors Cite High Customer Satisfaction, Effective Problem-Solving, Successful IPO, and Continued Sales Growth as Key Factors


• Billings entrepreneurs sell off to expand opportunities
  The idea for the Web services division is to provide a one-stop shop. The Burlesons offer services in six areas: Web site design and development, e-commerce, certified search engine optimization, Web hosting services, Web site maintenance and Web applications.


• Modwest launches reseller hosting packages
  Our new reseller packages will allow these important customers to resell Modwest hosting services to their clients while maintaining their brand."


• May 2005 Eye on Business- Montana Chamber Newsletter
  

Montana Economic Development

• Struggling downtown centers to receive state help
  The recent Legislature, responding to worries of deteriorating downtown areas across Montana, passed a bill authorizing the creation of a "Main Street program" to help communities maintain their business centers. The bill sets aside $125,000 for historic preservation and economic development of city centers.


• Cabela's coming to Helena?
  


• Intel's Craig Barrett rides off into the Montana sunset
  From the day he joined Intel, Barrett adapted well to the company's aggressive and fast-moving culture. He is competitive, in both business and at play. He loves a variety of sports, from mountain biking and skiing to the calm of fly fishing at his Montana resort ranch.


• Growth, Globalization, and the Environment
  ....increased wealth and economic freedom provide the resources and foster the creativity to tackle difficult environmental problems and reduce our impact on the planet.


• Montana Economic Developers Association (MEDA) resource team hopes to give boost to Absarokee
  "Folks need to get realistic about the value of their properties, now that the community's changing," Gloria O'Rourke of MEDA said. "They have to reinvent their businesses and look at new markets."


• Report: Montana has shaky balance between tax revenue, spending
  ‘‘It's very apparent that revenue growth is not able to keep up with expenditure growth,'' he said, noting that the two-year budget just adopted by the Legislature spends about $2 million more than the state expects to take in.

Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana

• USDA Rural Development Presents $750,000 Check to Montana Community Development Corporation for Expansion of Revolving Loan Fund
  “Small businesses are a great bet to help rural economies,” said Rosalie Cates, MCDC Executive Director. “This money can go directly toward the people who create jobs and income in our rural communities.”

GIS Technology

• GPS units in the driver's seat
  Building new lanes can help. But for decades, state and federal transportation authorities also have pursued the cheaper option of making traffic flow more efficient.


• Battle against wildfires gets high-tech weapon - LANDFIRE a $40 million effort by six federal to figure agencies out the fire risk for every inch of the country and map was developed in Montana
  The ability to zero in on a particular gully during a fireand tell what fuels are there is more of a side benefit, said Bruce Jeske, LANDFIRE's Montana-based project manager.

Montana Biotech

• Biotech Companies Seek Location Advantages
  Today, 40 states target biotechnology or life sciences for development, and all 50 states have technology-based economic development initiatives that are available to biotechnology companies.

Funding and Building your Business

• Intellections Newsletter
  


• Quantifying what makes a good CEO
  With the help of senior partners from 40 venture capital firms they surveyed over the past year, Rickards and Delhougne identify three distinct phases through which early-stage chief executives must navigate:


• Startup 101 by Guy Kawasaki
  Frankly, of these 20 pages (in the business plan), only the executive summary counts.


• Pricing Strategy - How much should you charge for your product or service?
  Before we get to the actual pricing models, here are some of the factors that you need to consider:


• How--and Why--to Incorporate Your Business
  Remember, aside from tax reasons, the most common motivation for incurring the cost of setting up a corporation is the recognition that the shareholder is not legally liable for the actions of the corporation.


• Outside Experts for Entrepreneurial Companies
  In sum, make wise use of this valuable resource. You’ll move your company faster than would be possible on your own.

Regional Business

• Corporate comeback - Center Partners in Post Falls
  "We're more of a sales organization now," said Matt Carleton, site director in Post Falls. "We look for personality more than before."


• Setting sights high - Washington company, Martin Archery Inc., in Walla Walla has made a name for itself in archery circles
  Outside of archery circles, few people have heard of the company. But the products have been seen worldwide, operations manager Ryan Martin says.


• Utah medical firms, Huntsman Cancer Institute and LineaGen linking up with IBM
  A medical information system that one day could help a doctor pick the right asthma medication based on a patient's DNA also could allow researchers to learn which genes make people more susceptible to colon cancer.


• Boise Cascade won't try IPO
  "We felt the IPO simply would not give us the value it deserves," Moser said. "Our company is strong, and the market just wasn't ready to reflect that."

Regional Economic Development

• Junto gives businesses a kick-start - vSpring Managing Director Greg Warnock Seeks Candidates for Entrepreneurship Program
  Junto Entrepreneurship Program is a fledgling project designed to sprout young entrepreneurs and reap their ideas.


• Energy crisis could unplug growth in Utah
  Historically, Utah has been fortunate, Barber said, as the state ranked near the top 10 of all states in terms of oil, natural gas and coal production.


• We no longer compete only with ourselves
  "Our fear," she added, "is that when you talk to employers out there, they say they are not getting the skills they need," in part because "the colleges are not getting students with the skills they need.‘‘


• S.C. leaders promote regional and cluster development partnerships
  Businesses and elected leaders must get involved in making economic clusters work to raise residents' income faster than other states, S.C. leaders said Friday during the annual Growth Summit.


• The Status of Rural America - "Crafting a Competitive Future", a new report from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines
  Rather than viewing rural America as synonymous with “agriculture,” it is important to delve into the modern components of the rural economy.


• Location Quotient Tool Provides Industry Clusters Information
  


• Northern Minnesota launches a sophisticated site for a rural region
  A new Web site featuring 5,000 pages of information, much of it designed for entrepreneurs, will be unveiled today. ``If you don't have the information, you're out of the hunt,'' she said. ``It doesn't matter where the businesses are. They can find us anywhere.''


• Washington State Creates $350M Life Science Fund
  


• Arizona Angel Capital Tax Credit Passes
  Arizona's investment and technology communities are the anticipated winners from the state legislature's recent passage of a tax credit encouraging angel capital investments in start-up Arizona tech firms.


• $500M Rural Capital Advance Launched to support business expansion, start-ups, and small business retention.
  Of the first $100 million to be allocated, $50 million will be reserved until Dec. 31 for five states (Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota), with each receiving $10 million. Any funds to those five states beyond the $10 million will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis.


• Education Is the Key to Success in the Knowledge Economy
  These “university towns” also attract a tremendous amount of research and development money every year to fund projects in science and engineering, among other disciplines. While much of this research doesn’t turn out to have any commercial application, at least in the short term, some of it does, thereby spawning the type of companies that will drive our economy well into the future.


• Bragging about Utah - Eager tourism officials armed with $10 million
  In addition to the new funding, the state's tourism promotion effort is being bolstered by cooperation. "We've never seen the industry so united as they are now," said Nan Anderson, executive director of the Utah Tourism Industry Coalition.


• Oregon State $100 Million Fund of Funds Venture Investment Allocations Stay Local
  David Almodovar, a vice president at Credit Suisse First Boston, said that more than 150 investment firms expressed interest in the program and 27 submitted formal proposals.


• Washington State Law Encourages Locally Manufactured Distributed Generation and Renewable Energy Equipment
  The first bill (SB 5101) establishes a renewable energy production incentive that is larger if the equipment comes from in-state manufacturers. The second bill (SB 5111) provides corporate tax breaks for solar energy businesses in the state based on their sales.

University Business Plan Competitions

• Planning for Gold - Building Success through the University Business Plan Competition Circuit
  Entrepreneurship is alive and well in our nation's universities.


• Four business plans for a graying population standout at business plan competition
  The competition was organized by Santa Clara University, the American Society in Aging and Mary Furlong, a consultant to businesses that want to market to older people.


• University of Montana Business Plan Competition – Tried in the Fire
  Great Northern Auto Finance Takes $5,000 First Prize in the 16th Annual John Ruffatto Business Plan Competition


• Eight Great Business Plans, But Only One Is the Winner at the Wharton Business Plan Competition
  

Incubators and R&D

• Hobson student, Cassie Abel hopes to make changes to our environment - “My system is 80 percent efficient and can heat water to 49 degrees Celsius,”
  Cassie Abel may not win a Nobel Prize, but this 16-year-old Hobson junior may have a big impact on the type of car we drive in the future, and the quality of the air we will be breathing.


• The U.S. Patent Office issued six patents to Gallatin Valley inventors during March:
  


• MSU researchers say new crop could produce affordable biodiesel
  Alternative fuels are a major focus of MSU's Institute for Biobased Products, which is developing crops that can be used to make biodiesel, ethanol and biolubricants to replace motor oils.


• Research Roundup at Montana State University (#248), Rainforest repellant, Biofilms abound, Riding the range, Privatizing elk
  

University TechTransfer

• MSU to license another brucellosis vaccine
  The advantage of using subunits is that the vaccine isn't made from a live organism that could actually infect the animal or the person administering the vaccine, said MSU technology transfer officer Nick Zelver.

Montana Education/Business Partnerships

• ILX Lightwave (Bozeman, MT) to Donate $100,000 in Equipment to Colleges and Universities
  Recipients will be chosen based on the quality of their respective university’s photonics educational program and the relevance of the proposed research to the future of laser diode technology and applications.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• Missoula Cultural Council - Some news and upcoming events for the week of May 16, 2005
  


• Arts and crafts, as far as the eye can see
  Here you can spend a day, a week, a month, or even years seeing, learning about, and purchasing beautiful handmade art, and perhaps even shaping some of your own.

Energy

• Wind expo features gadgets galore - Xcel touts wind power goals - By end of 2006, firm will be No. 1 provider in nation, CEO says
  More than 235 exhibitors, ranging from turbine manufacturers to bolt suppliers, were on hand at the Windpower 2005 exhibition Tuesday at the Colorado Convention Center. A closer look at three of them:


• Harvesting Clean Energy eNews Bulletin May 2005 – Newsletter #11
  


• Venture Capital: Investors fuel push for poop power
  "It is the early stages and it is a young market, but it has a huge upside" said Peugh, who was so impressed with the technology that he invested in the company. "It is not going to displace petroleum, but if combined with some of these other technologies it displaces 10 percent that is huge."

Connectivity & Communications

• VoIP Firm Vonage Tests Routers For Mobile Service
  With the special router and handset, individual customers would be free to roam about their home or office, untethered from a modem or phone jack and without a connection to a laptop or desktop computer.


• Information wants to be free -- but it isn't
  In 10 years -- maybe less -- the notion of free content underwritten by advertising revenue will have been swept away by something else.


• Cellphones can now get AMBER Alerts
  Under the system, law enforcement officials work with local radio and television broadcasters to issue emergency messages when a child is missing and thought to be in danger.

Leadership Montana

• Great Falls Leadership class refurbishes welcome sign... literally
  "I've lived here my whole life, but I learned so much more about this community through this program," said class member Tavi Townsend, the compliance officer at General Distributing. "Great Falls has a great deal to offer: our museums, the parks, our outdoor recreation.

Cool Stuff That's Coming

• Super Water Kills Bugs Dead
  Chronic wound care is a multibillion-dollar market worldwide. The solution will be available to U.S. physicians in June, said Alimi. Trials are being organized for preoperative disinfectant, dental applications and burn and diabetic treatments, he said.


• Nanotech printing on the way
  In the future, Dimatix expects its printing technologies to be used in the life sciences, where scientists could re-create human cells by layering down DNA substrates.


• Ten Must-Read Tech Stories from Forbes Magazine
  


• Visually impared can surf the web with AudioEye - "Surf by Sound"
  

VIRUS ALERTS

• Computer bug strikes again - Sober.Q, a familiar nemesis, has political message
  A persistent computer virus of German origin has flared again, this time dumping torrents of right-wing messages and Web site links into e-mail inboxes worldwide.

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