Try the ‘Work Backwards’ method to work smarter and live better

2025 Montana Legislature and Politics

• Rep. Connie Keogh is tackling a teacher shortage within the teacher shortage with House Bill 151

  One position that conversation hasn’t focused on, however, is the certified educational interpreters who work to help deaf and hard-of-hearing students access classroom instruction — an omission Rep. Connie Keogh, D-Missoula, said House Bill 151 looks to remedy.

• As of January 20, 2025, here is a list of some current prices in Missoula, Montana

  What other prices are important and should be added to this list?

• Build a Better Future Together – 2025 Climate Advocacy Day & Events – 1/24 – Montana State Capital Helena

  Climate Advocacy Day, hosted during the Montana Legislative Session, is a powerful biennial event where Montanans from across the state come together to raise their voices on climate. Led by a coalition of over a dozen organizations headed by Families for a Livable Climate, this event creates a platform for stories, solutions, and advocacy. In 2023, over 300 attendees gathered from communities like Billings, Livingston, the Flathead, Butte, Bozeman, Missoula, and more to participate in activities, hear impactful speakers, and connect with their legislators. Our goal for 2025 is to bring together 500+ participants, deepening community connections and advancing Montana’s…

• Montanans for a Livable Climate: Protecting our Montana home together. Climate Advocacy Day on January 24 in Helena.

  We have the power to change this and build a thriving future. One opportunity to raise your voice and join with others to advance climate solutions is to participate in Climate Advocacy Day on January 24 in Helena. Details and RSVP here.

Come Home Montana

• Great Burn Brewing Pint Night – Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority – 1/23 – TONIGHT!!! – Great Burn Brewing – Missoula

  Great Burn Brewing, Montana Trails Coalition, and Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority are teaming up for a fun and meaningful Pint Night! Join us for an evening of great beer and good company while supporting efforts to connect communities through passenger rail and trails across Montana.   5 – 8PM

• The beautiful and awful Butte, Montana

  I told her how much I love her city, and she laughed as if she didn’t believe me but said she loves it too.

• Growing Pains In Big Sky, Montana’s Exclusive Playground For The Rich And Famous

  Big Sky is Montana’s exclusive playground for the rich and famous. It’s also one of the fastest-growing areas in the region, bringing on growing pains that includes lack of access to a hospital landowners pay taxes for.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority Applauds FRA Report, Highlights Big Sky North Coast Corridor

  “The release of the FRA’s Long-Distance Service Study underscores the transformative potential of restoring the Big Sky North Coast Corridor, not just as a transportation project, but as a catalyst for economic growth and community revitalization”

• Federal Railroad Administration recommends long distance route through southern Montana

  For those in the Missoula area, the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority will be discussing this plan at Great Burn Brewing on Thursday, January 23rd. Head to this ‘pint night’ to learn more about the exciting developments in Montana’s transportation future.

• The New Email Battlefield: Defending Against AI-Powered Threats in 2025 – 1/23 – Online

  Join Government Technology and Abnormal Security for a live webinar where you’ll gain an understanding of how today’s email threats work, why they’re escalating, and what specific steps you can take to protect your organization.

• Try the ‘Work Backwards’ method to work smarter and live better

  We are thinking about work and life the completely wrong way around, and it’s created a workforce that is—on the whole—overworked, disengaged, and apprehensive.

Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority

• Passenger rail plan aims to reconnect Montana cities

  For those in the Missoula area, the Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority will be discussing this plan at Great Burn Brewing on Thursday, January 23rd. Head to this ‘pint night’ to learn more about the exciting developments in Montana’s transportation future.

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

• Dorsey – Goodbye Affirmative Action Plan? President Trump Revokes Long-Standing Federal Contractor and Grantee Practices and Targets Private Sector DEI Initiatives with New Enforcement Initiative

  Yesterday President Trump issued an Executive Order with far-ranging impacts for Federal contractors and grantees related to anti-discrimination plans, affirmative action plans, and DEI initiatives. The EO works a significant change to settled expectations and compliance programs, and forecasts significant enforcement efforts against Federal contractors and grantees that run afoul of what the Administration views as discrimination.

Big Sky Economic Development

• Minnesota Business Moves to Billings – Archway Defense and Deep Attic

  Promoters of Montana as a great place to do business quite often achieve great success in convincing entrepreneurs to move their businesses to Big Sky Country.

Great Falls Development Alliance

• You’re invited to Business Blitz!

  Join us for a day of interactive trainings and workshops for small business owners. Whether you are just getting started or are already in business, there is a session for you! Each session is designed to run independently so come for one session or the full day!

• GFDA Events and Training 1/25

  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

• How leaders can solve their organization’s creative deficit 

  When you spot a creative deficit in your organization, don’t blame the culture — it’s a failure of leadership, writes Art Petty.

• Skydive Missoula to offer a bird’s-eye view of the Bitterroot

  “We’re gonna be offering tandem skydives and student skydives. Basically, we will take someone from nothing to their skydiving license if that’s what they want to do,” Beth Short said. “We’re really hoping to fill a need that seems to be here in Missoula for people who want to do this sort of thing.”

• Trump signs executive order pausing wind turbine leases

  “States voting for President Trump are eight of the top ten states in terms of reliance on wind power with many depending on wind for a significant share of their electricity use. Restricting wind development in these regions is certain to increase consumer energy bills,” said American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet in a statement.

• Fearing AI will take their jobs, workers plan a long battle against tech

  The Making Tech Work for Workers event was convened by University of California labor centers, unions, and worker advocates and attracted people representing dock workers, home care workers, teachers, nurses, actors, state office workers, and many other occupations.

• UM College of Business to Host Founder and Former CEO of Pathlabs for Executive Lecture Series – 1/29 – University of Montana Missoula

  This in-person event at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29, in the Priscilla and Harold Gilkey Building on the UM camps, is free and open to the public. The moderated talk is entitled “Forget the Hype: Entrepreneurship is About the Fundamentals. Success comes from grounded traits, not flashy narratives.”

Housing

• Montana Dept of Commerce Announce $7 Million Grant To Expedite Construction of Affordable, Attainable Housing

  The $7 million grant, secured by the Montana Department of Commerce, comes from The Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) program. PRO Housing helps communities continue to address restrictive land use or regulatory policies, improve and implement housing strategies, invest in local neighborhoods, and increase community resilience.

• New Seattle firm’s goal of fractional shares to create affordable luxury homeownership

  “We divide ownership of the homes into fractional shares that can be owned and mortgaged independently, allowing multiple independent owners to live in the property with exclusive access to their own private suites,” Katrina Eileen said.

Montana Manufacturing Extension Center

• The Montana Manufacturing Extension Center – A 40-year Collaboration of University, Federal, and State Partners

  Montana has built and maintained a foundation of successful manufacturing enterprises, dating back to the large mineral and resource extraction companies of the 19th century. Over time, the sector has grown to more than 5000 businesses producing highly diversified goods, including recreational gear, specialty food and beverages, and advanced technologies like rapidly growing photonics and quantum clusters.

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

• University of Montana’s Pre-Law Program Delivers a 100% Law School Admission Rate

  “We study the philosophy of law and really try to get students to understand what becoming a lawyer actually takes,” Le Bihan said. “We help them throughout the process [of applying to law school] and get to know them as individuals, something I am very proud of.”

Government News & Events

• Trump seeks to end telework for federal workers

  A majority of federal employees already work in their offices full time.

• Trump ends ‘electric vehicle mandate,’ withdraws US from Paris climate agreement

  By calling a national emergency on energy, Trump is making it the priority of his administration to increase the domestic production of oil and other forms of fossil-fuel energy, White House officials said. It comes as U.S. crude oil production has already hit an all-time high over the past year.

Montana Media Coalition

• Wyoming Filmmakers Join Campaign To Increase Montana Production Tax Incentives

  After failing to convince Wyoming lawmakers to enact tax incentives for filmmakers, two brothers from Sheridan are taking their plans to build a production studio to Montana.

• Nonprofits by the Numbers – 2/5 – Missoula

  This 60-minute presentation will explore the economic impact of nonprofits across Montana, top trends facing nonprofit services, fundraising, and employment, and MNA’s response to pressing issues facing our communities and the nonprofit sector as a whole. It will also include statewide and local trend data regarding housing, demographics, migration, economics, and much more.

• The Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2025

  Missoula is home to the beloved Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, which holds the rare distinction of being one of our 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee and 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World. In her testimonial for the latter list, filmmaker Hadley Austin noted, “you can go on a proper hike in Missoula by simply picking a direction and walking until the sidewalk leads to trails.” Missoula also has a special place in our hearts as the birthplace of the late, great David Lynch.

Energy and Climate Change

• Energy Efficient Data Centers Are Coming For Your Fossil Fuels

  “By some estimates, data center energy demands are projected to consume as much as 9% of US annual electricity generation by the year 2030,” NREL notes.

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

• Google’s Upcoming Ad Change Could Spell Disaster For Millions Of Unprepared Small Businesses

  When Google launched AI-generated search results in May, the announcement came with certain chaos: Google’s AI models instructed people to make pizza from glue, eat one rock per day and drink plenty of urine to pass a kidney stone.

• China’s DeepSeek AI might be smarter than OpenAI’s smartest AI, and you can try it out now

  DeepSeek produced completely acceptable HTML code right away, and was able to further refine the site based on my input while improving and optimizing the code on its own along the way.

• Trump Frees Silk Road Creator Ross Ulbricht After 11 Years in Prison

  Ulbricht will walk free, thanks to Donald Trump—and to the president’s ever-closer ties to the American cryptocurrency world.

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