MATR Newsletter – July 21, 2023
The state with the best education wins!

Federal Reserve Business Survey – How is the economy affecting your business?

Institutional Investors Gaining a Larger Footprint in the Housing Market, Report Says

Housing market recession? Not likely. Prepare for hot post-pandemic prices

Come Home Montana

• Montana not immune to nationwide veterinarian shortage

  It’s hitting rural communities the hardest.

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

• You’re Invited: Dorsey Webinar: Generative AI – Basics, Pitfalls, and Best Practices (7/27)

  We will discuss the basics of generative AI models (e.g., ChatGPT) – what it is, how it is different than other AI, how it is used, and why you should care. We will cover different issues that can be triggered by its use and how you can set up best practices and policies for the use of such technology.

Big Sky Economic Development

• BSED News You Can Use Just For You

  Billings, Montana’s City | Talent Attraction & Retention Tool

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Quarter Index 2023Q2

  Cost of living in Great Falls MSA: 86% of national average

• GFDA Releases new Economic Development Strategy

  The new Economic Development Strategy has four strategic areas of focus: People, Place, Opportunities, and Team.

Montana Business

• Remote And Hybrid Workplaces Are Hiring People Twice As Fast As Full-Time Office Employers: Report

  Many bosses seem convinced that remote work is hampering productivity. But companies with remote or hybrid policies appear to be hiring people at about twice the rate of employers that are fully in office, according to a new analysis.

• The Secret to Having a Great Hybrid Meeting Every Time

  In a great hybrid meeting, both in-person and remote participants have the same opportunities to share. Use these best practices to make that happen.

• A Look at Amtrak’s Ambitious Expansion Plan

  The agency wants to add new lines, improve service, and modernize its fleet as part of a $75 billion plan to revive U.S. train travel.

• 11 Bills Aimed at Modernizing the Small Business Administration Mark Major Milestone in Congress

  Of the bills focused on entrepreneurs, one is drawing the ire of some lenders. A look at the proposal and how small businesses stand to gain.

• Mayors of Montana towns continue protest of MDU rate request

  Proposal from MDU would mean 19.2% more for residential customers

• Philipsburg, Granite County, Montana officials consider resort tax

  The Granite County Commission took up the topic on Tuesday as they look for ways to find funding for services in the growing Philipsburg area.

• Federal Reserve Business Survey – How is the economy affecting your business?

  Please take this 7-minute survey to help the Minneapolis Fed and our local partners understand the impact that the economy is having on your business. Results are shared with our partners (who sent you this survey) and they can share results with you once the survey is closed. Results are also shared with the general public.

• Making Hiking Accessible Without Cars

  Experiencing the majesty of nature shouldn’t require a set of keys. Here’s how parks around the world are making driving optional.

• Shopify’s Latest Weapon in Its War on Meetings: Putting a Price on People’s Time

  Shopify’s new tool puts an exact price tag on every minute of someone else’s time you take up in meetings.

Housing

• Institutional Investors Gaining a Larger Footprint in the Housing Market, Report Says

  The locations with the fastest growing populations are seeing the most dramatic increase in investor-owned single-family housing rentals.

• Housing market recession? Not likely. Prepare for hot post-pandemic prices

  Despite rising costs, 33% of homes on the market had multiple offers.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Lessons From This Year’s Strongest Town: Brattleboro, Vermont

  In many ways, Brattleboro is the archetypal North American city. So, what does this town do differently compared to others like it?

Incubators and R&D

• Kangaroo tendons could rebuild human knees better, stronger

  Reconstructing knees with kangaroo tissue is one step, or hop, closer to being a reality, with human trials set to get under way in 2024.

• Chemical cocktail offers “potential to reverse aging with a single pill”

  A new study led by scientists at Harvard Medical School has identified chemical cocktails that can restore cells to a more youthful state, paving the way for aging-reversal treatments that are more accessible than gene therapy.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• Missoula Public Library Reveals New Strategic Plan

  The three main pillars of the plan being community engagement, core services and sustainability and wellness.

Government News & Events

• Car-Free Montreal Street Hailed as Success

  A summer pedestrianization project is widely popular with residents and local businesses.

Utah Business and Economic Development

• A Vast Untapped Green Energy Source Is Hiding Beneath Your Feet

  New experiments in the deserts of Utah and Nevada show how advances in fracking—technology developed by the oil industry—can be repurposed to tap clean geothermal energy anywhere on Earth.

Transportation

• $3.6 million going to Montana tribes to improve highway safety

  The grants from the Tribal Transportation Program Safety Fund include $3.6 million in construction funds for nine projects in Montana to improve travel safety on five of the state’s seven Indian Reservations.

• TransForm has a guide to help you advocate for smarter parking policies that can lead to a greater housing supply

  Knowing there is a dearth of good data, TransForm just published a guide for them and for housing advocates: Parking Revolution: Housing Solution. The timing is key, since these plans are being discussed right now.

• French motorway to test if electric lorries can charge while driving

  If the trial on the A10 south-west of Paris is successful, the technology could be rolled out on a larger scale

Energy and Climate Change

• Modern ‘Sixth Mass Extinction’ Event Will Be Worse Than First Predicted

  The report argues that nearly half of the planet’s animal species are now in decline, but unlike past mass extinctions, this one has been entirely caused by humans

• This startup wants to make nuclear energy huge by making its reactors tiny—and it already has $25 billion in contracts

  As the world scrambles to find zero-carbon energy sources, Washington, D.C.-based Last Energy has a plan to bring its small modular nuclear reactors across Europe.

TED and TEDX Talks

• TED2023 – The growing megafire crisis — and how to contain it – Northwest Montana Should Prepare

  He presents three emerging solutions to this blazing dilemma, calling for us to redefine our relationship with fire in order to build a more resilient and sustainable future.

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