MATR Newsletter – December 20, 2024
The state with the best education wins!

No snow in Missoula so Christmas in Cali this year…. with my duck.  Happy Holidays

Montana’s Headwaters Tech Hub

• Aurora’s self-driving truck tech boosts Bozeman job market

  Mayor Terry Cunningham of Bozeman emphasized the local impact, saying, “The genius folks who are creating those sparks and those innovations get to stay here in the place that they love, because of the innovations that they created. But also, for folks like Aurora who are creating businesses from that technology.”

Come Home Montana

• New Nonprofit Career Opportunities in Montana Including Program Director The Biomimicry Institute

  Program Director   The Biomimicry Institute The Biomimicry Institute is a fully remote organization.  However, preferred candidates would reside in one of our current employee based states – CA, CO, MT, NY, OH, PA, VA, WA or WV.  As part of the application process, please submit a letter of interest.  Applications missing this information will not be considered. Applicants from states with salary band posting requirements:  Salary is determined based on internal equity; internal salary ranges; market data/ranges; applicant’s skills; prior relevant experience; degrees or certifications, etc. The salary for this position ranges from $80,000 – $100,000. **We encourage people…

• Apprenticeships are a trending alternative to college — but there’s a hitch

  There’s a big hitch in the movement for apprenticeships, even as they’re being pushed by policymakers and politicians of all stripes and expanded beyond the trades to jobs in tech and other industries: Demand for apprenticeships is outpacing their availability.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Montana Department of Commerce Awards Economic Impact and Destination Event Grants

  Eligible grant applicants host events that promote tourism, community and Montana’s unique cultural heritage including, cultural festivals and concerts, entertainment shows and productions, educational workshops, indigenous, niche or signatory activities and historical celebrations.

Missoula Chamber of Commerce

• Missoula aquifer analysis reveals downward trend

  A future scenario could see the Clark Fork River flow peak earlier, Silverman said. This could lead to an unmet demand between the water entering the aquifer and the amount of water being pumped out.

• The Missoula Economic Partnership December 2024

  Are you still not exactly sure what TIFs and TEDDs are and how they function in Missoula?

• Missoula City Council approves the Our Missoula 2045 Land Use Plan

  The passing of the Our Missoula 2045 Land Use Plan repealed all previous land use plans, allowing the city to now focus its efforts on the framework of one plan for addressing growth.

• New rules for short-term rentals in Missoula aim to enhance safety

  The changes, set to take effect this month, are designed to ensure all short-term rentals comply with local laws and meet community standards.

Northwestern Energy

• NorthWestern Energy Announces Agreement With Data Center Developer in Montana

  The centers will be served as part of NorthWestern Energy’s regulated business, which is expected to lower the cost per customer to operate NorthWestern’s Montana generation resources.

Big Sky Economic Development

• SHOT Show Pitch Lures Vet Owned Business to Montana

  He was walking through the SHOT Show down in Las Vegas and spotted a Montana booth. What is a state doing at the world’s biggest gun and outdoor gear show? He soon found out, and then decided to move his veteran owned business to Montana.

City of Bozeman Economic Development

• Creating a Global Package to Solve the Problem of Plastics

  In 2025, the Global Plastics Treaty will send a clear message to the plastics industry that it has to change the way it does business. That will be the beginning of the end of plastic.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte

• Montana Governor Gianforte hosts energy roundtable to discuss ‘unleashing American energy’

  The roundtable group was composed of energy suppliers, large energy consumers, public utility companies, transmission stakeholders, prospective business investors, and legislators.

Housing

• Is the American Dream of Homeownership Still Within Reach?

  In the third panel of the “Policies That Work” series, Wharton experts explored how various forces are limiting access to homeownership and what can be done to change that.

• 10 states where housing market inventory just spiked back

  Ten states are back above pre-pandemic housing inventory levels—these four states are likely next.

Biotech

• Antibodies Could Soon Help Slow the Aging Process

  The protective proteins in our bodies aren’t just great for fending off infection—they could also fight the effects of getting older.

Incubators and R&D

• First baby conceived via breakthrough fertility tech born

  An innovative fertility technology using stem cells to help an embryo mature outside the body has resulted in the world’s first live human birth. Gameto, the company that developed the approach, says it’s faster, safer and more accessible than conventional IVF.

Government News & Events

• Trump Will Reportedly Block the US Government and Military From Buying EVs

  Donald Trump’s attack on clean vehicles is shaping up to be bigger than previously thought.

Transportation

• More Bad News For Fossil Fuels: The Rise Of The Drop-In EV Charging Station

  “DC-GRIDS projects will develop high-voltage direct current transmission technology that could enable a 250% capacity increase over existing transmission infrastructure,” ARPA-E Director Evelyn N. Wang emphasized in a press statement last month.

• CATL Plans Big Battery Swapping Push

  “By 2030, battery swapping, home charging, and public charging stations will share the market,” Robin Zeng, the CEO of CATL, predicted this week. According to ABC News, he appealed to corporate partners to work together to “build more convenient, more economical, and safer services for customers, promoting a brand new way of life.”

• GM/ChargePoint Deal Shows The Complex Future Of EV Charging

  A complex web of partnerships, funding from various sources, different manufacturers, and different networks is going to keep developing as everyone scrambles to open more charging stations for their own reasons.

• Is it time to consider subscription based car sharing?

  It’s pretty clear that bike- and scooter-shares reduce car trips, but it may be time to consider a subsidized or nonprofit model for car-shares as well.

• Trump Transition Team Plans To Take A Sledgehammer To Biden Era EV Policies

  The transition team calls for clawing back whatever funds remain from Biden’s $7.5 billion plan to build charging stations and shifting the money to battery minerals processing and the “national defense supply chain and critical infrastructure.” While batteries, minerals, and other EV components are “critical to defense production,” electric vehicles “and charging stations are not,” the document says.

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