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

Medical biotech company to build facility in Hamilton, Montana

“We’re going to hire people before the facility is finished,” he said, “and more people as it goes through different levels of completion.”

7 skills you need if you want to solve public problems

Beth Simone Noveck, director of the Governance Lab at NYU, explains the tools you need to develop to change policy to improve people’s lives.

Great Falls, Montana encourages residents to try the city’s budget simulator

The online program allows you to create a budget for the city. You start with the budget that has been proposed and can then add or subtract money from departments and programs to create your own budget.

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Come Home Montana

Medical biotech company to build facility in Hamilton, Montana
“We’re going to hire people before the facility is finished,” he said, “and more people as it goes through different levels of completion.”

Montana Department of Commerce

Montana Department of Commerce Announces Grants to Grow 14 Native American-Owned Small Businesses
“Native-owned and tourism-related businesses were hit especially hard by COVID-19,” Commerce Director Scott Osterman said. “As these businesses look ahead to a brighter future, they will be more prepared with the digital resources and tools they need to reach and serve the modern-day traveler.”

Zoot Enterprises

Battling Bad Actors with Biometrics – Zoot Enterprises
A recent BAI report shows that “43% of consumers [are] doing all of their banking digitally”. But with the benefits of digital engagement come potential downsides, both for consumers and financial institutions (FIs).

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

Senator Tester takes a swing at Montana’s frontier physician shortage
Senate bill aims to help rural hospitals afford residency programs and retain new doctors.
In Quebec, Child Care Is Infrastructure
As U.S. policymakers consider ideas to improve child care affordability, a new report shows how Quebec’s universal subsidized system enabled it to weather the pandemic.
Will Biden Deliver for Rural America? The Promise of the American Rescue Plan
The federal relief package from the Biden administration is a reminder that rural development and recovery are tied to the priorities outlined at the highest levels of power.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

Senators Urged To Invest In Variety Of Broadband Technologies
During a hearing titled “Building Resilient Networks,” lawmakers on the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband were asked to boost the reliability of the nation’s broadband networks by spreading infrastructure funding among a variety of technologies such as fixed wireless and mobile broadband rather than limiting it solely to fiber.
Why North Dakota Has the Best Internet in the United States
Local communities fought cooperatively against telecom monopoly domination in the 90s. Now rural North Dakotans have better, faster broadband than many U.S. cities.
Rural Broadband Research Project to Explore the Connected Farm
The National Science Foundation, US Ignite and other partners announced the launch of a wireless communications testbed in rural central Iowa to explore expanding broadband access to rural America and other innovations.

Housing

New York City Study Will Give Cash Payments to Homeless Young Adults
The project joins a growing list of local experiments in no-strings-attached payments to residents.

Funding and Building your Business

6 Things Every Small Business Needs to Know About Ransomware Attacks
The majority of victims are smaller companies, and the impact can be devastating.

Come Home Wyoming

Teton County, Wyoming looks to public employers in Montana, Colorado as competitors
The commissioners asked the consultant to include the city of Bozeman and Gallatin and Flathead counties in Montana, as well as Gunnison and Summit counties in Colorado.

Montana Education/Business Partnerships

Fools gold could be the key to Montana’s energy future
MSU geo-microbiologist Dr. Eric Boyd says his research is to better understand how bacteria triggers enzymes to extract precious metals from Pyrite.

Government News & Events

7 skills you need if you want to solve public problems
Beth Simone Noveck, director of the Governance Lab at NYU, explains the tools you need to develop to change policy to improve people’s lives.
Great Falls, Montana encourages residents to try the city’s budget simulator
The online program allows you to create a budget for the city. You start with the budget that has been proposed and can then add or subtract money from departments and programs to create your own budget.

Transportation

The High Cost of Wide Streets
“As we embark on building back better from the Covid-19 pandemic, the time has come to return urban streets to people.”
Amazon bought 1,000 self-driving trucks from a startup, will you say goodbye to drivers?
Jeff Bezos’ company agreed to purchase a fleet of trucks with autonomous driving, which could mean that in the future Amazon will dispense with drivers for its deliveries.

Energy and Climate Change

Legal experts draft a definition of ecocide to help protect the planet
Acts of environmental degradation could soon be classified as international criminal offenses if a newly drafted definition of ‘ecocide‘ is adopted. The drafted definition has been put together by legal minds from around the world under the Stop Ecocide Foundation and with hopes that it will be adopted by the International Criminal Court.