MATR Newsletter – December 22, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

May your Montana holidays sparkle as much as you do and that friends and family always surround you.

Joyous Happy Holidays from the great crew at MATR.

“Service industry work develops the ‘soft skills’ recruiters talk about on LinkedIn — discipline, promptness, the ability to absorb criticism, and most important, how to read people like a book. The work is thankless and fun and messy, and the world would be a kinder place if more people tried it. With all due respect to my former professors, I’ve long believed I gained more knowledge in kitchens, bars, and dining rooms than any college.”

~ Anthony Bourdain

Today’s MATR Newsletter is sponsored by:

Come Home Montana

10 new Montana nonprofit jobs – Human Resources Manager, Chief Financial Officer, Development Director and more….
Human Resources Manager MCT, Inc. – Missoula, Montana, 59802 View Job Chief Financial Officer Rimrock – Billings, Montana, 59101 View Job Development Director Montana Outdoor Science School – Bozeman, Montana,…

City of Bozeman Economic Development

Bozeman, Montana wants power to ban single-use plastics
Bozeman city commissioners want the Legislature to give them the power to ban single-use plastic items, adding to a long list of issues the city would like more local control over.

Great Falls Development Authority

Join us January 13 in Great Falls at Meadow Lark Country Club for Ignite 2023.
This hybrid event is from 8-10 am. The format is simple and quick: three-minute presentations on projects that will either start or open in 2023! Projects include business startups, business expansions, real estate developments, and institutional capital projects.
GFDA – Upcoming Trainings: DBE Certification, inventory management and more!
Whether you’re just getting started, looking for new customers, wanting to grow sales through e-commerce, or focusing on workforce.
We’re here to help.

Montana Business

Child Care Faces $24 Billion Fiscal Cliff as Pandemic Aid Ends
Providers face a tough choice: Roll back pay increases or raise prices for families.
The State of Montana awards $320K to 24 Native-owned businesses
The grants, which range from $12,000 to $14,000 each, were awarded through the Montana Indian Equity Fund Small Business Grant.
New material made from worthless waste wood
Using a mix of items usually found on the forest floor, such as weeds, small trees, leaves, and seeds, the new material works just like wood. It can be used everywhere that wood is usually used, and it is shaped with regular woodworking methods.
Families Don’t Know About Inflation Reduction Act Benefits — These Companies Want To Help
When President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law in August, 2022, he said the new law “is not just about today, it’s about tomorrow. It’s about delivering progress and prosperity to American families.”

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

Do You Really Have the Broadband the FCC Thinks You Have?
Billions of dollars in funding will be administered based on the FCC’s broadband availability map. Is it right? Check your own address and see.
CUDs (Communications Union Districts) Lead Affordable Fiber Revolution in Vermont
CUDs provide individual communities significantly more power and leverage through cross-community alliances and partnerships, allowing them to accomplish more than they could have by themselves.

Housing

What happened when Kansas City gave jobs to its most vulnerable residents? They found housing, too
The successful program will soon start a second iteration with more than double the participants.
Montana housing task force unveils recommendations for regulatory changes
The 18 new recommendations are part of three overall strategies: addressing regulators’ efficiency and capacity, gathering updated information and investing resources to support construction and the workforce.

Funding and Building your Business

High-Performing CEOs and Founders on the Best Practices for Building, Growing, and Running a Business
They learned their lesson. Now you can learn from them.

Incubators and R&D

Automated Driving Systems (ADS) for Rural America
ADS for Rural America is a project that is testing the use of automated driving technologies on rural roadways to examine and understand the unique needs of rural environments, while working toward solutions that improve safety and mobility.

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

Build Montana aims to build youth support in construction
They offer apprenticeships, training and other on-site opportunities to high school students who have goals to work in the construction industry.

2023 Montana Legislature and Politics

A legislative aide, Drew Zinecker, with aspirations of representing House District 80 in the 2023 Legislature questioned in public remarks Tuesday whether members of tribes living on reservations in Montana should be able to vote in state elections.
“It’s a very consensus opinion among conservatives that if the tribes want to continue to assert their sovereignty, that draws into serious question whether they should be allowed to vote or not,” Zinecker said.

Government News & Events

How Denver used e-bike vouchers to get thousands out of their cars
E-bikes are electric bicycles with a motor that gives riders a boost. E-bikes use rechargeable batteries and travel up to 28 m.p.h. When you use an e-bike to get around, you can:

Tell Us Something

Storytelling Will Save the Earth – Would you like to learn how to tell a great story?
Storytelling allows us to make sense of the world.

Careers

Entrepreneurs, tinkerers electrify classic cars – Video – ’72 Plymouth Satellite 0-60 in 3 seconds….
A small but expanding group of tinkerers, racers, engineers and entrepreneurs across the country are converting vintage cars and trucks into greener, and oftentimes faster, electric vehicles

Transportation

States are testing roads made from old plastic bags and ink cartridges. The results are impressive
Mixing asphalt with old plastic isn’t just a way to divert it from landfills; it’s also making the roads stronger.

Cool Stuff That’s Coming

All I Want For Christmas Is A New Voltex AL Heat Pump Water Heater
Buy a heat pump water heater for that special someone this holiday season and start saving money while decarbonizing your water heating today.

Energy and Climate Change

Nearly every country on Earth just agreed to protect 30 percent of the planet
Altogether, the framework is supposed to stop human beings from driving species to extinction, preserve the planet’s genetic diversity, and ensure that the benefits of that biodiversity are used sustainably and equitably.