MATR Newsletter – April 13, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

Come Home Montana

• As Climate Fears Mount, Some Are Relocating Within the US

  Proof that others aren’t as concerned about climate impacts as the Parvins can be seen in the large in-migration of people during the pandemic to places like Montana, which faces its own wildfire and water threats.

Big Sky Economic Development

• Montana PTAC – Understanding Costs in Your Proposals April 21 @ 8:30 am – 12:30 pm FREE

  Is your company looking to pursue government contracts as a way to diversify your customer base and grow your business?

Great Falls Development Authority

• Upcoming Trainings: Business Pitch In, PeerSpectives & Quickbooks – Great Falls Development Authority

  Whether you’re just getting started, looking for new customers, wanting to grow sales through e-commerce, or focusing on workforce.
  We’re here to help.

• GFDA Top Ten April 11, 2022

  Great Falls is the most pet friendly city in Montana, according to Livability.com.

Montana West Economic Development

• Business Perpetuation Planning Seminar – 4/21 – Kalispell

  You’ve spent a lifetime building your business, but do you have a plan for retirement or what would happen if you were no longer in the picture?

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Engage Mission West – What Business Resources Do You Need?

  Welcome to Engage Mission West, our community based online engagement platform. We value your comments, thoughts and ideas and appreciate how you help us make better decisions and design better projects. This space provides easy access where you can contribute your ideas and ask questions about our projects. We’re excited to hear from you!

• Sweetgrass invites public to annual meeting on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, beginning at 1:00 pm.

  Join us in Great Falls (or online) on April 19 for our annual meeting!

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• Muni Broadband Makes Longmont Among Nation’s Best Work-From-Home Cities

  “The number-one requirement for a good work-from-home location is fast, reliable Internet access,” PCMag explains.

• Stock Buybacks Remind Us That Monopoly ISPs Work for Shareholders, Not Subscribers

  Local governments need to be wary about the huge cable and telephone monopolies stopping by their offices and offering generously to solve the digital divide once and for all, if only we give them more taxpayer money.

Montana Business

• Colstrip operator Talen Energy reportedly preparing for bankruptcy

  The news service reported Thursday that Talen was talking to lenders about financing for a bankruptcy. On an earnings call last August, Talen told investors it was $4 billion in debt.

Funding and Building your Business

• ‘If We Don’t Find Ways To Deal Effectively With Data, The Cost To The Planet Could Be Huge’: Why CIOs Are Making Sustainable IT A Top Priority

  Against a backdrop of growing investor attention to environmental, social and governance issues (ESG), a group of CIOs and other top tech leaders recently launched a new U.S. nonprofit called SustainableIT.org.

• Data fabric versus data mesh: What’s the difference?

  53% of companies believe that data access became “more critical” throughout the pandemic.

Incubators and R&D

• “Time jump” anti-aging method gives specialized cells a 30-year refresh

  Through experimentation with a highly promising anti-aging technique, scientists at the UK’s Babraham Institute have demonstrated a new way of turning back the clock in human skin cells.

Metaverse

• The Metaverse Isn’t Real Yet But It’s Already Really Lucrative

  In a society that seems addicted to the “new, new thing,” it is easy to pass off talk about the “metaverse” as classic techie hype. It’s not that or, at least, it’s about to be and is already becoming much more than just that.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• Montana Institute for the Arts Set to Return to Kalispell this Summer

  Applications are now being accepted for the institute’s Moviemaking One-on-One course

Regional Business News

• Panera Is Testing Miso Robotics’ Artificial Intelligence System To Ensure A Consistent Coffee Experience

  The company is leveraging artificial intelligence to ensure its coffee is of consistent quality for every cup. Miso Robotics today announced a partnership with Panera to test its new product line, CookRight Coffee.

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

• President Seth Bodnar: Optimism abounds as University of Montana undergoes boom in enrollment, research and infrastructure

  Seth Bodnar joined Missoula County Commissioner Juanita Vero and Mayor John Engen in the State of the Community address hosted annually by City Club Missoula. While local governments face a litany of challenges, the university is recovering from a decade of hurdles.

• Nevada and Amazon to Train 2,500 in Cloud Computing

  Amazon Web Services will work with Nevada public schools, the state’s higher education system and the state’s workforce innovation office to fill thousands of jobs over the next three years.

• Understanding rural: MSU education students complete weeklong rural practicum experience in Glendive

  “Being in Glendive was awesome,” said Browning, a third-year student whose family now lives in Big Timber. “It was a really positive experience for me.”

Non-Profit News

• The Roles and Responsibilities of the Board Chair and Executive Director

  In most companies, there is a hierarchy of power. Typically, the CEO is at the top and it goes down from there.

  Nonprofits are different. There are a lot of power centers. The board. The staff. Donors. Volunteers. Clients. Constituents. And on and on.

City Club Missoula

• City Club Missoula – Missoula’s leaders discuss the State of the Community in Annual Review

  Elected officials from the city and county of Missoula and UM President Bodnar on Monday offered their views on the state of the community, with housing, climate and building codes running as a common theme.

Careers

• 5 things you should take off your resume right now

  To help ensure your resume stands out for the great information it contains, here are five things you can (and should) leave off your resume.

Transportation

• NoTraffic Plots Growth Using AI to Reimagine Intersections

  The company provides hardware, AI and other services to help state and local governments make roads safer and more efficient. The company’s services can also add clarity to infrastructure decision-making.

• Owning a Car Will Soon Be as Quaint as Owning a Horse

  The shift away from private vehicles will happen faster than we think.

• Business Association Worries Power Companies Will Siphon off EV Charging Investment

  Rural America will need a network of charging stations to fuel electric vehicles. Power companies and business advocates disagree on where federal funding should go to build it.

• Vermont Ski Resort Patrollers Test Ride New Tiaga Electric Snowmobiles

  Director of special operations, Adam Deslauriers, views the addition of e-sleds to the fleet as a step towards sustainability while providing clean, safe, and healthy outdoor space to operate in.

Energy and Climate Change

• Understanding the fire paradox: Why we need fire to prevent fire

  In 1911, the Forest Service stopped using ground fires to thin fuels, and in 1935, a new policy went into effect to put out all wildland fires within 24 hours of detection.

  They ditched that policy in the 70s, but now, a new bill introduced by two California Republicans aims to bring that strategy back.

Other Economies

• Could California mandate a four-day workweek? A state bill is pushing for the change

  A bill moving through the state Legislature, AB2932, would change the definition of a workweek from the current 40 hours to 32 hours for companies with more than 500 employees, and require overtime pay for making employees work longer than four full days a week.

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