MATR Newsletter – September 28, 2022
The state with the best education wins!

Come Home Montana

• Number of Montanans working from home increases dramatically

  Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that the proportion of Montanans working from home spiked dramatically in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Montana Department of Commerce

• Countries Montana exports the most goods to

  Stacker compiled a list of countries that Montana exports the most goods to using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Countries are ranked by the highest value of exports in 2021 with Montana.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Incoterms®️ 2020 – Montana World Trade Center -10/5 – Online

  International Commercial Terms, better known as Incoterms®️, are the three most important letters in any international sales contract.

• How will downtowns across America change in the next decade? Public invited to Missoula Midtown Association planning open house – 9/27 – YMCA

  “Downtowns are going to have to readjust and reimagine what they want to be and I see them as becoming more mixed-used,”

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• City of Missoula finalizes broadband, cable agreement with TDS

  The city of Missoula on Monday gave final approval to a franchise agreement with a new broadband provider looking to establish a presence in the city’s growing market.

• Next Update of FCC Broadband Map Likely Won’t be a Moment to Celebrate

  The next update of the FCC broadband map, expected in late November or early December, is likely to have a considerable number of errors, according to sources familiar with the broadband data collection initiative on which the map will be based.

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte

• Montana Governor Greg Gianforte talks wildfire management at last stop on 56 county tour

  “When a forest is managed, we have less severe wildfires, more recreational opportunities, more habitat for wildlife, and more jobs in our communities,” Gianforte said in a press release. “The work done here in Helena is a real testament to that, and my hat’s off to our local partners for proactively managing this area to reduce vulnerability to wildfire.”

Montana Economic Development

• Tickets to the Startup Soiree are going FAST – This Friday Night! 9/30 – Bozeman

  If you want a chance to get 1-1 advising from the founder and former CEO of Dollar Shave Club, Michael Dubin,  or win a new pair of Peak skis and exclusive advising from Peak Skis co-founders Andy Wirth and Bode Miller,  you’re going to have to buy tickets, because those items are ONLY AVAILABLE for bid in the live auction THIS Friday night.

• TICKET GIVEAWAY! Montana Startup Summit – 9/30-10/1 – Bozeman, Montana

  MATR readers could win tickets to the Startup Soiree and Showcase This week. To be entered, just email [email protected] by 9/29. Winner will be announced on Wednesday, September 29th. #MTStartupSummit…

Housing

• Where Housing Costs Are Falling Fastest

  Western cities like Seattle, Las Vegas and San Jose are feeling the sting of economic headwinds and experiencing house price and volume drops.

• Rent prices hit all-time high, but reports signal a coming cool down

  Prices are up more than eleven percent compared to 2021. The average one-bedroom costs $1,503 per month, while the average two-bedroom costs $1,845.

• Gallatin Co. commissioners look into leasing apartments for employees

  ‘We’re really having a problem within the county — as all businesses are — retaining our employees and finding housing for them, and we’re having some employees that lose their housing, and they just have to leave the area,” Gallatin County Commissioner Joe Skinner said.

Montana Business

• Why tackling climate change means a stronger economy — according to Janet Yellen

  If we were more dependent on the wind and the sun for electric power, we would be much less vulnerable to the kind of geopolitical shocks that we’re experiencing with Russia and Ukraine and, of course, other parts of the world where there are issues that can lead to skyrocketing oil prices.

• Recyclable turbine blades now available for onshore wind energy projects

  The company reports that, although around 85% of a wind turbines can be fully recycled at the end of their working lives, many of their huge blades end up in landfill. The RecyclableBlades project was created to change that.

• The pandemic child care crisis is still here

  Nearly 90,000 fewer people are working in the child care industry today compared to February 2020.

The Creative and Cultural Economy

• Ranch Days teaches horse enthusiasts of all levels the Montana lifestyle

  “You always want to be calm, assertive and happy when you’re working with an animal. And this place brings it all together. There’s no judgment in this place at all. Nobody judges anybody. I don’t care who you are, or what you’re doing. We just try to help, that’s all,” said Joshua Foster of White Hawk Healing.

Come Home Idaho

• Suddenly, Nobody Wants to Live in Idaho

  Arrivals have been running at more than three to one of the departures, but the site now claims the difference is no more than a couple of dozen newcomers for every 100 people leaving.

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

• What science says about the best way to eat (and what we’re still figuring out)

  Confused about nutrition? Here are the science-backed principles that get the green light — and what we’re still figuring out.

• ‘Girls Who Code’ book series temporarily banned in Pennsylvania school district

  One among many titles in peril across classrooms in America.

Rural Communities

• Radically Rural: How Investing in Branding Is Helping Rural Communities Come Out on Top

  The pandemic expanded opportunities for workers to have more choice about where they live. Rural places could benefit.

Careers

• Oregon needs thousands of construction, government workers to close housing gap

    (Oregon Capital Chronicle) Oregon’s housing shortage is worse today than it was before the start of the Covid pandemic, a state economist told lawmakers last week during a hearing…

Transportation

• Rethinking Road Expansions

  While many transportation agencies continue to expand highways, some major cities are shifting away from building more roads, bucking decades of car-centric planning. As Jared Brey reports in Governing, a few isolated cases are raising hopes that highway expansion will no longer be the status quo.

• Thickened battery electrodes hint at fast-charging EVs with doubled range

  Scientists experimenting with key components in lithium batteries have come up with a promising new design that could one day see electric vehicles charge much faster, and offer twice the range at the same time.

Energy and Climate Change

• How To Cash In On Billions In Green Home Improvement Tax Credits And Rebates

  While the credits for buyers of electric vehicles (both new and used) have grabbed much of the attention, their cost pales in comparison to the tens of billions in tax credits and rebates for homeowners investing in everything from solar panels to heat pumps to new windows to electric stoves.

• Inside One Billionaire’s Plan To Bring Solar Power To Every Homeowner

  Hayes Barnard figured out how to make costly green energy affordable—and it has made him one of the richest people in America.

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