MATR Newsletter – April 21, 2025
The state with the best education wins!

I don’t know the secret of happiness but I do know this:  I’ve never been sad walking around a bookstore, watching a sunset, eating chocolate or dancing tango.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• This Parisian neighborhood could be a blueprint for better American cities

  Europe is embracing the ‘ecodistrict’ as a new way to build thoughtful, car-free neighborhoods. Why can’t the United States do the same?

• Montana nuclear energy development bills head to the governor’s desk

  Two bills that could open the door for a nuclear energy industry in Montana have passed the legislature and are headed to the Governor’s desk.

• A Whole Town Near Yellowstone Is For Sale For Less Than $3 Million

  Located 45 minutes from Yellowstone’s north entrance, the entire town of Pray, Montana, is for sale for $2.6 million. That includes its 100-year-old general store, post office, home and cabins.

• New Report: Federal Land Transfer Would Send Montana Economy Into Tailspin, Increase Montana Tax Burden By $8 Billion

  “This research shows how the land transfer movement would both send our state’s economy into a tailspin by driving up grazing costs 1,600%, harming our $5.4 billion recreation tourism economy and adding a conservatively estimated $8 billion burden on local taxpayers. The impacts would be unsustainable and lead to the inevitable: Montana’s cherished public lands would be sold off to private interests.”

Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority

• Passenger rail bill derails on Montana’s Senate floor

  “We are not deterred easily,” Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority chairman Dave Strohmaier said Wednesday after the floor vote. “In spite of what may seem a setback, we’re full steam ahead.”

PFL

• Montana Career Opportunities – Customer Advocate, Partner Development Representative, Graphic Design Internship-Print, Packaging, & Promotional Production and more…. – PFL

  PFL brings together technology, printing, storage, and fulfillment in-house to maintain the highest quality standards, capabilities, and visibility for our customers.

Great Falls Development Alliance

• The Great Falls Development Authority Top Ten for 4-19-25

  The Great Falls Development Authority has earned recertification as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) by the CDFI Fund of the U.S. Treasury! Since 1996, GFDA has provided gap and bridge financing to support businesses, nonprofits, and commercial and housing developments in Great Falls and the north central Montana region. We have made 200 loans totaling $69,936,510 that have leveraged private investment of over $350 million.

Montana Business

• The Depot Restaurant listed for sale in downtown Missoula

  The Depot Restaurant was established in 1974 in Missoula, Montana and has been operated under the same ownership since then. The Depot is one of Montana’s premiere classic western steakhouses.

• Montana construction industry working to recruit the next generation of labor

  Through these “pop-up” interactive events held around the state, the Montana Contractors Association is working to connect their members with the next generation of workers. Seven companies set up stations to give students a taste of the work they could do with them on a job site — from glass installation to excavator operation.

• Missoula family passes along Taekwondo martial arts lessons following global competition

  Elliott, no stranger to challenges, recently earned bronze at the U.S. Open and was invited to compete on Team USA at the AAU International School Sport Federation in Serbia, alongside his dad, who helped coach. They became the first Montanans to receive such an invite.

Visit Montana

• Are national parks still open? Recent layoff news shouldn’t stop you from visiting.

  “This country works best when everyone shares their perspective and what they feel most strongly about with their representatives,” she said. “It’s important to recognize how important these places are, not only in this moment, but in protecting them long into the future.”

Funding and Building your Business

• How To Program Your Subconscious Mind For Success: 8 Simple Edits

  Program your subconscious mind for success and never look back. While everyone around you is losing their head, you’ll be standing tall and ready for anything. See what is possible when you give yourself every chance of making it.

Regional Economic Development

• As AI Threats Grow, Wyoming Gets A Certified Cyber Defense Training Center

  Laramie County Community College is the only institution in Wyoming to hold a cyber defense certification from the National Security Agency. The certification comes as threats from artificial intelligence grow every minute.

Rural Communities

• Migration to Rural America Resulted in Population Growth Last Year, Census Shows

  Rural America continues to grow for the fourth consecutive year.

YOUR CAREER

• The Key to Critical Self-Awareness

  The ancient-Greek commandment Know thyself turns out to be a great modern way to become happier, more empathetic, and more successful.

Energy and Transportation

• Friday Video: Ken Jennings Has a Web Series About Transit!

  Jeopardy’s host and most famous player is a big fan of the bus — and he’s helping educate his fellow Washingtonians about why they should be, too.

• Wyoming Students Turn Shipping Container Into High-Tech Greenhouse

  Central Wyoming College has engineered a shipping container into a high-tech greenhouse that’s like something out of “The Jetsons.” It creates its own sunshine and rain to grow all kinds of produce.

• See what you can save with solar installed at your address. Google Project Sunroof

  Search for your home. Discover your solar savings potential.

• How to Make US Trains Faster and Cheaper to Build

  Changes to boarding platforms and a switch to electric trains could improve U.S. passenger rail service without the added cost of high-speed rail.

• The Montana Department of Commerce Awards $525,000 Grant to the Missoula Children’s Theater for a New Roof.

  Mike Morelli, executive director of MCT, said, “The Missoula Children’s Theater is honored to partner with Missoula County and the Montana Department of Commerce to receive this CDBG funding to replace our roof, ensuring that our staff has a safe place to work, and that our work can continue impacting 750,000-plus people around the world every year through our performing arts education programming.”

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

• Mobile phones to be banned in French schools

  It follows trial in hundreds of schools across the country this year

• Protect Out Promise: Investing in Our Children’s Future in Missoula, Montana

  This May, Missoula County voters will have the opportunity to vote on two Operational levies (for elementary and high school districts) and one Safety levy (for the high school district). These levies are essential to maintaining high-quality education and a safe learning environment for our students.

University of Montana & Montana State University Tech Transfer

• Spin-Out Strategy: Turning Scientists Into Entrepreneurs

  Academic founders may face specific challenges, but the task of creating a differentiated product, finding a fit with markets and building traction are pretty much universal.

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