MATR Newsletter – August 7, 2020
The state with the best education wins!

Corona Virus Information

• Montana focuses on personal responsibility to slow virus spread – Mask Up Montana!

  After discussion with local and state public health officials, mayors and county commissioners, Bullock said the focus would be on getting people to follow existing safety measures, not issuing further restrictions.

• Hybrid Schooling May Be the Most Dangerous Option of All

  It’s supposed to be the perfect compromise between in-person and online education. It could end up as a public health nightmare.

• Big Horn County, Montana asks residents to stay home for 2 weeks

  As of Thursday, Big Horn County has 240 active cases, 14 deaths, and nearly 2% of the county’s population currently has COVID-19.

City of Bozeman Economic Development

• Triangle plan outlines future development for one of the fastest growing areas in Gallatin County, Montana

  The area of the ‘Triangle Community Plan’ is loosely described as the region between Bozeman, Belgrade and Four Corners and according to the U.S. Census Bureau Gallatin County boasts a 27.8% population growth since 2010.

Come Home Montana

• Montana Career Opportunity – Headwaters Regional Planner – Headwaters RC&D (Temporarily remote)

  Reporting directly to the Executive Director, the COVID-19 Regional Planner will work with staff to develop an addendum to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy that reflects the economic impacts of COVID-19 for the 7-county Headwaters region of Southwestern Montana. After developing the addendum the position will work with stakeholders throughout the region, state and…

• Montana Career Opportunity – Loan Officer – Montana West Economic Development (Non-profit) Flathead County Economic Development Authority

  Montana West Economic Development (MWED) is seeking an experienced, self-motivated commercial loan officer.   This position oversees the MWED loan program,assuring quality delivery of financial products and services. The primary responsibility is the ongoing development and management of a loan portfolio which is both healthy and responsive. Specifically, we are seeking an individual with commercial…

Northwestern Energy

• NorthWestern retrofitting Dillon, Montana’s streetlights

  The change means these streetlights will use about 50 percent less electricity than traditional streetlights.

Montana Department of Commerce

• Public Comment Opens for CDBG Community Planning Program – 8/27 – 10AM – Online

  Community Planning (Planning) grants support long-term, sustainability planning for housing, public infrastructure, community facilities, and economic development.

• A reminder to Montana renters and landlords about evictions during COVID-19

  Montana Housing at the Department of Commerce strives to work with landlords and tenants to make sure we can get through these challenging times together, with renters remaining in their homes and landlords receiving monthly payments.

Great Falls Development Authority

• Digital Marketing Strategies Workshop Wednesday, August 12 – 8:30AM-3:30PM Online

  Join us for a day with KRose Marketing & Consulting where we will be talking about design, content creation, digital marketing, and social media management for Facebook, Instagram, e-mail marketing and web-sites.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• How cohousing communities can help seniors sustain quality of life

  Could senior cooperative housing, a model gaining popularity in states with aging populations, be the solution to alleviating social isolation and population loss in Montana’s rural small towns?

• Western Governors re-energize economies through job training, grants

  Best of the West highlights several economic efforts, from job training programs in South Dakota and Wyoming, to ‘strike teams’ tackling unemployment in California.

• Gallatin College Live: Timesaving Spreadsheet Strategies 8/13 – 4PM MST

  In celebration of its 10th Anniversary, Gallatin College MSU is hosting a special “Gallatin College Live: Real Skills in Real Time” virtual event series.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• FCC Approves Amazon’s $10B Plan for Satellite Internet

  Amazon says the project will help areas where other Internet solutions have been less effective.

• How States Are Using Broadband Surveys to Fight for Better Funding

  It’s well known that the Federal Communications Commission’s Form 477 data, which helps direct billions of dollars, overestimates high-speed Internet access.

• Broadband and Job Productivity – What Matters?

  Multiple research has found that broadband does matter for jobs, income, business relocation, civic engagement, and health, among other things.

Gov. Steve Bullock

• Governor Bullock provides Montana University System up to $20 million for COVID-19 preparations

  The University System will be working to have the testing services funding by this package in place for the start of the academic year.

Montana Biotech

• University of Montana Listed Among Best Universities for Solving the Coronavirus Pandemic

  UM received the recognition for its vital vaccine research, conducted in the Center for Translational Medicine.

Funding and Building your Business

• 7 Ways Every Entrepreneur Should Evaluate A New Idea

  The right person can make any idea a business success, and the wrong one will always struggle.

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

• Rural Schools’ Crumbling Infrastructure Was a Health Threat Even Before the Pandemic

  In the rural counties that serve majority Black, brown and Indigenous children, efforts to make classrooms Covid-safe collide with a backlog of inequities reaching back to Jim Crow.

2020 Montana Politics

• Montana Senator Steve Daines introduces forest management bill – would permit the U.S. Forest Service to carry out large harvesting and burning projects with minimal public input.

  The Forest Service would have to do an environmental review only on the area in its current condition or post-fire. The agency also wouldn’t have to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on new information on the risk to threatened or endangered species, unless it was peer-reviewed.

Government News & Events

• Oregon Now Pays Costs of Ignored Unemployment System

  State officials were reminded repeatedly of the outdated unemployment system through several audits, but continued to ignore the issue. Now COVID-19 is forcing the state to deal with the antiquated system.

Government Technology

• Deloitte Gets $135M and Second Chance for State Website Overhaul

  In 2013, Deloitte was paid $40 million to overhaul the state’s unemployment system. In March, the system failed immediately. Now, the state is paying Deloitte $135 million to take on the state Medicaid system.

Transportation

• The city of Houston is embarking on an ambitious plan to reshape how new development in the city prioritizes walkability, and deprioritizes the automobile.

  City council is set to vote Wednesday on a slate of ordinances that would bring buildings closer to the street, force parking lots to the side or behind buildings, expand sidewalks, and require “buffer” zones between sidewalks and the road. The ordinances would apply to new buildings and redevelopment only in certain parts of the city.

Cool Stuff That’s Coming

• 3D-printed chicken nuggets head into the mainstream

  The project aims to create a laboratory-produced chicken nugget that looks and tastes like the real thing but is more environmentally friendly to produce than ordinary meat.

Energy and Climate Change

• Rising temps could kill millions a year by century’s end

  “We are studying the risk of death faced by our own children. Today’s 10-year-old fifth-grader will turn 65 in 2075, facing mortality risks from climate change every year of their retirement.”

Privacy, Hacking and Virus Alerts

• Inside the Courthouse Break-In Spree That Landed Two White-Hat Hackers in Jail

  The story of the Coalfire case has come to represent a kind of warning about the precarious position of penetration testers in the eyes of the law.

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