MATR Newsletter – October 16, 2023
The state with the best education wins!

Smarter than humans in 5 years? The breakneck pace of AI

The older I get, the more I regret all the people I’ve lost over the years.

Maybe being a hunting guide wasn’t such a great idea after all.

Montana’s Tech Hub Effort

• St. Regis, Montana lands role in $1 billion hydrogen hub project

  The goal is to feed Pacific Northwest hydrogen into California where a $1.2 billion hub will focus on decarbonizing public transportation, while launching a hydrogen fuel cell trucking fleet and powering maritime equipment with fuel cells, as well.

Come Home Montana

• Remote Work Can Thrive in Remote Places

  People in struggling communities can benefit from the work-from-home phenomenon. But they need some mentoring to do it. Some innovative startups are getting them there.

• The top 10 states people are flocking to. Montana #3. Idaho #1

  Some are choosing these states because they’re less crowded.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Rural Communities Still at Disadvantage When Competing for Govt. Grants

  Despite efforts by the Biden Administration to level the playing field for low-capacity communities, applying for government funding remains a tougher challenge for rural communities.

• Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority completes rural and tribal public engagement report

  The project and its findings are BSPRA’s first effort to gather public knowledge on passenger rail and social health in these areas of Montana. It provides a baseline understanding of benefits and issues with reestablishing passenger rail in southern Montana and creates a template for future public engagement.

• Indigenous People’s Digital Library – Resources for Co-op Development

  As the ONLY statewide resource for cooperative development, the Montana Cooperative Development Center (MCDC) works with new and existing co-ops and other groups to evaluate co-op business models and strategies to meet their objectives. MCDC is a nonprofit corporation with financial assistance from state and federal sources, which allows MCDC to offer services at little or no cost to project groups.

• MT APEX Accelerator GovMatch 2023- Match your Business with Government Contracts!

  MT APEX Accelerator is open for business and ready to assist your company with its government contracting needs.

• BLM town hall offers insight to $26.9M investment in Montana – 10/18 – Online

  The town hall will be held from noon-1:15 p.m., providing an opportunity to learn more about $26.9 million from the Inflation Reduction Act being invested for ecological restoration and resiliency of critical wildlife habitats and watersheds on public lands in Montana. This funding will be focused in three restoration landscapes:

• TED Talk – The tech we need to fight workplace ageism

  From exoskeletons and robotic arms to the mass adoption of remote work, economist Piyachart Phiromswad explores what seniors need to overcome the physical, mental and societal barriers to employment, a necessary shift in our rapidly aging world. Learn more about how these tools could empower elderly workers and better the world — for everyone.

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Upcoming Trainings: Government Contracting, Startup Roadmap and more!

  Are you interested in starting your own business? Startup Roadmap is a great class that provides an overview of things to know about start-up costs, financing options, business planning and more.

  Startup Roadmap

  November 9

• GFDA Top Ten for 10-15-23

  GFDA offers a multitude of tools and resources to empower entrepreneurs and businesses, fostering opportunities for growth in our region. Our commitment is to ensure everyone’s success.

Montana Business

• Knowledge is Power Instruction – What is AI and Why Is It Amazing? – Unleash the power of ChatGPT – 10/19 – Online

  Discover the untapped potential of AI and elevate your business to new heights with our ChatGPT for Business Owners, this is a great entry level class for everybody – not just business owners. So join us! Unleash the power of ChatGPT to streamline your communication and captivate your audience like never before.

  Email [email protected] to reserve your spot.

• Missoula Child Care Advantage celebrates start of construction at Cold Springs Elementary School

  A possible solution to the shortage of child care and barriers for providers continues to develop in Missoula.

• 40-year-old Montana trucking company, freight brokerage shutters operations

  Meadow Lark Transport had 273 drivers and operated 40 terminals nationwide

Senator Jon Tester

• Tester Successfully Blocks White House Amtrak Board Nominee to Ensure Geographic Balance

  “Montanans sent me to Washington to fight for our rural way of life, and I’ll stand up to anyone – including the Biden Administration – who tries to put rural America second,” said Tester. “When I sat down with my Republican and Democratic colleagues to craft our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, I fought to ensure that the American West would be fairly represented on the Amtrak Board. I’m glad the Biden Administration will now follow the law and do right for rural America by guaranteeing our Amtrak Board represents our nation’s diverse geography.”

• Tester Turns Multiple New Bipartisan Bills into Law, Continues to Rack Up Wins for Montana

  Senator authored laws to protect hunter safety courses and extend critical VA services;

  Remains the only lawmaker with multiple bills signed into law this Congress

Housing

• Missoula aims to incentivize income-restricted workforce housing through TIF

  Missoula city officials have come up with what they say is an innovative program, a first in Montana, to incentivize builders to create housing that people making local wages can actually afford.

• A new law allows California homeowners to sell ADUs like condos, boosting homeownership. Here’s how AB 1033 works

  Under AB 1033, which was signed into law this week, property owners in participating cities will be able to construct an ADU on their land and sell it separately, following the same rules that apply to condominiums. It gives homeowners more options for building on their property, and “the hope is, it would create more homeownership,” said Ting.

• 37 Montana counties say they’ll limit some property taxes collected for the state

  “Every time that there’s been an intervention on behalf of our member counties, we have won in all of those litigations, and we hope to win in this one,” Bryson said.

• Bozeman, Montana to consider ban on Airbnb-style rentals

  Debate remains whether the proposed ban on some short-term rentals will add affordable housing in the city.

Funding and Building your Business

• Viral fame can make, break businesses

  “I think the most important thing is not to overreact in the beginning,”

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• You wrote a book! Now make a viral TikTok about it.

  In 2023, writing a book is the easy part.

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

• Kalispell Public Schools Ask Community to Complete Superintendent Search Survey  – Killing potential: Housing costs hurt hiring, keeping Bozeman teachers   

  The survey will help guide the school board as it selects the district’s next superintendent

Government News & Events

• Parking Reform is Sweeping the Country. Does it Work?

  A new study shows a significant reduction in housing construction costs in cities that have reduced or eliminated minimum parking requirements.

Energy and Climate Change

• Biden awards $7 billion for ‘clean hydrogen’ hubs across the country to help replace fossil fuels

  The Biden administration has selected clean-energy projects from Pennsylvania to California for a $7 billion program to kickstart development and production of hydrogen fuel, a key component of President Joe Biden’s agenda to slow climate change

TED and TEDX Talks

• TED Talk – The A.I. Dilemma – We have more questions than answers after chatting with Meta’s AI personas

  Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin are deeply concerned about the deployment of tools like ChatGPT. As co-founders of the Center for Human Technology, they are on a mission to close the gap between what the world hears publicly about A.I. and what the people closest to the risks and harms inside A.I. labs are telling them.

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

• Smarter than humans in 5 years? The breakneck pace of AI

  Five years from now is 2028, and that prediction is even more aggressive than that of AI optimist Ray Kurzweil, the head of Google Engineering.

• No more passwords? Google looks to make passwords obsolete with passkeys

  “We’ve found that one of the most immediate benefits of passkeys is that they spare people the headache of remembering all those numbers and special characters in passwords,” Google said. “They’re also phishing resistant.”

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