MATR Newsletter – April 19, 2021
The state with the best education wins!

“The town is becoming a better town all the time and it’s raising a lot more prime citizens for the future, who will hopefully someday return the favor to the town when they’re capable and continue to make Winifred and Montana a better town and a better state.”  Winifred native Norman Asbjornson, the founder of AAON, Inc.

Come Home Montana

• Montana Career Opportunity – Investment Director CDFI Economic Development Fundraising – Great Falls Montana Development Authority

  Dynamic, self-motivated professional sought to join our passionate, creative, fast-paced, results-driven economic development team. Help us raise the funds we need from local businesses, property owners, individuals, and foundations to achieve our mission.

Flathead Valley Community College

• ‘Women in Welding’ course at Flathead Valley Community College preps women for careers in welding

  “I’m really excited about it because it’s going to give an opportunity for women in the Valley and throughout the state of Montana to come and experience welding,” said Julie Arnold, an adjunct welding instructor at FVCC.

Great Falls Development Authority

• Great Falls Economic Development Top 10 for 4-18-21

  Here is our Top 22 for this 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.

• IND HEMP Ads 30+ Jobs with Fiber Processing Expansion

  IND HEMP in Fort Benton, is the largest hemp processor in the US, processing Montana’s 10,000 acres of hemp.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Kalispell, Montana Opts Against Adopting Social Media Policy

  Following discussions about a city official’s social media use, no proposed action items are under consideration to amend current policy

• White House Outlines Rural Infrastructure Investments within the American Jobs Plan
  With its $2.7 trillion infrastructure package, the Biden administration plans to heavily invest in rural America, targeting “social infrastructure” alongside roads and bridges.
• How Companies Are Using Creative Incentives to Attract and Keep New Talent Now

  U.S. job openings are at the highest they’ve been in two years. But companies are still short-staffed.

• John Oliver takes a deep dive into how personal bankruptcy works and why law reforms are essential

  Now, with the long-term financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic weighing heavily on many Americans, Last Week Tonight host John Oliver noted, “Many worry that once the current pandemic assistance stops, more and more people will need the type of help that bankruptcy offers.”

• Unemployment Is High. Why Are Businesses Struggling to Hire?

  Health concerns, expanded jobless benefits and still being needed at home are among the reasons would-be workers might be staying away.

• Surviving an Unlivable Wage – Full Documentary

  “The restaurant industry has driven a significant amount of economic growth since the Great Recession, but many restaurant employees continue to end up hungry due to a two-tiered wage system that allows tipped workers to be paid as little as $2.13 an hour.”

• To encourage innovation, Congress should pass two bills protecting important R&D tax provision

  If allowed to go into effect, this tax hike will reduce new investments that help create jobs, raise wages, and make America globally competitive and innovative.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• Time to cut internet cords: T-Mobile, Verizon up their bids to be your next home broadband

  “Realistically, even today’s 4G speeds are often orders of magnitude faster than DSL, never mind mid-band 5G,” he wrote in an email. “In other areas, a local cable monopoly will win on speed, but adding an alternative should spur the incumbent to offer a better value proposition.”

• When broadband monopolies pushed out scrappy local ISPs, we all suffered

  You’d never give up your cable modem for a dial-up connection. But as the internet grew in the 1990s, it benefited from competition among small players.

Visit Montana

• ‘Unbranded” Four men and sixteen mustangs on an epic 3,000-mile journey from Mexico to Canada

  Unbranded follows four men and sixteen mustangs on an epic 3,000-mile journey from Mexico to Canada through the American West to inspire adoptions for the 50,000 wild horses and burros in government captivity.

Funding and Building your Business

• What you should know about autism – History’s 30 Most Inspiring People on the Autism Spectrum

  While there’s much to learn about autism to shed yourself of harmful misconceptions, here are some basics to know.

• The Patagonia Effect – What makes the company different?
  What brands come to mind when you think about sustainability, climate activism, and positive environmental impact? While you probably thought of your favorite niche company, most of you also considered Patagonia.
• It’s time to end the taboo of employee departures. Here are 3 ways to do it

  If people are leaving to pursue bigger, better things or to find a job that’s a better fit, that’s a good thing. We need to start treating it as such.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• An Interview with Missoula, Montana based Photographer Ami Vitale – CBS Sunday Morning – Travel photographers on capturing images close to home

  Already renowned for her award-winning international photography, Ami was recently nominated for The Natural History Museum’s prestigious People’s Choice award, Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Regional Business News

• US West prepares for possible 1st water shortage declaration

  The man-made lakes that store water supplying millions of people in the U.S. West and Mexico are projected to shrink to historic lows in the coming months, dropping to levels that could trigger the federal government’s first-ever official shortage declaration and prompt cuts in Arizona and Nevada.

• This immersive technology turns hospitals into less stressful places

  Spatial’s soundscapes help transport patients, families, doctors, and nurses to a beach, the mountains, or a peace pagoda—no travel required.

Come Home Idaho

• Boise State University Study Reveals Treasure Valley Is Growing Too Fast

  There seems to be a notion that a large number of people moving into the area are liberal/democrats from California.

Idaho News & Events

• Boise, Idaho based PlexTrac raises $10M Series A round for its collaboration-centric security platform

  The $10 million Series A funding round was led by Noro-Moseley Partners and Madrona Venture Group.   StageDot0 ventures also participated in this round, which the company plans to use to build out its team and grow its platform.

Wyoming Business

• University of Wyoming launches online training for outdoor guides

  “These are skills and abilities that every person leading others in the outdoors needs to have,”

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

• Arkansas Computer Science Program a Model for Other States. Now Arkansas is making the subject a K-12 graduation requirement.

  In the six years since Arkansas mandated computer science in all of its high schools, the initiative has become a model for other states. Now Arkansas is making the subject a K-12 graduation requirement.

• Rural schools have a teacher shortage. Why don’t people who live there, teach there?

  This school year, with the coronavirus pandemic making it even harder to bring in teachers from elsewhere, education leaders in the state issued 122 emergency waivers for unlicensed teachers to work in classrooms, the highest number since at least 2005.

Montana Education/Business Partnerships

• Winifred, Montana K-12school is getting a $40 Million high-tech upgrade

  The vision, particularly from Norman and the design team as a whole, is that we could start to see this level of educational facility ripple throughout the state, that this will be a model for others to look to and say, ‘How do I accomplish that?’”

University of Montana & Montana State University Tech Transfer

• Stand Up to the Attacks on Our University Tech Transfer System

  “You have inherited a system which took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to create. Its benefits are clear to anyone who cares to look, but we need to constantly educate our policy makers, the media and the public because what they often hear is a quite different message.”

University Business Plan Competitions

• Welcome to the Most Fundable Companies Competition Run by Pepperdine University!

  You do not need to be affiliated with Pepperdine to participate.

Rural Communities

• Review: “Our Towns” Brings Human Dimension to the Forces Shaping America’s Communities

  Powered by the curiosity and compassion of its narrators, the HBO documentary offers an optimistic, visually-arresting snapshot of life in small towns and cities.

Non-Profit News

• MoFi Loan Program Receives New Grant

  With the help of a recent $2.1 million grant from Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund, the community development lender has made it even more accessible to small businesses.

Energy and Climate Change

• This giant roofing company just figured out how to recycle shingles

  Roofing giant GAF says it’s the most significant sustainability initiative it’s ever taken on.

TED and TEDX Talks

• TED Talks – 3 sneaky tactics that websites use to make you spend

  Online retailers resort to all kinds of strategies to separate you from your hard-earned money. Behavioral scientist Wendy De La Rosa names three tactics to look out for — and shares how you can keep yourself from falling for them.

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