MATR Newsletter – February 1, 2021
The state with the best education wins!

Missoula Valley Internet Co-Op

• Missoula Valley Internet Co-Op launches in lower Grant Creek

  The non-profit plans to roll out another community-based network in Lake County later this year. Lake County residents can pre-register to receive the service here.

City of Bozeman Economic Development

• Bozeman again tops list of strongest micropolitan areas

  The ranking is a good sign, city economic development director Brit Fontenot said.

Great Falls Development Authority

• Great Falls Economic Development Top 10 for 1-31-21

  Congratulations to Kessler Martin on opening Coulee Cuts butcher shop in Conrad!

Kalispell Chamber of Commerce

• ImagineIF’s ‘Making Montana’ wins state Program of the Year Award

  “Making Montana is more than a job or career fair, it is about inspiration for the future through hands-on learning.”

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Work Has Changed, and That’s an Opportunity for Bedroom Communities

  Telecommuting is here to stay, and those workers are a built-in market for revitalizing your downtown — if you give them the right kind of place to go.

• This free online class will teach anyone how to solve societal problems

  “This is precisely about overcoming the despair that so many of us are feeling right now,” she says. “By encouraging people and supporting them to be able to figure out something they can do, even if it’s their own backyard, that can make a real difference.”

• Economic outlook: A look at Superfund economics in Anaconda and Butte

  In Butte and Anaconda, Superfund cleanup is foremost a matter of community health and safety. As agreements are settled and cleanup kicks into high gear, however, the two communities also stand to reap economic benefits.

• Butte seeking legislation to entice plant that would turn Montana water into green energy

  “It would be a huge economic impact and projected to be over a billion dollars of investment into Southwest Montana,” said Butte Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher.

• New report shows some strength, but also concerns in Montana economy

  “I think the prospects, as long as we can get out of the morass we’re in now, are relatively bright. But right now, not so much.”

Montana Businesses Seeking Investment or For Sale

• Old Lolo School 30 acre site for sale – $4,100,000

  Development opportunity in the center of Lolo for retail, multi-use, and residential development, with 689 feet of frontage on US Hwy 93.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte

• Governors on Tech: Broadband and Telehealth Top the 2021 Agenda
  In his first State of the State address, Gov. Greg Gianforte did not mention technology; the closest he came was when he asked what kind of customer experience the state was giving to its citizens.  Gianforte pledged to be “available, accessible and accountable,” and asked his agency heads to do the same. He did not provide details about what that would mean.

Housing

• Advocates fight to protect Montana mobile home parks from aggressive buyers

  Havenpark Communities has moved in quickly enough and angered enough of their newly-acquired residents that it caught the attention of state lawmakers.

Montana Business

• Once we have lab-grown meat, will we still need animal advocacy?

  We know most people do choose food based on taste, cost, and accessibility, not moral calculations. So if cell-cultured meat is able to compete with industrial meat on those metrics, it will likely succeed in ending factory farming without needing to engage ethics at all.

Funding and Building your Business

• Cloud do better: Zaraz promises 40% faster websites with a single line of code

  A new Y Combinator (YC) graduate is emerging from stealth today with a mission to expedite page load times using a single line of code.

Incubators and R&D

• Researchers Could Soon 3D Print Bones Directly Into the Human Body

  The innovation could revolutionize bone-related healthcare.

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

• The Byrne Family donates 25 new Chromebooks to Ulm, Montana School

  Small school districts don’t usually have big budgets – but sometime they have caring benefactors with huge hearts. That was evident in Ulm recently where one couple helped the district meet the challenges of Covid-19 head on.

2021 Montana Legislature and Politics

• The Montana Legislative Session Week 5: Tribal Land Property Taxes, Paristan Committees, Child Welfare

  This week, we’re watching bills to make tribes pay more property taxes; make interim committees partisan; and expedite court hearings for child protective cases.

• Bozeman is pushing for a local option sales tax again. No one has high hopes about its prospects.

  Rep. Dave Fern, D-Whitefish, who introduced a local option bill earlier this month, acknowledged doing so might be a sign he is a “glutton for punishment.”

• Capitol Talk: Tax Cuts, Pay Raises And A Republican Reversal

  Gov. Gianforte’s State of the State address was a mixture of Republican canon and bipartisan proposals. Lawmakers disagree whether an immigration bill has racist intent.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

• A new vehicle crime epidemic pops up in Billings, and throughout Montana, costing victims thousands in repairs. What are the best ways to prevent this theft?

  The crime presents a game of cat and mouse for police

Transportation

• Verified: More Parking Puts More Cars on the Road

  A new study finds something environmentalists have long suspected but never proven.

• Partnerships Hold Great Potential for Electric Utilities, EV Manufacturers

  Forward-thinking electric utility providers are creating a new category of constituents, which will help build needed charging station infrastructure and put more EVs on the roads.

• Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority Board Meeting Friday, Feb. 5, 2021 – 9 to 11 a.m. – Online

  All indications are positive that Congress might also authorize the creation of additional multi-state rail commissions, which will broaden our regional goals and capacity for interstate collaboration beyond what the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority can accomplish on its own.

• English City to Host World-first Electric Flying Car Airport

  The project aims to develop a zero-emission infrastructure that will host the next generation of electric and autonomous air vehicles.

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