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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Apr 6, 2012 |
"If one does not fail at times, then one has not challenged himself." Ferdinand Porsche 1935-2012 - RIP
2012 Montana Tourism Conference, 4/11-13, Great Falls, Montana http://matr.net/articl ... .html --- OUTSTANDING!!! Montana Small Business Owner, Sarah Calhoun, owner of Red Ants Pants in White Sulphur Springs Recognized as National Woman in Business Champion http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html --- 3rd Annual Invest In Success Business Conference, 4/23-24, Missoula, Montana http://matr.net/articl ... .html
Montana Department of Commerce
Visit Montana - Montana Dept. of Tourism
- 3rd Annual Invest In Success Business Conference, 4/23-24, Missoula, Montana
The conference is designed to help business owners grow their small business and offers a unique opportunity to obtain skills, knowledge, and resources.
- "Hot Off the Presses" Visitor Research at 2012 Montana Tourism Conference - April 11-13 - See you in Great Falls!
Just got a "heads up" from Norma Nickerson at UM's Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research (ITRR) -- they have a "hot off the presses" study on the effect gas prices will have on travel to Montana this summer.
- 2012 Montana Tourism Award Nominees To Be Honored April 12 at Montana Tourism Conference
Congratulations to the 14 nominees submitted to receive 2012 Montana Tourism Awards. The Person, Partnership, Event and Community of the Year Awards will be presented on April 12 during the Montana Tourism Conference's Awards Banquet.
TechLink
- "Climb Glacier National Park"
"The goal of these books is to encourage people to fall in love with the park and to explore it safely, and by doing that I think we can help preserve it. I had people who had never climbed before tell me that they bagged their first peak using my book, and that is incredibly gratifying."
Three Cups of Tea - The Central Asia Institute
- TechLink has facilitated more than 280 license agreements between DoD labs and companies throughout the US and the world.
Technologies available for licensing can be found in the Patents area of our website
- Department of Defense patents available for commercialization
We have over 7,500 Department of Defense patents featured on our website.
Come Home Montana
- Montana Attorney General negotiates $1M settlement with 'Three Cups of Tea' author Greg Mortenson
"CAI's mission is worthwhile and important ...," Bullock wrote. "The settlement agreement allows CAI to move forward positively in pursuit of its mission."
Montana Business
- Montana Career Opportunities - National Sales Executive, Programmer, Technical Support Specialist - Merlin Information Systems
Merlin Information Services provides access to public record and other databases to investigative professionals who skiptrace, look for assets, run background checks, or perform investigative work. Our reputation for high-quality data and flexible search and retrieval software makes Merlin a leader in the public record industry.
- Montana Career Opportunity - CFO
LC Staffing is now recruiting for a CFO for a local multi-divisional company.
- Help wanted: 100 workers at Student Assistance Foundation in Helena, Montana
Tru Student will need about 100 new employees, all based in Helena, to help start up the new program. Most of the positions are customer-service jobs, helping counsel borrowers.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Business Analyst - Prospera Business Network
The Business Analyst provides business consulting and should be prepared to analyze financing options for business start-up and expansion, and to develop financing packages with multiple funding sources.
Montana Economic Development
- Computer Software Associates, based in Billings is Purchases by Tyler Technologies
Computer Software Associates was founded in 1982, and provides financial management solutions to school districts and county governments.
- Farming fish: Hamilton couple continues operation of Bitterroot Fish Hatchery
These days, the couple raises only rainbow trout because customers who want to stock their ponds have to have a permit from the state, and rainbow permits are the most common.
- Montana Energy 2012 expo sells out on first day
"There's a tremendous potential in Montana"
- Rapelje, Montana ranch earns spot on PBS "America's Favorite Family Business" program for kids
"I think the best thing you can do for your kids is teach them how to work. If you want to get ahead, you need to sell something every day."
- A report from the Bakken in Montana
To understand what is happening there and here, "Go spend a day in Williston," Leuthold urged his audience.
- Montana Small Business Owner, Sarah Calhoun, owner of Red Ants Pants in White Sulphur Springs Recognized as National Woman in Business Champion
The national winner for this award is selected based on their efforts to promote women in business, volunteer time and services to small business interest groups, advocate for the cause of small business through legislation, and use professional expertise to assist small business owners.
- Avitus Group announces expansion to help American companies seeking to expansion into Europe
Avitus Group http://www.avitusgroup.com/ , a Billings company that helps clients deal with a wide range of business functions, has launched a new service to assist American companies interested in doing business in Europe.
- BigSkyDevCon - Call for Speakers
Topic slots are quickly filling up, deadline for submission is April 30th. We are also looking for more sponsors, if you're interested please contact one of us for details.
MSU Leadership Institute & UM Global Leadership Initiative
- Montana Secretary of State Linda McCulloch and Chippewa Cree Chairman Bruce SunChild, Sr. Sign Historic Compact to Spark Economic Development and Create Jobs on the Rocky Boy's Reservation
The Chippewa Cree Tribe Secured Transaction Code enables and supports tribal economic development on the Rocky Boy's Reservation by improving access to commercial and consumer credit made available by banks and other lenders.
- Baucus announces $1M grant to ease oil boom impact in Culbertson, Montana
Senator Baucus http://www.baucus.senate.gov/ said Tony Preite, an economic development veteran from Havre who is with USDA Rural Development http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/MT_offices.html , will become the single contact for communities seeking development help. Priete's involvement will mean communities will only have to talk to one person to access all relevant federal programs.
- Senators Baucus, Tester Announce Major Fort Peck Tech Jobs Grant to Support Bakken Oil Drilling Services
"This is a smart investment in Montana's energy infrastructure that will help our economy grow and create jobs," Tester said. "It's important to keep the Bakken booming and support responsible oil drilling, and this investment will do just that."
The Missoula Economic Partnership
- TEDx Video: Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action
In 2009, Simon Sinek released the book "Start With Why" -- a synopsis of the theory he has begun using to teach others how to become effective leaders and inspire change.
Careers
- Angel Network aims to connect entrepreneurs, investors in Missoula
Potential investors heard presentations from four very different companies Tuesday at the inaugural event for the Missoula Economic Partnership's Angel Network.
Business Plan Forums
- Wealth or Waste? Rethinking the Value of a Business Major
The proportion has held relatively steady for the past 30 years, but now faculty members, school administrators and corporate recruiters are questioning the value of a business degree at the undergraduate level.
City Club Missoula
- Prestigious business plan competition nears in Boise, Idaho - Entrepreneurial Idol Competition at TechLaunch 9.0
Students and aspiring entrepreneurs are encouraged to attend this event to learn the complexities of product commercialization, start-up financing, and networking with industry leaders.
Economic Gardening
- City Club Forum - Ending Homelessness In Missoula, 4/9, Missoula, Montana
City Club Missoula forums are open to everyone; you do not need to be a member to attend. However, reservations are required.
Idaho Business
- State seeks expansion of economic gardening program
Michigan needs to do less hunting and more gardening when it comes to economic development.
Oregon Business
- Idaho Technology Council - Idaho's software developers get with the program - create scholarships for Idaho computer science students
"We're very passionate about the technology community in Boise," said Russ Whitney, president of Sawtooth Ideas. "There's a lot of life in the tech community. We're not just an agricultural state. There's this hidden technology community -- events like this give everybody the strength and motivation to make it happen. I love it."
- Western Aircraft in Boise starts hiring after Idaho Legislature grants sales-tax break
Western tried three times to convince lawmakers that it needed the exemption on Idaho's percent sales tax charged to out-of-state customers for parts so it could be more competitive with businesses in 26 other states where the tax is waived.
Regional Business
- Oregon health care co-op gets $57 million in federal funds, seeks a CEO
The act calls for one co-op in each state, but doesn't place a limit on the number that each state can have. So far Oregon is the only state with two co-ops, but awards have been made to organizations in 10 different states.
Regional Economic Development
- Federal court tosses Colorado's Amazon tax
"I conclude that the veil provided by the words of the act and the regulations is too thin to support the conclusion that the act and the regulations regulate in-state and out-of-state retailers even-handedly," Blackburn wrote in his opinion.
University of Montana & Montana State University Tech Transfer
- How to Make a Region Innovative
To foster economic growth, innovation clusters need to draw on the power of an interrelated "quad" of sectors: public, private, civil, and academic.
- Why Regional Innovation Clusters Should Not be Demonized
The truth is that governments at the federal, starte or local level can partner with local stakeholders to create a fully functional RIC through a hybrid of pre-existing organic growth and pragmatic policy mechanisms.
- States Race to Improve Broadband Speeds
High-speed Internet plays a key role as regions compete to attract employers and encourage participation in today's global economy
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- Ohio State and Ohio universities joining forces to create $35M VC funding pool to turn research into jobs
Participants in a news conference today emphasized that the venture will benefit, not just the schools, but more importantly the state.
Montana Education Excellence
- Idaho contemplates and test various computer devices for students
The technology push at Star Elementary is part of a Meridian School District project that pilots various devices in different schools.
- Career Mapping Eyed to Prepare Students for College
Secondary schools are becoming more intentional about helping students discover their career interests and map out a plan to achieve them.
- Early Warning Indicators Identify At-Risk Students
Using high-tech data analytics to examine grades, attendance, course failures, declines in grade point average, and disciplinary incidents, Charlotte-Mecklenburg's scorecard system, which was put in place during the 2010-11 school year, predicts even after the first few months of kindergarten which students are at risk.
- Idaho education chief Tom Luna talks reform
The plan, called Students Come First, increases the role of technology in the classroom and changes how teachers are evaluated and paid, eliminating collective bargaining and tenure and introducing performance pay.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- Robots create extraordinary students - Bozeman High School Robotics Team heads to regional competition
Now in its second year as a nonprofit organization, the Gallatin Valley Robotics Club provided a home for members of the high school's robotics team last year when it moved out of the school. The team had at one point been relegated to a broom closet.
- State of MT reaches settlement to increase education funding
Attorney General Steve Bullock says, "This settlement approved by the court reflects the legislature's obligation to adequately fund quality public schools. The terms of the settlement will provide Montana schools with an additional $4.6 million."
- Extended University offers Access database courses through Montana State University
Access Level II runs April 9, 11 and 16 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Students will learn the principles of designing a relational database and work with relationships
Bill Payne
- Blackfeet Community College receives grant from Vernier Software and Technology
Blackfoot was the only educational institution in Montana to receive such a grant from the company.
Community
- The Problem with Private Placement Memorandums (PPMs)
I have yet to read a PPM written for a startup company that meets the parameters we angels generally establish for funding new ventures.
Funding and Building your Business
- Missoula, Montana's Linsey Corbin: Why I Will Never Quit
From the time I was born, I have been an independent, hard-headed, stubborn individual. My first words were "I do it. I do it." I believe these character traits attribute to why I will never quit.
- The Hottest Trends in Urban Housing
Baby Boomers and Millennials, shaping a community near you
- CREATE Missoula Festival Partners Schools, Community For A Week Of Unique Art And Music Events, 4/15-21
CREATE Missoula is a festival of creativity for the Missoula community. It's a community of creative individuals "Sharing What We Love To Do" with everyone else. The festival is scheduled from Sunday, April 15 through Saturday, April 21. The events are as varied as the creativity of Missoula's citizens.
- EIGHT new grant announcements
Energy and Climate Change
- The JOBS Act: Misconceptions And Motives Behind Crowdfunding For Startups
What it really is, is a "company formation" bill that proceeds on the assumption that if we create more companies we will create more jobs.
- JOBS Act to Change Startup Funding Landscape
The most important belt that the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act loosens concerns the amount of capital a new company may raise through the sale of securities in a 12-month period.
- Which Start-Ups Should Not Raise Venture Capital?
As an investor, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Partner Heidi Roizen said she tries to talk people into taking venture capital, but as a lecturer in Stanford University's Department of Engineering, she tries to talk them out of it.
- JOBS Act Jeopardizes Safety Net for Investors
This legislation is intended to help start-ups raise capital and go public, but may also lead to many more money-losing, Groupon-like I.P.O.'s.
- 5 Lessons From the Recession for Young Entrepreneurs - "Upstarts! How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking the World of Business"
Upstarts! examines and analyses this entrepreneurial revolution to reveal critical lessons every Gen-Y entrepreneur and marketer must learn.
- Supporters of crowd funding for startups must await SEC rule-making process
"Lots of investors will get scammed," Bill Payne suggests. "Just give it a couple of years and Congress will be asking the SEC how they ever let this happen!".
- Senator Tester's small business bill becomes law
"Increasing access to capital helps new businesses raise money, expand, and create jobs. This new law will let Montana small businesses focus on breakthroughs in science and technology and grow our state's economy. And it shows that Democrats and Republicans can work together on common-sense solutions that support small businesses and create jobs."
- Investors' Prying Eyes Blinded by New Law
Critics of the JOBS Act, which stands for Jumpstart Our Business Startups, say that easing regulations will lead to more financial problems and fraud, and make it more difficult for investors to detect those issues.
- Groupon IPO Scandal Is the Sleaze That's Legal
The new law will reduce disclosure obligations in many other ways. Pre-IPO correspondence between companies and the SEC's staff initially would be stamped secret, for example. The act is a lurch in the opposite direction of what is needed.
- A New Tool to Help Innovators Protect Intellectual Property
The tool is designed to help aspiring and actual entrepreneurs and business owners in the United States find out how much they know about this arcane yet crucial aspect of innovation and fill the gaps in their knowledge.
Connectivity & Communications
- Stopping Climate Change Is Much Cheaper Than You Think
"It's a very, very small impact on growth. And what you get for that is a whole range of economic benefits."
Government Technology
- Chattanooga Claims America's Fastest Broadband Service and How It Markets Its Way to Broadband Success
Mayor Ron Littlefield remembers how things once were. Since moving to Chattanooga in the '60s, he has been witness to the city's gradual transformation. And now, Littlefield is watching over another metamorphosis -- this one centered on amazingly fast broadband connectivity.
- Senator Tester pushes to guarantee rural broadband access
Senator Jon Tester is keeping up his fight to protect and expand broadband access for communities and small businesses across rural America.
- TED Video: Marco Tempest: A magical tale (with augmented reality)
"We willingly enter fictional worlds where we cheer our heroes and cry for friends we never had." (Marco Tempest)
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- Utah.Gov Connect Portal Recognized with Excellence.Gov Award
"Utah's tech savvy citizens are using online social media daily to find information. It makes sense for Utah government to reach out through this medium," said Steve Fletcher, Utah Chief Information Officer. "Aggregating all government information for Utah citizens is one way we continue to innovate as a state."
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Montana ambassadors got Moscow crowd to embrace cowboy way
In the Moscow Times' story "McFaul Tears Up Dance Floor at Spaso Hootenanny," Zarzyski is quoted saying he bet people were having more fun at the event than they'd ever had at the embassy before. "It's 200-proof pure joy," he said.
- Google Glasses Make Their Public Debut
The company says it started the glasses project to help users "explore and share your world, putting you back in the moment."
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