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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Jun 24, 2014 |
“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” -- Albert Einstein
Big Data Alliance Meeting, 6/24, Missoula, Montana http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html -- Hellgate Venture Network - Jeremy Sauter - "How To Pitch Your Idea" Workshop,6/26, Missoula, Montana http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
2014 Montana Politics
Early Edge Montana
- Across rural-urban divide, Montanans in this together
An individual's judgment or position on a given issue should always be fair game, but attacks on character have no place in Montana.
ikuw Solutions
- Pediatrics Group to Recommend Reading Aloud to Children From Birth
With the increased recognition that an important part of brain development occurs within the first three years of a child's life, and that reading to children enhances vocabulary and other important communication skills, the group, which represents 62,000 pediatricians across the country, is asking its members to become powerful advocates for reading aloud, every time a baby visits the doctor.
Montana Data Focused Business Cluster
- 15 New Certified ScrumMasters & Product Owners in Montana
Scrum is an agile framework that is used to deliver products in short cycles, improve communication and feedback, adapt to changing requirements and provide a built-in focus on continual improvement.
- Oracle SQL Performance Tuning Tips & Techniques, 07/21, Helena, Missoula
Give your technical staff that competitive edge with this Oracle Performance Tuning Workshop.
- UX Design and Development, 07/28, Missoula
This class will give students of all backgrounds an understanding of best practices in designing experiences for desktop and mobile web applications.
- Certified Ethical Hacker v8, 08/04, Missoula
This class will immerse the student into an interactive environment where they will be shown how to scan, test, hack and secure their own systems.
- UX Design & Development, 08/25, Missoula
This class will give students of all backgrounds an understanding of best practices in designing experiences for desktop and mobile web applications.
- 20411: Administering Windows Server 2012, 09/15, Missoula
Get hands-on instruction and practice administering Windows Server 2012, including Windows Server 2012 R2, in this five-day Microsoft Official Course.
- 20412: Configuring Advanced Windows Server 2012 Services, 10/13, Missoula
Get hands-on instruction and practice configuring advanced Windows Server 2012, including Windows Server 2012 R2, services in this five-day Microsoft Official Course.
- Fast Track to Spring 3, 11/10, Missoula
The course starts with the basics of Spring and in-depth coverage on using the powerful capabilities of the Core module to reduce coupling, and increase the flexibility, ease of maintenance, and testing of your applications.
- 20411: Administering Windows Server 2012, 12/15, Missoula
Get hands-on instruction and practice administering Windows Server 2012, including Windows Server 2012 R2, in this five-day Microsoft Official Course.
- Introduction to Adobe Acrobat XI & Interactive Forms, 08/18, Helena
Learn to create interactive forms with Adobe Acrobat XI.
- Agile Development with Scrum, 07/08, Helena
This 2-day course assures students understand what adopting Scrum will mean for their organization and themselves.
- Agile Development with Scrum, 07/10, Missoula
This 2-day course assures students understand what adopting Scrum will mean for their organization and themselves.
- Agile Development with Scrum, 08/13, Missoula
This 2-day course assures students understand what adopting Scrum will mean for their organization and themselves.
- Agile Development with Scrum, 08/27, Spokane
This 2-day course assures students understand what adopting Scrum will mean for their organization and themselves.
Visit Montana - Montana Dept. of TourismBig Sky Commerce
- 50 Wild Places: Celebrating Montana's Outdoors
It doesn't have to be an "official" wilderness for your destination to provide a wild Montana experience.
Great Falls Development Authority
- The 4th Annual Big Sky Commerce Charity Golf Classic, 8/12,
Tamarack Grief Resource Center strengthens and honors individuals, families, and communities throughout their journey with grief.
TicketRiver.com
- Great Falls Primary Sector Growth Highlights 6-23-14
Highlights of the growth that companies in Great Falls are enjoying.
- GFDA Top 22 6/19/14
Here's the GFDA Top 22 for last week, celebrating great things happening to move Great Falls Forward!
Inteneo Systems
- Helping B2B customers buy faster
At TicketPrinting.com, Trebesch said his company improved conversion rates by condensing what had been an overly long navigation bar and increasing the size of product images enough to show important details.
Come Home Montana
- Technology and HR: What you need to know
Organizations are harnessing the power of big data and analytics to generate new insights from vast volumes of workforce data that complement and extend the experience and instincts of its HR teams.
- Neither banks nor borrowers know what they don't know
Small-business lending has changed. It's changed for bankers and borrowers. Unfortunately, neither really know what they don't know. What are the bankers missing? You might be surprised. What do small-business owners need to know?
Hellgate Venture Network
- Montana Career Opportunity - Network Analyst - MSU Bozeman
This position is responsible for monitoring enterprise data communication systems and networks, including local area, wide area, and internet, in order to manage the security, integrity, and availability of campus network resources.
- Montana Career Opportunities - Corporate Counsel, FERC Compliance Manager, lnformation Analyst, Drafter - Northwestern Energy
We deliver the safe, reliable energy you need, along with the energy efficiency programs, tips and rebates you want. At work, home or play you can count on us - we are delivering a bright future.
- Montana Career Opportunities - Director of National Accounts, Marketing & Brand Presentation Manager, Logistics Manager, Customer Service Representative - Pro/Guide Desk & Direct to Consumer - Simms Fishing Products
To be a great fit at Simms, you must embrace the fishing culture and follow our practice to work like we fish - with purpose, passion & curiosity. Be prepared to share your latest fishing adventures.
- Montana Career Opportunities - Drafter, CNC/Manual Machinist, Welder - Spika Welding and Manufacturing
Would you like to live and raise your family in a rural environment with strong community ties, where life is a bit slower paced and nature's beauty surrounds you? Central Montana may be the place for you.
- Montana Career Opportunities - Montana Photonics Industry Alliance Employment Opportunities
Optics and photonics are growing in Montana providing excellent career opportunities.
Montana Business
- Hellgate Venture Network - Jeremy Sauter - "How To Pitch Your Idea" Workshop,6/26, Missoula, Montana
We are thrilled that Jeremy Sauter has agreed to run a "How to Pitch Your Idea" Workshop. This will give you the opportunity to apply the concepts and approaches Jeremy discussed at May's HVN meeting.
Montana Economic Development
- New high-tech startup Metals U.S. to establish headquarters in Missoula
High-tech startup Metals U.S. http://www.metalsus.com/ announced plans this week to establish headquarters in Missoula, a move that CEO John Hammen says could create 120 new high-paying jobs.
- Steady climb: Study shows Butte economy consistently improving
Butte-Silver Bow County is ranked 15th in economic strength among 531 "micropolitan" locales in the U.S. with populations between 10,000 and 50,000, according to an economic-research firm.
- Montana PSC Implements Public Disclosure Guidelines for Rural Telecom Compensation
If a rural telecom company meets that threshold level and it has executives or management members making $100,000 or more in total yearly compensation, those salaries will be publicly disclosed.
- Philipsburg, Montana boasts most expensive luxury hotel in the USA
With an average rate of $2385 per night, the Ranch at Rock Creek, located close to the historic mining town of Philipsburg, Montana, leads the list.
Careers
- Dusting off Dillon, Montana: New uses for old spaces boost the economy
Investors, entrepreneurs and an influx of young people are driving a flurry of funky remodels in Dillon's historic brick buildings.
- Business leaders look to cook up Billings version of Sioux Falls' success
Steve Arveschoug, executive director of the Big Sky Economic Development Authority and Economic Development Corporation, has devised a recipe for whipping up a batch of the "secret sauce," the culinary formula that Sioux Falls leaders used repeatedly to refer to the ingredients contributing to their city's solid growth and impressive infrastructure and amenities.
- Governor Bullock Announces Montana Trade Mission to China
The mission will bring together leaders in business, education, and government to focus on creating export opportunities for Montana businesses as well as deepening the long-term relationship between Montana's and China's economies.
Next Generation Broadband in Missoula
- A College Major Matters Even More in a Recession
Those who major in subjects that command higher salaries, like engineering and finance, increase their earnings advantage when they graduate into a recession.
- Register Now - University of Montana Student Employment & Academic Enrichment Fair
The Student Employment & Academic Enrichment Fair is a way for you to meet, network with and interview qualified applicants.
- Improve Your Future By Thinking Like An Entrepreneur
If you follow these principles in your current career, and think like an entrepreneur, you will advance more quickly, get more done, and be a happier person.
- Bill and Melinda Gates to Stanford grads: Let your heart break
"Let your heart break. It will change what you do with your optimism." Melinda Gates
Rural Communities
- Google Wins 'Fiber Hut' Approval in Beaverton, Ore.
The fiber huts are a key part of the hyperfast Internet network that Google Fiber says it may begin building across the Portland area, perhaps as soon as next year.
Government
- A Mental-Health First Aid Kit for Rural Communities
A program to train ordinary folks in "mental health first aid" could help rural communities provide vital help to people facing mental health problems, advocates say.
- Sioux & Assiniboine Tribes Team with Brad Pitt's Make it Right Non-profit to Build 20 Platinum Homes on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana
The new homes will be solar-powered homes with three or four bedrooms; two or three bathrooms and be available to tribal members whose income levels are at or below 60 percent of the Area Median Income.
Incubators and R&D
- A Ban on Internet Access Taxes Could Cost States Millions in Revenue
Passing the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act would mean states and localities couldn't tax citizens for internet usage.
- Montana Department of Revenue and Charter settle tax dispute
Also under the agreement, Charter agreed to drop its efforts to get Initiative I-172, onto the November ballot; that measure, if passed, would have significantly reduced taxes for Charter.
- Public-Sector, Industry Answer: What Would You Change About Government?
Governments could improve by pushing more information to constituents, entering into strategic partnerships with industry more easily and cooperating more broadly for the betterment of society, to name a few things.
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- MSU-led team receives $10 million to pursue innovative research in energy
"This is something that's really unique and innovative in the area of basic energy science. It could lead to some big advances in bioenergy."
Education
- Google pushes girls into coding with 'Made With Code' program
This week Google, with a driverless car and Web-surfing eyeglasses under its belt, has given The Associated Press an early look at how it's trying to change the gender disparity in its own workforce, and in the pipeline of potential workers, by launching a campaign Thursday called "Made with Code." https://www.madewithcode.com/?gclid=COL5546zi78CFZNffgodoVMAEg
- Webinar- Skills In Demand; Uncovering The Common Skills For High Paying, High Growth Jobs Of The Near Future, 7/17
By analyzing millions of actual job postings and hiring requisitions, research by IDC found that skills and competencies that support a well-developed, civically competent student are the same skills that will be widely in demand by employers in 2020 and beyond.
Community
- University of Montana to Participate in Forum on Internationalizing U.S. College Campuses
The EducationUSA Forum will bring together 550 university representatives with over 60 EducationUSA regional educational experts and advisers from around the world to discuss strategies for helping international students to study in the United States, and promoting U.S. Study abroad.
- A New Teaching Structure Could Make College More Affordable. Why Don't More Schools Adopt It?
The potential to save is one of the reasons the White House backed competency-based models last year as a way to make college more affordable.
- Laptop U? Could massive online courses replace Montana State University?
The online courses held out the promise that college classes from the best universities in the world could be available for free anywhere over the Internet -- accessible to students from Timbuktu to Two Dot.
- 4 Universities Band Together to Share and Protect Digital Resources
Some university officials say it's getting harder and harder to update their technology without placing themselves under the sway of outside companies.
- This Venture Capital Firm Bets on College Students
Instead of placing the entire burden on students, financial executives at venture capital firm 13th Avenue Funding believe that education loans should be perceived as equity, placing bets on a student's potential achievements and earnings.
- When test scores go public, private schools do better
"School choice is enhanced when voucher schools or other alternatives supported on the public dime report more rather than less information," says Cowen. "It's a victory for public oversight as well."
Funding and Building your Business
- Let's Make Sticky Streets for People!
Streets aren't just for moving people. Our goal should be a deliberate next evolution of thinking - streets for people to enjoy and linger, not just move through.
- Our Missoula: Next Steps - Please get involved with the future of Missoula
Please consider filling out the Volunteer Interest Form in order to dive deep on a topic of your choosing: Community Design, Economic Health, Environmental Quality, Housing, Livability, Safety and Wellness.
- BID Placing Pianos in Downtown Missoula
"It takes a lot of people to create the Downtown culture we have come to appreciate, and many hands have been a part of this effort to roll this project out quickly in order for the community to enjoy the pianos this summer," said France.
- People in Pedestrian-Friendly Cities Make More Money
We already know living in a pedestrian-friendly city can make you healthier and happier. New research shows it's good for you bank account, too.
Energy and Climate Change
- A Tip for Avoiding Copyright Lawsuits: Why Every Employer Should Know About Work for Hire Agreements.
Ensuring a business owns the intellectual property it is using is essential to avoid later litigation. A Work for Hire Agreement is one important tool.
- Obama: Workplace flexibility is a basic need
Something's wrong when hard workers must choose between work and family.
- Entrepreneurs Better Off Taking Less Venture Capital, Study Shows
Startups raising a couple of million dollars had a median exit price of more than $10 million, while the outcome for those raising double that was actually worse, a recent study shows.
- How True Entrepreneurs Make Themselves Accountable
Here are some comments that we have all heard from people who are trying to avoid accountability before the fact, who are setting themselves up for failure.
Connectivity & Communications
- MIT Invents a Radical New Way to Heat Buildings: Spotlights That Follow You
Called Local Warming, the prototype system uses LED bulbs to beam direct rays of infrared light onto people.
Government Technology
- Verizon Says It Wants to Kill Net Neutrality to Help Blind, Deaf, and Disabled People
In 2014 alone, Internet service providers have spent close to $19 million lobbying on net neutrality, according to Senate lobbying records.
- Google's Internet balloons not just pie in the sky
What Google eventually envisages is a huge fleet of these balloons, controlled via complex algorithms, that can take off and hover above remote parts of the world that are completely unconnected.
- Minnesota-Wide Broadband Goal Unlikely to be Met by 2015
Though slow in coming, access to high-speed Internet around the state is on the rise.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Perth, Australia, first city to join ESRI's 'Urban Observatory' GIS network
The Urban Observatory web site features dynamic digital maps that enable governments, businesses and the wider public to explore factors such as population distribution, land-use and even road speed limits in the most prominent cities on the planet.
- Fresno Gets New 'Scorecard' Website to Measure Quality of Life
The Fresno Business Council and Valley Public Television unveiled their new "Fresno Community Scorecard," http://www.fresnocommunityscorecard.org/ a website that curates data from more than 150 different measures of civic well-being on a single, wide-ranging online platform.
- How Indiana Is Supercharging Data for Efficiency
By making all of its data easily and quickly available across agencies, the state stands to save money and improve services.
Transportation
- Preserving home movies for streaming
Even with the modern shift to smartphone imagery, Rukavina figures there is another 50 years worth of digitizing to be done. With 1 billion old movies and "trillions" of old photos, "We have a lot of work yet to be done."
- New Bike Lane Design Could Save Lives
Portland, Ore.-based urban planner Nick Falbo thinks he has a solution.
- Allegiant Air adds Great Falls to Los Angeles flight
About 60,000-80,000 Canadians board flights in Great Falls annually.
- This Startup Says It Can Make Any Car Autonomous for $10,000
The system can be made to work with any car, but Cruise decided to start with one model, and a high-end car made sense given the cost of the system. It chose Audi for its appeal as a "young, edgy brand."
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