The State with the Best Education Wins!
	MATR Newsletter - Fri Apr 20, 2012

This MATR newsletter sponsored by: Add an event... Upcoming Events We The People: Conversations On The Montana And U.S. Constitutions, 4/20-21, Helena, MT Montana Space Grant Consortium To Hold Student Research Symposium, 4/20, Bozeman, Montana UM Hosts Educators' Career Fair, 4/22-23, Missoula, Montana 3rd Annual Invest In Success Business Conference, 4/23-24, Missoula, Montana Visual Basics for Access , 04/23, Bozeman Conference To Explore Gender Equality, Women's Empowerment, 4/26, University Of Montana Cash Flow, 04/26, Bozeman MATR supporter: New Events UM Hosts Educators' Career Fair, 4/22-23, Missoula, Montana Conference To Explore Gender Equality, Women's Empowerment, 4/26, University Of Montana MATR supporter: MATR Web services provided by: To subscribe or unsubscribe from the free weekly MATR newsletter, please visit our list info page

“Learning is not an individual act, it’s a social act.” David Kelly - "Making Education Brain Science" http://matr.net/articl ... .html

3rd Annual Invest In Success Business Conference, 4/23-24, Missoula, Montana http://matr.net/events ... =3974 --- Why Sense of Place is Worth Caring About http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html

Montana Department of Commerce

• Montana Sees Boost in Tourism Numbers, Dollars Spent - More than 10.5 million out-of-state travelers visited Montana last year
  Tourism is one of the state's leading industries and economic drivers.

PrintingForLess

• April Newsletter - Value of a Brand and a PFL Scholarship
  In today's highly competitive marketplace, your brand needs to work harder than ever.

Visit Montana - Montana Dept. of Tourism

• Photo Gallery: Classic Yellowstone
  Make your own memories this summer...


• Bicycle-only season in Yellowstone National Park offers unique ride
  For a short time in the spring, Yellowstone National Park opens the roughly 50-mile section of road between park headquarters in Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyo., and West Yellowstone only to bicyclists, walkers or rollerbladers.


• Nature's Song and Dance - Birdwatching in Montana
  Spot up to 175 bald eagles in one day (the record) along the Kootenai River in northwestern Montana.

Come Home Montana

• Montana Career Opportunity - Investment Associate - Beartooth Capital
  The ideal candidate is an experienced investor with a depth of knowledge of western lands and communities and a passion for their protection and restoration.

Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana

• Are These the Seeds of an Entrepreneurship Bill?
  Now, the Senate Small Business Committee, chaired by Senator Mary Landrieu, a Democrat from Louisiana, is working on the early iterations of what may become a landmark bill for entrepreneurs, poised to hit Congress some time this summer.

Montana Business

• Love To Hunt? Live Hunting Trip Auctions. Montana based Hunaventure.com
  Hunaventure.com has created a live auction, to auction off hunting/fishing trips and hunting/fishing related items.

Montana Economic Development

• MRL contributes $100K for Bitterroot rail service
  "Their decision to find the funding showed MRL that this community really, really wants that rail line," Foster said. "I think that commitment shown by these different entities coming together will be really special for future economic development here."


• MSU-Billings' College of Technology's new Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Brings Future Business
  Taisei plans to make Billings its manufacturing headquarters for the entire US. "We think that Montana and Billings is a good place to install and start our business,"

Careers

• How To Reverse Your Hard Wiring For Distraction
  If you want to be charismatic, your mind can't wander while you're one-on-one with a customer or colleague. Here's a simple one-minute exercise to help you focus.

Business Plan Forums

• Chez Gourmet from Marie wins Angel Oregon; Tellagence takes second
  A Wilsonville veggie burger brand's plans to expand nationwide wowed Angel Oregon investors Wednesday, landing a $250,000 investment as it launches a rebranding campaign and hires an executive team.


• Three-student team from the University of Idaho and Washington State University win $25,000 from Rice University business startup competition - Solanux plans to transform the way people eat potatoes.
  The group's idea has generated enough interest that team members Gaylene Anderson and Jacob Pierson hope to start an Idaho business called Solanux, based on innovations developed by UI Food Science professor Kerry Huber.

Government

• South Dakota, Texas Top List of Best State Tax Systems
  And what are the worst states for business taxes by name?


• Results-Only Work Environment Goes Public Sector
  "The reason people have a job is they're getting paid to produce results. The hours they work -- flexible or not -- don't matter as much as the results."

Idaho Business

• Idaho kicks off school laptop bidding process
  Idaho has started accepting bids for a contract to provide every high school student and teacher with a laptop, or similar mobile computer.


• Understanding Early State Financing Critical to Entrepreneurs - IdahoTechConnect
  Although Idaho has no shortage of ideas, our state has relatively limited options for startup capital.


• Boise lands a company that could add 250 jobs
  "This is a group bringing 250 professional, salaried jobs," said Clark Krause, executive director of the Boise Valley Economic Partnership, who began working with the company last June. "These are the types of jobs we need to bring to the Valley."

Incubators and R&D

• University of Montana assistant professor, Mike Rosulek wins prestigious research grant for work in computer science cryptography
  The branch of cryptography Rosulek is working in deals with securely transferring information between computers.


• $130 Million USTAR Interdisciplinary Research Facility Dedicated at The University of Utah
  USTAR is helping to create new technologies that can be commercialized, generating more technology-based start-up firms, higher-paying jobs and additional business activity all aimed at expanding Utah's tax base.

Oregon Business

• Software Association of Oregon's new president, Skip Newberry, aims to boost the industry's visibility
  In the mayor's office, Newberry helped craft a strategy that made software one of the city's key economic priorities.


• Online education startup Treehouse says it has raised $4.75 million and will move HQ to Portland
  Founded last November, the company currently has 34 employees and is in the process of adding a dozen more. It makes its training videos in an Orlando studio.

Other Economies

• Boulder Has So Many Open Tech Jobs It Wants To Fly You In To Apply
  The folks in Boulder call it Niwot's Curse. Step one foot into this gorgeous Colorado town and you'll never leave again.

Regional Business

• 'Bridge to Work' Program Seeking State Participants - Any state can apply
  Under the plan, workers who have lost jobs can be placed in other temporary jobs as trainees for short periods to retain their skills or gain new ones while receiving jobless assistance. About a third of the time, those workers wind up getting hired full-time.

Utah Business

• Wage gap emphasizes educational gap for Utah women
  Utah's wage gap between men and women -- the third biggest in the country -- is about more than just money. Experts say the disparity stems from women's lack of education and training in professions that earn higher wages.


• Utah must confront talent shortage, executives say
  "We need to recognize that this is a problem in Utah. If we have a highly technical and educated workforce, then companies will come. The demand for technology is rising." John Spigiel, general manager at Watson Labs

21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."

• For Entrepreneurship Education, Experts Turning to High Schools
  It's time to let the high schoolers sit at the big kids' table.


• An education revolution beckons in the digital age
  Classrooms need to let students' creativity soar, advocates say. Who benefits? Schools and the economy.


• Southern Nevada is becoming a hotbed of technological innovation.
  "Students are looking at science fairs and student experimentation as a way to increase their overall attractiveness to college recruiters."


• Teaching boys and girls separately at Middleton Heights Elementary in Idaho
  The key is to match teaching style to learning style.

Education

• University of Wyoming students take advice from Warren Buffett
  "He shows that you can be successful in corporate America and not sail in the gray areas, that it is possible to do honest business and make a lot of money and at the end of the day be a good person."


• Colleges to prove worth for state funds
  The message to higher education leaders is simple: "If you want more money, prove you deserve it."


• Drop In! Top Schools From Berkeley to Yale Now Offer Free Online Courses
  "This is a group that didn't grow up at a time when there weren't browsers. They have the mental state that allows them to say, 'I'm willing to get a good portion of my education online.'"

Montana Education Excellence

• Grant Helps Libby, Montana Schools Update Technology
  Recently, the school district installed wireless internet at a cost of about $14,000. The grant has also enabled the schools to install new smart boards and buy three mobile iPad labs, with 25 to 30 tablets each. Maki said the new technology helps students learn at their own pace and helps teachers focus on their daily lessons.


• Bozeman schools want to let teachers, students use more Internet tools
  More Bozeman teachers would have the option of using websites like Skype if the Bozeman School Board votes Monday to approve proposed new policies governing email, social media and Internet resources in classrooms.


• Raising employee pay tops Montana regents' priority list
  "We continue to rank extremely low in pay," both nationally and compared to other Western states, said Clay Christian, commissioner of higher education. Montana's low salaries, "the Big Sky tax," he said, make it hard to compete nationally for world-class faculty.


• Great Falls, Montana among best in nation for music education
  Music is taught in Great Falls from kindergarten through 12th grade, and is mandatory at in kindergarten through eighth grade. Students can be in band and orchestra starting as early as the fifth and sixth grades.

Community

• Why Sense of Place is Worth Caring About
  Progress does not demand degraded surroundings. Communities can grow without destroying the things that people love.


• What makes Missoula Missoula?
  In 1893 Missoula was chosen as the education capital of Montana, and it's been the guiding light ever since.

Funding and Building your Business

• 10 Ways That Entrepreneurs Need to be More Open
  Charlene Li, in her recent book "Open Leadership," attempts to show leaders how to tap into the power of the social technology revolution and use social media to be "open" while still maintaining control.


• Moms We'd Like To Fund
  Are you an entrepreneur looking to build something truly awesome that will positively impact millions of people's lives? (And by the way, make a LOT of money?) If so, then I have a suggestion...

Energy and Climate Change

• POOP -- The four-letter word that no one's talking about. - Bill Gates To Reinvent The Toilet
  The western flush toilet was invented in 1775 yet it remains basically unchanged today.

GIS Technology

• Judges Drive Truck Through Loophole in Supreme Court GPS Ruling
  The Supreme Court ruling can be easily skirted by law enforcement agents and prosecutors who work in circuit court regions where it was previously legal to use the devices without a warrant.

Cool Stuff That's Coming

• 14 Tech-Forward Concepts Reshaping Our Future
  Many projects and startups in cities all around the globe are developing and implementing new technology to ameliorate daily problems. If these concepts come to fruition, then the future of cities is looking bright.


• Glasses change focus on touch or nod of head
  Claiming to have developed the "biggest optical advance in over 50 years," PixelOptics has launched its emPower! range of spectacles, featuring electronically-powered instant focus switching.


• Interactive Whiteboard Pen Writes on Anything -- No Whiteboard Required - penveu
  The new penveu system http://www.penveu.com/ doesn't rely on a traditional dry-erase board at all.

Transportation

• Montana State University's Western Transportation Institute implements statewide ridesharing software in Montana
  RideShareMT.com helps commuters to find ride matches, form carpools and track trips.

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