MATR Newsletter – August 1, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

Come Home Montana

• Helena WINS event hopes to hook up retirees with businesses – 8/9 – Doubletree

  It’s an opportunity for retirees to hear from local employers about part-time flexible work opportunities in the Helena area as well as network with employers and each other. Complimentary breakfast pastries, coffee and juice will be served.

Montana Department of Commerce

• Montana Department of Commerce Awards Broadwater County $400,000 of Grant Funding to Support Three Forks Brewery Expansion

  “At Commerce, we’re always proud to support Montana’s small businesses, which help our rural communities grow their economies and prosper. Projects like the Jackrabbit Pub will help create a true boost for the Three Forks area,” said Montana Department of Commerce Director Scott Osterman. “

• Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund – Planning – Job Creation

  Applications are accepted on a quarterly basis. The funding deadlines for Job Creation and Planning Projects are September 14, 2022, December 14, 2022 and March 15, 2023

Great Falls Development Authority

• GFDA – Upcoming trainings: Is a Franchise Right for You? Customer Service Automations that Save and more!

  Whether you’re just getting started, looking for new customers, wanting to grow sales through e-commerce, or focusing on workforce.
  We’re here to help.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• To Retain Nurses and Other Staffers, Hospitals Are Opening Child Care Centers

  Nationally, only about 1 in 10 workers have access to employer programs that cover some or all of the costs for child care services — either on the job site or off — according to a report published last year by the U.S. Department of Labor. The health sector seems to be doing more: About one-third of U.S. hospitals offer child care benefits.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• Senator Jon Tester Secures $57 Million for Broadband in Rural Montana Communities and Indian Country

  The grants, which were funded through Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations, will go to the Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative in Ravalli County, Nemont in Roosevelt and Valley Counties and the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, and the Reservation Telephone Cooperative in Richland and Wibaux Counties.

• $401 Million for High-Speed Internet Access in Rural Areas. Blackfoot Telephone Cooperative, Inc, – $4 Million — Nemont Telephone Cooperative, Inc. – $25 Million — Reservation Telephone Cooperative- $18.5 Million

  USDA is supporting high-speed internet investments in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota and Texas through today’s announcement. Several awards will help rural people and businesses on Tribal lands and those in socially vulnerable communities.

Montana Businesses Seeking Investment or For Sale

• Simms Fishing Products sold – Vista Outdoor Will Increase their Presence in Bozeman

  CEO of Vista Outdoor Chris Metz   says their presence in Bozeman will grow as Vista Outdoor looks to headquarter their outdoor product business in Bozeman. “Bozeman has a place that is near and dear to my heart and the company’s heart and so we think the ability to continue to grow our footprint here.”

Senator Jon Tester

• Senator Jon Tester Secures $61 Million for Montana Small Businesses Through American Rescue Plan

  “Montana’s economic development community is thankful for Senator Tester’s leadership in helping to secure these SSBCI funds for our state from the Treasury Department,” said Paul Tuss, Executive Director of Bear Paw Development Corporation, a five-county, two-reservation Economic Development District based in Havre. “Through a partnership with the Montana Department of Commerce, these funds will be used to help Main Street businesses start-up or expand, leading to more jobs, an expanded tax base and a more robust economy for our entire state. In northern Montana, our organization looks forward to partnering with area banks and the private sector to deploy these funds so small businesses in our rural area have the capital they need to be successful.”

Housing

• Mad about inflation? Blame your local officials.

  Biden gets the blowback. But bad local decisions have helped drive prices of housing, energy, and everything else higher.

• State Government Can’t Solve Montana’s  Housing Crisis

  Government task forces sound nice and give the illusion of a caring state government. Despite laudable goals, more state government is the last thing the housing sector needs.

Montana Ambassadors

• Students With Mentors Reap Personal And Academic Benefits

  Anyone can benefit from having a mentor but for young people, mentors provide an especially helpful blend of guidance, insight, confidence, and friendship. A mentor’s support can help us deal with issues we’re currently experiencing and develop skills we’ll use for the rest of our lives.

Montana Business

• John Oliver takes a troubling look at the state of mental health care in the U.S. – New Montana study highlights first-hand experiences with mental health and addiction services

  “If we want to be a society that truly respects and values mental health, we have to respect and value mental health care.”

• ‘Who will take care of us?’: Financial strife closes 7 nursing homes, state officials decline pleas for short term funding

  Nearly 500 beds have closed since January, seven facilities shutter

• Adam Grant to Entrepreneurs: It’s Time To Rethink ‘Best Practices’

  Best practices may be ingrained in your organization, but they may also be limiting your company’s potential.

Visit Montana

• ‘Make this place a destination’: The Blackfeet Nation in Montana aims to attract tourists

  For local businesses and artists on the Blackfeet Reservation, there is no bigger event than North American Indian Days.

• Escape Into the Wild Without Sacrificing Creature Comforts – The Ranch at Rock Creek, Montana – From $2,500 to $8,200 per night, all inclusive of food, drink, and activities

  Take a breather and soak in the outdoor environment in western Montana. Luxury abounds at this sustainable Relais & Châteaux property on the outskirts of Philipsburg, a charming 19th-century mining town in the Rocky Mountains.

• Powwow Season in Full Bloom in Montana – Montanta Pow Wow Calendar

  The Kickingwoman household, from the Blackfeet Reservation in northern Montana, spent the months main as much as powwow season getting ready for a summer season on the highway, attending a distinct powwow every weekend.

Funding and Building your Business

• Here’s when to use data visualization tools, and why they’re helpful

  Data visualization and information visualization tools are designed to provide a graphic representation of key points in order to communicate large data sets in an efficient and easy-to-read manner.

• How to partner with another business to draw customers

  Kay is transforming the landscape of local small business and entrepreneurship at large by focusing her business strategy on collaboration over competition.

• Venture Capital Funds Keep Raising Huge Funding, Even As Venture Funding Slows

  While venture capitalists may be pulling back on funding to startups, many seem to be redoubling their efforts when it comes to raising more dry powder—at least for now.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• ImagineIF Library Staff in Kalispell, Montana Honored with Intellectual Freedom Award

  Current and former staff members will be recognized by the Montana Library Association for resisting book challenges

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

• Montana State University’s Mountains and Minds Magazine – Spring 2022

  This issue includes several long-form stories of state-wide and regional interest with accompanying photos.

Government News & Events

• Libby (8/22), Kalispell (8/23),Eureka (8/24), Thompson Falls (8/25) to host elk management meetings

  “If you’re interested in elk management in Montana, we need to hear from you on this,” Worsech said. “Please attend a meeting in your area, go online, read through the information and make comments.”

• The New Climate Bill’s Secret Weapon? Tax Credits

  The Inflation Reduction Act would provide billions for Americans to modernize their homes. It’s a way to encourage mass climate action.

Careers

• Registration is open for the 2022 Q4 Leadership Bootcamp, which is happening in Boulder, Colorado, on Nov 10-13, 2022.

  If you’re looking to reboot and refresh your leadership, join Team Reboot this November 10-13, 2022, in Boulder, CO, for their fall Leadership Bootcamp.

• Vigilant Leaders: Paying Attention to What Matters Most

  We are all vulnerable to missing signals due to limited attention, competing priorities, and, often, a lack of curiosity. What manager has not said at some point, “My plate is full” and proceeded to ignore a signal of a potential problem that they later regret?

Oregon Business

• Beer Wars! – Washington brewers sue Oregon over beer distribution

  Three Washington breweries have filed a lawsuit seeking to allow easier, more affordable distribution of Washington beer into Oregon. The suit also challenges Oregon’s restrictions that don’t allow Washington brewers to ship beer directly to Oregon residents.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

• We all need a laugh

  A few good ones….

Transportation

• Missoula airport expects ticket prices to fall as service grows in September

  “Due to the increase of seats, our airfare appears to be decreasing,” Ellestad said. “I think it’s going to be a lot cheaper to fly because of availability.”

• Installing Home EV Chargers Just Got Much Easier (And Cheaper)

  A simple, inexpensive meter retrofit from Siemens and the startup ConnectDER could blow the home EV charging field wide open.

• The Perils of Required Minimum Parking Requirements

  Everybody pays for all this free parking because the required spaces raise the prices for everything else. One study found that garage parking raises the rent of apartments by about 17%, even for residents who cannot afford to own a car.

  Or consider how parking requirements increase the price of food. If zoning requires every grocery store to sit in a sprawling surface lot, everyone pays more for groceries even if they don’t drive to the store.

• Potholes, lack of clear lane delineation, and overall poor infrastructure are preventing us from getting to the next autonomous step.

  In addition to perfecting the technology required for them, there are a number of other factors standing in the way.
  They include poor road infrastructure, the communication systems needed to connect these cars with one another, and the additional traffic laws needed to regulate these vehicles.

Energy and Climate Change

• US nuclear regulator greenlights its first small modular reactor

  This is just the seventh design approved by the NRC since it was established in 1974, and the first of a coming generation of next-gen technologies designed to make nuclear power cheaper, easier and safer to implement than ever before.

• Eugene Becomes First City in Oregon to Ban Natural Gas

  It all started a short 3 summers ago in 2019 when Berkley, California, voted to prohibit new gas infrastructure. Now 60 cities in California alone have followed suit. The movement has spread to the nation’s largest city New York, and has been embraced by the State of Washington and cities like Denver.

• No miracle tech needed: How to switch to renewables now and lower costs doing it

  A transition to 100 percent clean, renewable energy in each country should occur ideally by 2035, and no later than 2050, with an 80 percent transition by 2030.

• Goodbye blackouts! China’s power grid can now be reset in three seconds thanks to AI

  The same process used to take six to 10 hours.

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