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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Jul 25, 2014 |
MATR encourages everyone attending events such as the MTIP and Main Street Montana gatherings to try to carpool instead of driving there in single occupant cars. Much greener and a good way to network with others. MATR would also like to encourage event organizers to offer a simple way for attendees to opt in to car pooling when they register. Let's help make Montana even greener.
Wonderful events starting next week - Are you carpooling? : Rural Roundtable Innovator Events Invitation - Montana Technology Innovation Partnership http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Main Street Montana Project
Northwestern Energy
- Lt. Gov. McLean brings Main Street Montana Project to Polson
"The project is founded on the notion that the private sector understands better than government the opportunities and challenges that's facing businesses and workers." Lt. Gov. McLean
Great Falls Development Authority
- Bob Rowe: Hydro power deal will help customers for a long time
If the Montana Public Service Commission approves NorthWestern Energy's proposal to acquire the PPL dams, those great facilities will be dedicated to serve our Montana customers, at prices based on the cost of producing electricity, for as long as there is water in the Missouri and Clark Fork river basins.
- NorthWestern Energy donates bucket truck to college program
"This bucket truck will be a huge help for our Lineman Program," said Bill Hoskins, Highlands College faculty member in the program. "It is important that our students get to learn and practice with the same type of equipment they will use out in the field after they graduate. This truck exactly serves that purpose. "
Inteneo Systems
- GFDA Quarterly Index 2nd Quarter 2014
Number of times GFDA staff has been asked who big box retailer is: millions - Number of times we've been incorrectly told who it is: gazillions - Number of times we've been told who it is correctly: our lips are sealed
- Montana Career Opportunity - Business Coach - Small Business Development Center Director - Great Falls Development Authority
If you know a creative, dynamic leader who can help entrepreneurs start and grow successful companies throughout the Great Falls region...
- Great Falls Development Authority is leading the city towards a "supertanker economy"
GFDA has a goal of raising $600,000 from its investors, up from last year's $454,000 to spur what Doney called a "supertanker economy" -- Great Falls' $3.22 billion "gross domestic product."
- Great Falls aircraft parts plant hiring 31
Brett Doney, GFDA president, said in his first meeting with a B/E vice president relocating to the Great Falls plant from West Virginia, that the facility "has 31 openings right now and they plan to continue to grow.
Come Home Montana
- Why Your BI Model Should Include an Uplift Model
Instead of forecasting whether a prospect will take an action once they're contacted, persuasion modeling attempts to measure whether customers will take an action only if they're contacted.
Montana Business
- Montana Career Opportunities - Muitiple Opportunities - AAA Mountain West
Whether you are an experienced professional or in the early stages of your career, AAA MountainWest is a great place to build and expand your career.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Field Engineer - Central Montana Montana Manufacturing Extension Center (MMEC)
MMEC's objective is to enhance the competitiveness and profitability of Montana manufacturers by providing business, marketing, technical, engineering, and managerial assistance.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Front End Developer - The Audience Awards
Work on systems/applications that make a real world difference to indie filmmakers and their fans.
- America's Best Small Cities on the Rise - Missoula, Montana
Why We Love It: It has the coolest combination of eclectic residents: academics, forestry folks, authors, musicians, and fly-fishing junkies.
Careers
- Clinton Announces Millions More for Montana Small Businesses
"The loan and grant funding from Bank of America and the SBA will support the continued expansion of our work and allow us to provide additional access to capital for small businesses across Montana and Idaho," said Montana CDC President, Dave Glaser.
- Growing Bozeman area businesses tap into Prospera loan program
Stuart Leidner, executive director of Prospera, said the organization needs to lend the money out "in as efficient an amount of time as possible." People interested in applying for a loan can call Prospera or find a loan application on the organization's website, he said.
- About Missoula, Montana's Audience Awards - Every film deserves an audience.
It's time to bring a larger audience to short films and for us to continually celebrate and support filmmakers.
- Sony's The Road to Greatness is Coming to Great Falls, Montana
Thanks to all your hard work, the PlayStation Greatness Awaits Truck (basically their E3 booth on wheels--complete with games, prizes and the ability to play/see PlayStation games not hitting retail for a year or more) will be making a stop in Great Falls for a FREE event on Saturday, August 23rd!
- Organic Systems - Montana's First Alternative Investment Holding Company
We are leveraging Montana's innovation hub and changing how entrepreneurs access funding, and how savvy investors access a "Made in Montana" investment opportunity.
- Invitation to Open Forum for MWTC Executive Director finalist
The search committee for the Executive Director of UM's MWTC invites you to attend an Open Forum for Heather Tomlins, a finalist for the position.
- Systems Thinking Increases Profitability - Red OXX manufacturing in Billings, Montana
His first "magic bullet" is the full understanding of the global marketplace.
Next Generation Broadband in Missoula
- Stanford scientists identify body language tied to creativity, learning
"Imagine trying to hire pairs to work on a project," Bailenson said. "Give your dozen candidates a two-minute test to see which pairs synchronize and which ones don't. So now you've got a basically innovative team detector."
Government
- Cities Petition FCC to Remove State Barriers to Broadband Competition
The fight over cities' rights to own, operate and expand community broadband networks now has a new battleground - the FCC.
Idaho Business
- Culture Change at the Waterworks
D.C. Water has been on a steady path to greater professionalism and innovation for a decade. And across the board, from technology to finance to customer engagement, the utility reflects the organizational acumen and drive of its general manager, George Hawkins.
- How Pennsylvania Is Helping New Hires Get to Work Faster
Pennsylvania is saving $1 million a year and getting rid of the lag time when people start new jobs.
Other Economies
- Business Expansion Brings 200 New Jobs to Shelley, ID
Montana Community Development Corporation (Montana CDC) provided $15.8 million in NMTC allocation, US Bancorp Community Development Corporation is the Tax Credit Investor, and Zions Bank is the lender.
- Idahoans oppose taxes on online sales
The National Taxpayers Union says it's conducted a poll in Idaho that shows Idahoans oppose taxes on online sales
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- Missouri's Unprecedented Push to Ease the Doctor Shortage
Missouri is likely the first state to pass a law that lets medical school graduates practice primary care in underserved areas without completing a residency.
Missoula Children's Theatre
- The 75-Year Saga Behind a Game That Teaches Preschoolers to Code
Next month, if you walk into any Target store across the country, browsing one of the main hubs of mass American consumerism, you'll find a board game that teaches the fundamentals of computer programming to preschoolers.
- Crash course in code for girls - Girls Who Code
So far, the group has found that 95 percent of participants consider studying computer science after taking the course.
Universities and Economic Development
- Missoula Children's Theater's "little red trucks": Ambassadors for Missoula's culture
Plug the word Missoula, the lone city of its name, into Google News, and chances are you'll get a slew of results about Missoula Children's Theatre.
Funding and Building your Business
- Pam Haxby-Cote - Regional Director for the Montana Blackstone LaunchPad program
Pam has devoted most of her career to economic development and creating jobs, having over 25 years of experience in the field.
Energy and Climate Change
- An ousted CEO so popular employees are protesting to get his job back
It's one for the crisis playbook. Any of the commentary I've heard form lawyers and academics and labor experts is that this is unique."
- What job really needs to be done? Take 2 minutes to find out (video)
Smart entrepreneurs know they must get out of the building to discover every detail about their customers, especially how they experience a particular problem and why (and how much) it matters to them.
Connectivity & Communications
- Next Big Thing You Missed: Bigger, Cheaper Fuel Cells Will Eliminate Power Outages
General Electric has a bright idea for keeping the lights on even when the electrical grid short-circuits.
- Stanford study shows how to power California with wind, water and sun
Imagine a smog-free Los Angeles, where electric cars ply silent freeways, solar panels blanket rooftops and power plants run on heat from beneath the earth, from howling winds and from the blazing desert sun.
Government Technology
- FCC serves notice to Internet service providers on speeds
Worried that you are not getting the broadband speed that you Internet service provider promised? The FCC has an app for that.
Non-Profit News
- Montana CIO Ron Baldwin Discusses BYOD, Security
Younger workers are going to expect to be able to use their own mobile devices to help them do their job.
- Making Innovation Safe for Government (Again)
Chopra suggests that reclaiming its innovative legacy requires government to learn three important lessons from the private sector: to draw on outsiders for new ideas and solutions to old problems; to draw on insiders for nuanced expertise on how things work; and to think seriously about the force multiplying potential of 3 million government employees augmented by a crowd of 300 million citizens to do the public's business, together.
- California Department of Public Health Soft Launches Open Data Portal
The department expects to integrate data from multiple departments as the portal develops.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- The Women's Foundation of Montana provides $60,000 in new grants to organizations that serve women and girls across the state.
The new grant funding is focused on creating systemic change to improve the economic status of women, supporting initiatives that give girls the tools to be financially successful, and programs that improve women's economic security and equalize the pay gap.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- The Future of Everything
Mark Zuckerberg on connectivity, Taylor Swift on music, Billy Beane on baseball, Alice Waters on food, Christopher Nolan on movies, Margaret Spellings on education--and much more.
Transportation
- Smartphone-charging exercise desks arrive at Amsterdam Airport
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport has installed desks that enable passengers to charge their devices through pedal power while they wait for their plane.
- Tesla Motors installs charging station for electric cars near Billings
The Billings Supercharger is the first in Montana and the 102nd in North America -- 101 in the U.S. and one in Canada. The device charges the vehicle about 20 times faster than a conventional electrical outlet.
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