Why is 22X14X9 so important to your future travel?

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Montana’s fight to keep our public lands public – CBS 60 Minutes

  Montana’s leaders killed a congressional proposal sell off our public land. It’s important to keep up the fight.

• Why is Agriculture Solar Becoming So Blue? Why Not In Montana?

  The US Department of Agriculture has excluded solar panels from it loan programs. States are providing programs and funding to show that solar power can be a new income source for farmers.

• Emotional intelligence – Fact or Fiction?

  Ideas on how you can accept the impact of your emotions and nurture a better life with more health and happiness.

• The new measure of “social networking” is how many coffee groups you belong to.

  Coffee groups are trumping social networking.   People are gathering to actually talk with each other with phones coming out only when someone can’t remember what that movie was or what’s the capital of…..  They’re even meeting at McDonald’s.  Try to meet someone new today.  Try it!  You’ll like it.

• Montana’s Nonresident and Resident Hunters Contribute an Estimated $3.5 billion to Montana’s Economy and Sustain Rural Communities.

  Hunting and fishing by both resident and non-residents is a billion dollar economic benefit to Montana. Is it something that we can make even more positive financially for the state?

• Save the Date for the 2026 Pilot Award Research Funding Announcement! Release Date: January 7, 2026

  Rocky Mountain REACH will release the Research Funding Announcement (RFA) for the 2026 Pilot Awards on Wednesday, January 7, 2026. RMT-REACH Pilot Awards fund the advancement of promising health innovations into medical products with real-world impact. Included in the RFA are the application timeline, eligibility requirements, and funding priorities for the Pilot Awards. Preapplication submission is a required piece of the application process for the Awards and submissions will be accepted until Thursday, February 12 at 5:00pm Mountain Time.

• West Virginia turns to tech to implement a new child care payment model

  The state is grappling with unemployment as a result of a child care shortage. A data platform is helping fill those gaps and keep more West Virginians in the workforce.

• Gov. Gianforte, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Advance Investment Opportunities in Montana

  “We are honored to collaborate with the State of Montana to explore advanced data center and energy infrastructure opportunities,” said Masayuki Suematsu, Member of Board and Chief Strategy Officer at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

• 101 year old Anna Possi on six decades behind the counter at Italy’s Bar Centrale

  This bar is a bit like family, you know? It does not feel like a bar; it’s a meeting place. People come not just to consume, but to connect. They ask me to pass messages to the town hall, to the doctor. I help with paperwork, errands.

Great Falls Montana Development Alliance

• GFDA Top Ten for 11-23-25

  Great Falls, Montana is GOING!! You’re going to be very glad you read the TOP 10 (really 15) list from Great Falls this week.

Montana Business

• The U.S. is approaching seasons when deaths will regularly edge out births

  Who will be there to take care of our elderly, harvest our crops, build our homes, prepare our food, keep our country running?   Are we shooting our economy in the foot with our immigration policies and wholesale deportations?

• Elon says we may not work or use money in the future. Will The Rich Do The Right Thing?

  Will productivity mean having extra time to do other things in Montana like camping, reading, thinking and playing games?

• Did you know that there’s a state with 660 Data Centers? How many are there in Montana?

  Virginia has 660 Data Centers. How many are there in Montana?

• How Vail and Alterra Are Destroying Skiing For Many with $300 tickets! It doesn’t have to be this expensive. Come Ski Montana.

  Ticket prices up over 250% in a short time is killing the sport except for the very rich. But Montana resorts are keeping prices reasonable, especially if you purchase tickets early or get packages.   Discovery $60, Black Tail $70, Snowbowl $66, Big Sky $114, Whitefish $110, and Bridger $99 are much more reasonable. Come ski at your favorite Montana resort

• Trump Promised to Bring Back Coal. This Montana Town Listened.

  Through executive orders, Congress, and a loyalist cabinet, the Trump administration has delivered big for enclaves of coal country like Colstrip, Montana. But how long can it last?

• Modernizing Financial Systems with Casey Ferguson of Montana’s Zoot Enterprises

  This year at FinovateFall 2025, I caught up with Casey Ferguson, VP of Marketing at Zoot Enterprises to discuss the company’s phased approach to modernizing financial systems and integrating legacy technologies. Ferguson explains how effective transformations should embrace incremental progress, cross-functional collaboration, and layered fraud defenses.

Montana Housing

• Colorado provides funding to mandate Accessory Dwelling Units. What if this was implemented throughout Montana?

  Colorado passed a law in 2024 requiring municipalities to allow ADUs in any area with single family homes.   Infill is an effective way to grow the housing inventory with ADUs being the easiest way for individual home owners to maximize the value of their properties.

Rural Montana Communities

• With no federal funding, the closest town with a grocery store 17 miles away and some of the lowest-paid teachers in the country, this school district offers child care for teachers to improve retention rates.

  How can Montana improve child care? How can we better retain our invaluable teachers?

Montana’s American Prairie

• Saving the Montana prairie for all people and wildlife: Sean Gerrity and the amazing American Prairie 

  The American Prairie Reserve is creating one of the largest connected prairie ecosystems in North America for all to enjoy.  It’s doing so while ensuring that the land is cared for and that the economy of the region is improved.   Their success will ensure a legacy of open prairie not seen anywhere else in the U.S. which I believe could become our next National Park.

YOUR MONTANA CAREER

• Norway is one of the only countries in the world where all public universities offer tuition-free education to both domestic and international students.

  Norway consistently ranks among the safest, happiest, and most environmentally advanced countries, making it an ideal destination for global students.

• Why won’t Nursing be considered a Professional Degree?

  As we suffer under a critical advanced nursing shortage, the Big, Beautiful Bill replaced the Graduate Plus loans with  new loan limits on professional and graduate programs so that Master of Science Nursing or a Doctorate of Nursing making it more difficult to attain this education.

• University of Montana Western “Experience 1” students find buried channels that may contain fresh water

  University of Montana Western’s Experience 1  in beautiful Dillon, Montana offers small class sizes, field-based learning, and block scheduling to work on specific projects from beginning to end that prepare students with real world challenges for exciting careers.

• A Path to Lifelong Learning that Starts at Home – Montana State University Lives & Landscapes/Fall 2o25

  Roughly 35% of college students in Montana are enrolled in distance learning programs. Stephanie Gray, Dean of Gallatin College MSU, welcomes Montanans from across 56 counties to explore how to advance their futures and those of their communities.

Montana Energy and Transportation

• Americans losing their heat this winter because they can’t pay their bill.

  It may cost households an average of $976 to to stay warm this winter —a 7.6 percent price increase after paying much more for air conditioning last summer.

• No U.S. City Makes 2025’s Most Bike Friendly Cities.

  There is a major city with a population of over 375,000 where one-third of all trips are made by bicycle and there are over 100,000 bicycle parking spots. How is your community doing?

• We’re still killing ourselves and each other. What’s wrong with this picture?

  “This is not a global trend. The U.S. is an outlier.”

• Wireless charging of autonomous vehicles is the future.

  Wireless charging will enable ‘topping off’ while shopping or unloading trucks or driving for short burst charging.  This will allow manufacturers to install smaller batteries to make vehicles even more efficient.   There could even be lanes on Montana’s highways where EVs could drive over and be recharged while on longer trips.  Ultimately our roads and highways could become the power grid and replace power poles.

• Why is 22X14X9 so important to your future travel?

  2026 could be a more difficult year when you check in at your airport if you’re not prepared.

• Why thousands of parking spaces will soon disappear across France to improve pedestrian safety

  The new rules are aimed at improving safety for pedestrians at crossings, by enabling drivers and pedestrians to see each other more easily and earlier.

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

• California Will Try to Protect Children from AI Chatbots on Social Media

  Should Montana consider similar legislation to protect our children from harmful social media?

• What’s the most important skill schools should instill in students?

  Some say school don’t make it difficult enough to learn decision making.   Students need to be able to operate in uncomfortable situations like they will face in real life.  The question is now best to implement these situations in our Universities.  Doing so will better prepare our Montana graduates.

• Former Microsoft CEO’s philanthropy will donate up to $170M a year for free preschool in Washington State

  Is there anyone or any organization that can consider and fund a program like this in Montana? It’s our future that we’re talking about.

2025 Montana Legislature and Politics

• Will Wyoming Eliminate Residential Property Taxes

  The legislature is considering a change to the state Constitution that would end all residential property taxes.   This puts the burden on the sales tax and we know how that works….

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

• What really is Quantum Computing and Why Is Extremely Cold So Important

  Google is preparing to bring quantum computing to solve challenges in medicine and agriculture and even save lives.
  ABC News’ Elizabeth Schulze gets a peak at the future in this video

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