Montana’s Tech Hub Effort

• EDA Headwaters Tech Hub is now open and we need your input

  This is an amazing opportunity!  Please read the latest updates from Joseph Thiel, complete with instructions, hyperlinks, and additional documents at the bottom.

Come Home Montana

• An Opportunity for Schools to Expand Personalized and Work-Based Learning

  Transformational Learning Grants are available to Montana school districts to support and implement a proficiency-based education system. Montana law defines this as “an education system in which student progress is based on a student’s demonstration of competence rather than on the basis of seat time or the age or grade level of the student.”

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• How does Montana support innovation in technology? Is your organization or program missing from this report?

  The state has implemented various initiatives and programs to encourage technological advancements and attract tech talent. With a focus on collaboration, education, and investment, Montana is paving the way for technological innovation and economic growth.

• What are the main exports of Montana?

  This article explores the main exports of Montana, highlighting the key industries and products that drive the state’s economy and contribute to its global trade.

• Bitterroot Childcare Summit: Collaboration is key

  “It’s known to many in the Bitterroot that we have an employee shortage,” Mitchell said. “What’s not obvious is a large part of this problem stems from child care obstacles — lack of affordability and accessibility.”

• New Irish restaurant coming to Uptown Butte – Shawn O’Donnell’s Pub

  Once open, O’Donnell’s American Grill and Irish Pub will be a place where everyone can have classic Irish dishes like bangers and mash, and fish and chips 365 days a year while being surrounded by an array of memorabilia of Butte, Ireland, and first responders.

• C2MBeta Evening of Networking, Entrepreneurship and  Business Pitches from our Fall Cohort. 12/4 – Missoula

    Our 2023 Fall Cohort ranges from data security to Bulk materials delivery to short-term office-rentals to sustainability and more!  Join us to hear each of their pitches, and to find out if you can help, partner, invest, or just enjoy the show! Sign up here, and learn more about each participant as well. See you there!   Enjoy an evening “offsite” at the AMAZING venue, First Interstate Bank, on the 6th floor, and experience an evening not to miss! WHEN: December 12th, 4-7PM MST  Doors open at 4 Pitches start at 5 WHERE: First Interstate Bank (6th Floor) 101 E…

• Montana West Economic Development December Business Bulletin

  MWED Annual Meeting Next Week Join Montana West Economic Development for our annual membership meeting on Thursday, December 7 at 4 p.m. at Basecamp Coworking (643 Denver St.) in Whitefish.  The meeting portion will begin promptly at 4 p.m. and include the election of our new board slate, some highlights and new programs from the past year, our finances for the year ahead, and guest speaker Mark Siderius will share on update on the new Glacier Processing Co-op. Following the meeting there will be a networking reception with drinks and appetizers. REGISTER     Full Newsletter

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Top Ten for 12/4

  3) We hosted an exciting prospect site visit in Great Falls. Thank you to all of our partners for making time to meet and presenting the enthusiasm and opportunity for development in Great Falls. We have another company in town next week! If your company is ready to catch the wave of opportunity in Great Falls please reach out to Jake Clark 1-406-403-4937 or [email protected]

• College of Veterinary Medicine Feasibility Study Findings & Lunch Invitation

  Montana doesn’t have a vet school, nor does Idaho, Utah, North Dakota, South Dakota, or Nebraska. Veterinary care for pets and stock animals is critical to our economy and way of life.

Montana Business

• This Entrepreneur Grew His Company Nearly 300 Percent in 3 Years by Sending Cold Emails

  His practiced sales pitch strategy combined with a meticulous attention to detail also helped.

• Why Business Needs “Ignition Schools”

  Ignition Schools stoke innovation and mint founders.

• City of Missoula to host growth policy workshops – 12/4, 12/6 and 12/13 – Various locations

  These workshops will help the City confirm how well the current Growth Policy captures our community values and if we need to update our vision accordingly. The City wants to learn what its residents think and what questions they have and want to get them involved in the update.

• Natural superhero fungi boosts crop yields by 40%

  In what is a hugely promising sign for securing and boosting food production, a large-scale field study has demonstrated how treating farmland soil with mycorrhizal fungi can improve crop yields of maize by 40%, without the use of any additional fertilizers or pesticides.

• US Coal Electricity Dropped in 2022, Down to 20% of US Electricity

  The decline in coal emissions last year is part of a longer-term trend. Overall, coal emissions have fallen 57% from their peak of 2,180 MMmt in 2005.

Montana Businesses Seeking Investment or For Sale

• Meet the Founder Solving the Succession Crisis for Small Businesses Across the Country

  Teamshares has raised over $245 million in financing and has acquired almost 90 businesses across the U.S.

Senator Jon Tester

• Senator Jon Tester Secures Nearly $30 Million for Montana’s Airports

  This funding comes from Tester’s bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and is awarded through the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Airport Improvement Grants. Tester negotiated the IIJA with a group of five Republicans, four Democrats, and President Biden, and was the only member of Montana’s congressional delegation to support the legislation.

Funding and Building your Business

• The Founder of Panera Bread Has a Great Recipe for Winning Over Investors

  Panera Bread co-founder Ron Shaich coached Johnny Pork Roll founder John Yarusi on clearing one of entrepreneurship’s greatest hurdles: proof of concept.

Metaverse

• Meta AI unveils free ‘Seamless’ translator for real-time communication across languages

  SeamlessStreaming enables near real-time translation with only about two seconds of latency. The researchers say it is the “first massively multilingual model” to deliver such fast translation speeds across nearly 100 spoken and written languages.

Regional Business News

• Could SCOTUS outlaw wealth taxes?

  The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next week on whether the federal government can tax some “unrealized” gains. That’s when an asset you hold, rather than sell, gains value. Tax experts say it’s the biggest constitutional tax case seen in a century.

University Business Plan Competitions

• Montana State business college to showcase first-year entrepreneurial endeavors at 8th annual venture pitch competition – 12/11

  The competition is the culminating event in the college’s first-year Business and Entrepreneurship Seminar, in which students hone their creativity, innovation and critical thinking skills by brainstorming an idea for an original product, developing a prototype and writing and presenting a feasibility plan for their idea.

Hellgate Venture Network

• Hellgate Venture Network – January Meet-Up – 1/18 – Goodworks Ventures Missoula

  This will be a special HVN event.

• Hellgate Venture Network Holiday Party – 12/19 – Missoula – Goodworks Ventures

  Come join the Holiday Fun. Catch up with acquaintances and meet new ones. Networking opportunities abound.

Transportation

• CATL Creates Fast Charging Electric Car Skateboard With 1000 (620 Miles) Km Range

  All a customer would need to do is mount a body on top of the skateboard to have a finished product that could be sold to retail customers.

• Electric Vehicles & Hybrids = 18% of US New Vehicle Market

  Sales of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and BEVs have accounted for 16.0% of all new light-duty vehicle sales in the United States so far this year, compared with 12.5% in 2022 and 9.0% in 2021,” the EIA writes.

• Designed By NASA For Mars Rovers, These Airless Bike Tires Will Never Go Flat

  Through NASA Startup Studio, which partners entrepreneurs directly with NASA technologies that are ready for commercialization, the SMART Tire Co. was able to pick up the ball and run with it, so to speak, and the company’s first product is a bicycle tire, which was recently the focus of a crowdfunding campaign.

Energy and Climate Change

• Electrify Everything in Your Home

  We’ve been telling you why to do it. Now we’ve put together the best advice on how to do it. Electrify Everything in Your Home is a guide to replacing all of your fossil-fueled appliances with modern electric ones.

VR/AR, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Artificial Intelligence and The Internet of Things

• Deepmind AI tool catapults materials science 800 years into the future – 2.2 million new inorganic crystals

  The GNoME tool has discovered no less than 2.2 million new inorganic crystals, and identified 380,000 of them as the most stable, giving researchers a pre-filtered list of new materials to go away and synthesize for experimental research. Some 736 of them have already been created independently in research labs around the world.

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