MATR Newsletter – January 25, 2021
The state with the best education wins!

“Everything is unprecedented until it happens for the first time.”
Chesley B. Sullenberger

Corona Virus Information

• North Dakota’s Mask Mandate Expires as Infections Plummet

  North Dakota led the nation in COVID cases for months before Gov. Doug Burgum issued a mask mandate last November. Since then, active cases have dropped by 80 percent. The mandate was extended last month but was allowed to expire on Jan. 18.

Come Home Montana

• Montana Career Opportunities – Co-Founder / Chief Technology Officer, Director of Clinical Research, Senior Full Stack Developer, Senior Data Scientist and more… – Gaize

  Gaize is solving the problem of cannabis DUIs. Cannabis is being legalized rapidly, but no roadside sobriety test currently exists. This risks both the safety of our communities, and the successful long-term legalization of cannabis. A reliable solution to roadside cannabis intoxication testing is fundamental to full cannabis legalization. We’re 100% focused on leading the…

• Montana Career Opportunities – Rural Community Development Coordinator, Loan Officer – MBAC – Montana Business Assistance Connection

  Rural Community Development Coordinator The MBAC/GEDD Rural Community Development Coordinator is a full-time position that will work in Broadwater and Meagher Counties and report to and assists the MBAC Executive Director. This position promotes economic vitality in the rural communities of White Sulphur Springs and Townsend within Meagher and Broadwater Counties. MBAC Loan Officer The…

Northwestern Energy

• Despite COVID, economies on mend in Butte, southwest Montana

  And as always, there are some big, promising leads that couldn’t be talked about quite yet.

Great Falls Development Authority

• Ignite 2021 announces new businesses, expansions across Great Falls

  Across three-minute-long presentations, Ignite 2021 had almost 20 major announcements, all looking to create fresh opportunities for those living or moving to town.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• 5 Ways Biden Can Help Rural America Thrive and Bridge the Rural-Urban Divide

  Biden’s administration has an opportunity to address challenges that hold rural America back and divide the country along geographic lines.

• Study: Women in Montana disproportionately impacted by pandemic

  A survey conducted in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic found women in Montana are disproportionately affected by impacts on daily life, workplace disruptions, economic concerns and mental load.

Senator Jon Tester

• Montana’s “Golden Triangle” is getting national recognition thanks to Sen. Jon Tester’s new book – Grounded – “A Senator’s Lessons on Winning Back Rural America”

  To some, the town of Big Sandy may not seem like much more than a couple of grain elevators along an empty stretch of highway in the middle of nowhere – but that middle of nowhere is actually what is known as Montana’s Golden Triangle and now, thanks to a description from a Big Sandy native, the New York Times is taking notice.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte

• Governor Gianforte says he’ll work with President Biden, lays out clashes

  “Unfortunately, many of the executive actions from President Biden in his two-day-old administration aren’t in Montana’s interests,” Gianforte said in a press conference with reporters.

Montana Business

• No dirt? No farm? No problem. The potential for soil-less agriculture is huge – Growing food without dirt? Yes, you should try it at home

  It’s a growing industry — $9.5 billion in sales is expected to nearly double in the next five years — that stems, in part, from concerns about growing enough food to feed a worldwide population expected to hit 10 billion in the next 30 years.

Visit Montana

• In Big Sky country, a pandemic-era fly-fishing getaway

  Usually on a trip like this, I would spend more than a few hours in neighborhood pubs and bars — or in this case, saloons. But not this time.

Funding and Building your Business

• 6 Ways To Transform Startup Constraints Into Benefits

  Resource constraints should be seen by startups a competitive advantage, by forcing them to develop new markets, and to think differently and act differently than existing players.

• 6 Ways To Test Your New Venture Sustainability Early

  Proof of any business model starts with a finished product or solution, sold to a new customer for full price, with high satisfaction for the value received.

Incubators and R&D

• Personalized skin cancer vaccine demonstrates long-term effectiveness

  The research followed eight skin cancer patients and discovered the experimental treatment offers durable and persistent immune responses to cancer cells up to four years later.

• Scientists Use AI and Urine to Diagnose Prostate Cancer

  It almost has a 100% accuracy rate.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• Big Sky Documentary Film Fest announces virtual lineup

  “There’s so many stories of resilience,” said Rachel Gregg, the executive director of the festival. “It’s a reminder that there are a lot of things that people struggle against.”

Idaho News & Events

• Economist: ‘It will be different’ as Idaho economy rebounds

  While the nation continues to be down about 6% in net job gains, Idaho is up 0.5%.

• ‘I can’t afford to live here’: North Idaho housing prices skyrocket amid low inventory

  Real estate agents say the North Idaho market is one of the most competitive they have ever seen, partly due to people from out of state buying up land.

Wyoming Business

• Outdoor travel market draws Allegiant to Wyoming

  Come summer 2021 it will be possible to step on a plane at Jackson Hole Airport and jet straight to Los Angeles for as cheap as $59 a leg.

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

• Daniel Kemmis – “Healing our Democracy: Breaking Down Divisions Through Relationships and Citizen Participation” – 1/25 – 6PM – Online

  This event will also feature Lisa Davey and Casey Dunning from Common Good Missoula to talk about the power of citizen participation and community organizing across party lines in our democracy.

2021 Montana Legislature and Politics

• Great Falls Mayor Bob Kelly has been appointed to a National League of Cities committee

  He’ll provide guidance for the league’s federal advocacy agenda and policy priorities.

• Capitol Talk: Abortion, Transgender Rights And Open Meeting Laws

  This week on Capitol Talk, restrictions on abortion and trans rights dominate the House Judiciary Committee while that same committee’s Republicans bar reporters from a meeting. All that as old fissures reappear in the Republican caucus.

Government News & Events

• Amsterdam Is Embracing a Radical New Economic Theory to Help Save the Environment. Could It Also Replace Capitalism?

  Amsterdam’s ambition is to bring all 872,000 residents inside the doughnut, ensuring everyone has access to a good quality of life, but without putting more pressure on the planet than is sustainable.

American Prairie Reserve

• Wounded Marine veteran gets a chance at bison harvest on Montana’s American Prairie Reserve

  A love of hunting is what propelled the 39-year-old to the remote prairie of Eastern Montana on a gray January day. Wounded Warriors Outdoors had arranged for Meyer to participate in a donated bison harvest on land owned by American Prairie Reserve. The nonprofit conservation organization has a goal of preserving the unique badlands ecosystem.

Careers

• Game warden embraces Montana’s backcountry isolation

  “I’ve always been into hunting and fishing and Montana is a great place to do both.”

Connectivity & Communications

• Never trust a single source: The new rules for learning anything online

  The internet is the greatest tool ever created for learning, but also the greatest vector of misinformation. It offers a wealth of truth and an embarrassment of nonsense.

Transportation

• Post-COVID-19 family travel possibilities: How about a train trip? Will Train Travel Be More Popular Post-COVID-19?

  As you might expect, Amtrak sightseeing trips work best in late spring and summer, when daylight hours are longest. But winter snowscapes can be exciting, too.

• Governor Newsom’s $1.5 billion plan for electric cars in California shifts rebate money to equity programs

  Newsom wants to erase most state funding for a popular rebate program for new-car buyers, money that has overwhelmingly gone to drivers with annual incomes above $100,000.

Energy and Climate Change

• World-first home hydrogen battery stores 3x the energy of a Powerwall 2

  It stores some 40 kilowatt-hours worth of energy, three times as much as Tesla’s current Powerwall 2 and enough to run an average home for two days. And when that energy is needed, it uses a fuel cell to deliver energy into the home, adding a small 5-kWh lithium buffer battery for instantaneous response.

Privacy, Hacking and Virus Alerts

• Labor Department warns Montanans of text message scam

  These text messages attempt to persuade recipients to click on a link, which may install malware on their devices.

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