MATR Newsletter – September 10, 2021
The state with the best education wins!

Corona Virus Information

• A Longer Pandemic?

  The proliferation of Covid-19 variants in Africa could lead to vaccine-evading mutations that may derail global attempts to end the pandemic, a group of African and international organizations said.

• President Biden announces new vaccine mandates that could cover 100 million Americans – Montana Governor Gianforte promises to fight mandate

  The President directed the Labor Department to require all businesses with 100 or more employees ensure their workers are either vaccinated or tested once a week. Companies could face thousands of dollars in fines per employee if they don’t comply.

• United Airlines Staff Who Get Religious Exemption From Covid Vaccine Mandate Will Need To Take Unpaid Leave

  United did not disclose its vaccination rate to Forbes, but the company estimated that 90% of pilots and 80% of flight attendants were inoculated when it first rolled out its mandate last month, and it said in Wednesday’s memo that most staffers who were still unvaccinated when the requirement was announced are now vaccinated.

Come Home Montana

• Montana Career Opportunity – Provost and Executive Vice President, University of Montana

  The University of Montana-Missoula (UM), a flagship public doctoral research institution, invites nominations and applications for the position of Provost and Executive Vice President (PEVP) from interested individuals with diverse…

• Montana Career Opportunities – Business Development Officer, Resource Director – The Great Falls Development Authority, Inc. and High Plains Financial, Inc.

  Below please find our current employment opening(s). For additional opportunities in the Great Falls Montana market, please visit our relocation website, LiveInGreatFalls.com.

Montana Department of Commerce

• Montana Department of Commerce – CDBG Housing, Community Facility, Public Facility Grant Application Deadline Extended

  Based on public input, the Montana Department of Commerce has decided to extend the deadline for the CDBG Community Facility, Public Facility and Housing grant applications deadline from September 15, 2021, at 5:00 pm to October 28, 2021, at 5:00 pm.

• Montana panel backs $22 million investment in job training

  The Department of Commerce recommended spending $10 million for training grants to businesses.

City of Bozeman Economic Development

• Montana Photonics Industry Alliance September Newsletter – You’re Invited: Fall Networking Social, October 7, Hosted By AED – Advanced Electronic Designs

  The MPIA held their first in-person board meeting in over a year and we are excited about the future. Our community has been strong and our newsletter will share some recent accomplishments.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Hamilton, Montana – Local Bounti, Disruptive AgTech Company Redefining the Future of Farming, to Go Public in $1.1B SPAC Deal via Leo Holdings III Corp. – Career Opportunities

  As a result of the transaction with Leo, Local Bounti will receive up to $400 million in gross proceeds (assuming no redemptions), including $125 million from a fully committed PIPE anchored by existing investors and new investors, including Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, BNP Paribas Asset Management Ecosystem Restoration Fund and Cargill.

• Doing Business with the States of MN, ND & SD – 9/14 – Zoom

  This workshop will provide an overview and details about contracting with the states of Minnesota, North and South Dakota. Topics to be covered include an overview of each state’s purchasing practices, where the dollars come from, how the dollars can be spent, how to get registered as a vendor, where to find business opportunities, and what the state expects of its contractors.

• Montana Department of Labor & Industry touts economic rebound

  Department of Labor & Industry economists cite childcare access, housing costs and the continuing pandemic as ongoing challenges for Montana workers and businesses amid the state’s tight labor market.

The Telecommuting and Gig Workforce in Montana

• Hybrid working will now allow more people with disabilities to enter labor force, Ted Kennedy Jr. says 

  “Hybrid work and remote work are just a couple of the accommodations that many people with disabilities have been asking for. So, we think that companies’ views now of remote work will allow more people with disabilities to enter the labor force,”

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• National Telecommunications and Information Administration Announces Over $5 Billion in Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program Funding Requests

  The volume of requests demonstrates the significant need to expand access to and adoption of broadband service on tribal lands.

• Maine to Invest $128M Toward Expanding Broadband Access

  Gov. Janet Mills announced $128 million in federal funding will be used by the Maine Connectivity Authority to expand broadband. The funding for this investment comes from the American Rescue Plan

Housing

• ‘We were off on this one:’ San Francisco home sells for $2.1 Million over asking

  It needed quite a bit of work, according to selling agent Michael Bellings with Compass, but the original features of the home were incredibly unique — so much so his team decided to do almost no renovations before putting it on the market.

Visit Montana

• Uneducated (Insert Stronger Word Here) Tourists in Yellowstone Get Chased, Nearly Killed By Angry Bison

  Okay, hopefully that bolded PSA on this blog will permanently fix the problem of dumb tourists approaching bison and nearly getting killed on a weekly basis. This video is from a few years ago, but it seems like there’s a new story every week of somebody getting gored in that park.

Funding and Building your Business

• 5 questions emotionally intelligent leaders ask themselves every day

  Emotionally intelligent leaders helm more motivated, happier workforces. And they do it by asking themselves these questions.

• Employees are quitting, sometimes without other offers. What can companies do to retain staff?

  For businesses looking to retain those workers, it will probably take more than simply raising wages to prevent a rush to the exits, according to a study released Wednesday by management consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

• SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program to see big changes. Here’s what you need to know.

  “Given the changes in the Covid EIDL maximum loan amount, eligibility, and increased outreach to industries that have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic (for example, restaurants, hotels, gyms, travel and tourism), SBA expects an increase in the number of applications submitted and average loan size,” the SBA said.

• How to Hire With a Vaccine Mandate in Place

  Asking prospective employees about their vaccination status can be awkward–and possibly lead to legally sticky situations.

Incubators and R&D

• Ig Nobel Prize winners include scientists who cleared blocked noses with sex

  Other winners suspended rhinos upside down in the air, and analysed bacteria in chewed gum.

Rural Communities

• Rural Documentaries Get a Showing Across Five States Including Montana

  Working Films is collaborating with five nonprofit organizations across the country on their Rural Cinema program. Over the next three months, these organizations — based in Montana, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Utah — will show a total of 20 documentaries as a way to open a discussion about environmental topics.

Government News & Events

• City Council targets Missoula Redevelopment Agency for changes; strays from economic development to housing and daycare

  City Council members once described it as one of the most powerful economic development tools available to municipalities in Montana. But the changes appear to take a different tact, inspired by what some on City Council described as targeted opposition to the program in general.

• All state workers in Montana back to the office, amid Covid-19 surge

  Starting Tuesday, all state employees had to be at their “pre-Covid 19 work sites,” rather than working at home – unless they have a special exemption.

American Prairie Reserve

• American Prairie Reserve Celebrates 20 Years, 420,000 acres and counting

  In this spirit, we will be refreshing the American Prairie brand. While our mission and work remain the same, our look will be evolving to reflect the vast beauty and diversity of life that has captivated the prairie’s visitors for millennia. Stay tuned!

Careers

• The Great Uprooting – Instead of asking more Montanans to come home, we should figure out more ways for them to stay

  Some of our best “essential” workers are leaving the area and the ones who remain are likely on the brink. An extraordinarily busy summer exposed an economy falling out of balance with no easy fix. While some have lamented the lack of affordable housing programs, they were rarely used and largely ineffective when they were in place.

• How one tech worker’s commute during the pandemic shifted from one city to more than a dozen states

  Since being hired by Fast a year ago, Kobach and his wife, Courtney Gossage, have been city-hopping just about every month, taking advantage of remote work by staying with friends or in an Airbnb while crisscrossing the U.S. — heading west to California and looping back, passing through more than a dozen cities on the way back to their home in Atlanta.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

• Before you die, decide who gets access to your online accounts and digital files

  Have you given any thought as to what you want to happen to your accounts, files, photos, and the rest of your online life once you’re gone?

Transportation

• The WIRED Guide to Self-Driving Cars

  How a chaotic skunkworks race in the desert launched what’s poised to be a runaway global industry.

• Partnership to test magnetizable road concrete for electricity charging

  The new development will explore embedding recycled ferrite particles into concrete as a more economical option for electricity charging on the road

• Owning a car will soon be as quaint as owning a horse

  The shift away from private vehicles will happen faster than we think

• Our Driving Habits Must Be Part of the Climate Conversation

  Transportation accounts for 29 percent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions, the most of any sector.

TED and TEDX Talks

• Today’s TED Talk A sci-fi vision of life in 2041

  Sci-fi writer Chen Qiufan doesn’t fear a dystopian future. Instead, he believes developments in artificial intelligence will make all of our lives better, healthier and safer. He takes us on a tour of the next 20 years of AI and shares some astonishing predictions for the advancements in science and technology that could await us. “For every future we wish to create, we must first learn to imagine it,” he says.

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