MATR Newsletter – December 15, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

Life is about perspective.

The sinking of the Titanic was a miracle to the lobsters in the galley.

Come Home Montana

• Our Missoula project updates city’s growth policy

  The project’s goal is to look at the community’s key priorities and focus on emerging needs like housing, equity, climate action and connectivity.

• Missoula County Public Schools continues search for next superintendent

  Participants said they want a candidate with a wide range of experience in education who is business savvy and understands funding and budgets. The application period closes on Jan. 10,…

• Montana’s Business Attraction Bi-Monthly Newsletter

  Did you know Montana is in the highest tier for science and engineering degrees as a percentage of higher education degrees conferred, according to the National Science Foundation?

• Snowplow green light means slow down on Montana’s roads

  So far this year, there have been eight accidents caused by people trying to pass snowplows on the roads.

Eventgroove

• How Offering Choices Helps Boost Charitable Donations

  Nonprofits and charitable organizations can increase contributions simply by offering multiple-choice options that signal to potential donors what is appropriate to give. Wharton’s Alice Moon shares the results of her latest study.

Great Falls Development Authority

• Great Falls Economic Development Top 10 for 12-14-22

  Here is our Top 15 for last week celebrating work and successes to grow and strengthen the Great Falls regional economy — Montana’s Golden Triangle. And, sharing business resources and skill-building opportunities to empower your success.

Montana West Economic Development

• PeerSpectives CEO Roundtable – New cohort begins in February – MWED

  PeerSpectives is a roundtable system for leaders of second stage companies– typically organizations with annual sales over $1 million and 10 employees or more.

Montana Business

• Modular technology removes CO2, improves indoor air quality, and saves energy 

  The process retrofits traditional HVAC systems to work more efficiently

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• Montana Governor approves $309M Federal American Rescue Plan Act broadband grants

  As it stands, Charter will receive more than a third of the total grant funding.

• Pennsylvania Bill to Ease Municipal Broadband Restrictions; Experts Say It Doesn’t Go Far Enough – Hey Montana…   Are You Listening?

  While the bill may be well-intentioned, a cleaner approach would be to eliminate the state’s harmful and dated restrictions on municipal broadband entirely.

Senator Jon Tester

• Senator Jon Tester Secures More than $7 Million for Rural Development in Montana

  “To keep pace with the Treasure State’s growing economy, it’s critical that Montana’s rural communities have access to the capital and resources they need to grow and sustain their businesses,” Tester said. “I’m proud to have secured this funding to boost our small businesses, create jobs, and ensure that entrepreneurs have access to the training and resources they need to be successful.”

Housing

• 3D-printedhome is designed to be completely self-sufficient when it comes to providing food, water, and heat

  WASP has secured a site for the first build outside Bologna, and now is seeking partners interested in using the technology to begin building the homes around the world.

• Montana task force lays out requested changes to address housing shortage

  Streamline permitting, prioritize infill and consider new methods to address Montana housing crisis

Visit Montana

• Yellowstone’s winter season begins Dec. 15, 2022; Top things to know for a winter visit

  Annually from mid-December until mid-March, visitors travel most of the park’s roads by commercially guided snowmobiles and snowcoaches and via the non-commercially guided snowmobile access program.

Funding and Building your Business

• 3 leadership superpowers and how to spot them in an interview

  After you check for nonnegotiable requirements on a résumé, look for these three superpowers to see if you are dealing with an extraordinary leader.

• CAKE is building an autonomous electric ATV that works with or without a rider

  The CAKE Kibb isn’t meant for thrill-rides or recreation. This ATV is designed for light duty agricultural use, where it can be used to supplement human or machine work and “handle the unique needs of regenerative farming.”

• How to Take Advantage of the Changes Coming to the Energy Industry

  Sunrun’s CEO has spent more than 20 years scaling renewables. She shared her predictions with Inc.

Incubators and R&D

• Idaho National Laboratory spends nearly $400 million with small businesses

  “Small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy and the heart of our ability to conduct world-class research at INL,” Laboratory Director John Wagner said. “Working with small businesses is our priority as the lab grows. It is good for Idaho, our region, and supports small business development and growth.”

• Womb with a view: EctoLife baby farm eliminates pregnancy and labor

  It’s designed to start a conversation and make an argument for a new model of parenthood that Al-Ghaili believes will be possible within years, and widespread within decades.

Regional Business News

• Why Billionaires Are Actually Ruining the Economy – Video

  60% of Americans polled think billionaires like Elon Musk are good for the economy, but the economic data reveals something very different. “These people become a black hole for the economy,” says economist Gary Stevenson. WIRED spoke with Gary as well as Princeton economist Atif Mian to debunk some commonly held beliefs about this nation’s ultra rich.

Come Home Wyoming

• Water Experts: Wyoming Can’t Avoid Potential ‘Doomsday’ Colorado River Crisis

  Wyoming is poised to be impacted by the strain of the crisis that some fear is approaching a “doomsday” scenario.

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

• University of Montana Autism Network (UMAN) – ‘Intentional, autistic space’: new student group creates student-led network for autistic peers

  “My goal for creating UMAN was to create an intentional autistic space for other autistic students at UM,” Mebust said. “Talking about our own experiences and identity is something that I tend to do with any autistic person I meet. It’s something integral to myself and others that few can relate to, and UMAN was made to make the most out of that.”

• University of Montana Launches ‘Grizzly Promise’ to Make College More Affordable for Montana Students

  The Grizzly Promise initiative is funded through a combination of scholarships, grants, waivers and other financial aid packaged together specifically for Montana students who attend UM.

2023 Montana Legislature and Politics

• What Moore v. Harper means for Montana

  According to UM’s Craig Cowie, a case now before the U.S. Supreme Court ‘goes to the existential heart’ of America’s — and Montana’s — separation of powers.

Government News & Events

• State AGs Could Play Key Role in Clean Energy Transition

  A new report from experts at NYU and Harvard law schools outlines the ways state attorneys general can protect communities and workers as the country builds a clean energy economy.

• U.S. Forest Service Aims For Fleet Of 17,000 Battery-Electric Vehicles, Piloting Ford F-150 Lightning

  The order mandates that all new federal agency light-duty vehicle acquisitions be zero-emissions vehicles starting in 2027, with all other vehicle types following suit by 2035.

City Club Missoula

• Missoula City Club hears from television set designers

  The Missoula City Club welcomed community members to special public forum on Monday with six-time Emmy winners John Shaffner and Joe Stewart. The two set designers gave members a behind-the-scenes…

MSU Leadership Institute & UM Global Leadership Initiative

• Montana State University Leadership Institute to Host Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitry Muratov – “The Russia-Ukraine War”- 2/22 – Bozeman

  “I encourage everyone to witness Nobel Laureate Muratov providing his unique and courageous perspective on freedom of speech and the Russia-Ukraine war,” said Carmen McSpadden, director of the MSU Leadership Institute. “Incredibly timely to current events, his message will give MSU students and our community a one-of-a-kind experience.”

Transportation

• ‘Electrified roadways’: Coils hidden in streets could charge your electric vehicle while you drive

  By the summer of 2023, about a mile of street near downtown Detroit is expected to contain inductive charging coils, the first step in a program aimed at addressing some of the biggest challenges facing electric vehicle adoption: cost, weight, range and power generation capacity.

• Active and Micro Mobility Modes Can Provide Cost-Effective Emission Reductions–If We Let Them

  What role can active and micro modes (walking, bicycling, e-bikes and their variants) play in reducing emissions? Far more than most current emission reduction plans will achieve. We can do better!

• Exploring the Great Outdoors With Electric Snowmobiles and ATVs

  If past winters have found you mostly stuck indoors—in part because you’ve been put off by the noise and emissions of traditional outdoor vehicles—these new offerings are definitely worth a look.

• ‘Plastic Roads’ Are Paved With Good Intention

  Transportation officials in multiple states are testing whether roads made from grocery bags, juice cartons, printer ink cartridges or other discarded plastic can make pavement last longer, save money and reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills.

Energy and Climate Change

• U.S. West’s water management system on edge of collapse, expert says

  The state governments charged with the river’s management are locked in a standoff over how to wean themselves from decades-long dependence on this water that borders on addiction.

• MIT’s slimmed-down solar cells would add only 20 kg to a rooftop

  Thinner than a human hair, a new lightweight solar cell from MIT scientists continues to push the envelope in this space.

• Alaska’s Arctic waterways are turning orange, threatening drinking water

  Dozens of once crystal-clear streams and rivers in Arctic Alaska are now running bright orange and cloudy, and, in some cases, they may be becoming more acidic. This otherwise undeveloped landscape now looks as if an industrial mine has been in operation for decades, and scientists want to know why.

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