MATR Newsletter – June 13, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

Montana Department of Commerce

• Emergency Rental Assistance Program Expanded to Provide Relief for Families Experiencing Financial Hardship

  “We are pleased to offer this kind of emergency assistance to Montanans who may be struggling to make ends meet in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Scott Osterman, Director of the Department of Commerce. “Thousands of Montanans have been struggling over the past couple of years, and we’re expanding our ERA eligibility to assist as many as we can.”

• Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund – Good Paying Jobs to Promote Long-Term Stable Economic Growth in Montana

   Program guidelines are available, and includes more information about the program specifics, including eligibility, penalties, procedures and other requirements.

City of Bozeman Economic Development

• Bozeman, Montana – ‘Zoom towns’ spike in popularity, but not everyone is on board

  With so many American companies allowing employees to do their jobs remotely, there’s been a migration from major cities to smaller, more rural areas. Those who are moving love the lower cost of living, but how do the area’s longtime residents feel? NBC’s Maggie Vespa reports in this week’s Sunday Spotlight on “Zoom towns” that popped up over the pandemic.

• Shovels hit the dirt for 87,000-square-foot office building on Montana State University’s Innovation Campus

  “The Industry building is the second building on the site,” says City of Bozeman, Economic Development Director, Brit Fontenot.

Great Falls Development Authority

• GFDA’s Top 10

  Here is our Top 11 for this week celebrating work and successes to grow and strengthen the Great Falls regional economy — Montana’s Golden Triangle. And, sharing business resources and skill-building opportunities to empower your success.

The Telecommuting and Gig Workforce in Montana

• Why the return to the office isn’t working

  “I don’t gain anything besides a commute.”

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte

• Lake County, Montana crypto proposal needs more ‘due diligence’

  The number of permanent jobs created by these mining operations is questionable, too, as not many workers are typically needed to manage an autonomous data center. For example, a new 100 megawatt data center in Kentucky — twice the size of the Polson proposal — only created 15 jobs.

Housing

• All-Wood Construction in Sweden Is Sustainable, High-Tech

  A skyscraper built entirely from local timber not only reduces the amount of greenhouse gas-emitting construction materials, but also captures carbon from the atmosphere and uses AI to analyze its energy needs.

Montana Business

• 60 Minutes – Local newsrooms strained by budget-slashing financial firms – Alden Global Capital and Heath Freeman

  Alden Capital has sort of a playbook of going into a distressed newsroom and selling off the real estate and property, equipment, things like that. And second of all, diminishing the resources that the reporters have.

• CBS Sunday Morning – Taylor Sheridan, the cowboy behind “Yellowstone”

  Called one of the most important western writers in decades, Taylor Sheridan created the hit TV series “Yellowstone” and its prequel, “1883” (along with the prequel’s upcoming sequel, “1932”). Correspondent Lee Cowan talks with Sheridan (who is as cowboy as they come), and with “Yellowstone” star Kevin Costner, about a return of the drama of the west.

Regional Business News

• The Damage That Tech Monopolies Do (Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook): Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

  John Oliver discusses tech monopolies, and how to address the hidden harm they can do.

Idaho News & Events

• On a camping and glamping trip out West (Idaho and Utah), luxury can be so rough

  “Camping is about getting back to nature, testing yourself and not always being comfortable. It’s about being part of the environment,” said Kelly Davis, director of research at the Outdoor Industry Association. “With glamping, you are paying to extract the discomfort from the outdoors. You might have a nice hike and sit by the campfire, but you will sleep in a queen-size bed and maybe give up TV. Maybe.”

• The US Army will have a portable nuclear reactor ready by 2024. Here is how it works

  The U.S. Department of Defense’s Strategic Capabilities Office has awarded a $300 million contract to BWXT Technologies Inc. to build a portable nuclear reactor at Idaho National Laboratory.

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

• Missoula Online Academy celebrates second and final school year of K-12 instruction

  “The pandemic forced us to think out of the box and we didn’t have a choice,” Lodge said. “It was like, we’ve got to come up with something different and it’s got to be now.”

• Ongoing economic research projects how children may fare depending on where they grew up

  The “Opportunity Atlas” uses data from the United States Census Bureau and the Internal Revenue Service, tracking 20 million children across 70,000 census tracts from childhood into adulthood.

• Code Girls United Tech Trio team from Kalispell has made the Senior Semi-Finals and the Coding Caribous from Kalispell and Billings has made the Beginners Semi-Finals of the International Technovation Challenge. 

  Code Girls United Senior Division Tech Trio team from Kalispell and Beginners Division Coding Caribous from Kalispell and Billings are Semi-Finalists in the International Technovation Challenge. The Challenge has over 20,000 worldwide participants.

2023 Montana Legislature and Politics

• Montana adding red tape to those who need help with healthcare

  During the last session of the Legislature, Montana Republicans pushed forward legislation that requires Montanans to continuously prove their eligibility for Medicaid– every few months, you must report your income to the state government, despite the fact that you already told them when you signed up for Medicaid and you’re already required to reapply every year like everyone else with insurance does. Montana Democrats fought against these new requirements, but the Republicans were dead set on adding additional superfluous red tape to one of the state’s largest and most critical insurers.

Government News & Events

• Judge says Montana state agency can’t charge newspapers legal review fees

  “This is a huge victory for transparency in government and for the public’s right to know.”

• Building Resilient Cities That Are Ready for Climate Change

  Efforts like reducing carbon emissions are important to fight climate change, but cities should also be looking at how they can reinforce roads, stabilize electric grids and use new technologies to build resilient communities.

• End the Parking Mandates and Subsidies That Are Hurting Our Cities

  Cities like yours, everywhere, require high-potential land be squandered on parking spaces. It’s unnecessary. It’s expensive. These parking mandates are hobbling your city’s efforts to grow stronger and more resilient.

Government Technology

• Let’s End Traffic Stops

  “Should NHTSA take into consideration systems, such as intelligent speed assist systems, which determine current speed limits and warn the driver or adjust the maximum traveling speed accordingly?” the agency asks tentatively, inviting feedback from the public.

Oregon Business

• Oregon’s ambitious sustainable power plant

  An Oregon utility has constructed a renewable energy power plant that relies on wind, solar energy and batteries to power the grid when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.

Transportation

• Lightyear 0 production solar car could run for months without charging

  Dutch company Lightyear has unveiled what it claims is the world’s first production-ready solar car. The Lightyear 0 is a family sedan with 5 sq m (53.8 sq ft) of solar panels built in, capable of generating up to 70 km (44 miles) of charge-free driving a day.

• Solid-state batteries could be key for EVs—and they’re making a leap toward mass production

  Solid-state batteries are capable of holding much more energy per unit of mass than today’s lithium-ion batteries, which means an EV could go for much longer before needing to be recharged.

Energy and Climate Change

• Biden wants to produce more heat pumps and solar panels. He’ll need to stimulate demand, too

  President Joe Biden authorized using the Defense Production Act to make more solar panels, heat pumps, and hydrogen. But production is only one step to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.

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