MATR Newsletter – May 23, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

If YouTube, Twitter and Facebook ever merge, I hope they call it YouTwitFace.

Today’s MATR Newsletter is sponsored by:

City of Bozeman set to raise pay for positions in hopes to remain competitive
The City of Bozeman raised the minimum wage for city employees to $21 an hour in the Spring of 2021. The city is now once again looking to raise wages…
Montana Career Opportunities – Flathead Valley Community College’s (FVCC)
Thank you for visiting Flathead Valley Community College’s (FVCC) Job Openings page. FVCC is committed to excellent teaching, innovative research, and the personal and intellectual growth of its students in…

2022 Montana Housing Partnership Virtual Conference – June 14-15 – Online
The virtual 2022 Montana Housing Partnership Conference is coming up June 14-15. The conference is offering two days packed full of great content including 15 sessions and three great plenary sessions!

Great Falls Economic Development Top 10 for 5-22-22
Fire Within was a huge success! Nearly 200 people joined in celebrating the 32 Aspire/Inspire Award Winners. Visit our website for the list of Aspire and Inspire Award winners. Thank you to The Fire Within event sponsors Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana and Alluvion Health. Watch our social media channels next week for features on each of the Inspire and Aspire winners.

What does emotional intelligence mean for teams?
Teams can improve their emotional intelligence by being open about discomfort and encouraging direct communication and collaboration, writes Evan Watkins about research conducted by TalentSmartEQ. “Acknowledge that emotions are real and make an active effort to work with them, not against them,” Watkins writes.

Y Combinator Warns Startup Founders Of Economic Downturn: ‘Plan For The Worst’
“If for whatever reason you don’t think this message applies to your company or you are going to need someone to tell you this in person to believe it … please reassess your beliefs on a monthly basis to make sure you don’t drive your company off a cliff.”

“We Were Hiring”
Concerns about an economic slowdown, fueled by factors including inflation and a declining stock market, are starting to be felt by individual tech job seekers as some companies start to put the brakes on their employment growth. In some cases, companies are rescinding job offers after they’ve been signed, creating a difficult situation for people who had cancelled interviews or turned down competing offers.

Why Boise Dropped Out of top 10 Places to Live in America
Idaho has had an incredible run of great publicity for several years. We all became accustomed to the state or Boise being at the top of just about any good list. Even a once-in-a-hundred-year pandemic could not deflate the good news coming out of Boise, Idaho.

Vertical farms in Jackson, Wyoming: A new form of agriculture – Why not in your community?
In downtown Jackson, Wyoming, a small plot of land, 30 by 150 feet, produces 100,000 pounds of produce a year, thanks to a farm that soars in the air. Correspondent Martha Teichner looks at the growing industry of locally-sourced vertical farms for urban communities.

Cyber STEM Summer Camps for Middle School Students in Montana
The GenCyber program strives to be a part of the solution to the Nation’s shortfall of skilled cybersecurity professionals. Ensuring that enough young people are inspired to utilize their talents in cybersecurity is critical to the future of our country’s national and economic security as we become even more reliant on cyber-based technology in every aspect of our daily lives.
Montana students prepare for ‘Shark Tank’ competition
“It’s to develop entrepreneurship,” said Great Falls High School business teacher Scott Donisthorpe.
Montana Superintendent of Education Arntzen draws backlash over counseling proposal
“We need to have more school counselors, not less,” Schoening told Montana Free Press. “And it needs to be in the [state] standards as a minimum requirement for quality education.”

After solarizing jail, Missoula County now eyes PV on public works, Lolo water
Commissioners on Thursday approved a $12,500 contract with Cushing Terrell to explore the feasibility of installing solar on the county’s public works building and another on the Lolo water and sewer facility.

US pours $3.5 billion into direct air capture hubs for carbon removal
This is centered on deploying carbon capture technologies on a gigaton scale by 2050, by driving down the cost of carbon capture and storage to $100 per ton.

What’s the Latest on Cyber Talent and Staffing Shortages? Cyber STEM Summer Camps for Middle School Students in Montana
The topic of cyber staffing shortages is a hot issue that has grown hotter during the pandemic. So what are some of the latest trends, newer perspectives and opportunities available?

Large northeastern North Dakota manufacturer shutting down
The company told Fitzgerald that it was having difficulty finding qualified employees, a factor in its conversion to electric vehicles, and the plant’s location has become an issue.

Inside the design of Zoox, Amazon’s quirky, self-driving car
In an exclusive interview, Co.Design sat down with Zoox’s industrial design team to discuss the details shaping its unique rideshare vehicle.
Electric Bike Maintenance: What I’ve Learned In 8 Years (Avoid The Mistakes I’ve Made)
The poor UW–Madison professor with 6 kids (my father) had to be very frugal. Somehow, he got to know Mr. Schwinn, the president of the Schwinn bike company, and it was a rite of passage for each of the kids in our family to get a full-size single-speed narrow-tire Schwinn bike for the first Christmas after our 10th birthdays. For me, the year was 1950, which means I’ve been biking now for 72 years.