MATR Newsletter – September 9, 2019
The state with the best education wins!

Hope to see you in Lewistown –

Come Home Montana

• Missoulian editorial – Missoula must maintain economic momentum – Many Career Opportunities Available

  Over the past year, Missoula County employers created more jobs than any other county in the state

Great Falls Development Authority

• Great Falls Tourism offering $100k grant for a multi-day event proposal

  Have you, you and your friends or you and your company had an idea for an event in Great Falls without the funds to move forward? Well, this might be exactly what you’ve needed.

• Great Falls Economic Development Top Ten for 9-8-19

  Thanks to this week’s Investors in Economic Development, including Cascade County, for their Premier Division Investment and Energy West for their Advanced Division Investment.

MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association

• Five takeaways from the Montana’s annual Labor Day economy report

  1. More jobs than workers

• Share your views Sept. 17-20 – New Missoula Downtown Plan ready for final unveiling and adoption

  It’s been two years of ideas, and a year of intense discussion and brainstorming , and now Missoula’s new Downtown Master Plan is ready to be put into action. It’s a plan which will set the framework of how the downtown — and its specific neighborhoods and features, will develop and change over the next…

• New report shows soaring interest in Montana outdoors

  Hayes says recreation is increasingly becoming a draw for new companies locating here, and recruiting employees looking to share our quality of life.

Next Generation Broadband in Montana

• Momentum Builds for Maryland’s Rural Broadband Initiative

  “If our children have to go to McDonald’s to do their homework, that’s not a good thing,”

Montana Businesses For Sale

• Big Hole Valley mainstay Wise River Club for sale

  The Wise River Club is a favorite stopping point for tourists who travel to the region for its world-class fly fishing, river rafting, mountain biking, hunting, snowmobiling, and a whole lot more.

Montana Business

• Fighting fires and thwarting drones: Belgrade-based sister companies Bridger Aerospace and Ascent Vision expanding

  “The optics and photonics industry being so fertile has meant a lot to us,” Sheehy said. “The cluster model of business makes sense.”

• Missoula-based Consumer Direct lands $500M contract with Washington state

  …this is a big step for our company. In our industry, you can’t get any bigger than this award.”

• Three Bozeman businesses selected for 2019 Employers’ Choice Award

  Anderson ZurMeuhlen – Bozeman, Buffalo Restoration and Foundant Technologies were selected for their dedication to providing healthy and positive workplaces and commitment to employees.

• Anderson ZurMuehlen to purchase Information Technology Core

  AZ currently has about 200 employees in seven cities around Montana. In addition to technology consulting, it provides public accounting and business advisory services.

Visit Montana

• Changes greet Glacier National Park visitors

  Service hours begin to shorten, and construction projects expand to take advantage of lower visitation and remaining favorable weather.

• A River Still Runs Through Montana

  The film changed the way travelers (and movie-makers) saw Montana and it gave new life to the fly-fishing industry in general.

New Events Posted

Montana Book Festival 9/12-15 – Missoula

For over thirty years, Missoula’s annual book festival has paid tribute to the tradition of writing in the West by bringing together authors from across the region.

OxxFest 5 – 9/13-14 – Billings

OXXFEST 5 You’re invited to the Grand Opening of the Red Oxx Events Lawn Join us for OxxFest 5, our Food Truck Roundup on Saturday, September 14th from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

In the Footsteps of Norman Maclean Festival – 9/13-15 – Seeley Lake and Missoula

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.” ~ Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It

Share your views Sept. 17-20 – New Missoula Downtown Plan ready for final unveiling and adoption

It’s been two years of ideas, and a year of intense discussion and brainstorming , and now Missoula’s new Downtown Master Plan is ready to be put into action.

Climate Strike Missoula Community Events – 9/20-27

We support Missoula area high school, university students and the young adults organizing the kick-off Global Climate Strike rally

Regional Business News

• Looking to hire 30,000, Amazon plans nationwide job fairs

  Amazon is looking for all kinds of workers, from software engineers who can earn more than $100,000 a year, to warehouse staff paid at least $15 an hour to pack and ship online orders.

Wyoming Business

• Storing nuclear waste would only net Wyoming $10 million annually — raising doubts of its viability

  Wyoming lawmakers made it clear this week they are serious about exploring the possible construction of a nuclear waste storage facility within state borders.

• Wyoming schools disproportionately suspend Native American students, report finds

  Schools also suspended white students at a lower rate than expected based on enrollment numbers.

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

• Amazing Video – Is there Bal-A-Vis-X in your school?

  Bal-A-Vis-X requires focused attention, demands cooperation, promotes self-challenge, and fosters peer teaching. It is school friendly and just plain fun.

• Group seeking donations to eliminate Kalispell schools lunch debt

  “Children don’t want to suffer the shame associated with going into a different lunch line or getting a different lunch or being told in front of their friends by the way you have a debt,”

• Could Urban Farms Be the Preschools of the Future?

  It sounds like an ordinary urban farm, but on this particular site, the wardens are toddlers.

Government News & Events

• Montana considering increasing how much radioactive waste it accepts

  Currently there is only one special waste facility in Montana that can dispose of TENORM, Oaks Disposal Services about 25 miles from Glendive.

Cool Stuff That’s Coming

• Sustainable, high-quality homes for low-income people in Las Vegas

  Using disaster-resilient bioceramics, the company’s geodesic domes are recyclable, energy-efficient, quick to build and repair

• The robots are coming – Great video

  Here is a video that we made that shows some of the iconic robots being developed by Boston Dynamics

• Samsung’s take on the world of 2069

  Such exercises can be both entertaining and useful for looking at how to meet the challenges of tomorrow, so they’re anything but a waste of time.

Energy and Climate Change

• As Earth faces climate catastrophe, US set to open nearly 200 power plants

  All that natural gas is “a ticking time bomb for our planet,” says Michael Brune, president of the Sierra Club. “If we are to prevent runaway climate change, these new plants can’t be built.”

• California Farmers Are Planting Solar Panels as Water Supplies Dry Up

  Solar energy projects could replace some of the jobs and tax revenues that may be lost as constrained water supplies force California’s agriculture industry to scale back.

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