MATR Newsletter – November 16, 2020
The state with the best education wins!

Corona Virus Information

• 22 Face Masks We Actually Like to Wear

  Here are the WIRED staff’s favorite face coverings for running, walking the dog, going to work, or looking stylish.

• Colleges Probably Stoked Pandemic in the Upper Midwest, Epidemiologists Say

  Infectious disease researchers predict the pandemic will continue through most of 2021, even if a vaccine becomes available before then.

• The Dakotas are ‘as bad as it gets anywhere in the world’ for COVID-19

  Both North and South Dakota now face a predictably tragic reality that health experts tell USA TODAY could have been largely prevented with earlier public health actions.

Come Home Montana

• Montana Career Opportunities – Mass Timber Project Engineer – I or II, Mass Timber Designer I or II, Production Associate – SmartLam

  We’re on a mission to develop North America’s most innovative and sustainable building solutions. We would love to hear from you. Please send us a message or apply online describing your interest in mass timber and the value you can bring to our team! Careers     Wood buildings should be a requirement of any…

Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development

• ABC launches “Big Sky,” a show about Montana Tuesday night

  It’s called “Big Sky,” which takes place in the treasure state, it’s a story of two detectives who join forces to search for two sisters who were kidnapped by a truck driver.

Great Falls Development Authority

• Great Falls Economic Development Top 10 for 11-15-20

  It’s tough to find and keep talent. Learn what it takes to cut through the noise to find and keep the talent your business needs. Chris Czarnik, one of the nation’s top talent experts and author of the book “Winning the War for Talent”, is bringing his expertise to you December 1st, 8th, and 15th from 11 to noon.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• MoFi offering loans to small businesses during pandemic

  “We launched the Thrive Loan to help small businesses survive in a rapidly changing economy,” said Glaser. “As the pandemic continues to impact our communities, this program provides business owners with the working capital they need to stay afloat, adjust their business models and maintain hope.”

• Fast Company – Wood buildings should be a requirement of any climate change policy – Montana’s Smartlam

  A new meta-study offers the strongest evidence yet that timber buildings can drastically reduce carbon emissions in the construction industry.

• Montana Senator Jon Tester Brings Home Major Investments in Montana’s Rural Communities

  Tester worked diligently to include priorities in the Agriculture, Rural Development and Food and Drug Administration; Interior-Environment; and Energy and Water Development spending bills that invest in Montana’s rural communities, specifically championing funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Milk River Project including St. Mary’s, and provisions addressing price fixing and trade disparities within agricultural markets that impact Montana producers.

The Telecommuting and Gig Workforce in Montana

• More companies are hiring a ‘director of remote work’

  As many embrace working from home, companies like Facebook are looking to hire a remote work leader.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• What Biden’s Plan for Universal Broadband Means for Your Business

  The Biden administration has stated that it will support cities and local governments that want to build their own municipally-owned broadband networks.

Visit Montana

• Welcome to Travel With Meaning – A travel storytelling community, transforming people into travelers, one story at a time.

  Launched to bring together like-minded travelers to hear stories from a variety of influencer guests who’ve been profoundly impacted by travel in their lives and careers.

Funding and Building your Business

• How Entrepreneurs Benefit From the Biggest Big-Money Status Symbols of 2020: SPACs

  Special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are all the rage from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. The question is, why?

• Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2020 – Could Your Next Startup Be Here?

  Experts highlight advances with the potential to revolutionize industry, health care and society

• Ask these questions to find out if you’re hiring a good human (not just a smart one)

  The CMO of Electric argues that building a team with kind people usually plays second fiddle to those with practical experience, but it’s necessary to success.

Regional Business News

• Beyond Meat’s new burger is way healthier. But how will it taste? – How are the Netherlands important?

  Though it’s less than half the size of North Carolina, the country is the second-largest agricultural exporter—of things such as potatoes, onions, and vegetable seeds—in the world by dollar value, behind only the U.S. And lately, the Netherlands has been focusing not only on how to feed the world with plants, but how to feed the world with plant-based proteins.

Come Home Wyoming

• Wyoming Career Opportunity – Executive Director – Powder River Basin Resource Council

  Powder River Basin Resource Council, a progressive non-profit conservation organization based in Sheridan, Wyoming, seeks an Executive Director, preferably with grassroots organizing experience, excellent communication and financial management skills, and the ability to problem-solve complex, environmental and socio- political issues. The applicant we hire will be a leader and a team player who embraces the…

Wyoming Business

• In Wyoming, a Covid surge, a struggling energy economy and thriving haven for the rich

  As the state becomes the superrich’s go-to, residents are out of work and dealing with a massive spike in cases.

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

• A Boeing Exec’s $20 Million Bet on Teaching College Students to Think – Calhoun Discovery Program

  Calhoun Discovery Program – A New Way of Thinking About College Education

• How Gaming Can Help Learners of All Ages

  The idea is not to allow teenagers to spend hours playing Minecraft or Among Us; instead, it’s about creating games that intensify the learning process by stimulating the brain in ways that make the subject matter really stick.

• Montana is 12th fewest in terms of children living in poverty

  Using data from the Census’ 2019 American Community Survey, 24/7 Wall St. determined how many children live in poverty in each state. In some states, more than one in every four children live below the poverty line.

• Parents can’t afford daycare and preschool. Oregon voters are giving it to kids for free.

  “How do you put a price tag on education? How do you say this particular child doesn’t deserve to go to preschool because his mom or dad or grandma or legal guardian doesn’t make enough money? That is a lose-lose situation for everybody.”

Education News

• This Is The End Of College As We Know It

  The US university system will never return to its old glory.

Government News & Events

• NYC Pilot Tries Mental Health Responders in Place of Police

  The city joins Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver in testing out new law enforcement alternatives.

• RFQ:Architectural Services for Community Center project in Missoula, Montana

  The City of Missoula Parks & Recreation Department is seeking qualifications from architectural firms or teams of firms with successful experience working on projects involving design and construction of community centers or comparable multi-function public activity building spaces. The scope of work for the community center project will provide for design an approximate 60,000 square…

Government Technology

• Montana CISO Andy Hanks Shares State Security Actions and Priorities

  How does a leading state chief information security officer navigate the cyberattacks targeting his state during the pandemic and beyond? Montana CISO Andy Hanks shows us the way in this interview.

Careers

• 9 books to help you rewrite your own story

  As a psychotherapist and writer, I see firsthand the power of stories — not only how faulty narratives can hold us back but also how simple edits can transform our lives.

• Today’s TED Talk – To future generations of women, you are the roots of change

  Gloria Steinem urges future generations of women to advocate for each other in solidarity — and discover the freedom found in companionship and community.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

• Free unlimited photo storage is a thing of the past – thanks a lot, Google. So what to do?

  Google Photos, for its part, was all about free and unlimited storage, and for MacAskill, “how do you compete against free?”

  You don’t. Even Google this week changed its tune on that one.

Transportation

• Every state should mandate and subsidize every gas station in the state providing at least one electric charging spot for free. Grants available in Montana

  Such a move would be bold, but not unprecedented. Germany did the same thing earlier this year.

• Four Ways Traffic Engineers Thwart Public Will

  Last month, three city council members in Springfield, Massachusetts, submitted a request for a signalized crosswalk to be installed along State Street in front of the entrance to the Central Library. I didn’t know about this request, but I became aware of it when a negative response by the city’s Director of Public Works appeared in the newspaper (Report slams proposed crosswalk at Springfield library as unsafe, bad for traffic).

Energy and Climate Change

• Wildlife movements warn of climate change

  The archive goes live as climate researchers find increasing evidence that the Earth’s polar regions are warming almost twice as fast as lower latitudes. When the animal movements overlay climactic shifts over time, the scale of change is profound.

• ‘World is past a point of no return’: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero still won’t stop global warming

  “The only way to stop the warming, they say, is that “enormous amounts of carbon dioxide have to be extracted from the atmosphere.”

Other Economies

• Move over Silicon Valley, these five countries are the new startup hub

  New ideas aren’t only originating from Silicon Valley or London anymore, but also other regions of the globe with strong start-up ecosystems & unique cultures.

Privacy, Hacking and Virus Alerts

• WhatsApp Using Up Your Phone Storage? Here’s How to Fix It 

  It’s time to do something about those photos and videos automatically saving to your camera roll.

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