Your School Districts are Unappreciated Economic Development Engines – Just ask Winifred, Montana

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Top Ten for 7/5/26

  Janicki is hosting a Community Forum at 5:30 PM on Thursday, (7/9) in Heritage Hall at Great Falls College MSU. Please RSVP here so we have enough seats.

• Great Falls, Montana Set for Economic Boom with Major Investments and GFDA Leadership

  “We just didn’t see a replacement for that economic growth through the ’80s and ’90s,” said Jolene Schalper, executive vice president of the Great Falls Development Alliance. “But we reformulated how we approached our community growth then. We took time in the early 2000s to say, as a community, ‘We need to hone in on the key elements here.’”

University of Montana College of Business

• Montana Career Opportunity – Administrative Associate IV – University of Montana College of Business

  The College of Business invites applications for an Administrative Associate IV to oversee front-office operations and provide administrative, fiscal, and personnel support. This position serves as a key resource for faculty, staff, students, and visitors while ensuring compliance with University policies, procedures, and reporting requirements.   *** All Career Opportunities at the University of Montana

Montana Business

• Your School Districts are Unappreciated Economic Development Engines – Just ask Winifred, Montana

  School districts play are engines of economic development. Beyond education, they drive jobs, infrastructure, and community resilience, challenging the common view of districts as mere cost centers.

• Passive Income Instead of Hard Work is the New American Dream.

  A Wall Street Journal investigation this month put a striking name to a sweeping cultural shift: passive income has replaced hard work as the new American Dream.

• Battery Swapping Is Finally Coming To The USA, Starting With Two Wheels

  Eventually conductive charging could replace both static charging as well as battery swapping.

• Montana Career Opportunity – University of Montana Corporate Relations Officer, Office of Research & Creative Scholarship

  The University Corporate Relations Officer is responsible for building and stewarding strategic relationships with corporate and employer partners to advance the university’s research, talent, and workforce-development priorities. This role serves as a primary entry point for new corporate relationships and works in close collaboration with academic units, research leadership, career services, and advancement to align employer interests with university capabilities.

• Reimagine Wellness at the Gate of Your Flight at the Airport with Sky Cycle.

  Then we launched at the Missoula International Airport. Travelers walked up, scanned the QR code, and rode. Nobody wondered why it was there. A few people wandering by said “what is this”, with genuine curiosity, and the second they got it…they got it completely.

• Both Employers and Employees Face Challenges “Returning to the Office”

  Leaders say that in-person work boosts collaboration and productivity. But in 2026, workers continue to act like it does anything but: Having grown accustomed to working in the peace and quiet of their own homes, offices feel more overstimulating and work-inhibiting than ever.

• Montana Career Opportunity – Paid Social Manager – TOMIS

  We grow tour operator businesses. Through marketing software and expert services, TOMIS generates more direct bookings for your business, makes sense of your marketing and sales data, and streamlines your operations. Job Title: Paid Social Manager Department: Paid Advertising Reports To: Senior Paid Social Team Manager Work Location: In-office, Hybrid, or Remote Role Overview The Paid Social Manager is a strategic and execution-focused role responsible for owning paid social campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, and emerging platforms for TOMIS clients. This role works cross-functionally with Marketing Managers, Google Ads Specialists, and leadership to deliver measurable results for clients in the tourism…

• Are you preparing for the new age of quantum computing and “Q-day”?

  A surge of funding and federal action is giving the once-futuristic technology a more immediate role in everything from business to cybersecurity.

• California Bans ‘Sell By’ Labels, Hoping to Cut Food Waste

  The law standardizes language around expiration dates, aiming to minimize confusion about when food is safe to eat. More than one-third of food sold nationwide is wasted, the U.S.D.A. says. “Consumers get confused and they just default to assuming that whatever date is on the package means ‘don’t eat it and throw it away’,” said Kumar Chandran, policy director at ReFED, a nonprofit focused on reducing food waste.

• University of Montana Honors Four Alumni for Leadership and Impact in Last Decade

  The University of Montana Alumni Association recognized Alexa Coyle, Bailey Durnell, William Lapointe, and Genevieve Lind for their significant professional achievements. These honorees exemplify how UM education translates into meaningful careers across diverse sectors.

• Montana Childcare Payment Delays Threaten Provider Stability

  Montana’s new Best Beginnings payment system has caused delayed reimbursements, straining childcare providers financially. This delay risks worsening the state’s childcare shortage, especially in rural areas with limited options.

• Missoula Downtown on Taps, Downtown Dialogues, Member Workshops and Signature MDA Member Only Events

  Whether you’re a long-time member or a new face in town, Downtown On Tap offers an open invitation to MDA members, their employees, and the greater Missoula community. It’s not just about networking—it’s about creating an engaging, welcoming space to build real connections.

• MEP Indicator: What’s Moving Missoula Forward

  The Missoula Economic Partnership expands prosperity and improves quality of life by engaging in strategic business development, creating pathways for people to realize their potential, and fostering our culture of diversity and innovation.

Montana Housing

• AI is fueling a shocking new trend in San Francisco real estate

  The most alarming trend to emerge this summer is the colossal overbid. “85% of SF houses sold over asking in early 2026,” San Francisco real estate specialist Luba Muzichenko wrote on Instagram. The average overbid, she said, was 23% above list price. “That ties the all-time record from April 2022.”

Visit Montana

• Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation Early Season Updates & Projects You Can Join

  Volunteer Adventures you can join.

Hellgate Venture Network

• Hellgate Venture Network July Meetup with Jennie Yang of NeoSchool – 7/16 – First Interstate Bank – 101 E. Front Street, Missoula, Montana

  Guest Speaker: Jennie Yang, Founder of NeoSchool – The school built for the post-AI world.

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

• University of Montana welcomes Jeremiah Shinn as 20th president

  “Our students deserve a university built for the world they’re entering, not the one we’re leaving behind,” Shinn added. “At a time when the value of higher education is being questioned, UM will meet this moment. Not with arguments, but with proof. In our work, in our graduates and in our service to Montana.”

• World’s first synthetic cell with a complete life cycle could revolutionize biological engineering

  “This is likely the most exciting project I’ve ever worked on,” said Adamala. “We’ve replicated in chemistry what only used to be possible in biology: the complete set of behaviors of a cell. It proves that the most fundamental functions of life, like growth and replication, do not need a mysterious magical spark.”

2025 Montana Legislature and Politics

• The Trump Administration is Shuffling Interior Department Employees To New Roles That Don’t Make Sense

  “When I tell you that it makes no sense, I’m not exaggerating,” one employee told SFGATE. “It’s just insane — absolute insanity.”

• Trump’s actions signal a move toward institutionalizing people with disabilities, advocates warn

  Taken together, the actions signal a worrying return to a reality where people with disabilities are pushed to the margins of society, advocates said.

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