MATR Newsletter – April 15, 2024
The state with the best education wins!

$6 a day EV subscription service could disrupt the auto industry – The beginning of the end of private car ownership?

Come Home Montana

• Butte Nuclear Power Plant reports are unfounded, regulators say

  The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday told Lee Montana newspapers there have been no discussions with anyone about nuclear power plants in Montana.

• Using dating apps in the rural West, a.k.a. ‘the void of a sagebrush sea’

  The reality, though, is something different, as my Montana friend Nicole knows. Noting that you first need to cull the felons and those with substance abuse, weight or health issues, Nicole says, “It’s like screaming into the void of a sagebrush sea.”

• Montana Career Opportunity – Program Director – Montana Women’s Business Center

      The Program Director is part of the Prospera business development team that creates, plans, and implements business technical assistance, mentorship, and education/training programs – to advance the goals of the MTWBC.

• Estado de Montana ofrecerá programa gratuito en español sobre oportunidades de educación superior 4/18 – 5/16

  Montana State University ofrece un programa gratuito de cinco sesiones en español esta primavera para brindar a la comunidad latina del Valle de Gallatin información y la oportunidad de obtener un certificado en temas relacionados con la educación superior.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• CBS Sunday Morning – How Houston is successfully reducing homelessness

  In 2012, the nation’s fourth-largest city went all-in on a new system to address homelessness in which dozens of agencies join forces under a single umbrella organization to put those without homes in their own apartments, rather than in shelter beds. Correspondent Martha Teichner looks at a concept that has succeeded in reducing homelessness in the greater Houston area by 63%.

• Building the next Silicon Valley requires the curiosity and talent to already be local, at least at first

• Communities that have successfully done this are Austin, Texas with Robert Metcalfe and other innovators, El Segundo in the defense industry, and Miami in the crypto industry. Internationally, Tel Aviv is another sustainable tech hub that is thriving. These successes should also be studied by policymakers as they could potentially be more replicable.
• Revolution’s Steve Case Says We Need to Double Down on Entrepreneurship

  The AOL co-founder and mid-America VC says the nation’s status as a top innovator shouldn’t be taken for granted, especially with AI technology up for grabs globally.

• Burnout fears force bosses to explore a four-day workweek

  Nearly one-third (30%) of large companies are exploring new work schedule shifts such as four-day or four-and-a-half-day workweeks, according to a KPMG survey of CEOs released this week.

• New Reports on Montana Travel, Recreation, & Economic Insights for 2023!

  We’re excited to announce that the 2023 Montana Travel Industry Summary and the 2023 Nonresident Visitation, Expenditures, and Economic Contribution Report have been published and are available for download!

• Whitefish nears completion of new sustainable tourism plan

  The survey revealed a major change in how respondents view the impacts of tourism on Whitefish. Nearly two-thirds of people said “tourism benefits do outweigh the negative impacts” in 2018. Fast-forward to fall 2023, when just 30% of respondents agreed with that statement, 47% percent disagreed, and the other 23% fell somewhere in between.

Five Valleys Archery Club

• A Tradition Unlike Any Other… WILD NIGHT Auction and Raffle Preview! Hellgate Hunters & Anglers – 4/27 – Missoula

  Wild Night for Wildlife is only two weeks away! We wanted to share a preview of some of our excellent live auction and raffle items:

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Top Ten for 4-14-24

  19) The road to sustainable growth begins with strategic investments in economic development. We are grateful for our dedicated team of investors and public partners whose support enables us to advance our mission of bringing more high-wage jobs to our region. Learn more about them by viewing this short video.

Montana Business

• Pioneering space agriculture: Montana company uses mushrooms in space farming

  Garden City Fungi’s ambitious endeavor aims to harness the power of mycelium, the fungal root system, to create carbon dioxide essential for plant growth in space.

• Missoula tech company Submittable partners with Microsoft AI initiative

  “In the realm of AI in social impact, Submittable is a leading example of the future where nonprofits can achieve more than ever before,” said Spelhaug. “As nonprofits harness the potential of artificial intelligence, Submittable is mindful that technology alone is not the destination—it’s the vehicle.”

• Sean Gerrity’s podcast is live! The Answers Are Out There.

  Through these stories, my hope is to leave you with a bit more optimism and inspiration than you might get from many other news sources these days. Who knows, you might even get inspired yourself to act on a great idea that you have been carrying around for a while?

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• Digital Divide: Bridging the Urban-Rural Connectivity Gap

  Addressing the rural-urban education gap should be a priority for today’s policymakers.

• Webinar Series: How to Build a Public Broadband Network – 4/16

  Moderated by Bill Coleman, author of the AAPB handbook and longtime leader in community broadband, each webinar will provide expert advice for AAPB members, and feature the experiences of community leaders as they navigated establishing, building or running a public broadband network.

Montana Businesses Seeking Investment or For Sale

• H&E Equipment acquiring Montana-based rental business

  The affiliates are located in Havre, Glasgow and Great Falls, Montana, and each location serves multiple end markets, including non-residential, industrial and agriculture.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte

• Property taxes skyrocket statewide, but not for Montana Governor Greg Gianforte’s properties

  An MTN analysis shows taxes on a Gianforte-owned home in Helena decreased while his neighbors saw tax hikes

Housing

• ‘Dramatically change the industry’: Billings developer soon to start on first 3D-printed home in Montana

  “It’s a cool opportunity for Montana to be at the forefront of something that’s going to dramatically change the industry. Not only here but across the nation,” Stark said on Thursday. “We can’t keep doing what we’ve always done and expect different results, so we’re going to have to try something new.”

• Rise in investor-owned single-family rentals prompts policy responses – Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

  Policymakers taking note of investors’ increased share of the single-family rental market face decisions in a data-poor environment

Funding and Building your Business

• A Digital Ads Tax Would Devastate Small Businesses Like Mine

  Affordable online advertisements are critical for thousands of brick-and-mortar businesses that need to reach out to national customers to survive.

Incubators and R&D

• Researchers unveil a new microplastic-free plastic

  A bioplastic has been shown to break down in the environment without leaving behind microplastics

• New Material Could Double Output Of Solar Panels

  According to a Lehigh press release announcing the publication of the research, the university says a prototype using the material as the active layer in a solar cell exhibits an average photovoltaic absorption of 80%, a high generation rate of photo excited carriers, and an external quantum efficiency of up to 190%.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• New Missoula library lending free mountain bikes to kids

  The Missoula Youth MTB Library lending children mountain bikes for the summer

Tell Us Something

  Call for Storytellers on the theme “Going Home”, March Recap, Get Tickets and Alumni Spotlight

Tell Us Something is again partnering with Missoula Pride for a live storytelling event this year on June 11 and

we are accepting story pitches.

Come Home Wyoming

• Repairing the Pipeline for Rural Career and Technical Educators in Wyoming

  Rural Wyoming is running out of Career and Technical educators, negatively affecting rural communities and economies. The University of Wyoming is partnering with local community colleges to prepare the next generation of CTE teachers.

2024 Montana Legislature and Politics

• Europe Rules That Insufficient Climate Change Action Is a Human Rights Violation

  In a landmark ruling, the European Court of Human Rights found that Switzerland had not done enough to protect its citizens from climate change—blowing open the door for further cases against governments.

City Club Missoula

• TODAY! City Club Missoula – State of the Community 2024: Taking on Challenges, Finding Opportunities – 4/15 –

  Please join us for City Club Missoula’s State of the Community on April 15, 2024. Mayor Andrea Davis, County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier, and UM President Seth Bodnar will discuss the challenges and opportunities in Missoula and comment on the state of our shared community. This forum will be in an extended format from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.

Careers

• Big Tech is on a generative AI hiring spree

  The real measure of a company’s AI ambitions isn’t how many Nvidia H100s it has, but how many PhDs it employs.

Come Home South Dakota

• Cost of workforce recruitment ads starring South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem rises to $9 million

  Most of the money comes from employer tax fund controlled by governor

Transportation

• Voltpost Wants To Bring EV Charging To American Cities

  There are a lot of drivers like that in American cities (and around the world), and they are unlikely to buy a plug-in hybrid or battery electric car until they have access to convenient charging. Voltpost thinks it has an answer that is quick, convenient, and cost effective.

• $6 a day EV subscription service could disrupt the auto industry – The beginning of the end of private car ownership?

  We love a BIG idea, and they don’t come much bigger than this. Helixx Technologies has begun taking registrations in Southeast Asia for its electric car and van subscription service and we’re about to see a fascinating roll-out of what appears to be a thoroughly excellent and potentially VERY disruptive idea.

• Good News About Electric Cars — They’re Driving Down Electricity Rates

  The results of our analysis indicate that, since 2011, EVs have contributed much more in utility revenues than costs. Because of this, electric cars have helped apply downward pressure on rates.

• $45K EV smuggles a 620-mile solid-state battery out of the lab

  Solid-state batteries are among a number of contenders for the title of “next big thing” in the battery world, promising another leap forward in energy density. Their solid electrolytes can theoretically store much more energy than the liquids in conventional batteries, as well as being potentially safer and operating much better in sub-zero temperatures.

Energy and Climate Change

• The Fraud of Plastic Recycling – You’re Being Lied To If You “Recycle” Plastics – CBS Sunday Morning Video

  Critics call out plastics industry over recycling “fraud”
  About 48 million tons of plastic waste is generated in the United States each year, but only 5 to 6 percent of it is actually recycled. A new report from the Center for Climate Integrity, “The Fraud of Plastic Recycling,” accuses the plastics industry of a decades-long campaign to “mislead” the public about the viability of recycling. Correspondent Ben Tracy talks with the report’s co-author, Davis Allen, and with Jan Dell, a former chemical engineer, about an inconvenient truth surrounding the lifecycle of plastic.

Social Media, Connectivity & Communications

• ‘Can you hear me?’ Hang up.

  If you get a phone call and someone on the other end of the line is saying, “Can you hear me?” stay quiet and hang up the phone. It could be a scam trying to record your voice.

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