MATR Newsletter – April 13, 2023
The state with the best education wins!

MATR will be going on a little vacation for a couple of months.   Updates and the newsletter may be sporadic depending on connectivity in foreign countries…. Please continue to post on MATR or send them to [email protected].   We’ll try to get all of the posted so more can benefit.       Hope you all have a wonderful Spring….if it ever comes.

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Come Home Montana

• Where are all those tech workers going? A Silicon Valley exodus is shaking up the landscape.

  “You don’t have to be in the Bay Area to have success in tech.”

• Montana Career Opportunities – JavaScript Engineer, Python Software Developer, Senior Java Developer and more…- Zoot – No Suits, Montana Roots

  No Suits, Montana Roots At Zoot, our employees are committed to providing the best decisioning engines for some of the largest organizations in the world. Zooters are also committed to…

• In Rural America, ‘Those Who Can Supply the Talent Will Be the Winners’

  To succeed in today’s economy, small towns need to up their game in recruiting and retaining workers. Luckily, they have a lot to build on.

Great Falls Development Authority

• Great Economic and Resource News from GFDA

  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.

• Great Falls Economic Development Top 10 for 4-11-23

  Here is our Top 15 for last week celebrating work and successes to grow and strengthen the Great Falls regional economy — Montana’s Golden Triangle. And, sharing business resources and skill-building opportunities to empower your success.

Zoot Enterprises

• Zoot Hosts Panel to Discuss Brand Trust and Customer Experience

  Alyson’s insights on the importance of trust in the customer experience were invaluable. We look forward to continuing the conversation with Forrester and other industry experts in the future.”
  — Casey Ferguson, VP Marketing

Montana Business

• Some of the states with the cleanest electricity will surprise you

  The chart below shows how the United States has made electricity for the past twenty years, represented as the percentage of power generated from each fuel source. To show how their relative usage has shifted, the fuels are stacked each year from top to bottom in order of percentage.

• Montana, Idaho and Wyoming Join 20 Other States In New NARUC-NASEO Advanced Nuclear State Collaborative to Help Better Inform State Approaches to New Nuclear Generation

  NARUC and NASEO invited states that are considering or actively working toward the deployment of advanced reactors to join ANSC, as it offers a unique opportunity to receive direct support from nuclear experts while participating in real-time peer learning.

• Lee Enterprises is laying off employees at news organizations throughout Montana

  The union criticized the layoffs and pointed at the earnings of Lee’s top executive officers, who are compensated over a million dollars a year and received a raise in 2022.

• Report: Percentage of Montanans Who Believe Tourism Benefits Outweigh Negative Impacts at Two-Decade Low

  Study by the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research shows increasing negative attitude of residents toward visitors as tourism statewide grows

• Helena area economic development: Why don’t we have more big-name retailers?

  The Montana Business Assistance Connection—or MBAC—provides community and economic development assistance in the Helena Area. Executive director Brian Obert said population is one of the roadblocks they encounter when trying to get retailers interested in the city.

• Welcome to the Next Frontier Capital Winter 2023 Newsletter!

  We have an exciting example from our portfolio, which has stayed the course and persisted through challenging exogenous conditions to build a business central to the continued evolution of the private markets.

• How America’s largest newspaper company Gannett is leaving behind news deserts

  I see a lot more uncovered city council meetings. I see a lot more corruption that doesn’t get noticed. I see a lot more uninformed voters, more people who take their cues for how they view their government from national media and the politicized world there as opposed to their local government. There certainly are bright spots. There are green shoots going up, but the challenge is just very difficult.

• Canada’s ‘Super Pig’ problem is now super big and cannot be contained

  With rising numbers, they will soon be spotted within city limits.

• Reimagining Rural Gathering – 6/13 – Townsend, Montana

  A convening for funders, policy makers, and partners invested in a vibrant future for rural Montana.

• Following acquisitions in Essex and Missoula, company sees opportunity in Montana 

  Weeks after buying the historic Izaak Walton Inn, LOGE Camps purchased Missoula’s Mountain Valley Inn. Officials say there’s more to come.

  Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• Montana Tweaks State Ban On Community Broadband, But Most Restrictions Remain

  Montana’s one of seventeen states that have passed laws banning or restricting municipal broadband networks. The bills are usually ghost written by telecom monopoly lawyers, and in many states either outright prohibit community-owned broadband networks, or are designed to make funding and expanding such networks untenable.

Housing

• Missoula Aims for Equity With Development Code Updates

  The “Our Missoula Development Guide” is getting an update as the Montana deals with the contemporary pressures of population growth and gentrification.

• Vacation Home Sales Are Down More Than 50% From Pre-Pandemic Levels

  A scarcity of new listings, elevated mortgage rates, still-high home prices and persistent inflation, among other economic woes, are holding back demand for both primary and second homes, according to a new report from Redfin.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• MMEC April 2023 Manufacturing News

  MMEC is thrilled to welcome Claude Smith back to our staff! He rejoins MMEC as our statewide Food and Process Specialist.

Visit Montana

• 8 hilarious but true wildlife tips from the National Park Service

  Did you know if you hold an ermine up to your ear, you can hear what it’s like to be attacked by an ermine?

• Google Maps is making it easier to explore US national parks, even without cell service

  The online navigation platform is rolling out four updates this month to help users explore America’s national parks, even if they lose cell phone coverage.

Regional Economic Development

• Australia’s New City Tackles Climate Change From the Ground Up

  Some 37 firms are already locked in as partners to the state government to construct Bradfield. That list, which includes Northrop Grumman Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., is expected to expand to 50 by the end of this year, according to the chief executive of Western Parkland City Authority Sarah Hill, who is overseeing the development. Australia’s top science organization, the CSIRO, will also move some divisions into a purpose-built facility.

Rural Communities

• Beyond the Bottom Line: Impact Investing Looks to Correct Underinvestment in Rural America

  A group of locally-rooted, trust-based organizations bring needed funding to underinvested rural communities, considering social and community benefits alongside financial return.

• Rural Renewal: Placemaking In Small Towns Through Good Design

  Planning, design, and placemaking as tools for enhancing quality of life for small communities.

Government News & Events

• E.P.A. Lays Out Rules to Turbocharge Sales of Electric Cars and Trucks

  President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday proposed historically tougher greenhouse gas emission standards for cars and trucks sold in the U.S. that it says could lead to electric vehicles accounting for as much as 67% of all new sales in less than a decade.

Government Technology

• A clean sweep: Helena unveils zero-emissions electric street sweeper

  “By getting rid of the old, dirtier diesel sweeper the city had and replacing it with a zero (emissions) tailpipe, that’s a 100% reduction of emissions from the vehicle perspective,” Ullman said.

• Nevada State Parks Brings New Technology to Reservations

  Nevada State Parks is modernizing reservation processes with a cloud-based reservation software to simplify the visitor and staff experience. Officials say the state is the last to modernize its reservation system.

City Club Missoula

• City Club Missoula’s State of the Community event looks at Missoula’s present and future

  The main question at the “State of the Community” was: how can Missoulians keep a strong, connected Missoula while the city continues to undergo changes and work through problems like housing, tourism, and climate?

Transportation

• 4 in 10 Say Next Vehicle May Be Electric

  Many of those who don’t plan to buy an EV cite high cost as the primary reason.

• Upgraded School Buses Linked to Increased Student Attendance

  Replacing all of the oldest school buses in the nation could lead to 1.3 million fewer daily absences annually, according to a University of Michigan study.

• Switzerland Set to Roll Out Solar Panels Between Railway Tracks–A World First

  With the Swiss national railway network stretching beyond 2,000 miles of track, estimates place the amount of power generation at potentially beyond 1 terawatt hour or 2% of the entire gross annual consumption.

VR/AR, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Artificial Intelligence and The Internet of Things

• After crypto’s bad year, Silicon Valley dumps blockchain for AI at Startup Grind 2023

  The conference takes place Tuesday and Wednesday in Redwood City and draws founders from around the world as well as some of the Bay Area’s premier investors. Visitors this year can expect a simple but drastic change: The blockchain is out; artificial intelligence is in.

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