MATR Newsletter – February 3, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

Important Notice: Montana Workforce Rapid Training Input Requested

We encourage you to engage and share your ideas and needs to help us deliver the
benefits of this major investment in Montana’s workforce.

Travel as much as you can, as far as you can, as long as you can. Your money will return, your time won’t.

Today’s MATR Newsletter is sponsored by:

Metaverse

We need to put regulations on the metaverse now. Here’s where to start
VC Bradley Tusk urges everyone to get out ahead of the technology because he says, this is the chance to get it right.

Come Home Montana

Important Notice: Montana Workforce Rapid Training Input Requested
We encourage you to engage and share your ideas and needs to help us deliver the
benefits of this major investment in Montana’s workforce.
RFP – The City of Missoula is soliciting information from organizations that are skilled in staffing and operating housing support and navigation services to support individuals who are unhoused.
The City of Missoula and Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) partnered to create a vision for the Navigation Center. City and County leadership is supportive of this new resource and committed to finding the right partner to bring that vision to life.
City Club Missoula – Missoula: What We Love and Will It Last? February 14, 2022 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
The increasing cost and decreasing availability of housing, a worker shortage, a growing gap in economic well-being, and the pace of infrastructure expansion and improvement, relative to increased population and demand – these challenges underscore the need for collaborative work to preserve what we love about Missoula, and mitigate risks to the quality of life that has long defined our community.
Montana Career Opportunity – Data Engineer – Lumenad
At Lumenad, we bring clarity, context, and connection to this overabundance of complex data and information. We’re an equalizer for your paid ads. We exist to fine-tune the balance, amplitude,…

Welcome to Bear Paw Development

Bear Paw Development Annual Meeting Invitation – Keynote address by MSU-N Chancellor Greg Kegel
Annual Meeting Update

Northwestern Energy

NorthWestern’s plans for state’s first battery-storage project advances
The utility company first announced the project last spring as part of a plan to add 350 megawatts of energy capacity by contracting for storage and hydropower, while also constructing a gas-fired power plant south of Laurel.

Great Falls Development Authority

Great Falls Development Authority – Business Trainings and Events You Should Know
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.
‘State of the City’: From housing to growth, crime to COVID, Great Falls leaders share vision
City commissioners heard presentations from nearly a dozen city officials during a “State of the City” special work session on Monday.

Kalispell Chamber of Commerce

Discover Kalispell Chamber Weekly Update: February 1, 2022
Pilar shares instructions about getting your contact information updated by February 7th for our new 2022 Visitor’s Guide and for your Chamber member listing. 45,000 copies are distributed to visitors and in relocation packets.

Montana Technology Innovation Partnership

Register today for Writing Your NSF Project Pitch; Accepting Applications for our spring accelerators now! And more startup resources!
Learn how to prepare a strong Project Pitch to receive your invitation to participate in the NSF SBIR/STTR programs.

The Telecommuting and Gig Workforce in Montana

Why your business needs a “head of remote”
An effective “Head of Remote” brings a critical depth of HR knowledge, systems thinking and design methodology, the ability to reduce processes to their essentials, and to train both executives and employees on using them.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

Get ready for FCC broadband ‘nutrition labels’
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has paved the way for new requirements that will force internet service providers (ISPs) and broadband companies to provide “nutrition labels,” clearly describing their services and fees to existing and prospective customers.
SpaceX’s Starlink gets incredibly pricy Premium edition
How much!?
Vision Net Newsletter – The latest news for you + Career Opportunities
“The Transport Services department provides fiber optic services such as Carrier Ethernet, Wavelength, Wireless/Mobile Backhaul, SONET/TDM, and Dark Fiber. We are in the business of providing bandwidth, and our network can provide a lot of it.”

Housing

A new S.F. housing complex for homeless people was faster, cheaper to build. So why isn’t it being replicated?
“I do think we need to find ways to streamline our approvals,” Mandelman said. “We should describe what we want in our zoning and then get out of the way and let people do it.”
There are more than 40,000 vacant homes in San Francisco – City considers vacancy tax.
Vancouver, British Columbia, is among the cities that have imposed an empty home tax. The Canadian city adopted the tax in 2016, and its overall vacancy rate decreased from 4.3% to 3.1% as a result, with 1,676 units returning to occupancy in 2018, followed by an additional 220 in 2019, the report said.

Montana Business

Multi-billion Boeing contracts mean job security for Washington and Montana – Career Opportunities at Boeing Helena
Boeing tells us that work for these deals will be farmed out to their operation in Montana as well as Washington. Boeing Helena, will make metal parts for the commercial airplanes.

Visit Montana

The Montana-based American Prairie Reserve Sees Record Visitation for Third Straight Year. Online lodging reservation system opens February 11
“There is no better way to experience the prairie than using our public facilities as basecamps for exploring this vast landscape,” said Kautz. “With our year over year visitation continuing to double, I’d highly recommend visitors make reservations early to secure their hut, cabin or campsite.”

Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana

Montana State University holds panel discussion with local entrepreneurs
The Jabs Business College is hosting the event, which kicks of at 5 p.m. Thursday in Jabs Hall 111.

Funding and Building your Business

A startup combines cybersecurity software and insurance for small businesses
By combining the two products, Stoïk hopes to offer SMEs peace of mind that they are fully-protected against a threat that is particularly acute for small businesses.

Regional Business News

Single-payer health care is dead in California until these things change
While its supporters are passionate, vocal and well-organized, they’re no match for the deep-pocketed interests aligned against it. Health care is one-fifth of California’s economy and single-payer represents an existential threat to the insurance companies and hospitals that profit from it.

Come Home Idaho

These Idaho Jobs Are Hiring And Pay Over $100k A Year
With the current state of housing in the Treasure Valley and the booming population, the cost of living continues to rise. With that being said, what can we do about…

STARS Montana Early Education Program

The city of Washington, D.C., raises early educators’ salaries by $10,000
During an already difficult work shortage, it’s critical that fair compensation becomes a priority. The strong, equitable, high-quality early learning system our littlest Washingtonians deserve can’t exist without a healthy, well-supported workforce.

Government News & Events

Electric Vehicles Charge Ahead in Statehouses – Is Your State Keeping Up?
Across the country, legislatures in blue and red states are considering bills to bolster charging infrastructure, expand consumer incentives, electrify state fleets or mandate charging stations in new buildings.
What happened after these unhoused people got monthly $500 checks? Two-thirds have homes
Just $3,000 over six months was enough to fundamentally reshape people’s lives.

American Prairie

New American Prairie purchase will open up nearly 10,000 acres to the public
Famous 73 Ranch spans two counties along Musselshell River

Tell Us Something

February 2022 Tell Us Something Newsletter – Call for Stories
There are only 7 days remaining to submit your story pitch for consideration in the March 30 live in-person event at The Wilma! Storytellers are paid a stipend and work with Tell Us Something story coach Marc Moss to develop and hone their story.

Transportation

Australia Prepares for Automated Driving – What is your community doing?
Although it is good to see government agencies working to prepare for the inevitable future, I believe that their projections are too conservative and that the changes will come much faster than is anticipated.
TuSimple To Haul Freight For Union Pacific In ‘Driver Out’ Robot Trucks
From this spring TuSimple trucks will pick up loads at a Union Pacific freight depot in Tucson and haul them to a distribution center in Phoenix. Though the deal is non-exclusive it is a significant new partnership for San Diego-based TuSimple, CFO Pat Dillon tells Forbes.
The gas station of the future will have treadmills, gardens, and solar panels—but no gas
A competition asked people to design a service station for a future when electric vehicles dominate. The result looks very different from what we have today.

Cool Stuff That’s Coming

Elon Musk says Tesla’s humanoid robot is the most important product it’s working on — and could eventually outgrow its car business
“The foundation of the economy is labor,” he said Wednesday. “So what happens if you don’t actually have a labor shortage? I’m not sure what an economy even means at that point. That’s what Optimus is about. So – very important.”