MATR Newsletter – November 23, 2023
The state with the best education wins!

Life is short.

Take the trip.

Buy the shoes.

Eat the cake.

Come Home Montana

• Missoula Community Visioning Workshops – 12/4, 12/6, 12/13 – Various locations in Missoula

  These interactive events will feature brief presentations from City staff, facilitated small group discussions, and individual activities to capture input from the community. These events are an important first step in updating Missoula’s vision for future growth.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Montana Supreme Court sides with state, not counties on school mills

  The governor issued a statement in appreciation for the court bringing clarity to the issue, however counties are upset the court’s verdict would result in higher taxes.

• Wild hogs in Canada threaten to invade Montana, Minnesota and North Dakota

  These wild pigs are spreading out of control in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, posing a new threat to native species.

• The Power of Intentional Networking

  Are you making the most of your network? In this Nano Tool for Leaders, Wharton’s Marissa King gives tips on how to leverage your contacts.

• Bozeman, Montana Based MagDrive Technologies to Present Plan for Reducing Refinery Emissions by 62% during COP28 Climate Summit

  MagDrive Technologies is the creator and leader of the magnetically actuated valve category. Based in Bozeman, Montana, MagDrive’s team is bringing true zero emission components to industries like oil and gas, energy, nuclear, aerospace, and cryogenics.

Big Sky Commerce

• Missoula-Florence Hwy 93 safety study presentation – Video

  Here is access to the meeting recording if you’re interested and you missed the meeting.

Great Falls Development Alliance

• Three New RFPs (UPDATED: Responses Due December 20, 2023) from GFDA – Brownfields Qualified Environmental Professional Services – Energy Production Market Assessment and Economic Development Strategy and Transportation and Logistics Assessment Strategy

  Our mission is to grow diverse economic opportunities that enhance quality of life in the Great Falls Montana region.

• Release of College of Veterinary Medicine Feasibility Study in Great Falls – 12/5 – Great Falls

  At the event you will hear from our consultants, Tripp Umbach, meet leadership from Roseman University and other partners interested in the future of Veterinary Medical Education in Montana.

Montana Business

• America’s got a $2.5 billion wild hog problem. These states see the worst of it. – Exploding wild pig population on western Canadian prairie threatens to invade northern US states

  Since their introduction to the U.S. in the 1500’s, the feral swine population have expanded across more than three quarters of the country. According to the Department of Agriculture, their population has grown to more than 9 million.

Housing

• Software to tackle the US housing crisis

  A platform is helping developers pinpoint areas with the best opportunities to build infill housing developments

Developing an Angel Network in Montana

• Demystifying the Friends and Family Round – The Angel Next Door

  Have you ever wondered how difficult it is for startups to find early money? In this short episode of The Angel Next Door Podcast, host Marcia Dawood demystifies the friends and family round, shedding light on the challenges and potential solutions for entrepreneurs seeking funding at the very beginning stages of their journey.

Funding and Building your Business

• Remote work beats out salary as the most important thing to employees

  Flexjobs, a search site for remote jobs, surveyed over 8,000 workers, with 63% voting remote work as the most important thing in a job, narrowly beating out salary. In fact, two-thirds of respondents are willing to take a pay cut to work remotely, highlighting the demand for continued flexibility four years since the start of the pandemic.

• Term Sheet Basics – 12/14 – Hosted in-person in Utah and Idaho and broadcasted over Zoom.

  Founders, don’t miss out! This in-depth discussion features expert insights on term sheets, including current market conditions where funders and founders are in agreement

Regional Economic Development

• Philanthropists Invest in Rural Workforce Training Programs

  A partnership with Oregon STEM and its Spark Oregon earn-and-learn initiative helped pay for KEITH Manufacturing to employ four local high school interns for the summer.

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

• License fees for Montana teachers slated to triple

  The decision by the Board of Public Education to triple license fees for Montana teachers has a complex and political backstory, one involving new state software, a new state law and a months-long stalemate between top education leaders.

City Club Missoula

• Letter to the editor: Rude and inconsiderate attendees at City Club Missoula

  Please refrain in the future, ask your question in the most direct way, and allow others the same opportunity as I am reasonably sure they believe their question is equal to yours as is their desire to present it for a response.

Transportation

• The New Jersey Mayor With a Plan to End Traffic Deaths

  In Hoboken, Mayor Ravi Bhalla has worked to redesign city intersections, install bike lanes and slow traffic. The result? Six-plus years of no pedestrian fatalities.

• Should Montana Adopt This Popular Transportation Law From a Neighboring State?

  Earlier this year, I witnessed an accident that made me even more concerned for the bicyclists of Missoula than I already was.

• Will You Keep Driving When Autonomous Vehicles Are Safer Than Humans?

  Some WSJ readers will gladly turn over the task of driving. Others say no way.

• The Successful UAW Strike Portends A Successful EV Transition – 15 Top New EV Stories

  While many commentators tried to pit union workers against electric vehicles, neither the UAW nor environmental groups ever did so. Just the opposite. Back in March of 2021, the UAW issued a white paper that called for specific ways the new EV industry could benefit workers: “The growth of EVs must be an opportunity to reinvest in American manufacturing, with union workers making the vehicles of the future.”

• Cell Phone Tracking And Cameras May Soon Help Cops Issue Distracted Driver Tickets

  Speeding and red light cameras may soon be joined by distracted driving cameras

Energy and Climate Change

• These massive wind turbine blades are made out of wood

  The blades can be reused or repurposed, and they’re biodegradable.

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

• The exciting, perilous journey toward AGI

  Artificial general intelligence (AGI) could surpass human intelligence and profoundly transform every aspect of life.

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