MATR Newsletter – March 3, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

Come Home Montana

• Montana Career Opportunities – Chief Technology Officer, Director of Clinical Research, Senior Data Scientist, and more… – Gaize

  Purpose. We believe in building a company with a purpose – one that solves a real problem. We’re not anti-cannabis, we’re pro-safe roads. We see a massive problem that we…

• Montana Career Opportunities – Coordinator, Adult Education, Psychology Instructor, Instructional Coordinator, Foundational Math Center and many more… – Flathead Valley Community College

  FVCC is committed to excellent teaching, innovative research, and the personal and intellectual growth of its students in a diverse academic community.

Welcome to Bear Paw Development

• USA Today has ranked  Havre, Montana’s “Beneath the Streets (Historical Underground Tour)” #2 among underground attractions across the nation.

  When fire destroyed most of Havre in 1904, many business owners moved underground to carry on their business until the town could be rebuilt.

Montana Department of Commerce

• 2022 Montana Governor’s Conference on Tourism and Recreation – April 17 – 19 – Billings

  This conference will elevate the industry by inspiring innovation, educating through on-the-ground insights, connecting tourism and recreation organizations and businesses, and drawing inspiration from nationally renowned speakers.

• Gov. Gianforte Awards $605,000 for Workforce Training, Apprenticeship Programs

  Since the program’s launch, eligible businesses have been able to apply to the program and receive up to $3,000 per eligible employee, with a maximum allocation of $210,000. Each eligible employee must make a wage that meets or exceeds 170 percent of Montana’s current minimum wage, which today is $15.64 per hour.

Northwestern Energy

• Advancing Clean Energy, a message from Bob Rowe, CEO, Northwestern Energy

  While staying true to our core responsibilities, we are also committing to achieve carbon neutrality in our electric and natural gas operations by 2050 – net zero carbon and methane emissions.

City of Bozeman Economic Development

• City to discuss new direction for Bozeman housing policy

  City commissioners on Tuesday will discuss a number of suggested changes to Bozeman’s housing strategies, including ways to incentivize affordable housing, how staff could grant departures from code standards to developers and short-term changes to the unified development code.

Great Falls Development Authority

• Low cost airfare initiative is working to lower flight costs and bring in direct flights to Great Falls

  The Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce is working with the Airport Authority to make a financial guarantee for new flights at the Great Falls International Airport.

• Great Falls Economic Development Top 10 for 2-27-22

  The innovative Great Falls Downtown Development Partnership helped achieve some great numbers in 2021. Four new new downtown businesses creating 38 jobs, $9.6 million in building improvements, and over 32,000 volunteer hours. Congratulations to the downtown partners, businesses, entrepreneurs, property owners, and developers working to revitalize the heart of Great Falls!

Prospera Business Network

• Park County, Montana throws its weight behind new manufacturing business – Glassybaby

  The county will apply for the Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund job creation grant with Prospera to assist “glassybaby,” as the company is called, in opening a plant that could employ as many as 140 workers.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• The 13th annual Montana Downtown & Main Street Conference will be held on April 6-8, 2022 in downtown Billings.

  The conference will include presentations, panels, and tours that focus on revitalization, placemaking, safety, and public art in downtown commercial districts. The conference will also include keynotes from Jeff Speck, the author of Walkable City, and Charles Marohn Jr, the author of Strong Towns.

• The Montana Economic Developers Association (MEDA) Board of Directors would like to welcome Rebecca Meyers to the MEDA family as the first Executive Director of this organization.

  Rebecca Meyers will work with the MEDA board and members to continue to make a substantive difference in the state and our communities both large and small.

• Free marketing workshops for small businesses

  Spread the word! Sweetgrass Development is hosting two free workshops for business owners looking to take their digital marketing to the next level.

• Newly formed group promotes investing in Helena – 3/10 – 4PM – Helena Regional Airport

  Invest in Helena is made up of local professionals from various organizations with a common interest in Helena’s advancement.

• What ski towns tell us about the inequality crisis

  Ski town economics are a harbinger for America’s struggling middle class

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• Montana Cuts to the Chase With Broadband Mapping Project

  Broadband mapping is recognized as a complex, time-intensive process, as demonstrated by the experiences of the Federal Communications Commission and Georgia. But Montana was able to get a map fast. Here’s how.

Housing

• Here’s One Way States Are Boosting Affordable Housing

  By 2031 that number could be closer to 8 million, as rent restrictions expire on some 745,000 homes where, because of federal programs, tenants pay less than market rent.

Montana Business

• Missoula, Montana based Gaize, Inc. today announced the close of $1.2 million USD in seed capital for their non-invasive impairment detection platform beginning with cannabis – Career Opportunities

  “Gaize is building the cutting-edge technology we need to ensure that cannabis legalization happens in a way that maintains the safety of our roads and workplaces.” Fritz Lanman, CEO of ClassPass

• 60 Minutes – Local newsrooms strained by budget-slashing financial firms

  Newsrooms in US cities were already suffering a declining audience and lost revenue to Facebook and Google, now some face takeover from opportunistic hedge funds.

Funding and Building your Business

• How to Ensure Your Return to the Office Is Positive for Everyone on Your Team

  Return-to-work orders are back in full swing–and that may be the cause of some (avoidable) tension.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• Missoula casting calls for possible new show “GLACIER”

  The family dramedy will highlight Glacier National Park’s park rangers.

Regional Economic Development

• Rocky Mountain states to team up on hydrogen tech proposal

  Four Rocky Mountain states will cooperate on developing ways to make the most abundant element in the universe, hydrogen, more available and useful as clean-burning fuel for cars, trucks and trains, the states’ governors announced Thursday.

Wyoming Business

• Wyoming’s broadband boom is heating up

  Millions of dollars of federal funding gushed to Wyoming internet service providers in 2020. With even more money coming in the next few years, rural communities across the state may finally get connected in the coming decade.

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

• Museum of the Rockies to host ‘Dinosaurs and MOR!’ with 10 Expert Paleontologists on April 2

  “Dinosaurs and MOR!” will feature lectures from world-class paleontologists, paleo passport activity stations in the Siebel Dinosaur Complex, drawing lessons with an expert paleo artist, and a dinner with John Scannella, the museum’s John R. Horner Curator of Paleontology.

• Dangerous levels of lead were found in the water of about half the schools tested in Montana

  Of the 222 schools that had turned in samples by mid-February, 110 had at least one water fixture with lead levels higher than 15 parts per billion, requiring that fixture to immediately be shut off.

• A look into Western Montana’s Career and Technical Education

  Career and Technical Education prepares students for their future careers by providing a space to explore their passions.

Montana Education/Business Partnerships

• Belgrade aerial firefighting company Bridger Aerospace and Montana State University’s Gallatin College offer hands-on skilled workers program

  Gallatin College Outreach Project Manager Anna Reardon said classes will start Fall 2022 for the two-year program for around a dozen students interested in gaining hands-on experience with a local growing business with expertise in the avionics industry.

Government News & Events

• Missoula County defends clean energy goals, slow shift to electric vehicles

  “We have talked with NorthWestern and Missoula Electric Co-op, and of course, they are both aware the vehicle market is shifting toward electric,” Maneta said. “Given that this shift won’t happen overnight, the utilities have the opportunity to plan for it and ensure there will be sufficient generation to meet electricity demand in the future.”

City Club Missoula

• City Club Missoula – Attaining Housing in Missoula: Obstacles and Opportunities March 14, 2022 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM – Zoom

  At City Club Missoula on March 14, a panel of public- and private-sector housing specialists will discuss the tools, funding, and policies that are – or could – result in an adequate supply of safe, affordable housing that can boost our local economy and ensure that all Missoulians have a place to call home.

Transportation

• Why the Concept of Induced Demand Is a Hard Sell

  Both the public and policymakers have trouble understanding why building more roads and highways does not reduce congestion.

Energy and Climate Change

• 60 Minutes – U.S. electric grid faces Russian and domestic threats

  Bill Whitaker reports that a coordinated attack on a relatively small number of critical substations could plunge the U.S. into darkness.

VR/AR, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Artificial Intelligence and The Internet of Things

• Crypto, DeFi and Montana’s economic future

  Montana leaders have a choice to make: either welcome crypto entrepreneurs or watch the economic activity generated by this fast growing industry move elsewhere.

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