|
|
|
| MATR Newsletter - Tue Mar 27, 2012 |
"If we're going to get this country out of its current energy situation, we can't just conserve our way out. We can't just drill our way out. We can't bomb our way out. We're going to do it the old-fashioned, American way. We're going to invent our way out, working together.” Donald Sadoway TED Video: http://matr.net/articl ... .html
Montana Department of Commerce
Blackfoot Telecommunications Group
- Montana Department of Commerce Opens New Trade Offices in Asia
"This improvement will ensure the state is up to speed in the rapidly changing global marketplace - for significantly less taxpayer money," said Governor Brian Schweitzer. "A presence in these marketplaces will grow the demand for Montana products, Montana business and raise our profile as a power player in international trade and tourism."
Come Home Montana
- Blackfoot Telephone, Missoula Electric and Energy Partners Bring Technology to Rural Schools
Since its inception in 1989, the EEE Program has provided over $388,000 worth of electronic equipment to schools throughout Western Montana
- Blackfoot acquires web host company Modwest
"It's a good news story for Missoula, it's an opportunity for us to keep a great business here and to expand it. I think that's the most positive news to come out of all of this." Bill Squires, Blackfoot CEO
Montana Ambassadors
- Montana Career Opportunity - Chief Executive Officer - Montana Health Cooperative
As an exciting first step, we are seeking a Chief Executive Officer who can organize and prepare the organization to begin serving Montanans by January, 2014.
- Firms Coming to Billings, Montana Promise Hundreds of Jobs
Look Who's Coming
Montana Business
- Montana Ambassadors Hear That Economy Could Boom
The Montana ambassadors are saying the state's abundant resources are creating positive economic expectations. "When it comes to developing those resources Montana takes the position of 'all of the above.' We aren't going to do just renewables, just wind, just geothermal, oil and coal. We're doing all of them," Montana Economic Officer; Evan Barrett said.
- MSU President Waded Cruzado Honored by Montana Ambassadors as Educator of the Year
In presenting the award to President Cruzado, Governor Brian Schweitzer said of her, "There's a whole new energy in Montana because of Waded Cruzado," and "Montana State is being recognized around the world."
Montana Economic Development
- MMEC Forward Focus - Three Upcoming Events of Interest
Tools and News for Today's Manufacturer
- Bacterin International posts record full year revenue of $30.1 million, stands by 2012 sales forecast
"We increased our revenue on a quarterly basis by 21% sequentially, 72% year over year, and 96% for the full year 2011 over the full year 2010, showing accelerating progress," said chairman and CEO Guy Cook.
- Made in Montana Marketplace aims at pairing producers with wholesale buyers
The Made in Montana Marketplace aims to link producers of Montana-made products with wholesale buyers. It also gives those producers educational opportunities on how to prepare for a trade show and how to market products.
The Burton K. Wheeler Center
- Bozeman-area business community gathers for summit
"Economic Gardening" involves fostering local businesses and creating an "environment where entrepreneurs can thrive," said Brit Fontenot, city economic development director.
- The Northern Rocky Mountain Economic Development District hires first director
Members of the district include Park and Gallatin counties, towns in each county and several businesspeople in the area.
- Developing the Billings Economy
Issues of getting skilled labor and providing training and education to meet the growing need for such workers, prevailed throughout the conversation. Meeting that challenge will be important to being able to continue to grow the Billings area economy.
The Missoula Economic Partnership
- We The People: Conversations On The Montana And U.S. Constitutions, 4/20-21, Helena, MT
In addition to being a major election year, 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the Montana Constitution. In recognition of that formative document, Humanities Montana is organizing a two-day conference to take place at Carroll College in Helena on April 20-21.
Careers
- Missoula's high airline fares hurt business
Depending on how far in advance you purchase a ticket, fares to identical destinations might be double what they would be just down the road in Spokane.
Business Plan Forums
- Comfort on camera becomes important job skill in 21st century
"It's not enough to have a great PowerPoint. People are going to be watching your every move."
- Job prospects improving for college grads
"Hiring projections by industry indicate positive movement nearly across the board," the report said, with the strongest demand for business, engineering and computer science majors.
- How to Leverage Your Personality Type to Nail the Interview
Depending on your personality type and the position at hand, you can emphasize your strengths and learn how those preferences could help you at this particular organization.
Come Home North Dakota
- Grow Utah Ventures Announces Details for Six 'Concept to Company' Entrepreneur Contests and Events
To date, the "Concept to Company" contests have distributed more than $500,000 in prize money and services and have helped launch over 75 companies.
Economic Gardening
- Direct-Hire Opportunities in Williston, ND
One of the largest oilfield services companies, Weatherford operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 50,000 people worldwide.
- Job seekers flock to North Dakota 'man camps'
While the national unemployment rate is 8.3 percent, in North Dakota it is 3.2 percent -- and it is 1 percent in Williams County, where Williston has grown from a population of 12,500 before the boom began in 2008 to an estimated 20,000 now.
Other Economies
- 10th Annual! Economic Gardening Gathering, 6/12-13 , Grand Rapids, Michigan
The conference will highlight Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's major policy commitment to "growing your own" and will feature Michigan companies participating in the large pilot project currently under way.
Regional Economic Development
- Ann Arbor Spark Launches Videos to Promote Economic Development Services
The videos will be used as part of Ann Arbor Spark's engagement with Pure Michigan, as a vehicle for marketing the region to those outside of the state.
- Bay Area adds more than 15,000 jobs as employment surges
The Bay Area economy created 15,400 jobs in February, raising total employment in the region to the highest level in three years, the state's Employment Development Department reported Friday.
Utah Economic Development
- Tomorrow's job market, work force look too different
In the coming years, companies that can build up their own supplies of the best trained and motivated workers will win -- and so will the economies in which they operate.
- USDA: Funding Available For Regional Economic Development Strategies
"The deadline for submitting RCDI applications is May 9, 2012.
Wyoming Business
- Lt. Governor Bell: Economy in Utah strong, but education weak
Lt. Gov. Greg Bell says Utah's economy is going great guns but faces a future of stunted job growth if it doesn't improve its education system.
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- The Wyoming Business Council, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources Team Up for Energy Technology Research Commercialization
Study will evaluate technologies to add value to Wyo. energy resources
Montana Education Excellence
- Education 2.0 isn't coming. It's Here. And the Way You're Educated Will Be Changed Forever
Increasingly sophisticated learning and credentialing opportunities are emerging online, and they are free or nearly free. This disparity would lead to a full-fledged education revolution.
- Vampires, Privacy, Addiction & More: 9 YouTube Lessons From Harvard Extension School
With wise words from Harry Lewis, computer science professor and former dean of Harvard College, to a three-minute lesson on the horseshoe crab, Harvard Extension School's YouTube Channel's got a bit of it all.
- The Stanford Education Experiment Could Change Higher Learning Forever
Last fall, the university in the heart of Silicon Valley did something it had never done before:
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- Adoption of Common Core Standards for Montana schools raises the bar
In western Montana, most AA school districts have already adopted the Common Core blueprint - including the Missoula County Public Schools district - in preparation to fully implement them within the next two years
Funding and Building your Business
- Missoula's Sentinel High School DECA students to compete at national conference
The DECA members are excelling in marketing and business; 28 of the 33 qualifiers will travel to Salt Lake City and compete with thousands of DECA students from across North America from April 28 through May 3.
- Montana high school students make fly rods thanks to grant from Morrison Maierle
"Montana Fishin' & Chips" is a multi-faceted and collaborative project involving advanced CNC machining students and freshman English students.
Energy and Climate Change
- Entitlements in Business Should Never Replace Merit
Here are some examples of people rationalizing their entitlements, especially when the fantasy serves to owe them money or power:
- How the JOBS Act will rewrite the rules of investing
How changing financial rules will affect technology startups -- and could amp up your exposure to those fledgling companies.
- Ten High Risk Drivers Every Entrepreneur Faces
Here is my own priority list of key risk drivers that every entrepreneur and every investor should evaluate and minimize in starting a business:
- 12 Top Tools to Manage Your Social Media Marketing
Taking advantage of these tools can mean the difference between having time to make social media marketing work for your business or not.
- How Do You Know When It's Time to Hire Your First Employee?
It's frequently estimated that the cost of recruiting, hiring and training a new employee can cost a business $4,000 (or more), which is often anywhere from 25 percent to 200 percent of annual compensation for that new worker.
- Startup pitches post-JOBS Act: Pump up the volume
Publicly soliciting investments is about to become legal -- and that could push the tech startup mania to a whole new level.
- You Must Be Proactive in Developing Board Of Directors Chemistry
Don't accept that you have a dysfunctional Board and you have to live with it.
- Click here to find out more! Venture Deals: Understanding the Venture Capital Industry
If you are interested AT ALL in raising money for your company, read this book.
- JOBS Act: The Winners And Losers
This pending law is a HUGE game-changer for the biggest risk-takers in American Capitalism: the entrepreneurs who are creating jobs by starting and growing companies and the investors who provide them with the financial resources to do so.
- Too Many Leaders Still Rely on Their 'Golden Gut'
Intuition should never be ignored, but it should be supplemented by the growing wealth of data and analytic power available. The evidence is overwhelming that systematic analysis, not paralysis, leads to better decisions than intuition alone.
Montana Biotech
- Bill Gates: We need crazy energy entrepreneurs
We need "energy miracles," or break through innovation, in at least five areas, and in each of these areas "we need at least two hundred crazy people who think their idea alone can solve this." said Bill Gates
- TED Video: Taylor Wilson: Yup, I built a nuclear fusion reactor when I was 14
When he was 14, he built a working fusion reactor in his parents' garage. Now 17, he takes the TED stage at short notice to tell (the short version of) his story.
- While DKRW plans Wyoming coal-to-gasoline plant, other firms switch to natural gas
"We think the challenges from a coal project are significantly larger than what we want to tackle at this time," Nerd Gas Senior Vice President Cary Brus said.
- An Even Warmer Future Ahead
A new model finds that the world could be up to 5.5 degrees warmer in 2050 than it was in the 1990's.
- What Is the 'Green Button'?
With the advent of smart electricity meters and websites that are updated in real time, getting accurate information on how much energy your home consumes is becoming more convenient. The White House hopes that data soon will only be one click away for millions of Americans.
- TED Video: Donald Sadoway: The missing link to renewable energy
Donald Sadoway is working on a battery miracle -- an inexpensive, incredibly efficient, three-layered battery using "liquid metal."
Connectivity & Communications
- Glaxo and J&J's New €150MM Fund Will Help the Biotech Ecosystem
As never before, the manner in which the industry conducts R&D is changing.
Non-Profit News
- Old Venture Capital Firm Finally Updates Old Web Site - Asks People Not to Visit until They're Sure It Works
The firm solicited bids from web developers and chose a proposal from a pair of local middle school students, because "We support education, I guess?...and it was free."
- New federal Internet privacy standards introduced
Released one month after the White House called for a "privacy Bill of Rights," the Federal Trade Commission's 57-page privacy report consisted of a set of "best practices" that the Internet industry is expected to follow -- or face sanctions.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Golden Hat Association - Honoring Intelligence
The Golden Hat Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers for people with autism around the world, and creating an environment that holds these individuals as intellectually capable.
- A Gecko-Inspired Adhesive Could Be The Next Thing Holding Up Your 42-Inch Television Screen
"The concept behind the gecko is kind of the holy grail of adhesives."
To subscribe or unsubscribe from the free weekly MATR newsletter, please visit our list info page
