You did not wake up today to be mediocre.

Come Home Montana

• The University of Montana has issued an RFP to employ an advertising/marketing firm

  The University of Montana has issued an RFP to employ an advertising/marketing firm in the creation of a new umbrella marketing and advertising campaign to assist in growing enrollment and driving results while building brand advocates and repairing the University of Montana brand both externally and internally.  Event Number: UOM-RFP-2021-3191 Event Title: Comprehensive Branding Campaign…

• CNN commentator Rick Santorum receives backlash after saying ‘there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture’

  “We came here and created a blank slate. We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here. I mean, yes we have Native Americans but candidly there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture,” the former Pennsylvania senator said.

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

• Dorsey eUpdate: EEOC Announces Opening of Annual EEO-1 Reports

  This week, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) launched its online filing system for EEO-1 Component 1 Reports. The filing deadline is July 19, 2021.

Eventgroove

• How to Pivot and Plan a Great Virtual Fundraiser – Eventgroove

  The accessibility of online as well as hybrid events enables everyone to participate.

Montana Department of Commerce

• Commerce Department Awards Tourism Grants to 26 Communities Across Montana

  Communities will Share $750,000 to Strengthen Tourism and Recreation Assets

Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development

• Montana Film Office seeks extras for ‘Supercell’ film

  If you or anyone you know is interested, please email headshot/recent photo, availability, resume and personal physical description to:

Missoula Valley Internet Co-Op

• The Pacific NW Rural Broadband Alliance Joins the EFA!

  Key ways in which our organization works towards the goals and ends that the EFA fights for:
  Closing the digital divide:

Big Sky Economic Development

• Big Sky Economic Development May 2021 Training List

  REGISTER TODAY!

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• The secret to happy, healthy homes? Universal childcare

  Having a stable home, or even being able to afford one, requires stable childcare—something COVID-19 cast in sharp relief. The question now is what to do about it.

• Class-action ‘franchise fees’ suit begins with millions at stake for Montana’s largest city

  “The evidence for this illegal sales tax is that the city immediately stopped it after 26 years, and in doing so, forfeited $2.5 million of revenue each year,” said Matthew Monforton, who represents Billings’ ratepayers. “That’s a pretty good indication of what the city thinks.”

• Downtown Missoula added businesses in 2020 as master plan sees progress

  The plan also calls for the enhancement and use of various downtown alleys. McCarthy said 44 alleys have been inventoried and identified for possible improvements. Other cities have found ways to transform their alleys into public places.

• Request for Proposal – Montana Economic Developers Association (MEDA) Process and Priorities Strategy for MEDA’s NextGen Study – Advancing Economic and Community Development for Montana

  Montana Economic Developers Association (MEDA) is requesting proposals from consultants / firms to provide well planned meeting facilitation services in support of the strategic efforts to advance the “Montana Next Generation Analysis; Community and Economic Development Tools” (NextGen) study that was completed in 2020.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• It’s official, Montana has the worst internet service in the nation

  A recent state-by-state survey of internet access has found that Montana has the worst internet service in the nation with data transmission speeds only slightly better than half the national average.

Senator Jon Tester

• Tester Introduces Landmark Blackfoot-Clearwater Stewardship Act to Protect Public Lands, Strengthen Montana’s Outdoor Economy

  “This bill is a shining example of what can happen when folks come together to build commonsense legislation from the ground up, and it will help protect some of our most treasured public lands, create jobs, strengthen our economy, and secure Montana’s outdoor heritage for our kids and our grandkids.”

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte

• Governor’s Office Issues Montana Water and Supply Drought Outlook Report

  According to data in the report, 42 percent of the state is classified as abnormally dry, with another 18 percent of the state in severe to extreme drought conditions. May and June are historically the two wettest months of the year in Montana.

Montana Business

• Montana Air Ambulances: What You Need to Know

  It’s important to know that air ambulance services can also be very expensive.

Regional Business News

• Apple harvesting robot plucks a piece of fruit every 7 seconds

  Robots stand to benefit the world of agriculture in all sorts of ways, from inspecting crops, to herding sheep, to combing fields and zapping weeds with lasers.

Come Home Idaho

• The No. 1 emerging property market in America is NOT in Texas or Florida — you may never even have heard of it – Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

  Top of the list was Coeur d’Alene, a city of some 44,000 people located amid the mountains of northwestern Idaho just over the border from Spokane, Wa.

Come Home Wyoming

• A photographic tour of small-town Wyoming

  Many Wyomingites have never visited places like Lost Cabin or Spotted Horse, and most outsiders have never heard of these dots on the map. Check out these photos for a look at some of the state’s hidden gems.

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

• Great Falls College and UM create path for students to get social work degree

  “This is a tremendous opportunity for students in the region who aren’t able to move but are interested in going into the social work field.”

Rural Communities

• Montana State University Extension Launches Survey to Understand Montana’s “Brain Gain”

  MSU is launching a survey that will help local leaders understand who is moving into our communities, why are they choosing these places and what they need to stay.

• Regional Population Loss ‘Metastasizes’ in the Last Decade

  Two-thirds of rural counties lost population from 2010-19. The underlying pattern is evident in trends dating to 1970.

2021 Montana Legislature and Politics

• Winners, losers and mixed bags of the 67th Montana Legislature

  After four months of finagling, lawmakers call it sine die. What have they done?

• Please support HB 705 – This will give Montana restaurants the option of offering “corkage” – Bring your own wine to dinner.

  It would allow licensed restaurants the opportunity to offer customers the option of bringing their own bottle(s) of wine and charging a corkage fee if they choose.

• You did it Montana – Montana gains second U.S. House seat!

  Once those detailed population numbers are released, Montana’s Constitution requires the state districting commission to to draw congressional districts within 90 days. What the means is that the state wouldn’t be carved into two districts until late this year, setting up a campaign dash to the June primary.

Transportation

• GM launches new partnership to have ~60,000 public chargers from 7 networks on the same app in US & Canada

  Apps are neat but people just want to plug in their cars and have it work automatically every time.

• Autonomous Driving Is Closer Than You Think. But Not Because of Tesla.

  Some level of autonomous driving will be available for purchase to Tesla drivers soon. And based on the other announcements from lidar companies and auto makers, others may not be far behind. That would allow drivers to text and drive–safely–as soon as 2023.

• UK prepares to conditionally legalize self-driving cars

  The UK’s Department of Transport has announced that it’s moving to conditionally legalize self-driving cars in which the driver doesn’t have to pay attention to the road or keep their hands on the wheel, in a move that it expects will save lives.

• A City Tailor-Made for Self-Driving Cars? Toyota Is Building One

  The new ‘Woven City’ near Japan’s Mount Fuji envisions a fully autonomous future.

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

• A beginner’s guide to crypto lingo

  Investing in cryptocurrencies requires an appetite for risk and a whole new vocabulary. Here’s a beginner’s guide to the fundamentals of crypto lingo.

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