MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Will Urban Planners Lose Their Jobs to AI?

  Let’s see what the data says.

• Montana Department of Commerce Weekly Roundup – Volume 2, Issue 39

  Welcome to the “Commerce Quarterly,” a newsletter designed to provide constituents and stakeholders with long-form updates on the Montana Department of Commerce’s success stories, as well as innovative opportunities to engage with the department and participate in building the future of Montana’s economy. This newsletter is delivered four times per year covering a variety of topics to showcase the many ways Commerce is working with businesses and community leaders across the state.

Great Falls Development Alliance

• GFDA Top Ten for 9-28-25

  We are looking for three dynamic team members, an Accounting Assistant, a Business Development Officer focused on food, ag and bio processing industries, and a Business Development Officer focused on online lead generation. Download our updated Career Opportunities and please forward it to great candidates.

• GFDA Top Ten for 9-25-25

  A Thursday Top 10! I was in the mountains last weekend and the week just got away from me. (So he posted 14…)

Kalispell Chamber of Commerce

• 2025 Flathead Manufacturing Symposium – 10/21 – FVCC

  This event will provide focused, targeted information to support your business. The symposium’s jam-packed agenda includes important information about manufacturing resources, legislative update, a manufacturing financial forecast and available tour of the FVCC Trades Institute.

Montana Business

• Bourbon Tasting at The Rhino Sat. October 4th, 2:00-5:00 – Missoula

  There may be more to life than Bulleit

• Why national park advocates are not thrilled at increased visitor spending

  The Trump administration threatened even more staffing cuts to federal agencies in the event of a government shutdown, leaving National Park Service employees on unreliable ground once again.

Housing

• No roads home: How a chronic housing shortage keeps reservation communities in crisis. 

  Housing insecurity touches almost everyone in tribal communities in Montana. Its causes and consequences are deep-rooted, confoundingly complex, and often overlooked.

• “Enlighten” Credit card thick – five times the energy efficiency of standard windows.

  Corning developed a modified manufacturing process based on the lab’s research that can create glass sheets at scale, as thin as a credit card. It can be cut and modified to suit standard window frames, as well as for more unique designs for custom buildings designed by architects. Corning calls this new, larger commercial glass Enlighten.

• Plug-in solar bills are in the works in New Hampshire and Vermont

  DIY ​“balcony” solar kits, which can save residents money and give them more independence, are piquing interest from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Visit Montana

• Ennis, Montana denied resort community designation by Department of Commerce

  “My initial reaction was that of surprise as we have received the designation in the past,” said Ennis Town Commissioner Cory Hardy who has spearheaded the effort to get resort community designation.

Regional Economic Development

• Wyoming, Utah and Idaho push for nuclear energy renaissance – Idaho National Laboratory

  A couple hundred nuclear energy industry officials, along with two western state governors, a Trump administration official and the head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, gathered Monday at the Idaho National Laboratory’s sprawling 890-square-mile testing center to discuss nuclear power’s future in the West.

• Northwest Native Nations could lose hundreds of millions in federal funding, report says

  Roughly $530 million of the $1.19 billion allocated to Northwest tribal nations in fiscal year 2024 — used to fulfill the federal government’s trust and treaty obligations to Native American and Alaska Native tribes — is at risk of being cut.

City Club Missoula

• Harvard professor, Robert Putnam speaks about strengthening democracy and social capital at the University of Montana

  “If people are regularly getting together and having face-to-face interactions throughout their community, you are exponentially more likely to have a healthy and functioning democratic institution,” Skye Borden, the deputy director of the Mansfield Center. “The only time we were as polarized as we are now was between 1860 and 1865, during the Civil War,” Putnam said.

YOUR CAREER

• Raising Your Spirited Child, Fourth Edition: An Updated and Modern Edition of the Classic Parenting Guide Paperback by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka (Author)

  The Spirited Child Approach helps parents understand their child and their own inborn temperament while focusing on three simple, but vital concepts—calm, connect, and coach—to help their family thrive.

• France Throws Doors Wide Open for Global Talent – Your Ultimate Guide to the 2025 Work Visa Revolution

  The French government’s “Choose France” strategy is now in full effect, targeting strategic sectors from tech and green energy to healthcare and research. This isn’t just an update; it’s a revolution designed to make France the most attractive destination for global talent.

• Why are so many young people getting cancer?

  “If I would have waited until my three-year follow-up, I wouldn’t be here today,” he says.

Energy and Transportation

• Waymo driverless car stopped by Bay Area police during DUI operation

  “No driver, no hands, no clue,” the department wrote in a social media post.

• Mushrooms make the difference in first-of-its-kind super-composting toilet

  “Composting toilets often carry negative associations. We aimed to create a system that’s clean, comfortable and easy to use.”

• Experience Fall in Wyoming – 2026 Can-Am Outlander Electric ATV quiets the wilds By Aaron Turpen

  Western Wyoming is beautiful in the fall. With trees beginning to change, sunsets getting more spectacular, and animals beginning to migrate, there’s a lot going on. And I got to glide through it all silently on the back of an electric ATV.

• How to navigate a roundabout

  And roundabouts actually increase road capacity (30%-50%, according to Bryson).

• Will a Tiny Reactor Someday Power Your Town?

  Researchers are building the case for putting nuclear microreactors in all sorts of places. Developers will need to work with communities to understand their hopes, concerns and priorities.

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

• Anglers and authors Yvon Chouinard and Craig Mathews to speak Oct. 8 at Montana State

  Anglers and authors Yvon Chouinard and Craig Mathews will discuss and sign copies of their new book, “Pheasant Tail Simplicity: Recipes and Techniques for Successful Fly Fishing,” at a free event set for Wednesday, Oct. 8, at Montana State University.

2025 Legislature and Politics

• Social Security is phasing out paper checks. What to do before Sept. 30 deadline.

  Because of an executive order issued in March 2025, federal benefit payments will primarily be issued electronically, with paper checks being phased out in most cases.

• Kansas Uses AI Technology to Support Small Businesses

  The state’s new Small Business Office has launched a platform aimed at creating a resource network to help small businesses to get started and build connections. Coming soon is a new tool to assess loan readiness.

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