MATR Newsletter – October 21, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

Montana Department of Commerce

• MEDA Monthly Lunch and Learn: Tash Wisemiller – Community Revitalization Programs – October 26th at 11am via zoom

  Please take this opportunity to learn about the programs and how they can provide support and opportunities for your communities. Zoom link is below! Feel free to share the link with your colleagues.

• The Montana Department of Commerce announces grant funding for 3 coal-impacted communities

  “These three Coal Board funded projects are vital for ensuring the health and safety of the residents of these coal-impacted areas. Additionally, this funding will help create economic benefits to keep these communities moving forward,” Montana Department of Commerce Director Scott Osterman said.

Big Sky Economic Development

• Big Sky Economic Development News & Events Just For You
  “We have a whole team of people that focus all their time and attention on community development, building the infrastructure of the community, planning for a new development in the community, planning for new housing development in our downtown core,” Arveschoug said. “We strongly believe that investment and vision around building the quality of our place are essential to retain and attract talent which is fundamental to our economic growth.”

Prospera Business Network

• LAST CHANCE to Register: Business Finance Training at Prospera

  “This will change the way I manage my business.”

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• FCC Denies Broadband Data-Confidentiality Requests

  Regulator shoots down dozens of petitions as unjustified

Montana Businesses Seeking Investment or For Sale

• Montana’s Bob Ward stores acquired by Utah-based Al’s Sporting Goods

  Al’s Sporting Goods, a Utah-based retailer with three locations, announced Thursday that the company has acquired all five Bob Ward & Sons locations in Montana.

Senator Jon Tester

• Senator Jon Tester Secures $2 Million to Strengthen Montana Food Systems

  “Food security is national security—and with consolidation in the food industry at an all-time high, it’s critical that we strengthen our local systems to ensure that all Montanans have reliable access to healthy foods,” said Tester. “The closer the consumer is to the producer, the better the food will taste, and the healthier it will be. By cutting out middlemen and investing in local food systems, Montana’s producers will benefit from better margins, and consumers will receive high quality food at more affordable prices.”

Housing

• How Banks Perpetuate Overbuilt Parking

  Even as cities and states are reducing or eliminating parking requirements, lenders often require parking to release loans to developers.

• Burlington, Vermont Could Eliminate Parking Requirements Citywide

  A proposal to eliminate parking minimums in the entire city would also expand Burlington’s Transportation Demand Management program.

• What to know about California’s ‘builders remedy’ — and how it could explode housing development in S.F

  Every eight years, the state makes cities plan for growth through the Regional Housing Needs Allocation process, which sets baselines for housing production to accommodate factors such as births, immigration and jobs. Until recently, those plans were rubber-stamped by the state.

  This cycle is different.

• Home sales take biggest dip since start of pandemic

  The once red-hot housing market appears to be cooling as Redfin reported a 25% decline in homes sold in September compared to September 2021.

Visit Montana

• Yellowstone at 150: ‘It’s never dull’

  After 150 years, Yellowstone National Park continues to inspire. A park ranger reflects on the responsibility of long-term stewardship.

Developing Funding Opportunities in Montana

• JPMorgan launches fundraising platform to lure startups

  The new platform, Capital Connect, focuses on serving the financing needs of startups from their early stages, marking the ambition of the biggest U.S. bank by assets to further expand into the private market and build a founder-friendly brand in Silicon Valley.

Montana Biotech

• Tonix Pharmaceuticals’ plan to build a new biomanufacturing center just north of the Ravalli County Fairgrounds in Hamilton is hoped to bring more high-tech bioscience jobs to the Bitterroot Valley.

  “This will be the third of our buildings — we have a facility near Frederick, Maryland, a process development facility south of Boston,” he said. “This will be the later stage one where products are vetted. Here we can supply the world.”

Funding and Building your Business

• How Do You Make a Decision When Every Option Looks Bad?

  In the face of a crisis, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard worked with his team to create a new solution. Here’s how other leaders can do the same, writes Wharton Dean Erika James.

Regional Economic Development

• US awards $2.8B in grants for EV batteries in 12 states including North Dakota

  Even as Granholm and other officials tout success in boosting the U.S. EV industry, automakers are warning that the vast majority of EV purchases won’t qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit.

Government News & Events

• Missoula, Montana outlines Vision Zero traffic approach for bike safety

  According to the resolution, an average of four deaths and 69 serious injuries occurred on Missoula streets every year between 2010 and 2020. That’s 40 overall deaths and 763 serious, life-changing injuries. Fifteen of those fatalities and 145 of the serious injuries occurred while the victim was walking or biking.

Government Technology

• Big Sky Fire Department partners with artificial intelligence company for faster wildfire detection

  The Big Sky Fire Department is working with Pano AI, a San Francisco-based company, to set up cameras to better detect wildfires using artificial intelligence. Pano AI and the Big…

American Prairie

• A Wild Idea – American Prairie Reserve – How Conservationist Ali Fox ’02 {Dartmouth) is making the Great Plains great again in Montana

  Last year local ranchers trucked in hay from as far as the Midwest to feed their cattle. Some sold their herds, and if the drought doesn’t break, more selloffs are expected.

Transportation

• The 12 Best Electric Bikes for Every Kind of Ride

  A battery-powered motor lets you enjoy most of the benefits of biking, minus the sweat.

• Big Sky Rail Authority looks to restore Hiawatha rail back into Missoula

  The plan right now is to present reports to congress to eventually invest in the rail, like they currently do for the empire builder and to restore the route in the next five to ten years. The rail authority will be hosting a public board meeting next month, with more information and update where the process stands going forward.

• Denver spent $4.1 million to get more people on e-bikes. It worked

  Denver launched a rebate program to encourage residents to buy e-bikes and drive less. It’s already wildly popular.

• Tesla To Build 1,000 GWh Of Battery Cells Domestically, Over Double Entire World’s 2022 Output

  After listening to the Q3 Tesla earnings call, there was one thing I noticed that Elon repeated 3 times, and it was the first time I’ve heard him say it. It is that Tesla plans to make a 1,000 GWh of batteries a year, vertically integrated, domestically. Let’s break down what that means:

Cool Stuff That’s Coming

• These land-based algae farms could feed 10 billion humans by 2050

  The naturally ‘carbon-eating’ microorganisms could mean the farms will be carbon negative too.

Energy and Climate Change

• A breakthrough plastic upcycling process

  Developed by a collaboration of scientists from American universities, the new technology may help to reduce the environmental impact of plastic pollution while also providing a financial incentive for recycling.

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