MATR Newsletter – January 31, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

Metaverse

• How to Build a Better Metaverse

  Second Life creator Philip Rosedale wants to prevent the Facebook-ization of virtual reality.

Corona Virus Information

• How to Navigate International Travel Now—and in the Near Future

  Even though people are planning trips again, the thought of traveling overseas right now can seem daunting.

Come Home Montana

• Why are so many San Franciscans moving to Montana?

  “I have a vacation rental [in Bozeman],” Dorsch told The Chronicle. “It became slam-booked for the entire summer. Buyers were making phone calls, buyers were buying properties, sight unseen, to get out of the Bay Area. It really happened in the very beginning, and never really stopped.”

Montana Department of Commerce

• Made in Montana Tradeshow information

  2022 Retailer of the Year – Do you know or work with a Made in Montana retailer who consistently and enthusiastically supports Montana producers through mentoring and retailing Made in Montana products?  If so, this is your chance to nominate them to be honored as the 2022 Made in Montana Retailer of the Year. The award is presented during Wholesale Day, Friday March 11, 2022 at the 2022 Made in Montana Tradeshow.

Northwestern Energy

• People, Community and the Environment – Bright magazine showcases our sustainability efforts and the exciting work going on at NorthWestern Energy. Volume 1.

  The Community issue of Bright magazine showcases all the ways we’re committed to being an active member of the communities and states we serve.

Big Sky Commerce

• Chuck Marohn of ‘Strong Towns’ Presents – Steps Needed to Make Missoula a Strong Town. – Free Cycles Feb. 1 – 5:30-7:30PM

  Marohn will show how the values of engineers and other transportation professionals are applied in the design process, and how those priorities differ from the values of the general public.

City of Bozeman Economic Development

• $65 million open access fiber network launches in Bozeman – Bozeman Fiber is now known as Yellowstone Fiber

  Montana is about to get its first open access fiber network.

Great Falls Development Authority

• Great Falls Economic Development Top 10 for 1-30-22

  Here is our Top 10 for this 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.

• Great Falls Economic Development Top 10 for 1-26-22

  Here is our Top 10 for this 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.

Prospera Business Network

• The 2022 Ignite Speakers have been selected! The Prospera Annual Ignite Luncheon …April 26, 2022… Destination: The Best Western Grantree

  We are excited to announce the Ignite Speakers for this year’s luncheon. Each speaker will present their Ignite Talk for 5 minutes during the luncheon.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Guidebook aims to help communities tap infrastructure funds

  Guidebook aims to help communities tap infrastructure funds

• Economic seminar highlights strong Montana growth, challenges with housing & labor

  Economists say there’s reason to expect another strong economic year in Montana, but challenges like housing and labor shortages aren’t going away.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• Infrastructure and Broadband — What to Watch in 2022

  State lawmakers should be thinking about how to go on one-time spending sprees — such as funding infrastructure projects, including broadband, largely underwritten by the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill.

Housing

• UM economist: Montana not making use of federal housing programs

  Montana has left nearly $950 million in tax-exempt private activity bonds on the table. Such bonds are issued by a state or local authority for a private project.

Montana Business

• Saddle up: Master backcountry horse and mule outfitter Smoke Elser, traces evolution of packing – 3 Miles an Hour

  “He taught thousands of people how to pack,” said Maggi, who transformed her own experience with his classes into political science courses in wilderness policy. “When he came out here as a young boy from Ohio, he got to work with all the old Forest Service guys, and outfitters like Tom Edwards and Howard Copenhaver. He was at the right place at the right time and carried the torch from all the outfitters he learned from.”

Funding and Building your Business

• How Emotionally Intelligent People Use the Mark Twain Rule to Become Exceptionally Persuasive

  Let me get to the point.

• The number one requirement all start-ups need to succeed

  There is a huge difference between people liking your solution versus paying for it. Here are a few ways to identify if your idea is one people might pay for.

• Litigation vs Google May Cause Ripples in Data Collection

  With Data Privacy Week underway, a new lawsuit adds another wrinkle to questions about data governance, ownership, and profit.

• Now Physical Jobs Are Going Remote, Too

  Advances in artificial intelligence and other technology allow machines to be operated from far away. The trend could spell trouble for workers.

Incubators and R&D

• Anti-aging vaccine clears out dysfunctional cells that cause disease

  Many of the all-too-familiar symptoms of aging can be attributed to a build-up of senescent cells, those which have stopped dividing. In a new study, researchers in Japan have identified a protein specific to these cells and developed a vaccine that can clear them away, with tests on mice reducing the effects of aging.

Idaho News & Events

• Apply for a Boise State intern that you don’t have to pay

  Bronco Corps is back for a third summer and is now accepting applications. If you haven’t heard of the program, it’s a win-win for both the employer and intern.

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

• Giving Cash to Low-Income Mothers Linked to Increased Brain Activity in Their Babies, Study Suggests

  Brain measurements at age 1 showed faster activity in key brain regions in infants whose low-income families received $300-plus monthly for a year, compared with those who got $20 each month, U.S. researchers reported Monday.

Careers

• Chamber looks to retirees to help ease Helena’s workforce woes – Brunch for retirees and employers 10 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15

  The Helena Area Chamber of Commerce is hoping to find a few more like-minded people such as Redding. It is holding a Feb. 15 brunch for folks who are retired — but apparently not tired — who want to re-enter the workforce with jobs that may fit into their new lifestyles and help out in a time when employers are struggling to find workers.

North Dakota Business and Economic Development

• Missoula businessmen building $1.9B crypto-mining center in North Dakota – Could a New Bill Effectively Ban All Crypto Transactions in the US?

  The Atlas Power center is going to be the largest data center in North Dakota. It could also be used for cloud storage. A substation is already in place to supply electric power.

Transportation

• What Happens to the Battery When an Electric Vehicle Gets Old?

  The nation is pivoting towards electric vehicles as a more climate-friendly alternative to gas-powered vehicles. Some worry about the chance that in the future millions of EV batteries will end up in a landfill.

Energy and Climate Change

• Nuclear scientists achieve major fusion feat

  With 192 lasers and temperatures more than three times hotter than the center of the sun, scientists hit — at least for a fraction of a second — a key milestone on the long road toward nearly pollution-free fusion energy.

• Cooking with gas? Research finds health and emissions risks even when stoves are off

  Leaking methane from natural gas-burning stove tops is releasing the greenhouse-gas equivalent of hundreds of thousands of cars, and cooking on gas stovetops is posing a risk to health, according to new research.

• How A Smart Electric Grid Will Power Our Future

  Reimagining the United States power grid could save consumers $50 billion a year

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