MATR Newsletter – June 12, 2023
The state with the best education wins!

Come Home Montana

• Is passenger rail on track to return to Montana?

  One of Montana’s passenger rail systems has been out of commission for decades, but some residents want to restore it across the southern part of the state. A listener wants to know what’s been happening with those efforts? Is more train travel in Montana’s future? Learn more in this episode of the Big Why.

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

• Supreme Court’s Jack Daniel’s Decision Clarifies that Traditional Trademark Use “Does Not Receive Special First Amendment Protection,” Even When it Has Expressive Message

  Humor matters, but it’s not the most important thing when considering a trademark infringement or dilution claim.

Northwestern Energy

• Brian Bird: NorthWestern Energy will continue to provide reliable energy to Montanans at the most affordable rates possible

  To continue to meet our commitment for safe, reliable energy, since our last rate review, NorthWestern Energy has invested more than $1 billion in our Montana energy system. In addition, NorthWestern Energy has the same challenges of inflation and increasing costs as all other businesses.

Big Sky Economic Development

• News Just For YOU! Big Sky Economic Development – Big Sky Economic Development is Hiring!

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

City of Bozeman Economic Development

• Bozeman cements new economic development strategy

  The plan is broad, including suggestions on equitable economic growth, how to make the economy sustainable and making infrastructure resilient to shocks. It also includes mention of how to work with higher education and how to support small businesses.

Montana Business

• Crow Tribe, Montana Department of Commerce and FWP Partner to Amplify Native Voices and Perspectives Through Visual Storytelling

  “This model of working together sets a precedent to motivate other stakeholders to collaborate with tribal nations, across agencies, Destination Management Organizations, Convention and Visitor Bureaus and non-profit organizations to pool funding resources for higher impact results,” said Scott Osterman, Director of the Montana Department of Commerce.

• Don’t Buy Another Gas Car! No Hybrids Either. It’s Got To Be Electric!

  We are approaching the time when gas vehicles will fall out of favor, new sales will be banned or just fade away, and the resale value of your gas vehicle will drop to nearly zero. Ever try to sell a tube TV after flatscreen TVs had taken over the market?

• Concerns voiced over possible rare earth elements discovery near Darby (video)

  People have questions for a mining company that claims to have found $1 billion worth of rare earth elements in the Bitterroot National Forest near Darby.

• New website offers a resource hub for all in child care

  The Montana Child Care Business Connect Program, part of Zero to Five Montana, helps support the start, and expansion, of high-quality, early child care businesses in Montana, and they just unveiled their new online resource hub for all stakeholders in the child care industry.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• Senator Jon Tester Secures $119.9 Million for High-Speed Internet Connectivity for 61,000 Montanans

  “Since I came to the U.S. Senate, I’ve been working to increase high-speed internet connectivity across our state so that folks in rural Montana don’t fall through the cracks. That’s why I fought for this funding in the American Rescue Plan, and I’m proud to see these federal dollars finally going to projects that will serve every corner of the Treasure State.”

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte

• Montana Governor Greg Gianforte kicks off third annual statewide 56 county tour touting legislative accomplishments. Where will he be next? Are you invited?

  Gianforte was expected to visit three more counties on Friday, including Flathead, Lake and Missoula. The governor’s staff said they expect to visit every county by the end of the summer. Gianforte said this will be the sixth year in a row that he has visited all of the state’s 56 counties, with three tours as a congressman and now three as governor.

Housing

• Montana’s Flathead Housing Market Returning to Pre-Pandemic Trends

  Experts say Flathead County’s housing market is continuing to cool, but prices remain high in areas with the lowest inventory

Visit Montana

• Visiting a national park? Don’t be an idiot: Leave the animals alone!

  Tourists keep tangling with wild animals at Yellowstone National Park. News flash: A buffalo, elk or grizzly bear will mess you up. So no selfies, no touching, no chasing.

Biotech

• GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) launches QS-21 adjuvant manufacturing facility in Hamilton, Montana

  The prevention of deadly diseases, such as cervical cancer and malaria, and most recently with GSK’s Arexvy vaccine — the first ever approved vaccine to treat RSV in older adults — the work we’re doing here is saving lives, so it is an honor.

Funding and Building your Business

• Rise of AI: Is Your Company Prepared for Generative AI?

  Professor Rahul Kapoor explains why now is the time for business leaders to develop new frameworks to manage the changes ahead.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• Award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, Tribal members discuss new documentary – “The American Buffalo”

  Hundreds of years ago the area that is now the Bison Range was filled with bison. It’s where world-renowned filmmaker Ken Burns made a new documentary about the tragedy of the loss of the American bison.

Come Home Idaho

• ITC TechWire: Startups and Innovators News

  Are you leading a tech startup company and looking for an opportunity to be recognized nationwide?

Wyoming Business

• Gutting arts funding is a bad look for Wyoming’s future

  A penchant for creative problem-solving makes artists resilient pillars of our communities, which is why they need state support.

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

• Where to Access the Free Summer Food Service Program in the Flathead Valley
  All children under the age of 18 this summer can access free meals at various locations throughout the valley through the U.S. Department of Agriculture program
• Summer program in Helena aims to help students grow in filmmaking, applications open

  “[We] can help you build a portfolio and give you a little sample of what a career in communications, the media arts, filmmaking, gaming can be like,” says Director of the NEH Program at Helena College, Dr. Ari Lee Laskin.

• Applications NOW OPEN for our 2023-24 Girls Leadership Program – Red Ants Pants Foundation

  We are excited to announce our application is now open. The purpose of the Red Ants Pants Foundation Girls Leadership Program is to inspire hope, build strength, develop pride, and foster courage in rural Montana girls. Please share this opportunity with a family member, neighbor, employee, or any young woman you know!

• Code Girls United Montana Announces Summer Camp Locations and Dates

  Code Girls United will be hosting summer camps for girls grades 4-8 this summer in Billings, Kalispell, Ronan, and Harlem!

2023 Montana Legislature and Politics

• How is Your Community Doing? – The Success Of “Clean Cities” Shows How US Government Can Help Deploy More Clean Tech

  A long-standing federal effort to decarbonize transportation proves how advanced technologies can make meaningful, real-world impacts by intertwining national goals and initiatives with local, community-based actions.

Government News & Events

• Street Transitions

  This is how cities should be.

American Prairie

• Ken Burns: Bison Range gives hope to species survival – ‘The American Buffalo’

  The Bison Range was an appropriate place to start the Montana tour, because part of the documentary was filmed there and the bison range will play a large role in the third act: the future success of the species.

Careers

• The Best Career Advice From 2023’s Top Graduation Speeches

  What Tom Hanks, Joe Biden And Oprah Winfrey Told New Grads In This Year’s High-Profile Commencement Addresses

• Emotionally Intelligent People Do This to Make a Great First Impression. Most People Do the Opposite

  Researchers from Harvard and Wharton find a surprising way to come across as competent and likable.

Transportation

• EVs are winning over largely conservative areas as buyers look to save money

  Across the nation, counties with the highest EV adoption rate have predominantly been higher-income, tech-focused liberal areas. However, according to the Washington Post, this is beginning to change.

• Amtrak Calls for Expansion, Citing Close to 100 Requests for New Lines

  Individual House members made the case for why Amtrak should add service to their regions as it selects new routes supported by infrastructure funding.

• Hertz Needs To Tell Renters More About Driving A Tesla

  A milestone in the electric vehicle revolution, toward the end of 2021, Hertz announced it was ordering 100,000 Teslas.

• GM’s electric vehicles will gain access to Tesla’s charging network

  At first, GM and Ford EV owners will need an adapter to hook into the Tesla stations, which have their own connector. But both GM and Ford will switch to Tesla’s North American Charging Standard connector starting in 2025.

• Uber wants to rent out your car: Company set to launch Uber Carshare in Boston, Toronto

  The product, which initially launched in Australia, allows people to borrow vehicles from private car owners for a set amount of hours or days.

• Ford Unveils New 4-Lane SUV

  …the new 48-foot-wide SUV was perfect for hauling four boats across multiple highway lanes at once.

Energy and Climate Change

• How San Francisco translated its 300-page climate plan into tangible actions for residents

  Most climate action plans are long, dry documents that few people understand. San Francisco decided to change that.

• Paris Plans to Plant Trees That Can Survive Climate Change

  As part of a new urbanism plan for a “bio-climatic” city, officials hope to plant species that will be more resistant to heat.

• Decorated climate scientist says Montana should expect climate-driven water and wildfire woes.

  Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gasses are driving a global dynamic by which “wet areas are getting wetter and dry areas are getting drier,” according to Steve Running, a former NASA scientist who served on the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Running spoke as part of Billings’ inaugural Climate Week.

MATR Newsletter Supporters: