MATR Newsletter – October 12, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

Corona Virus Information

• As Omicron mutates wildly the virus shows first signs of convergent evolution

  These mutations all seemed to be converging in a way to evade our pre-existing immunity, and a striking study recently appeared speculating the virus has the potential to completely escape our current immune responses.

Come Home Montana

• Census data: Montana saw drastic rise of high-income households during pandemic

  Bryce Ward, a Montana economist and consultant, used American Community Survey data and found that between 2019 and 2021, the number of Montana households earning $200,000 or more per year increased by nearly 12,000, or 63%.

Montana Department of Commerce

• Montana Wants to Be the Next Wine Country

  The Big Sky State has a dedicated group of winemakers working with unique hybrid grapes resistant to the state’s harsh weather. But even with the science making progress, Montana still needs its lawmakers’ to give the nascent industry more support.

• Montana Reel Report – The quarterly Montana Film Office newsletter

  The quarterly Montana Film Office newsletter aims to keep Montana’s film and television industry professionals, constituents, and fans informed of the latest Montana production, infrastructure, and festival news. In this newsletter, you’ll also find information on locations and casting calls. We’re here to help you stay connected with all things “film” in Montana.

TOMIS

• TOMIS Holdings Inc. is one of two Missoula businesses awarded state grants to create 47 jobs

  TOMIS provides proprietary software and digital marketing assistance for tour operators, ranging from fishing guides to wine tasting. The software integrates and analyzes marketing and sales data – something that had been missing from the tourism industry.

Great Falls Development Authority

• Upcoming Trainings/Events: Business Pitch at MT Pints, QuickBooks Online and more!

  Small Business Webinar: TikTok
  The social media platform TikTok is quickly becoming one of the world’s most impactful social media platforms.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• ‘A better tomorrow’: Blackfeet, CSKT receive $74.8M for internet infrastructure

  Margaret Gutierrez, acting deputy chief of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, revealed that the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and Blackfeet Nation would receive a total of $74.8 million for high-speed internet service, which will be available to users for little to no cost.

Housing

• San Francisco Rezoning Makes Room for 34,000 Housing Units

  To meet state-mandated housing goals, San Francisco plans to accommodate thousands of new housing units focused in the city’s west side, which has seen little growth for decades.

• Bozeman officials see some good, some bad in housing task force’s draft report

  A draft report from Gov. Greg Gianforte’s housing task force is raising some eyebrows in Bozeman.

• Affordable Housing Now Legal By-Right on Commercial Lots in California

  One of the nation’s most ambitious and sweeping statewide laws intended to spur affordable housing development was signed into law in California at the end of September.

• One Year Later ‘Boise Is In A Full Fledged Housing Crash,’

  I believe we can now declare the era of Boise being the most overvalued housing market in America over. For two years, Idaho’s capital city led the nation in inflated home values.

• Some Bozeman landlords (no kidding) putting community before raising rents

  With the rental marketing tightening, a handful of landlords are forging higher prices in hopes of preserving small-town culture.

Montana Business

• Officials say fentanyl crisis in Montana is worsening – John Oliver Explains Why Local TV News is Criminally Bad

  “Every week, I feel like we’re seizing a car with drugs in it, and especially with the fentanyl thing on the rise. It’s becoming more prevalent to get a dog that’s taking that stuff off the street,” Peterson said.

Regional Economic Development

• North Dakota Career Opportunities – Staff Planner, Planning Official and more… – Williams County | Williston, ND

  The Staff Planner performs various duties for the Planning & Zoning division, including coordinating the application process, compiling reports, and presenting at meetings. Applicants should exhibit skills in attention to…

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

• Unique Missoula Sentinel high school aviation program has students flying high

  Need a job? How about one in aviation?

  Numbers provided to MTN News by Boeing show that over the next 20 years there will be a demand for 128,000 new pilots, 134,000 new aviation technicians and 173,000 new cabin crew positions in the US alone.

Non-Profit News

• Fall is for Training – Level up your nonprofit knowledge this fall. Montana Nonprofit Association

  Fall has officially hit Montana, and at the MNA office that means more than just a team order of pumpkin spice lattes. Our fall suite of trainings & courses is in full swing, so grab a cozy blanket and settle in for some learning!

Transportation

• NASA says its space tech could cut electric car charging times to 5 minutes or less

  “This same technology may make owning an electric-powered car here on Earth easier and more feasible,” the blog said. “Application of this new technology resulted in (an) unprecedented reduction of the time required to charge a vehicle and may remove one of the key barriers to worldwide adoption of electric vehicles.”

• Flying Delta? Passengers could soon take an electric aircraft to the airport

  Delta will begin offering the service in New York and Los Angeles in the next couple of years.

• The Death of Parking Requirements – Americans’ Addiction to Parking Lots Is Bad for the Climate. California Wants to End It
  More cities and states are recognizing the harmful impacts of minimum parking requirements, which in many cases have accelerated sprawl and raised the cost of housing construction.
• Electric vehicle charging stations popping up in Montana

  “Montana has tons of charging stations and are building more charging stations each and every day and month,”

Energy and Climate Change

• Satellite power grid would beam energy around the globe just like data

  New Zealand company Emrod says it’s got the technology to enable efficient wireless energy transfer from orbit. It’s proposing a global wireless energy matrix, which would instantly beam renewable energy via satellite between any two points on Earth.

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