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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Nov 15, 2016 |
I want to grow my own food but I can't find bacon seeds.
Montana Politics & Legislature
The MDT Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program
- How has a local option tax impacted Montana communities or your visit to Montana?
There is a rising discussion about authorizing all Montana communities to consider implementing a local option tax https://revenue.mt.gov/localresort-tax in the upcoming legislative session.
- Montana lawmakers to look at raising their pay 82 percent
The bill draft would give lawmakers in 2019 and beyond an hourly rate of about $18.90 or more. It would be the single-biggest pay hike for lawmakers in at least 18 years.
- Montana Senator Jon Tester says he'll run for re-election in '18
"For me to step down at this point in time would not be fair to Montanans," Tester said. "I love this state. I love living in this state. Flying back and forth to Washington, D.C. is the worst part of this job. But, being able to make it so the next generation of Montanans have the kind of future that my folks have had and my grandparents worked for me, and the people of my generation is really important."
- Missoula legislator looks to give electoral votes to winner of national popular vote - The Troubling Reason the Electoral College Exists
A Missoula lawmaker on Friday said she will introduce a bill to the state Legislature that would see Montana join Maryland in giving the state's electoral votes for president to the winner of the national popular vote.
- Montana Legislature Elects Leaders, Lays Out Priorities for Session
"We are going to have a tight budget and we are not going to be passing any tax increases. My guess is that this will be a session that tends to focus on policy issues."
Montana Ambassadors
- Profit Mastery: Understanding + Leveraging Your Business Financials, 12/1-2, Bozeman
Learn how to correctly compute your break-even, and the effects of price, and how to do more of both.
Energy and Climate Change
- Montana Ambassador's California Networking Reception (All Are Welcome), 12/11, Pasadena, CA
Please come join Montana Ambassadors http://montanaambassadors.com/ for an afternoon of introductions, networking, and collaborations with Montana business representatives and colleagues in the Life Sciences and Hi-Tech worlds.
2012 Montana Politics and Legislature
- Asian "super grid" the first step towards a global, interconnected, renewable energy grid
Clean, renewable energy will soon be cheaper than traditional polluting sources - but there's still a big problem. It tends to get generated in inconvenient places, at inconvenient times that don't necessarily match up with where it's needed.
- How Global Warming Is Awakening Deadly Diseases
Scientists are currently tracking an outbreak of anthrax in Siberia that's likely caused by thawing soil freeing previously trapped bacteria. Down south, flesh-eating bacteria are blooming in newly warm and brackish waters.
- Solar-powered Australian homes with Tesla Powerwall 2.0 already cost-competitive
Energy consultancy CME director Bruce Mountain just calculated a Tesla Powerwall 2.0 and rooftop solar panels powering an Australian home offer a cost-competitive source of electricity when compared against grid power supplies.
- Vast and Pristine, Russia's Lake Baikal Is Invaded by Toxic Algae
Russian scientists had assumed that Lake Baikal is simply too vast to suffer such a fate, but recent growth in tourism and development seem to be changing the calculus.
- Streetlights powered by footsteps
Las Vegas has brought in streetlamps that are powered by a combination of solar and kinetic energy.
Come Home Montana
- Montana coalition crafts infrastructure, funding goals for 2017 session
The coalition's 70 members have spent the past year identifying what they deem to be critical infrastructure before reaching consensus on ways to increase funding to pay for the backlog.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Montana Career Opportunity - Senior/Deputy County Attorney - Yellowstone County
Must be a member of the Montana Bar at date of application.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Marketing Mogul - Chilton Skis
This is a ground-floor opportunity to work with, and shape the future of, Chilton Skis by leading the development and execution of the marketing and brand strategy, starting by successfully executing a Kickstarter campaign in Spring 2017.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Membership Program Manager - American Prairie Reserve
The ideal candidate has a proven track record of managing an annual giving/membership program and exceptional relationship building skills with the versatility to interact proactively with staff at all levels of the organization, board members, volunteers, vendors and donors in a positive and professional manner, and is passionate about our mission.
- Montana Career Opportunity - Intern - Blackstone Launchpad/Missoula Economic Partnership
Given their related missions effective communication and collaboration between both organizations is essential and the Entrepreneurship & Economic Development intern will play an important role in achieving this.
Montana Business
- Montana Chamber: Setting the Bar for Entrepreneurs
The results of a successful Envision plan will deliver 1000 new primary jobs, and an additional 1,002 secondary jobs.
- These Programs Are Helping Veterans to Get New Businesses Off the Ground
Today's generation of veterans enter a different business world than their predecessors. Luckily, there's help.
Montana Economic Development
- Veteran turns to crowdfunding, Kickstarter to finish Missoula therapy spa - The Enlighten Lab Float Center
Matt Gangloff, a two-tour veteran of the Iraq war and founder of the Enlighten Lab Float Center on Higgins Avenue, plans to open the new spa by February.
- The Coffee Tavern - Billings, Montana business owner's racist Facebook comments ignite firestorm
"People do need to know where their money's going."
- Stevensville's largest employer Selway Corporation lays of majority of workforce
Osgood attributes a loss of projects to the work reduction, saying that Selway is "built off of supporting the natural resource market." A market, he says isn't generating as much business as previous years.
- Business and community leaders honored at Butte Elevated Awards
"Tonight we are going to celebrate Butte businesses and individuals who have shown outstanding commitment to our community"
Warren Miller Freedom Foundation
- Butte gets techy with crowdfunding platform for economic development
So far communities that have signed up for The Local Group study are Driggs, Idaho; Fulton County, Illinois; Laramie; and Bozeman, among others, and projects have included everything from funding an artist incubator to helping launch a dried fruit company.
Careers
- Warren Miller "Freedom Found: My Life Story," an autobiography of a true ski action-film legend
Longtime fans will find it an indulgent fireside read from a man who built a career on images and finally - and to occasionally profound effect - found both the time and need to fully reflect upon his own. It's a book that should come packaged with down slippers and schnapps.
Next Generation Broadband in Montana
- Today's TED Talk - We train soldiers for war. Let's train them to come home, too
Applying the same principles used to prepare soldiers for war, Garcia is helping veterans suffering from PTSD get their lives back.
- Researchers have found a surprisingly powerful effect of sleeping more
Additional time sleeping can translate into thousands of dollars in wages.
- Six transition careers that require two years or less of education, training
Depending on where you are now and where you'd like to be in the future, you may decide that six months in a technical school or two years spent on a new associate's degree would be well worth your time.
Government
- Missoula Economic Partnership launches Missoula broadband survey
Jenni Graff, an economic development associate with MEP, said the results will help determine whether high-speed connectivity is needed in Missoula, and whether a consortium of partners should be organized to pursue it.
Idaho Business
- Best state in America: Montana, whose tax system is the fairest of them all
No state is rated more fair in how it distributes its tax burden than Montana, where wealthy property owners and energy producers pay more to keep the government functioning.
- The Troubling Reason the Electoral College Exists
The Founding Fathers had something particular in mind when they set up the U.S. presidential election system: slavery
- John Oliver Chugs Some Vodka To Prove A Point About America's Horrible Education Scam, The Lottery
So do me a favor and help make sure the Internets understand that lotteries are awful. I'll owe you one. As long as I don't buy a lottery ticket, I'll be able to pay you back.
- Twelve 'Can't Miss' Planning and Design Conferences in 2017
L.A. County Planner Clement Lau issues his annual list of his favorite conferences for urban design professionals in the upcoming year
- Trump just laid out a pretty radical student debt plan
"We would cap repayment for an affordable portion of the borrower's income, 12.5 percent, we'd cap it. That gives you a lot to play with and a lot to do."
- Senate rejects bill on veterans benefits
Wrangling over an issue -- veterans -- that often receives bipartisan support, the legislation died on a vote of 56-41, with only two Republicans voting for it.
- The Reality of Mayors' Economic Promises
They vow to rev up the local economy all the time, exposing their misunderstanding of cities and political office.
Regional Business
- Crumbling timber industry puts rural Idahoans at crossroads
"My last paycheck is coming up," said Bartlett, of Kooskia. "After that, I don't know what I'm going to do. I hope I find something."
- Idaho finds new way to figure the price tag of new laws
Under the new pilot program, lawmakers would be assigned a designated legislative data analyst who would review the proposal and work with various state agencies to help come up with a correct dollar amount.
Regional Economic Development
- John Oliver Targets 'Pyramid Schemes' (Mary Kay, Rodan + Fields, Amway, Herbalife, and Nu Skin)on Last Week Tonight
Oliver believes that these companies' business models look very similar to pyramid schemes and according to at least one Youngevity saleswoman in a corporate video, it is a "pyramid scheme thing."
- How much does manufacturing really mean to you in this state?
Do we make anything anymore in this country? Does it matter if we do?
South Dakota
- These Midwest towns are starting to rival Silicon Valley
The only way to address the frustrations with the economy on a large enough scale is through an approach that can literally reach every community in the nation.
Utah Economic Development
- Larger Farms, Smaller Families Mean School Closings in South Dakota
Other concerns for closing down a school include the changes it could bring to the community.
Washington State Business
- Utah GOED approves nearly $3 million in incentives
The project is expected to add up to 105 jobs and $70 million in capital investment to the Utah economy.
Workforce Development
- Seattle book exchange program promotes the city
Travel site Visit Seattle partnered with the Little Free Library book exchange program to promote the city through nine Seattle-themed little libraries.
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- What So Many People Don't Get About the U.S. Working Class
The biggest risk today for me and other Americans is continued class cluelessness. If we don't take steps to bridge the class culture gap, when Trump proves unable to bring steel back to Youngstown, Ohio, the consequences could turn dangerous.
Montana Education Excellence
- What student choice and agency actually looks like
Snapshots from six schools using blended learning to put students in control
- Finland Will Become the First Country in the World to Get Rid of All School Subjects
Finnish officials want to remove school subjects from the curriculum. There will no longer be any classes in physics, math, literature, history, or geography.
Funding and Building your Business
- Montana Learning Center Announces Ryan Hannahoe as Executive Director
The Montana Learning Center (MLC) provides and promotes education in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM).
- Montana State University wins national award for its education and workforce development initiatives
"Montana State University works in close partnership with our local, statewide and global communities to help address real concerns and improve the human condition, and the award indicates that this important work is having a real impact."
Government Technology
- Why This Technology Will Change Your Marketing Forever
The next wave of marketing will be immersive, persuasive--and, for good or ill, more powerful than ever.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Digital Government Services Explosion -- What Took So Long?
It's due to a combination of very powerful forces coalescing, according to one public official.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Pro Tip: Renew Your Passport Right Now
In addition to avoiding the extra processing time, there are a few other good reasons to renew your passport now.
Transportation
- "Diabetes breathalyzer" could put an end to the pokes
Patients may soon just have to blow into a reusable breathalyzer-like device.
- Unmanned helicopters in the works
The Tactical Autonomous Aerial Logistics System (TALOS) on a UH-1H helicopter is part of a program to produce a "platform agnostic" system that can be used on almost any VTOL aircraft to make it pilot optional.
- Autonomous Delivery Robots to Hit Redwood City, Calif., Streets in December
On the whole, autonomous robot delivery could significantly reduce a city's traffic congestion, as a single robot takes as many as 10 cars off the road.
- Zero-Emission Trains to Hit the Tracks in 2017
The trains convert hydrogen into an electric power source for the locomotives.
- Automakers ask Trump not to make them produce electric cars in first lobbying effort since election
In a letter sent to Trump's transition team yesterday, a powerful automaker lobbying group claims automakers cannot produce zero-emission cars at a competitive price and asks to lower the requirements for them to comply.
- Allegiant offers cheap flights to Vegas and L.A, but in-flight failure rate is high
Allegiant Air's aircraft are four times as likely to fail during flight as those operated by other U.S. airlines, an investigation by the Tampa Bay Times has found.
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