MATR Newsletter – December 14, 2018
The state with the best education wins!

Welcome to the new MATR site and newsletter!

While we’re still fine tuning some of the new functionality we hope you’ll find the new site as exciting as we do.

Stay tuned for a full description of the new features.

To get started, we’ve cleaned out the very popular Companies listings as there was no way for companies to update their listings so please, if you haven’t already, register here https://matr.net/register/ and then register your company here https://matr.net/my-account/

We will continue to improve MATR and encourage your participation and recommendations.

Best,
Russ

[email protected]

PS – Sorry for the length of this newsletter but it contains all stories submitted over the last 2 weeks as we were working out the new functionality. Future newsletters will be more manageable. Events are at the bottom of the newsletter.

Today in Starbucks when I placed my order, I gave my name as Spartacus as a joke. When they called my name, I stood up and yelled, “I am Spartacus”. Everyone turned around to look at me. A few seconds passed and then an elderly man in the corner stood up and shouted, “I am Spartacus.” Then, one by one, everyone in the store stood up and yelled, “I am Spartacus.” Today is going to be a good day.

Montana Department of Commerce

• Treasure State Endowment Program – Applicant Technical Assistance Meetings
  TSEP staff would like to invite all applicants, for the 2021 biennium funding requests, to schedule a one-on-one technical assistance meeting to review the ranking report comments and scores.
• Governor’s Conference Scholarships Available – Apply now!
  Each Scholarship covers the cost of one standard registration, all included conference meals, plus lodging for two nights at the Copper King.

Montana Governor’s Office of Economic Development

• How the Outdoor Economy Feeds Us
  Conference attendees noted that the very creation of a statewide Office of Outdoor Recreation represents a paradigm shift from the days when all economic attention centered on Montana’s oil and gas industries, as well as timber, coal and agriculture.

Northwestern Energy

• NorthWestern Energy’s environmental policy and principles
  The heart of our electric generation
  in Montana is our hydro system that is an environmental,
  recreational and cultural asset for the state and indeed for the
  nation.
• NorthWestern kicks off smart meter project in South Dakota
  Smart-meter technology will allow NorthWestern Energy to better support customer inquiries and pinpoint electric outages.
• Montana Career Opportunities – Dev Ops Technologist, Engineer – Electric Asset Management & Planning, O & M Engineer/ Mechanical – Northwestern Energy

TechLink

• Meet the Nomad. It’s an ingenious tube-launched drone invented by the Navy. Techlink Pulse
  
  Body cooling system for preventing heat injury, accelerated hearing protection fit-check software (and more)

Great Falls Development Authority

• GFDA Top 10
  Announcing our new logo to align GFDA’s business development marketing with Great Falls Tourism’s marketing efforts! The more Team Great Falls works together, along with our rural partners, the more bang for the buck we get out of local investment and the more wins we help generate.
• GFDA Top 10
  Another downtown building is being renovated!
• New Cargill R&D facility opens in Great Falls, Montana
  “We’re thrilled one of the world’s largest privately held companies has chosen Great Falls, Mont. for their innovative research facility,” says Brett Doney, president and chief executive officer of the Great Falls Montana Development Authority (GFDA).
• Great Falls on the Rise
  “We’re doing well with our per capita income growth. You know, that growth rate is out pacing the national and Montana averages,” Jolene Schalper, Great Falls Development Authority’s VP of Business Development.

Come Home Montana

• Montana Career Opportunities – Dev Ops Technologist, Engineer – Electric Asset Management & Planning, O & M Engineer/ Mechanical – Northwestern Energy
• Montana Career Opportunity – Geospatial Specialist- The Montana Department of Transportation
  This position serves as a professional transportation planner and GIS application expert within the Geospatial Information Section and is responsible for planning and managing statewide GIS data and services, GIS mapping projects including managing the development of official map publications.
• Montana Career Opportunities – Account Coordinator, Paid Search Specialist, Product Marketing Manager, Senior Data Integrations Engineer, and more… – LumenAd
  LumenAd is an AdTech based in Missoula, MT. Agencies craft the message, we make sure it’s heard. We then analyze its impact using technology we create and service we take pride in. And we have a ton of fun along the way.

Montana Business

• BossB, MD – Full Service Coaching for Women Physicians
  We specialize in helping you get the most out of your job search & negotiation processes.
• Open house planned for Montana’s first housing cooperative
  People who opt to live in a cooperative give up the idea of a deed in exchange for becoming a shareholder in a corporation that owns the property they call home.
• Video: Montana Made: Swanky Roots
  The system operates around the clock, producing lettuces, kale, tomatoes, and even edible flowers.
• Video – Montana Made: Shelter Designs Yurts
  “Yurt living” is catching on across the globe as well as right here in Montana.
• Missoula women launch law SOVA firm with full business services for entrepreneurs
  “When we’re talking to investors, we can tell that story through the images and through what we learn. We like to wrap our arms around clients in kind of a different way,”
• Whitefish Summit Focuses on Montana’s Outdoor Economy
  If you hear more about Montana’s tourism economy in the coming year it’s likely because of the spark that was ignited this week in Whitefish.
• Surviving Through Change | Yellowstone Grassfed Beef | Under the Big Sky
  In this Under the Big Sky bonus video, Zachary Jones of Yellowstone Grassfed Beef and his father Bill Jones talk to us about their family history and some of the challenges faced in the fourth and fifth generations of ranching.
• Summit Explores Economic Opportunities Around Outdoor Recreation In Montana
  “Outdoor recreation, really it’s our Montana way of life. It is who we are, and there happens to be a booming economy around it. So how do we have that conversation together?”
• Bozeman entrepreneur helps launch app to train workers displaced by technology
  A local entrepreneur has launched NextStep Interactive, a company that will use a mobile phone app to help train workers displaced by artificial intelligence and automation for careers in the growing health care industry.
• Outfitter, guide users bring $374M to Montana, report says
  Expenditures from outfitted and guided activities brought in $374 million to the state’s tourism revenue in 2017, according to a new report from the University of Montana’s Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research.
• Butte restaurant starts grant program for workers with disabilities
  As part of an ongoing program to reach out to people with disabilities, the OMG! Mongolian Grill celebrated raising $1,200 for the Montana Association for Rehabilitation on Friday.
• GatherBoard launches App – Curate Your Personal Community Event Experience

Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana

• She Thinks Big Podcasts – Women Entrepreneurs Doing Good in the World
  
  Join the Community!Where women entrepreneurs who are doing good in the world come to connect, learn, share resources, have accountability and help each other do more good in the world!
• Billings Public Library open to entrepreneurs
  While we are not subject experts, we are experts in helping entrepreneurs find information about how to start a business, and are eager to use our skills as information specialists to help our community grow and thrive in the digital age.

Montana Education/Business Partnerships

• University of Montana Business Students Compete to Design Website for Local Nonprofit
  “It is absolutely critical to our students that they work on real projects with real consequences, and that’s exactly what these types of projects provide,” said course instructor Clayton Looney, professor and chair of the Management Information Systems Department.
• Seeking Projects for Spring Entrepreneurship MBA Classes
  If you are a startup with an interesting business challenge or opportunity (e.g. funding strategy, new market entry, new product rollout) that you would like students to evaluate or analyze, or an existing business seeking strategic analysis on a key decision or growth/expansion opportunity we would love to hear from you.
• MSU business students to offer consulting for area businesses and nonprofits
  Businesses and organizations that wish to participate in the spring are invited to apply to the MSU Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship. Applications are due by Sunday, Jan. 6.

Visit Montana

• Glacier National Park creates interactive tool to tell the tale of the fire that destroyed Sperry Chalet and its rebirth from the ashes
  This restoration story is still to be written, but thanks to the Glacier National Park Conservancy and the many partners and individual supporters, the reconstruction of the Sperry Chalet is expected to be completed by December 2019.
• Christmas In These 7 Montana Towns Looks Like Something From A Hallmark Movie
  Hallmark movies have quite a reputation, especially their Christmas films. But if you want to experience the warm, fuzzy feeling in real life, all you have to do is head to one of these seven towns that look like the set of a holiday movie.
• Sounds of the Wild West – An audio tour of Montana’s four major ecosystems
  “Every place, with its vast populations of plants and animals, becomes a concert hall, and everywhere a unique orchestra performs an unmatched symphony, with each species’ sound fitting into a specific part of the score. It is a highly evolved, naturally wrought masterpiece.”– The Great Animal Orchestra
• Montana Moments – Great Videos of Montana
  Everyone will probably learn something about Montana here.

Montana Economic Development

• Choteau citizens continue to work on handful of projects
  The Choteau Area Port Authority Board, meeting Nov. 29, reviewed project reports from several groups working on community and economic development projects that arose out of a community assessment held last spring.
• Is Havre, Montana Dying or Evolving?
  The Herald spoke to business owners who’ve been in the game for decades and to those who’ve just begun, gears and levers that help make Havre go, day in day out.
• Do you know about Montana’s economic engine?
  By providing access to information, connection to local resources and management of statewide data, Montana’s librarians and geographic information professionals are powering our communities.

Montana Leadership

• Leadership Montana celebrates 15 years of building a better Montana
  Leadership Montana exists to develop leaders committed to building a better Montana through knowledge, collaboration and civility.

Funding and Building your Business

• A new startup called Goodly is now looking to help employers offer one benefit that many new employees really want – paying off their student debt.
  A recent US News poll found that of 500 employees polled, 90 percent would commit to a job for five years if given assistance with Student Loan repayment.
• Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: A comparison for businesses
  The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) changed deductions, depreciation, expensing, tax credits and other tax items that affect businesses. This side-by-side comparison can help businesses understand the changes and plan accordingly.
• 10 Simple Ways To Improve Onboarding For Increased Retention
  Many employers still have the mindset once a contract is signed they’re guaranteed the loyalty of their new employee.
• Challenging Conversations—How to Tell an Employee It’s Over
  The Final Conversation Should Never Be a Surprise
• 3 Killer Ways HR Uses Storytelling To Attract More Candidates
  To help candidates visualize what their journey would be like, HR is incorporating storytelling to ignite an emotional connection and foster a relationship with their candidates.
• This Startup Program Is Harder To Get Into Than Harvard And Has Helped Entrepreneurs Raise Billions
  To date AngelPad companies have raised around $1.4 billion, with Thomas’ own venture capital fund having raised close to $80 million itself.
• A.I. as Talent Scout: Unorthodox Hires, and Maybe Lower Pay
  Many employers may soon have access to a universe of prospective workers — even for hard-to-fill roles — whom they might not otherwise have come across.
• A new kind of capitalism needs a new generation of inspired–and inspiring–leaders
  “The sense of a system rigged to benefit the owners of capital at the expense of workers is profound. In 2016 a survey found that more than half of young Americans no longer support capitalism. This loss of faith is dangerous, but is also warranted.”
• New coworking lounge opens in Missoula’s Old Sawmill District
  “C3 will be a space that allows for innovation and creative collaboration of businesspeople and freelancers. Dedicated desks and office space, along with open seating options, are available in a membership-style business design. It is integral to our Tech Campus opportunity.”
• More Female Founders Go From Raising Cash to Backing Other Startups as Angel Investors
  In a survey of 279 U.S. women entrepreneurs conducted jointly by Inc. and Fast Company, a surprising 42 percent said that in addition to running their own companies, they made personal investments in startups.
• 8 Keys To Convincing A Bank To Fund Your New Venture
  I’m told that 21 companies on the Inc 500 list started with bank loans, so you can do it too.
• How AI Can Help Small Business Solve Big Problems

Idaho

• Mentor girls to fill technology jobs, panelists say
  Women currently working in the technology field said that both men and women should mentor girls to encourage them to get into the industry because Idaho will need them to fill jobs.
• Idaho startup’s composite tech attracting lots of attention
  Continuous Composites is a 3-year-old startup company that its owners say could revolutionize manufacturing, dramatically lowering the costs for fiberglass, Kevlar and carbon fiber composites.
• Think You Know Sun Valley, Idaho?
  Sun Valley, Idaho: More than America’s first ski resort
• The lightbulb is turning on for Boise leaders: Clean, renewable energy is our future
  We, the youth, are some of the greatest, most concerned, and highly motivated stakeholders. 

American Prairie Reserve

• Montana Career Opportunities -Development Officer, Director of Philanthropy – American Prairie Reserve
  Our mission is to create the largest nature reserve in the continental United States, a refuge for people and wildlife preserved forever as part of America’s heritage.
• American Prairie Reserve is worth a return visit
  Landscapes such as the ones we enjoyed for those several days are among the most endangered in the world and are increasingly sought after destinations for folks looking for new experiences and places to visit.
• Where the buffalo roam, Montana cowboys dig in their heels -The American Prairie Reserve in Montana
  “We’re trying to preserve an ecosystem and add to the diversity of the economy. We’re always going to be surrounded by a sea of agriculture. And we’re trying to be really good neighbors.”

City Club Missoula

• City Club Missoula speakers Pat Williams and Beth Judy tell tales of Montana’s bold and unique characters
  In answer to a question, Pat Williams said the book he’s writing about Butte for his grandkids will be out soon.

Montana Education Excellence

• Gifts from Scott and Payne families complete fundraising for MSU’s American Indian Hall
  “Our family is pleased to be able to help the American Indian Hall come to fruition. We were excited and gratified to see the remarkable donation from the Kendeda Fund and proud to join it, the Scott family and others in following President Cruzado’s leadership in bringing this project into reality for the benefit of American Indians and all students as well as the entire campus, community and state,” Payne said.
• Congratulations to the five schools in Montana who were named finalists in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Competition
  Congratulations to the five schools in Montana who were named finalists in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow, a nationwide competition challenging students to creatively use S.T.E.M: science, technology, engineering, and math.
• Entertainment Management Course Places University of Montana Students Inside Local Organizations
  It’s part of the experiential learning opportunities that UM is known for.
• Montana State University sees historic highs in retention and graduation rates
  “We at Montana State University know that attracting new students is not enough,” said MSU President Waded Cruzado. “Our job is not done unless they graduate.
• A NewAngle Podcast – Cheryl Strayed on Finding Truth
  Cheryl Strayed is a literary force.
• The University of Montana Montanan Fall 2018
  In our State of the University address, three key themes emerged.
• Montana Aerospace Scholars Program Seeks High School Sophomores
  This experience exposes students to the opportunity to work face-to-face with professional engineers, NASA scientists, university students and educators.
  
• Entrepreneurial opportunities associated with MSU business college highlighted in magazine
  Entrepreneurial opportunities associated with Montana State University’s Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship were highlighted in an article that recently appeared in a magazine with an international reach.
• UM Researchers Among the Most Cited in the World
  “This recognition highlights the national and even international impact of the amazing research that has been conducted right here at the University of Montana,” said Scott Whittenburg, UM vice president for research and creative scholarship.

Regional Business

• How 3D Printing Is Transforming Mass Manufacturing
  Once thought of as a method to make trinkets, 3D printing is increasingly being used in mass manufacturing to make production cheaper, better, stronger and faster.
• Cost Of Fire-Resistant Homes Comparable To Traditional Construction, Study Says
  One-third of American homes are now located in the wildland-urban interface, that zone where homes are built near, or in, undeveloped wildlands susceptible to fire.
• Why PG&E Didn’t Cut the Power to Possibly Prevent California’s Deadliest Wildfire
  A new PG&E report details how it decided against de-energizing power lines that may have sparked the Camp Fire. But should it cut power more aggressively?

Wyoming Business

• Wyoming Business Council funds startups
  Ten startup companies with high-growth potential and industry-disrupting products and services received about $730,000.
• Contrary to popular belief, Wyoming doesn’t get 70 percent of its revenue from minerals
  Wyoming hasn’t edged near a 70 percent reliance on minerals in more than 10 years.

Non-Profit News

• Butte support group for parents of special needs kids spreads across the state
  There are similar support groups in eight communities across the state.
• Missoula nonprofit MoFi wins $1M grant from Facebook founder Zuckerberg, Rockefeller Foundation
  MoFi will use the money mainly to hire specialists who will help businesses hire low-income workers across the Northern Rockies.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• Bold Women in Montana History by Missoula author Beth Judy
  From the Blackfeet warrior Running Eagle to the stereotype-smashing librarian Alma Jacobs, the eleven women portrayed in this engaging book were indeed bold—breaking down barriers of sexism, racism, and political opposition to emerge as heroines of their time.
• Montana artists honored for lifetime achievements at Governor’s Arts Awards
  Author Rick Bass and artists Monte Dolack, Jackie Parsons, Jaune Quick-To-See Smith Annick Smith and Kevin Red Star also won the award.

University Business Plan Competitions

• Budding businesses: MSU freshmen pitch business startups
  The idea for a company that could do well by doing good for the planet was the big winner Tuesday when hundreds of Montana State University freshmen competed by pitching new business ideas to a panel of judges.

Regional Economic Development

• How Can Smaller Cities Join the Growing AI Economy?
  The major challenges these regions face is ensuring that AI is accessible, available and affordable for local businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses that may not have the resources of their larger counterparts.
• How Cities Can Create the Next Silicon Valley
  A research paper from Wharton takes a step closer to answering that question by looking at trade secrecy laws and what’s called the inevitable disclosure doctrine.
• The Trouble With TIF
  Cities love to use Tax Increment Financing to boost development. Should they?
• USDA now accepting applicants to our “OneUSDA Internship” opportunity for Summer 2019
• The Benefits of Homeownership Mean We Should Still Believe in the American Dream
  Asset ownership generally improves the well-being of families and provides an irreplaceable rung on the ladder to a stable place in the middle class.

Careers

• Can a two-page resume increase your odds of getting hired?
  Until you’ve reached the mid-point of your career, or unless you’re in a unique industry like academia or medicine, your resume should always be one-page long, right? Maybe not.
• 25 Lessons Business School Won’t Ever Teach You
  If you’re hoping that MBA will be your golden ticket to kickstarting a successful career in business, consider these all-important 25 lessons that you’ll have to learn outside the classroom.
• These are the 4 reasons you suck at public speaking (and how to fix them)
  From not knowing your audience to rehearsing too much, chances are if public speaking makes you nervous you are likely making some of these mistakes.

Transportation

• Making Sense of City Parking
  As part of a comprehensive plan for making a city more intelligent, it’s important for these leaders to research and implement clever parking solutions that help meet emissions standards, serve the greater population and increase revenues for cities.
• Jet Blue about to take off in Bozeman
  As Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport continues to grow, a new airline is about to take off.
• The Revolution Will Be Driverless: Autonomous Cars Usher In Big Changes
  Driverless cars will transform roads, job and economies.
• Tesla Autopilot Feature will ‘Soon’ Drive You to Work Without Any Input
  “Already testing traffic lights, stop signs & roundabouts in development software. Your Tesla will soon be able to go from your garage at home to parking at work with no driver input at all,” Elon Musk
• 5 steps to making better cities
  Every city can choose to make different decisions and can choose to transform itself. The first step often involves a candid conversation about where it is, and where it’ll end up if it doesn’t change course.
• Pedestrian Scrambles Benefit Everyone Using Streets
  While not yet widely implemented in the United States, scramble intersections make life considerably safer and easier for pedestrians and drivers.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

• New MATR site launched – What do you think?
  There will be a period of modifications as we fine tune it but please share any ideas or thoughts that can help make this a better site.
• Forget Trinkets. These Gifts Change Lives.
  Here’s my annual holiday guide for presents with meaning.

Cool Stuff That’s Coming

• Here Are 5 Things You Should Know About Lab-grown Meat
  Grocery stores and restaurants have already been very vocal about adopting lab-grown meats.
• Swarms of bionic bees could monitor farms with electronic backpacks
  Rather than building our own buzzing robots from scratch, researchers at the University of Washington have created tiny suites of sensors that bees can wear like backpacks, to help gather data from their environment.
• The meat growing in this San Francisco lab will soon be available at restaurants – next up is more exciting: affordable Wagyu beef.
  “The best way to deal with the meat challenge is just to make better meat without all the issues associated with killing animals today.” Those aren’t just issues of animal ethics; the meat industry is also one of the world’s largest contributors to climate change.
• The Technologies Building The Smart Cities of The Future
  From AI robocops to flying vehicles to the blockchain, the technologies that once were science fiction are now shaping the smart cities of the future.

Incubators and R&D

• Montana State University team to turn space radiation into useful cybersecurity tool
  “Truly random numbers are hard to get in outer space,”

Energy and Climate Change

• To Expand Clean Energy Access to All Californians, It’s Time to Expand Net Metering
  Californians have developed the country’s most ambitious cap-and-trade program, own more electric cars than any other state, and have created 542,000 clean energy jobs.
• California’s Rooftop Solar Mandate Wins Final Approval
  It’s official. All new homes in California must incorporate solar power starting in 2020.
• Steel for Fuel: How Utilities Can Replace Fossil Fuel Expenses With Renewables Earning Potential
  If managed well, this clean energy transition can actually create opportunities for utility managers to reduce risks and increase shareholder earnings.
• Here’s a Way to Fight Climate Change: Empower Women
  “In my experience, to have eyes wide open is to hold a broken heart every day,”
• State of the Climate report paints 2018 as a devastating, record-breaking year
  The main take-away from the report might be that 2018 is the fourth hottest year on record, in terms of average global temperature.
• How Google Keeps Its Power-Hungry Operations Carbon-Neutral
  Kate Brandt has a radical idea for how we’ll have to live in the future, if we’re going to be in balance with nature.
• New Hampshire Utility to Fight System Peaks With Home Batteries Under New Settlement
  Liberty Utilities will own up to 500 units, but the compromise allows third parties to participate, too.

Community

• Missoulapse Video by Brian Powers
  Time-lapse of Missoula Montana by videographer Brian Powers

Government

• State of Montana Vendor Registration – Opportunity to Bid on State Contracts
  An efficient method for receiving notification of State bidding opportunities and submitting bids electronically, through eMACS.
• Smokey Bear’s world is on fire. But the old mascot won’t die.
  “Fire is not bad — it’s nature at work.”
• Net neutrality could face a powerful foe in Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Willam P. Barr
  William P. Barr is a former chief lawyer for Verizon Communications who has opposed net neutrality rules for more than a decade.
• The FBI is now investigating fake anti-net neutrality comments
  The Justice Department is working to determine if those comments violated the law by essentially using stolen identities, and has issued subpoenas to a handful of organizations related to the comments.
• New report details Montana’s aging infrastructure
  The report found Montana will need over a billion dollars to improve water infrastructure over the next 20 years.
• Including Citizens in the Municipal Problem-Solving Process
  Print to PDF

  Cities of Service has launched its second-annual Engaged Cities Award, an international effort to find and ultimately share work being done by local governments to include citizens in problem-solving processes.

• In every state, the minimum wage is lower than what residents want, study says
  The United States has one of the lowest minimum wages of the world’s wealthy nations.

Other Economies

• Tulsa, Oklahoma Will Pay You $10,000 to Move There
  Tulsa is joining the parade of places that are providing economic development incentives to people who are willing to relocate there.

Rural Communities

• Silicon Valley is betting on one Iowa town’s efforts to bring tech jobs to rural America
  If successful, leaders want to replicate the initiative in other rural towns and states, creating opportunities in regions being emptied of jobs and people.
• How rural America is turning into a digital desert
  The more digital your job is, the likelier you are to be paid well.

Come Home Wyoming

• Wyoming (and beyond) Career Opportunities – Communications Manager, Digital Campaign Manager, Rocky Mountain Horsepacker, Video Producer – National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS)
  NOLS is a nonprofit global wilderness school that seeks to help you step forward boldly as a leader.

MSU Leadership Institute & UM Global Leadership Initiative

• MSU students paired with local nonprofit boards
  Created and developed by Carmen McSpadden, MSU Leadership Institute director and staff, Boardroom Bobcats was launched in 2016 with the support from a $5,000 seed grant from MSU’s Outreach and Engagement Council.

Workforce Development

• College isn’t the only choice. Career-technical education offers options in Idaho
  In the eyes of many educators, CTE solves a lot of problems.
• The Apprentice, Montana Edition: You’re hired!
  This isn’t your grandpa’s apprenticeship program
• Attracting tech talent to the Heartland starts with building a better startup culture
  Culture attracts talent, drives growth
• ChickTech encourages young women to join the tech industry
  At Microsoft, only 26% of their workforce is made up of women, at Google that percentage is 31 and at Facebook, it’s 35%

Montana Economic Developers Association

• MEDA December News….Legislative Resources
  save the date!  MEDA Spring Conference May 21 – 23, in Glendive!

Montana Businesses For Sale

• Montana’s Holland Lake Lodge –  Now seeking potential investors for an equity offering under Regulation D, Rule 506(c) to verified accredited investors
  Holland Lake Lodge is a place of spectacular solitude, plush accommodation, and authentic Montana experience.

The Telecommuting and Gig Workforce in Montana

• Can teleworking bring Montanans big-city wages? Yes, for some.
  As better internet access connects even far-flung rural communities with the rest of the world, it seems to promise Montanans a way to have their cake and eat it too: a fulfilling career at a city wage without having to leave the Last Best Place.
• Helping Remote Workers Avoid Loneliness and Burnout
  Using social exchange theory, researchers suggest, “employees respond to the ability to work flexibly by exerting additional effort, in order to return benefit to their employer.”

2018 Montana Politics

• Montanans shining spotlight on learning disability that affects 1 in 5 people
  Smith said a second bill might address the best way for colleges to train teachers to work with students with dyslexia.

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

• How our school district connects learning to the real world
  Most importantly, we are helping students build 21st-century skills and increase their confidence with STEM.
• A College Experiment That Really Worked
  It shows that many, many more students from modest backgrounds should be attending universities from which they’re likely to graduate — and that getting them to enroll isn’t very difficult. It is a matter of encouraging them to do so and making sure the financial aid remains available.
• What is the state of STEM where you live and work?
  U.S. business leaders cannot find the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent they need to stay competitive.
• Why STE(A)M needs another ‘E’ — entrepreneurship
  “STEM is key to driving girls into non-traditional industries, but adding entrepreneurship will be the key to making them leaders in those careers — not doers led by men,” the study said. 

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• Montana Senator Jon Tester Secures $600 Million Investment to Expand High-Speed Internet in Rural America
  Senator Was Only Member of Montana’s Congressional Delegation to Vote for the Funding
• Native Americans On Tribal Land Are ‘The Least Connected’ To High-Speed Internet
  The low rate of subscription to a high-speed internet service — 53 percent — in these often rugged, rural areas underscores the depth of the digital divide between Indian Country and the rest of the U.S.
• Microsoft says the rural broadband divide is worse than you think
  Politicians and regulators like to say they’re increasing access to broadband in rural areas, but the reality might be far less rosy. Microsoft has conducted a study showing that far fewer Americans have broadband access than FCC data suggests.

Privacy, Hacking and Virus Alerts

• Hacker talks to Arizona man through the Nest security camera in his home
  The hacker said he was one of the good guys but others could exploit the same vulnerability.
• This Brilliantly Simple Trick Destroys Telemarketers and Kills Their Business Model. (But It Makes Everyone Else Really Happy)
  Seriously, you just have to listen. I guarantee you’ll love this (unless you’re a telemarketer).

STARS Montana Early Education Program

• Headwaters Foundation Launches Zero to Five, a Strategic Initiative for Montana’s Children
  “When we asked the communities we serve how we could best allocate our resources, they told us without hesitation to focus on the children. They also told us to let communities lead the process. We’re proud to say we’ve done both.” Headwaters Foundation CEO Brenda Solorzano
• Missoula Chamber launches survey to address child care problems
  Our society kneecaps young parents during the stretch of thier lives when they’re the most broke and stressed out that they’ll ever be with the extrodinary cost of daycare ($9k/yr in Missoula, often more than rent.
• Senator Tester Announces Nearly $2 Million for Havre Head Start Classrooms
  “Early childhood education is vital to the development of our kids and grandkids across the Hi-Line,” Tester said. “These resources will help ensure our next generation of leaders are put on a path to success and can reach their full potential.”

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