MATR Newsletter – September 4, 2019
The state with the best education wins!

Come Home Montana

•  SoClean Plans To Hire Up To 100 Employees In Kalispell

  SoClean is hosting a job recruitment fair this Thursday (9/5) at Kalispell’s Springhill Suites on Old Reserve Drive from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

• Montana Career Opportunities – Planner III, Urban Forester, Senior Accounting Clerk and more… – City of Missoula

  Nestled in the Northern Rockies of Montana, surrounded by seven wilderness areas and at the confluence of three rivers, Missoula is an outdoor enthusiast’s dream. You can kayak, raft or tube through downtown or take a relaxing hike in 60,000 acres of wilderness minutes from your hotel. Missoula is known for its blue-ribbon trout fishing…

• Montana Career Opportunity – Chief of Police – Missoula

  The City of Missoula, widely known as one of the most livable cities in the U.S., is hiring a Chief of Police. Become a member of a community recognized for its strong economy, entrepreneurship and educational opportunities, as well as its natural beauty, recreational activities, sporting events, arts and culture.

• Montana Career Opportunities – Business Development Officer, Commercial Loan Processor and Operations Assistant, Rural SBDC Business Advisor, and Talent Attraction Director – Great Falls Development Authority

  Four New Positions at Great Falls Economic Development Great career opportunities in Great Falls and rural Montana We are growing! The Great Falls Development Authority (GFDA) is adding four new positions to expand our team, including Business Development Officer, Commercial Loan Processor and Operations Assistant, Rural SBDC Business Advisor, and Talent Attraction Director. See descriptions below or…

Opportunity Zones

• The Community and Economic Development Hierarchy

  It’s an acknowledgement of the broader forces that control what happens at the local level.

• Opportunity Zones – How a Trump Tax Break to Help Poor Communities Became a Windfall for the Rich

  Even supporters of the initiative agree that the bulk of the opportunity-zone money is going to places that do not need the help, while many poorer communities are so far empty-handed.

Montana Technology Innovation Partnership

• MSU TechLink receives federal grant to help high-tech companies

  The U.S. Small Business Administration announced on Aug. 27 that it had awarded a Federal and State Technology Partnership Program grant for $125,000 to fund TechLink’s Montana Innovation Partnership.

TechLink

• TechLink – The Navy’s new non-mechanical laser steering technology

  Here at TechLink, we’re searching for a private company that sees the commercial, non-military potential of the solutions

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Montana is the oldest state in the West. Demographics tell the tale.

  Certain stretches of the state — including many but not all rural counties — have considerably older residents than Montana as a whole.

• 10 years of continued economic growth in Montana

  Montana’s economy is strong on Labor Day 2019 and it will continue to be strong because of folks like you all across the state committed to building an economy that works for everyone.

• Access to high-speed Internet, cell service in rural Montana: A long ways from adequate

  This is the first of a three-part series on the status and future of high-speed Internet and cell service in rural Montana.

• MEDA September News…and reminders Register now for the the fall conference, in Lewistown

  We are almost at 100 registered to attend the fall conference, in Lewistown.

• Billings Gazette opinion: Montana jobs growing faster than workforce

  The workforce shortage isn’t likely to resolve quickly and isn’t surprising.

Montana Business

• Four Reasons for entrepreneurs to consider SBA 7(a) Loans

  Although the SBA offers many types of loan programs, the 7(a) loan is among the most popular because of its versatility.

Visit Montana

• MSU people, places featured on episode of C-SPAN’s ‘Cities Tour’ program

  Included as part of the episode were segments on the Ivan Doig Archive, which is housed in the MSU Library’s Special Collections and Archives

Funding and Building your Business

• Google For Startups First Female Founders Want To Solve Your Big Problems

  Google’s first accelerator for female-led startups just had its first round of graduates who are looking to redress the balance.

Idaho News & Events

• Some popular Idaho (and Montana) campsites book up in seconds. So how can you reserve a spot?

  After years of trying and failing to book sites at Idaho’s more popular campgrounds, some people have just given up.

• Seattle venture-capital firm StageDotO is moving to Boise. This is why, and how it plans to invest

  About half of the fund will be devoted to seed money to get startups going and multiple funding rounds based on milestones, with the other half toward participating in first-round Series A funding for growth capital, Self said.

• Tuition makes up larger chunk of university funding in Idaho

  “High college cost is a threat to Idaho’s economy at a time when employers are demanding a more educated workforce and when workers with college degrees command far higher salaries than those with only a high school diploma,” the report states.

Government Technology

• Montana to distribute money to upgrade voting equipment

  Montana received $3 million total from the federal government to improve its election system and security. Most of the money, $2 million, was earmarked for a new voter registration system.

Non-Profit News

• HUD to give Bozeman based The Montana Continuum of Care Coalition group $3.4M to address youth homelessness

  The coalition offers services for people and families experiencing homelessness all across the state, to help them find a way off the streets.

Transportation

• As Real Estate Values Spike, This Bay Area Startup Figured Out Where to Put Your Car (Hint: It Looks a lot Like Tetris)

  How CityLift Parking founder Scott Gable came to recognize the need for getting cars off the ground.

TED and TEDX Talks

• TED Talk – What happened when we paired up thousands of strangers to talk politics

  Editor Jochen Wegner shares the unexpected things that happened when people met up to talk — and shows how face-to-face discussions could get a divided world to rethink itself.

Privacy, Hacking and Virus Alerts

• Firefox’s latest version blocks third-party trackers by default for everyone

  Before, only 20 percent of users had it turned on

• Podcast – Can Cybercriminals Be Stopped?

  The new generation of cybercriminals have organizations that function much like startups, with CEOs and recruiters, and customer service agents.

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