MATR Newsletter – April 10, 2023
The state with the best education wins!

Great Falls Development Authority

• Great Falls Montana Economic Development Index 2023Q1

  The Great Falls Region will be a proud, positive, and vibrant community, which welcomes new people, new investments, and innovative opportunities while celebrating its authentic and diverse Montana culture. Our community will be a safe and inclusive place to raise families and will offer opportunities for individual growth and quality of life, which retains and grows our population.

Montana Business

• Climate Crisis: Why Climate Risk Is Financial Risk for Your Company

  Witold Henisz, vice dean and faculty director of Wharton’s ESG initiative, talks about why businesses should pay attention to climate and ESG issues if they want long-term success.

• 2 Montana-based businesses, CSKT to receive funds for supporting wood products economy

  The Whitefish business Wooden Haus Supply/Stolze Timber Systems and Marks-Miller Post and Pole, Inc. in Clancy will get $1M and nearly $510,000 in wood products assistance funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

• Walmart To Build Dedicated Fast Charging Network

  Walmart says it plans to install fast EV chargers at its stores — including Sam’s Club — all across America.

• Montana’s Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority hopeful as FRA’s long-distance study advances

  “FRA envisions a future where Americans can easily access the passenger services they need,” said Bose. “Conducting this study alongside partners who know the transportation needs of their states and localities brings us one step closer to this vision.”

• Lyft’s Vibe Shift Signals the End of the Gig Economy Dream

  The company’s founders promised good vibes and greener cities. Now they’re stepping down, and the new CEO is focused on saving the business.

• Friday Flash 04/07/23 Montana Department of Commerce

  Missions in the German and Benelux Markets Promote Travel to Montana

• Commerce Awards Business Planning and Job Creation Grants to Six Montana Communities

  The planning and job creation grant funding is provided by Business MT’s Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund (BSTF).

Incubators and R&D

• Video – New Robot Makes Soldiers Obsolete

  There’s a new robot in town. You’ll see it in the army soon!

Business Plan Forums

• South Dakota Chamber Announces 2023 Governor’s Giant Vision Business Plan Competition Qualifiers

  The Giant Vision competitions were established to help citizens realize that South Dakota is the best place to start a business.

Regional Economic Development

• 1 in 6 will be unable to conceive a child, new WHO report estimates

  “The sheer proportion of people affected shows the need to widen access to fertility care and ensure this issue is no longer sidelined.”

Regional Business News

• The EV price wars have begun. Will Tesla be the Amazon of the automotive industry?

  Tesla made a calculated move to take advantage of the industry’s highest gross margins as a result of their direct sales model, manufacturing technology and battery investments.

Idaho News & Events

• Idaho at the epicenter of American Redoubt, white Christian nationalism movement

  The book explains how the rise of the new religious right gave birth to white Christian nationalism and how it might play out in the future in even more dangerous and destructive ways.

21st Century Education Initiative – “You Should Care…”

• Community colleges face ‘reckoning’

  The number of students at community colleges has fallen 37% since 2010, or by nearly 2.6 million, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Hellgate Venture Network

• Hellgate Venture Network – You won’t want to miss our April event. 4/20 – ATG Cognizant Campus

  Join us for a tour of ATG Cognizant’s gorgeous new campus!

North Dakota Business and Economic Development

• North Dakota Wants to Lead the Nation in Rare Earth Production

  But first, researchers need to figure out a good, consistent way to extract the minerals used in electronic devices and develop a supply chain that supports the operation. That’s going to take time and money.

Transportation

• Beyond Going Green, Here’s Why You Should Buy An EV

  In a recent feature, Business Insider’s Tim Levin shared his thoughts on going electric after driving 24 different EVs. The story compiles Levin’s thoughts on why buyers should go electric, including his experience from driving EVs from brands such as Tesla, Volkswagen, Rivian, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes, and more.

• No driver? No problem. Robotaxis eye San Francisco expansion

  The effort to unleash dueling driverless services throughout San Francisco is shaping up to be just the first step in a far more ambitious expansion centered in California — a state where more than 35 million vehicles driven by humans are currently registered.

• Friday’s Headlines Don’t Want to Pay for Parking

  Parking is so expensive that it’s a drag on the economy. Building a space costs more than many cars, and the average office building devotes twice as much to storing an employee’s vehicle as it does to the employee themselves.

• Scotland to launch the world’s first self-driving commuter bus fleet

  Five single-decker buses will be in service, carrying approximately 10,000 passengers weekly.

• Elon Musk Says Tesla’s $25K Small EV Will Operate Mainly In Autonomous Mode

  Elon Musk has not said when the brand’s new entry-level model will hit the market nor has he confirmed if it will be named the Model 2 as rumored

Energy and Climate Change

• Underground Water Could Be The Solution To Green Heating & Cooling

  The results showed that adding ATES to the grid could reduce consumption of petroleum products by up to 40%, though it would cost 15 to 20% more than existing energy storage technologies.

• Virtual power plants one key to controlling enterprise energy costs

  AWS describes VPPs as: “A connected aggregation of clean distributed energy resources (DER) — solar, storage, grid-interactive efficient building equipment, EV charging, controls and more — remotely and automatically controlled to deliver affordable power, reliability, decarbonization and grid services.

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