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

If you think someone has ruined your life, you’re right.

It’s you.

Nietzsche

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Montana unemployment rate among the nation’s lowest in July

  While core inflation increased, Montana’s unemployment rate held steady at 2.8% in July, making it the 10th straight month with a rate below 3%.

• USFS chief Tom Schultz outlines vision for more logging, mining and grazing and less wildfire in America’s national forests

  Schultz says it’s ‘back to basics’ for Montana’s largest land manager.

• Trump Administration Declares Timber Emergency After Decades of Employment Decline in the Industry

  Employment in the natural resource extraction industry, like logging and mining, used to be the primary driver of economic activity in many small northwestern towns like Libby. But those jobs have dwindled in recent decades, leading to the socio-economic challenges associated with unemployment, including low wages and high poverty. In 2023, Libby’s poverty rate was 26%, more than twice as high as the national rate of 11%.

• Sidney, Montana Launches Downtown Master Plan

  Early survey results reflect strong interest in expanded retail and dining options (79.7%), increased greenery and landscaping (64.6%), and more festivals and public events to keep downtown active year-round (68.9%).

• With employers looking for employees, Montana looks for answers

  About 350,000 age 16 or older in Montana aren’t gainfully employed, report says

Northwestern Energy

• A look at how announced NorthWestern Energy merger could impact Butte, Montana

  NorthWestern spokesperson Jo Dee Black said she doesn’t anticipate the merger will result in any major changes at the Butte office.

• Black Hills Corp. and NorthWestern Energy to Combine in All-Stock Merger to Create a Premier Regional Regulated Electric and Natural Gas Utility Company

  “Together, we will be better positioned to meet rising demand, accelerate investment in energy and grid infrastructure, and support customers and communities through a rapidly evolving energy landscape,” said NorthWestern Energy CEO Brian Bird.

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Top Ten for 8-19-25

  We received great news from one of the international companies exploring expansion in our region as they’ve taken a key step forward in their decision-making process.

Montana Manufacturing Extension Center

• MMEC August 2025 Manufacturing News

  Manufacturing Success Story:
  Pool Equipment Company Wades Deeper into Lean Manufacturing

Montana Business

• CBS Evening News – Data centers are expanding fast, but the workers they need are in short supply

  In Chicago, experienced HVAC technicians make more than $150K without student debt.

• A Call for Business Leaders to Shape a Greener World – Harvard Business School

  Governments can incentivize companies to reduce carbon emissions, but ultimately, it’s up to business leaders to address the climate crisis, says Gunnar Trumbull in the book A Concise Business Guide to Climate Change: What Managers, Executives, and Students Need to Know.

• The Producer Partnership – Win-Win-Win for Montana’s Ranchers, Schools and Nonprofits

  The Producer Partnership was founded in 2020 because of neighbors looking to help each other during COVID. The simple idea of donating local protein, has resulted in the first USDA federally inspected, nonprofit owned and operated processing facility in the United States. In recognition of National Nonprofit Day, we would like to highlight several key impacts our organization has achieved this year.

Housing

• Unsold completed new-build inventory is so high this $34B homebuilder is turning to investors

  Lennar, America’s second largest homebuilder, just launched Lennar Investor Marketplace—a portal for mom-and-pop landlords to find deals from Lennar.

• Lower rates, higher incomes: Housing more affordable in June

  However, the South and the Midwest are the only regions where a family with typical or median income can afford a median-priced house, according to the report. The group considers a mortgage to be affordable if the monthly payment (principal and interest) is 25% or less of the family’s income.

Regional Business News

• Longtime Wyoming newspaper executives to buy, reopen eight shuttered newspapers

  Overjoyed newsroom staff in communities across Wyoming are back on the job with pay after corporate closure laid off 30 employees.

YOUR CAREER

• Laser-free vision correction uses electrical current to reshape eye

  Imagine correcting your vision in under a minute – no lasers, blades or pain. Scientists have developed a novel, non-invasive technique that reshapes the cornea using only a mild electric current and a temporary pH shift. In early trials, it reversed myopia without the need for traditional surgery – and could be the most radical advancement in eyesight correction technology since LASIK.

• 7 habits emotionally intelligent people avoid – How do you stack up?

  We often talk about what emotionally intelligent people do, but we don’t talk about what they avoid doing.

Energy and Transportation

• Federal Cuts to Renewable Energy Projects Mean Lost Revenue for Rural Communities 

  The One Big Beautiful Bill phases out tax incentives that lower costs for rural consumers.

• Businesses face ‘chaos’ as EPA aims to repeal its authority over climate pollution

  The Trump administration said this spring that it was reconsidering the endangerment finding as part of a sweeping initiative to roll back environmental rules. At the time, Zeldin said the goal was “driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.”

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

• Blue & Gold News from Montana State University President Tessman

  MSU is strong not just because of our sense of mission but also because of the extraordinary people who help us achieve that mission. As faculty, staff, alumni, friends and supporters of Montana State University, you play an important role in this! I am deeply grateful for your partnership, and I look forward to spending time with you in the years to come. It’s an honor to serve this community.

• Settlement mandates Montana provide education to students with disabilities up to age 22

  Students with individualized education plans who graduated in spring 2025 without a diploma can re-enroll.

• The monthly newsletter of the MSU Alumni Foundation

  Last spring, the Montana Board of Regents announced that Dr. Brock Tessman would become the 13th president of Montana State University. In July, President Tessman received a warm welcome on campus from faculty, staff, alumni and friends, where he shared his appreciation of the university’s commitment to the land-grant mission and its tradition of excellence in teaching, outreach, research and creative activity. We look forward to you getting to know him!

• Oklahoma ideology test for teachers from New York and California draws criticism

  Oklahoma will require applicants for teacher jobs coming from California and New York to pass an exam that the Republican-dominated state’s top education official says is designed to safeguard against “radical leftist ideology,” but which opponents decry as a “MAGA loyalty test.”

• Montana school system welcomes artificial intelligence into the classroom

  “I’ve had several teachers who’ve taken my courses that are skeptical. You know, they come in with the idea that kids are going to cheat with AI. And the reality is, kids are going to cheat even without AI,” said Rainey.

2025 Legislature and Politics

• FEMA Now Requires Disaster Victims to Have an Email Address

  Workers at FEMA worry that demanding disaster survivors access services using email could shut out people without internet connectivity from receiving government aid.

• Montana becomes the 19th state to introduce digital driver’s licenses

  It’s the one thing most of us carry every day, but now your driver’s license might not be in your wallet at all, but rather on your smartphone.

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