MATR Newsletter – September 2, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

Come Home Montana

• Montana Career Opportunities – Director of Loan Services, Director of Marketing and Business Recruitment – Headwaters RC&D

  Headwaters RC&D is a 501c(3) non-profit focused on improving the economic and social well-being of the Southwest Montana region through conservation, development, and proper use of natural and human resources.…

Great Falls Development Authority

• Great Falls Economic Development Top 10 for 8-31-22

  Great Falls Development Authority Small Business Development Center in conjunction with the Choteau Chamber of Commerce hosted a Business Pitch event at Copper Creek Coffee in Choteau this week.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• The Route Ahead for Whitefish, Montana
  Slated for council consideration next week, the city’s updated transportation plan is designed to help prioritize street projects through 2040 while placing a renewed emphasis on walking, biking and a logical transit network

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• The nation’s fastest community-wide internet? New 25-gig service launches in Chattanooga, Tennessee – Why Not in Your State?

  “By putting the fiber out there, that makes the sort of natural increase in speed that happens as electronics gets faster that much easier,” he said. “I think cities that have abundant fiber, and in the case of homes that get fiber to the home, they’re going to be in a better position.”

Montana Businesses Seeking Investment or For Sale

• Montana-Based Group Invests $55M in Home-Grown High-Tech Methane Detection Company, Bridger Photonics, Inc.

  Bridger Photonics, Inc. (Bridger) announced today that Montana-based syndicate, Beaverhead Partners LLC, has invested $55 million in the company to support its rapid growth. The syndicate is composed of Bozeman-based Madison Valley Partners, sustainability and climate action focused Carica Sustainable Investments, and Bozeman-based Next Frontier Capital.

Montana Economic Development

• The City of Missoula backs funding for Women’s Business Center at University of Montana

  “It’s a program that provides coaching and access to training to aspiring and current female entrepreneurs and small business owners,” said Paul Gladen, director of Blackstone LaunchPad at UM. “Individuals who have a small business idea or existing business, and are looking for help on issues like marketing, financial health or other guidance, can get that coaching.”

Housing

• Today, it’s a multistory parking lot. Tomorrow, it could be your new home

  In Calgary, Alberta, two architecture firms have designed a convertible parking lot that can easily be transformed into a 600-person office or a 50-unit residential building.

• Land value tax pitched as one idea to increase housing development in Montana

  In a Wednesday subgroup meeting of the Governor’s Housing Task Force, members discussed the feasibility and merit of ideas such as allowing cities to swap to a land value tax and pushing for more multifamily housing allowances in cities.

Montana Business

• Company purchasing Simms Fishing Products says no one will lose their job

  Vista Outdoor, Inc. acquired Simms Fishing Products for $192.5 million

• Anderson ZurMuehlen announces merger with Pinion

  Helena-based Anderson ZurMuehlen announced Thursday it is merging with Kansas-based Pinion on Jan. 1, and taking the Pinion name to provide business advisory and accounting services.

Visit Montana

• Does This Fisherman Have the Right to Be in a Billionaire’s Backyard?

  The group Backcountry Hunters and Anglers has been vocal in support of Mr. Hill. Besides habitat destruction, Mr. Tawney cited privatization as the biggest threat to its members:

• Badlands and barbed wire: Conservationists re-wild Montana’s prairies and pronghorn

  It might surprise some to learn that Montana’s largest National Wildlife Refuge doesn’t contain a single mountain. Instead, all 1.1 million acres of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, or CMR, consists of sweeping prairie encompassing the massive Fort Peck Reservoir and rugged, impassable badlands that spin the land into a labyrinth of gumbo hills and plummeting draws.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• East Helena teen, Tobey Peck first Montanan to make USA Archery Regional Elite Development team

  “You meet a lot of new people through (archery competitions),” Peck said. “My best friend is in Texas (and does archery).”

Idaho News & Events

• Micron launches $15 billion Idaho project amid federal push for US tech manufacturing

  On Thursday, Micron announced that it would invest $15 billion to build a new semiconductor plant in Idaho — just weeks after Congress passed $52 billion in new money to boost domestic chip manufacturing.

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

• How Montana is trying to solve its struggles with teacher pay
  As the cost of living rises, teacher pay in Montana remains well below the national average, with negative effects on teacher recruitment and retention. What are lawmakers and administrators doing to solve the problem?
• Montana State accepting applications for program focused on agritourism and sustainable agriculture

  The Montana Agritourism Fellows Program: Developing Leaders to Advance Sustainable Agritourism is designed to establish and train leaders who will communicate and promote sustainable agriculture topics to farmers, ranchers, professionals and communities. The inaugural cohort will consist of 12 fellows, and applications are due by Saturday, Oct. 1.

• Code Girls United Program Registration is Open across Montana!

  Registration for Code Girls United’s FREE after school programs for 4th – 8th grade girls is open!

Government Technology

• CBS 60 Minutes – Vulnerable U.S. electric grid facing threats from Russia and domestic terrorists

  As we first reported earlier this year, no government agency, not even the Department of Energy, is truly in charge of protecting it. One attack, nine years ago, was a wake-up call for industry and government alike.

Non-Profit News

• Taken for Granted: Radical Grantmakers Lift Up Rural Artists and Culture Bearers

  Two regional funding organizations are looking to bring new approaches to philanthropy, better serving groups traditionally left behind by current practices.

Transportation

• How automakers insidiously shaped our cities for cars – Carcatecture has to END!

  From GM’s Motorama show in the 1950s to Hyundai’s more recent Smart City model, automakers have long meddled in urban planning.   By Elissaveta M. Brandon

• Why California wants to give residents $1,000 not to have a car

  Amid a climate-policy bonanza, California passed a bill to give an incentive for living car-free

Energy and Climate Change

• 66% more energy? This new turbine could turn old power plants into clean(er) machines

  Its inventors believe the system can have a tremendous impact on efforts to decarbonize the energy sector.

• As dangerous heat wave scorches California, Death Valley could hit a whopping 127 degrees

  Numerous temperature records are expected to be broken during this intense heat wave.

MATR Newsletter Supporters: