MATR Newsletter – March 22, 2021
The state with the best education wins!

Come Home Montana

• Montana Career Opportunities – Customer Success Manager, Programming Support Engineer, Accountant, Junior Software Developer and more…. – PFL

  PFL started as America’s first ecommerce commercial printer, way back in 1999. Since then, we’ve grown into a marketing automation company developing innovative solutions for marketers and sales teams. Our main campus is located in Livingston, Montana, tucked into a snowcapped mountain valley. We are close to Yellowstone National Park, world class skiing, rock climbing…

• Montana Career Opportunities – Principal Data Scientist, Business Development and Investor Relations Analyst, Senior Manager, Compliance, Marketing Manager, Performance Marketing and more… – Figure

  We create innovative financial solutions for homeowners Our mission is to build products that offer unprecedented speed and ease, powered by blockchain technology. We continue to expand a comprehensive set of offerings that align with member needs throughout the course of their financial lives. We understand that financial lives are complex.

• Where Americans Are Moving — and Why They Really Are Doing It

  It’s true that some cities have been losing population, but it’s not because of a mass exodus to escape the coronavirus. Don’t look for a lot of moving vans heading from Brooklyn to Mayberry.

• Montana Career Opportunity – Executive Director – Montana Human Rights Network

  The Montana Human Rights Network (MHRN) was founded in 1990 by grassroots groups from all over the state which formed in response to militia and white nationalist and supremacist activity, and to counter hate activity. Our mission is to organize Montana residents to realize their power to create pluralism, justice, and equity in their communities.…

• Montana Career Opportunity – Volunteer Web Developer / Web Designer – The Missoula Valley Internet Co-op

  The Pacific NW Rural Broadband Alliance is a newly formed non-profit that is dedicated to building community owned and operated broadband networks for under-served and un-connected rural communities. We have recently launched our flagship network, The Missoula Valley Internet Co-op, with two more networks slated for 2021

Montana Department of Commerce

• Montana Department of Commerce Census and Economic Information Center

  Information on state, tribal, and local government. Contents include various tax incentives, governmental geographic boundaries (legislative, school districts, election precincts, etc.), and government data and geographic programs.

• American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 – How Funds will be allocated – Stimulus money could fuel massive Montana broadband effort

  The latest COVID-19 relief package provides $1.9 trillion in mandatory funding, program changes and tax policies aimed at mitigating the continuing effects of the pandemic.

Great Falls Development Authority

• Great Falls Economic Development Top 10 for 3-21-21

  GFDA announces its College Intern Program starting with five paid internship opportunities. Download application. Help us spread the word!

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• New digital payment platform, Figure Pay, makes national debut in Missoula – Great Career Opportunities

  While the company has California roots, it employs 64 workers in Bozeman and Helena.

• Wisconsin Startup Coalition, Tech Council tout their different approaches to advancing state’s entrepreneurial ecosystem

  Two tech-oriented groups were quick to endorse Gov. Tony Evers’ plan for a $100 million state-backed venture capital fund when he first pitched the proposal in February.

• 3 Expert Tips For Becoming A More Innovative Entrepreneur

  It may take a bit of practice, but you can strengthen your mindset or regain the creative juices that you feel are a bit lacking as of late.

• TED Talks – 5 ways to build more empathy, and other ideas worth sharing

  Just like we take care of our bodies and our mental health, developing empathy is a way to take care of our social health, says psychology professor Jamil Zaki.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• Opinion: Driving Montana’s broadband development with SB 297

  The legislature maintains the power of the purse, and we will target the money toward supporting our communities that need it most and preparing our state’s economy to thrive throughout the 21st Century.

• Broadband bonanza: How will Legislature wire up Montana?

  Hundreds of millions in Covid-relief bill

• Texas Looking Hard at Strategies for Better Broadband Access

  The Lone Star State doesn’t have a state broadband office or plan. Stakeholders, including legislators, are trying to change that in the wake of COVID-19 and a historic winter storm.

• Workforce shortages in the building and construction of Internet fiber and 5G networks.

  The demand on our FBA member companies to build and deploy fiber networks has never been stronger

Housing

• 3D-printed net zero, smart housing community being developed in California

  “3D printing allows us to build faster, stronger and more efficiently, making it integral to our platform of streamlining home-building process centred on sustainability of construction, materials, and operations.”

• Marin County, California mall to be converted into 1,345 housing units, movie theater

  Big box retail is out and big housing is in at Northgate Mall in San Rafael.

Montana Business

• Americans prefer telehealth over in-person care – Amazon’s telehealth service will expand nationwide this summer

  Americans now have telehealth as an option and they like it! Buzz60’s Keri Lumm shares the results of a new study conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Kaiser Permanente.

Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana

• 11 Lessons for Entrepreneurs From Jeff Bezos’s Tremendous Success

  As the Amazon founder exits the CEO role, he leaves his successor a set of rules that might be helpful to any entrepreneur bent on conquering the known universe.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• Lawmakers Look To Attract More Film Productions To Montana

  Paramount’s Yellowstone, the most famous recent production out of Montana, is an example of what legislators hope to see more of. The show was mostly shot elsewhere until last summer when the new tax incentives kicked in.

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

• Town Pump offering library grants to ‘Keep Kids Reading’ in Montana

  “The Town Pump Charitable Foundation appreciates the critical role libraries play in our Montana communities,” said Bill McGladdery, director of corporate communications for Town Pump.

• Tennessee Web Portal Connects 2,000 Teachers With Jobs

  Thousands of teachers from over 40 states and seven countries have found jobs at schools across Tennessee through an online portal launched in May 2020 by the state Department of Education.

Government News & Events

• Governor Raimondo Announces $45 Million, First-of-its-Kind Workforce Development Initiative to Get Rhode Islanders Back to Work

  The initiative – Back to Work RI – will use CARES Act funding to accelerate Rhode Island’s economic comeback, pairing a unifying approach to job training with critical wraparound supports.

Non-Profit News

• Nonprofits continue fight to survive during pandemic

  There’s been a lot of discussion about how small businesses have been hit hard by this pandemic, but have you thought about how nonprofits have been affected?

International Wildlife Film Festival

• Missoula, Montana’s International Wildlife Film Fest goes online, outside April 17 to May 15

  The streaming films will be released in batches — 20-plus the first week and more each following Friday.

Careers

• Flathead Valley, Montana Opportunity Fair aims to address staffing shortage

  As “Help Wanted” signs spring up everywhere in the Flathead, organizers of the first-ever Workforce Flathead Opportunity Fair next month hope the venue will lead to results for employers desperate for workers.

Transportation

• Delta Airlines new and expanded routes to include Bozeman, Glacier Park and Missoula

  More places to fly with Delta

Energy and Climate Change

• John Oliver breaks down the big, terrible lie at the heart of plastic recycling

  If you were thinking plastic recycling was as straightforward as popping your empty bottles in the right container, John Oliver has some bad news for you.

• Surging interest in green tech will power next industrial revolution

  Today, climate change offers a mission that is greater in scale and scope than even the Cold War, says a private equity firm partner.

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