MATR Newsletter – June 26, 2020
The state with the best education wins!

Billings Gazette Editorial Board: Cowboy up, Montana — and mask up

We are in a curious and dangerous period.

Please tip generously.

“You can always tell when a person has worked in a restaurant. There’s an empathy that can only be cultivated by those who’ve stood between a hungry mouth and a $28 pork chop, a special understanding of the way a bunch of motley misfits can be a family. Service industry work develops the “soft skills” recruiters talk about on LinkedIn — discipline, promptness, the ability to absorb criticism, and most important, how to read people like a book. The work is thankless and fun and messy, and the world would be a kinder place if more people tried it. With all due respect to my former professors, I’ve long believed I gained more knowledge in kitchens, bars, and dining rooms than any college could even hold.”
~ Anthony Bourdain
6/25/1956 – 6/8/2018

Today’s MATR Newsletter is sponsored by:

Corona Virus Information

Billings Gazette Editorial Board: Cowboy up, Montana — and mask up
We are in a curious and dangerous period.
USDA Seeks Applications for Technical Assistance Grants to Help Socially Disadvantaged Groups
A socially disadvantaged group is one whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic or gender prejudice because of their identity as members of a group without regard to their individual qualities.
Federal relief boosts Montana incomes as economy sags
Despite an unemployment spike and an overall economic contraction, personal income in Montana has risen so far this year thanks to federal spending on coronavirus relief, according to a report published this week by Montana’s Legislative Fiscal Division.
Montana Department of Commerce – UPDATE: Grant Program Changes
Grant Program Updates of Note
Analysts: Montana may recoup virus revenue losses in 2 years
The state Legislative Fiscal Division projected revenue that goes to the state’s general fund will drop by nearly 13% in the fiscal year that begins July 1. The state’s revenues are then predicted to rise by 15% in the next year, according to the forecast.

Tell Us Something

Tell Us Something Online Storytelling Intensive Workshop – Tuesday Evenings – 7/28 – 8/25 – 5:30-7PM
The goal of the workshop is to have a 10-minute story to share on the theme “Good Intentions” by the end of the workshop.

Come Home Montana

Montana Career Opportunities – Director of Growth Marketing (open to remote candidates), Software Engineering Manager, Staff Software Engineer (open to remote candidates), Outbound Sales Representative and more… – Submittable
Submittable is a cloud-based submission management platform that makes it easy to accept, review, and make decisions on any kind of digital content. Founded in 2010, the company is based in Missoula, Montana. We have more than 2 million users and 10,000+ clients, including Airbnb, Harvard, NPR, TechCrunch, and 300+ universities.

Montana Department of Commerce

Made in Montana Monthly June 2020
We are a badge of honor for artisans, growers and craftspeople working for something bigger than the bottom line.

Great Falls Development Authority

Great Falls Development Authority – July Business Training
Here are our upcoming educational events for business owners, managers, and professionals for July 2020:

Montana Governor’s Office of Economic Development

Main Street Montana-Rural Partners Update – 6/24/2020
Some notable outcomes over the last year include:•A major challenge in Troy is lack of reliable, affordable broadband.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

On-The-Farm Training: Gaining The Knowledge, And Confidence, To Enter Agriculture From The Ground Up
Not everyone who is interested in agriculture grows up on a farm, and without the skills and experience, finding your way into a family farm operation as a new producer is difficult.
WGA – New podcast shares how to harness the power of the upcoming rural generation
How rural youth can shape their communities for decades to come.
‘Bike & Type’ – Caras keeps Missoula’s history alive with restorations for new coworking space
Although the business only opened last week, it has had a positive response from a number of independent organizations.
Strong Towns Strength Test – How Does Yours Rate? Let’s Improve Missoula’s Reserve Street!
Here are ten simple questions we call the Strong Towns Strength Test. A Strong Town should be able to answer “yes” to each of these questions.
A lesson from Canada: Startups can lead the economic recovery
The data is Canadian, but the findings are relevant for governments, investors, and companies everywhere. These are important lessons for anyone who wants the U.S. economy to flourish after the pandemic.

The Telecommuting and Gig Workforce in Montana

Surging Number of Americans Looking to Move to Smaller Cities, Report Finds
27% of Redfin users searched for homes outside their metro area in April and May, according to the online property portal
What if Colleges Designed Gap Years? This Year, Especially, They Should
The program is aimed at students “who see the world coming apart and want to fix it,” Falik told me. “It’s a response to the moment.”
How Working Remotely Is Making Us More Creative
The shift to remote work has made many elements of daily working life more difficult, but it may provide a hidden boost to humanity’s creative powers.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

Does the Federal Broadband Definition Reflect Real-World Need?
In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission changed the definition of broadband in response to growing Internet demands. Experts differ on whether the COVID-19 crisis calls for another definition change in 2020.
Senator Tester Grills FCC Chairman on Plan to Spend Billions on Broadband Expansion without Accurate Coverage Maps – Senator: ‘The potential for wasting money here is just over the top”
The agency announced that it will roll out their $9 billion 5G Fund and their $20 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) before they are able to build accurate, granular service availability data through the implementation of Tester’s Broadband DATA Act.

Montana Businesses Seeking Investment or For Sale

Bear Paw Development Corporation of Northern Montana: RFP for Montana Hemp Fiber Processing Feasibility Study
Bear Paw Development Corporation of Northern Montana is soliciting proposals to conduct a feasibility study to examine the economic impact and viability of a 12,000 ton hemp fiber processing facility and markets for various stage products.

Montana Business

‘Carbon Farming’ Could Make US Agriculture Truly Green
Today a Senate committee will hear about a bill that would help farmers adopt practices to release less carbon from the soil, reducing planetary warming.

TechLink

TechLink – Product innovation doesn’t have to stop because of R&D budget cuts
Government-led R&D spending is safe and businesses have ways to leverage it.

Wyoming Business

Wyoming ranked 45th in nation for census self-response
If a community is undercounted, it may not receive the money necessary to serve its entire population. Or it could be using inaccurate data to plan for a new developments like a grocery store, for example.

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

50-State Comparison: Teacher License Reciprocity – What Does Your State Allow?
Most states have policies in place to extend reciprocity for certain teachers, but few states provide full reciprocity for all fully licensed teachers from other states.

Transportation

California mandates big increase in zero-emission trucks
“California is once again leading the nation in the fight to make our air cleaner, becoming the first place in the world to mandate zero emission trucks by 2045,” Gov. Gavin Newsom
Tesla Vehicle to Grid Technology Could Dramatically Increase Demand And Sales Of All Models
When Tesla receives permission to begin operations as a public utility in North America, the company will immediately be able to connect most of the one million Tesla cars on the road.
City of Missoula retooling approach to transportation planning
Let’s Improve Missoula’s Reserve Street – The desired outcome includes better connectivity, access, safety and equity.
Electrify America finishes its first cross-country EV charging network
Overall, it aims to construct or have work underway on around 800 charging stations in the country by the end of next year, featuring as many as 3,500 of its DC fast-charging outlets.

Energy and Climate Change

Bring-Your-Own-Batteries and EV Chargers: The Future of Distributed Energy Integration?
The utility’s “ConnectedSolutions” program in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. National Grid pays customers to allow it to tap the batteries’ stored energy during peak summer afternoons for demand response events and pays them for the performance they provide.

TED and TEDX Talks

Today’s TED Talk — How language shapes the way we think with Lera Boroditsky
This talk is for people who like to question the nature of things, understand how others might think, or simply like to be surprised by things we all take for granted.