The State with the Best Education Wins!
	MATR Newsletter - Tue Dec 18, 2012

This MATR newsletter sponsored by: Add an event... Upcoming Events Holiday Think Local Challenge - Nov 24 Through Dec 20, 12/20, Missoula It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, 12/21, Missoula MATR supporter: New Events It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, 12/21, Missoula Showcasing The Success Of Montana's Key Economic Development Programs And Partnerships, 1/15, Helena, Montana It's My Business EXPO, 3/7-8, Boise, Idaho 2013 National Economic Gardening Conference, 6/5-7, Kansas City, Missouri MATR supporter: MATR Web services provided by: To subscribe or unsubscribe from the free weekly MATR newsletter, please visit our list info page

"Give everything you have, and after you've given, give what's left." Mitch Ditkoff Full Moon at Sunrise

ikuw

• Kickoff the New Year With Savings on Microsoft Official Courses at ikuw
  To celebrate the opening of our third center in Missoula in 2013, we're running a promotion during the first quarter of the new year where all of the Microsoft Official Courseware classes are priced at the face value of Microsoft software assurance training vouchers.

2013 Montana Legislature

• New app will make it easier to contact your Montana legislators
  "This application is ideal for legislators, the media and anyone who wants to contact their state senator or representative, or keep up on the happenings at the state Capitol," MECA chief executive officer Dave Wheelihan said. "It is designed to be the best possible reference and research tool for people who are interested in or work with Montana legislators."

Inteneo Systems

• The 5 Myths of Big Data Analytics
  "Predictive analytics," in whole, is data analysis that provides enterprises with predictions about future events, as based on current and historical data.


• Analytics in Banking Services
  Banks are realizing the importance of analytics and data-savvy competitors like Amazon and American Express are sure to push banks to get better at customer analytics, it's just a matter of time.


• Business Analytics using Social Media - Facebook & Twitter
  While consumers may think of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare as places to post musings and interact with friends, companies like Walmart and Samuel Adams are turning them into extensions of market research departments.


• Cloud-Based Data Analytics - The Time is Now
  Do you have the in-house private cloud infrastructure to support a rapidly scaling data analytics environment?


• Big Data Offers Huge Potential for Smaller Companies, Intuit Says
  "Advanced analytics will move from the domain of specialists to everyday users. Data will be a key driver of global economic growth in the 21st century digital economy, with a profound effect on all aspects of society--business, science, health care, finance, government and entertainment."

Vision Net

• Vision Net and Axiros Bring Remote Device Manager Service to Tier-3 Markets
  Vision Net CEO Rob Ferris says the move to RDM is a natural step for rural telecom providers. "Remote management and monitoring is the norm at the Tier-1 and Tier-2 levels. We feel strongly that Tier-3 providers have access to the same high-end, cost-effective solutions. Partnering with Axiros provided the perfect opportunity to do so."

Come Home Montana

• Montana Career Opportunity - Information Technology Administrator - PrintingForLess.com
  PrintingForLess.com is seeking to hire an experienced Information Technology Administrator to join our growing team of professionals.


• Montana Career Opportunity - Enterprise Strategy and Project Management Analyst (ESPM) - Montana State Fund
  Must have Expert knowledge and use of Excel and business intelligence tools required.


• Montana Career Opportunity - Systems Engineer-Application Infrastructure - First Interstate Bank
  The IT Infrastructure Planning Systems Engineer concentrates on the research, pilot deployment, production build and hand-off of assigned infrastructure projects.


• Montana Career Opportunity - Director of International Marketing and Business Development - Resodyn Corporation
  Prior international business development and marketing and sales capital equipment is a requirement for this position.


• Montana Career Opportunities - Linux System Administrator, Information Technology Technicians, Systems Integrations Analyst - Blackfoot Telecommunications
  Blackfoot Telecommunications Group (BTG) is a diversified telecommunications provider that continually seeks individuals with a positive attitude and outlook, who thrive and enjoy a fast paced, high-octane environment. We offer very competitive pay and benefits.


• Montana Career Opportunity - Web & Social Media Developer - Montana Tech
  Montana Tech provides a challenging education for success-oriented students who have the passion and drive to become outstanding.


• Montana Career Opportunity - Vice Chancellor for Development & University Relations/President of the Montana Tech Foundation
  The Vice Chancellor of Development and University Relations/President of the Montana Tech Foundation (VCDUR) is a key member of the Montana Tech administration and serves as head of the campus' fundraising arm.

Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana

• Governor's School for Entrepreneurs
  The next great entrepreneur is out there. Will It Be You?

Montana Business

• Billings, Montana artists grow their businesses by embracing the Internet
  The communication revolution of the worldwide web allows local artisans to sell their creations globally.


• Employers optimistic about Montana economy in 2013
  Ticketprinting.com is the largest private employer in Wheatland County," Trebesch said. "Whatever we can do to attract and retain top talent in your state is the most important competitive advantage you can build.


• The Montana Economy is Bouncing Back
  A special report by Lee Newspapers of Montana

Montana Economic Development

• Montana West Economic Development December Newsletter
  SAVE THE DATE! For the Annual Forecast of the Flathead Breakfast


• Missoula Economic Development Subcommittee Survey Summary
  Does you Missoula business have access to what it needs to thrive?

Careers

• Some Quick Sage Advice for Young Employees Early in Their Careers
  Secrets of the real world - stuff I learned the hard way

Economic Gardening

• Economic Gardening: Show Off Your Garden
  GrowFL is Very Good at Marketing

Government

• Leaving his brand: Friends and foes look back on Governor Schweitzer's eventful 8-year term
  Most of his political enemies grudgingly admit they admire Schweitzer's shrewd political skills, even if they despise his style of governing.

Idaho Business

• Sawtooth Ideas, Inc. - online project plans for woodworkers
  Bringing together capabilities for selling and buying high-quality project plans with software for easily customizing those plans, Sawtooth Ideas sets the foundation for inspiration and collaboration among designers, craftsmen, hobbyists, and DIY weekend warriors.


• Twin Falls, Idaho welcomes new Chobani yogurt plant
  Yogurt production is already under way. The company says more than 300 people are employed there, and Gov. Butch Otter said the plant is expected to hire 400 to 500 people in all.

Oregon Business

• Portland Bike Maker Sees Made-in-USA Demand from Overseas - Chris King Precision Components
  Now, as businesses in disparate industries, including Apple and General Electric, rediscover the appeal of Made in USA, King is letting visitors see at least some of the 80,000-square-foot place.

Regional Business

• High-Tech Factories Built to Be Engines of Innovation
  Industries that produce complex, high-technology products -- things like bioengineered tissues, not light bulbs -- companies that keep their research and manufacturing employees close together might be more innovative than businesses that develop a schematic and send it overseas for low-wage workers to make.

Regional Economic Development

• Smart Specialisation and Precincts - ways of advancing your community
  Precincts and hubs are a means of capturing locational synergies and nurturing regional specialisation.

Utah Business

• Utah startup working on breakthrough medical technology
  "We view ourselves as an information technology company that happens to use molecular biology to gather the information," CEO Ryan Ashton explained. "Information really is what diagnostics is."

Utah Economic Development

• University of Utah is a startup machine, according to survey
  Starting companies is in our DNA.

Washington State Business

• Innovate Washington Launches SBIR / STTR Funding Programs
  Under the program Innovate Washington provides grant-writing support for qualified Washington-based small technology businesses interested in applying for SBIR / STTR Phase I federal R&D funding.

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

• Toward Integrated STEM Education: Developing A Research Agenda
  The project aims to develop a strategic research agenda for determining the approaches and conditions most likely to lead to positive outcomes of STEM.


• Wilsonville, Lake Oswego tech jobs wow education leaders, prompt talk of more engineering lessons in schools
  The tour of local employers was intended to help area school superintendents, curriculum directors and community college deans see and hear first-hand what those great jobs look like and what the managers who hire for them look for in potential employees.


• 8 Videogames to Get Your Kid Into Engineering
  Kids have always loved building things and solving problems, but before videogames, the best tools we could offer them were Lincoln Logs and Legos. Today, we can give them a whole lot more. Here are eight games you can use to help prepare your child's brain for a life of building and engineering.

Education

• Building a Showcase University Campus, Using an I.O.U.
  A decade-long spending binge to build academic buildings, dormitories and recreational facilities -- some of them inordinately lavish to attract students -- has left colleges and universities saddled with large amounts of debt. Oftentimes, students are stuck picking up the bill.


• Who Can Still Afford State U ?
  Now, cash-strapped states across the country are cutting funding for colleges and directing scarce resources to primary and secondary schooling, Medicaid and prisons. That is shifting more of the cost of higher education to students and their families.


• Disruptive innovation: Open online courses are changing education forever
  "Every teacher doesn't have to do the whole thing over themselves. We will have the best-of-the-best playlist of lectures and interactions, and we'll begin to understand which are most helpful for different kinds of students."


• For Stanford programming class, the bigger the better
  "I don't want people to get the idea that MOOCs can supplant on-campus education," Roberts said. "We have so much momentum, and our classes are working quite well, thank you."

Montana Education Excellence

• Montana State University's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry moves up in national rankings
  The department has now surpassed Yale, Princeton and other top U.S. schools in terms of federal support for chemical research and development.


• AWARE (Anaconda Work and Residential Enterprises) breaks ground on school in Anaconda, Montana
  "Montana historically has sent away our children with the greatest needs related to disability," Noonan said in a released. "Our Center for Excellence project will contribute to keeping kids at home in Montana, while greatly contributing to our local and regional economy."


• University of Montana To Interview Another Communication VP Candidate
  The vice president for integrated communications is the chief communications officer for the University and will provide leadership for UM marketing and branding, licensing, social media and all other communications.

Community

• FIVE New Grants have been added to the MSU Extension website
  

Funding and Building your Business

• How To Hire Someone You Won't Regret In A Month
  Here are the 3 biggest hiring mistakes to avoid.


• 10 Entrepreneur Qualities That Tag You as Fabulous
  To be successful as an entrepreneur, you don't have to be a fabulous person, but it helps.


• Let Five-Minute Mentoring Scale Your Productivity
  I believe you can be much more productive, as well as a more effective leader, if you approach most meetings as mentoring opportunities, and limit them to five minutes.


• Developing a 21st Century Entrepreneurship Curriculum
  We should first focus on searching for the best business model and validating our assumptions. After we prove that the model works, then, and only then, execute on it and build a business.


• 10 Action Items to Keep Angel Investors Hovering
  What should you do to prepare for this stage in your venture, and optimize your chances of making it through the process?


• Serious Entrepreneurs Master Media Training Early
  There are lots of expensive public and media relations firms out there who can give you the full treatment, but I recommend starting with a good book on the subject, like the one just released by media training expert Brad Phillips, "The Media Training Bible." http://www.amazon.com/The-Media-Training-Bible-Absolutely/dp/0988322005 He provides 101 two-page lessons divided into eight learning categories as follows:


• On the Job: Autistic excel at detail, repetition
  Autistic kids are graduating, ready for job market. And employers are starting to notice.

Energy and Climate Change

• EcoStar Pollution Prevention Award applicants and nominees sought
  All Montana small businesses and non-profits, including agriculture, manufacturing, education, hospitality, healthcare, etc., can apply to be recognized for outstanding pollution prevention efforts through the MSU Extension Pollution Prevention EcoStar award program.


• 20-Year-Old Report Successfully Predicted Warming: Scientists
  What matters is the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution; short-term changes in emissions have relatively little effect on overall warming, Frame and Stone write.


• NW Energy Angels Eye Record Year With Investment in Ethical Electric
  In these deregulated electricity markets--and about 10 others across the country--consumers can choose an electricity supplier separate from the local utility that delivers energy to the home.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• Artist Monte Dolack stays true to Montana roots
  Dolack is one of our nation's most popular contemporary artists.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

• National Rifle Association Hides Facebook Page To Avoid Hosting Flame Wars
  So why would the NRA take down its Facebook Page?

Transportation

• BEEEEEEEEP! This Bike Sounds Like a Car Horn - "Loud Bicycle"
  If used sparingly, this strident horn could help prevent a few unnecessary injuries and deaths.

---

To subscribe or unsubscribe from the free weekly MATR newsletter, please visit our list info page