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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Dec 23, 2016 |
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May this holiday be, Filled with peace, love and warmth! May you spend it with joy. Holiday blessings to you!!
Big Sky Economic Development
Gov. Steve Bullock
- Big Sky Economic Development pulls support for local option tax authority
Big Sky Economic Development reversed its support of a local option sales tax authority for the 2017 legislative session after criticism from Yellowstone County commissioners, who control the agency's budget.
Montana Politics & Legislature
- Governor and Mrs. Bullock donate $30,000 to expand breakfast in nine Montana schools
"Kids can't learn, grow, and be successful if they're starting their school days with an empty stomach. By partnering with more schools, community organizations, and businesses across the state, we can better prepare the next generation of Montanans to succeed down the road."
PFL
- What happened to the money in Montana's highway construction account?
The decline in the account that funds Montana's highway construction has been years in the making - with neither side really offering a fix during the slide.
- Debate over governor's budget front and center at '17 session in Montana
Budget cuts, tax increases and funding switches already are on the table.
- Gov. Steve Bullock talks at infrastructure event in Butte
The plan comes with a hefty $292 million price tag, which Bullock proposes paying for with the build Montana trust.
- Your "Insider's Guide" to the Montana's Legislature, since 1973
It's Going to Be Quite a Session
- Governor Bullock discusses budget, '17 session
Gov. Steve Bullock said Thursday he and his staff followed a few "guideposts" in crafting a proposed $9.7 billion biennium budget that included the state not spending more than it makes and leaving a $300 million ending-fund balance in 2019.
Great Falls Development Authority
- 2017: The Year of the Custom Business Card
This year, make your cards the ones they remember with custom printing options. Dazzle them with foil stamping, stand out with creative and 3D die cuts, or make in impression with embossed cards.
Early Edge Montana
- Here's the GFDA Top 17 for the last two weeks, celebrating great things happening to move Great Falls Forward.
Congratulations to all who have worked over the years to make this happen!
Artificial Intelligence and The Internet of Things
- Nobel-prize winning economist James Heckman's New Research on Early Education - "The Life-Cycle Benefits of an Influential Early Childhood Program."
James Heckman's New Research on Early Education December 22, 2016 by Alyssa Haywoode Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children Photo: Alessandra Hartkopf for Strategies for Children "What we've done is shown the benefits across two generations of the study of these enriched early child care programs," Nobel-prize winning economist James Heckman said in an interview with NPR.
Energy and Climate Change
- Artificial intelligence could cost millions of jobs. The White House says we need more of it.
While certain industries, such as transportation and agriculture, appear to be embracing the technology with relative haste, others are likely to face a slower period of adoption.
Come Home Montana
- Anchorage, Alaska, Utilities Go High-Tech With Smart Meters
The meters will cut costs, make responses to outages faster, and allow customers to monitor their own power use.
- Las Vegas now the largest US city running entirely on renewable energy
The launch of a giant solar array called Boulder Solar I gave the city its final shove toward its decade-long goal of 100 percent clean energy generation.
- Absaroka Energy issued license for $1B Montana power storage project
Absaroka Energy President Carl Borgquist said his company's efforts will now turn to engineering work to solidify a construction schedule and costs estimated last year at $986 million. The company is also seeking financing, with construction expected to begin no earlier than 2018, he said.
- Weather buoy near North Pole hits melting point
Santa may need water skis instead of a sleigh this year.
- Reed Point wind farm lands contract with NorthWestern
WKN Montana, a Billings-based company, will break ground in late spring on a 25-to-35-turbine Vivaldi Springtime Wind Project in the hills north of Reed Point. The project is expected to finish in early 2018.
Developing a more Entrepreneurial Montana
- Montana Career Opportunities - Montana Optics and Photonics Industry Alliance
Optics and photonics are growing in Montana providing excellent career opportunities.
Montana Business
- 3 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Use Their Community to Grow Their Business
A local network is a great resource to help founders propel their business, if they use it is correctly.
Careers
- Montana Made: A Business Owner is Trademarking the 406
I'm trademarking a sequence of numbers and a design that just happened to represent Montana through an area code'," Smith explained.
- News from the Bureau of Business and Economic Research
The High Wage Job Puzzle - Finding Montana's Place in the New Geography of Jobs
- MSE officials show off technology complex in Butte, Montana
The complex started as a joint venture between the federal government and a not-for-profit group to test "clean coal technology." About $168 million has been invested in it over the years, including federal earmarks approved by Congress.
Government
- How to become a freelancer in 11 essential steps
If you're ready to put in the work, becoming a freelancer could be the most lucrative New Year's resolution you make -- whether you're trying to score more cash in Q1 or set the foundation of a new business venture.
- The Emotional Intelligence Deficit -- How It Stifles Careers
"Unequaled: Tips for Building a Successful Career Through Emotional Intelligence"
Idaho Business
- Senator Tester Asks Montanans to Submit their Personal Healthcare Stories - #WhatsAtRisk Webpage
"I know our healthcare system isn't perfect, we still have a lot of work to do to make it more affordable for working families and to hold insurance and drug companies accountable," said Tester. "But repealing all the progress we've made without a plan to cover Montana families is reckless and irresponsible."
North Dakota Business and Economic Development
- Idaho is one of the fastest-growing states
The Census estimated Idaho's population at 1.68 million in July. Idaho's Hispanic population rose from 11 percent to 12 percent between 2010 and 2015, the Census said.
Regional Business
- North Dakota CIO Mike Ressler Departs
Gov. Burgum promised a "high-tech government" while campaigning and draws experience in tech from founding a small startup company in 1983 called Great Plains, which was eventually acquired by Microsoft Corp. in 2001. He then worked at Microsoft as senior vice president for six years.
Workforce Development
- We paid $6 billion in fees to the three biggest banks last year
CNN and SNL Financial found that Americans paid a total of $6 billion in overdraft and ATM fees to JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.
- Banking with a Public Benefit
Kat Taylor discusses how her triple bottom line company enhances economic sustainability in low-income communities.
- Idaho's St. Luke's CEO: We're making progress in campaign to end fee-for-service care
We're not counting on Washington to figure out how to fix health care.
- Wells Fargo Scrambles to Deal With New Crisis
The bank had flunked a vital test and will be slapped with first-of-their-kind penalties.
- Many banks boost overdrafts by counting big debits first, report says
Here's how to avoid these costly fees.
- A Simple Change That Could Transform Health Care
It is surprising that health systems have not to-date been incentivized to provide continuity of care, considering all of its benefits.
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- 47 percent of current employment in the United States has the potential to be automated
Automation of the workforce we experience today is a new phase in a very old process.
- The Long-Term Jobs Killer Is Not China. It's Automation.
"Over the long haul, clearly automation's been much more important -- it's not even close," said Lawrence Katz, an economics professor at Harvard who studies labor and technological change.
Education
- Don't Stop at STEM
How higher education can create more innovators by better integrating studies that have traditionally segregated students, in order to show them that the potential for large-scale impact is at the intersection of feasibility, viability and desirability.
Montana Education Excellence
- To Save Themselves, Colleges Offer Lifeline to Their Hometowns
Feeling weight of job losses and local flight, rural schools invest in nearby communities; 'we can't survive if this town isn't healthy'
Funding and Building your Business
- Graduation Matters Montana Awards Nearly $90,000 To 44 Communities
"I'm so proud of the deep and meaningful work communities engaged with Graduation Matters Montana have accomplished," Superintendent Juneau said. "I have no doubt that schools, families, communities and businesses will continue to support each other toward reaching our common goal."
Montana Biotech
- Six Steps to a Business Model and Value Proposition - The Kauffman Foundation
Whether you have one idea or many, you need to hammer out the details to determine if you should proceed, pivot or start over.
Connectivity & Communications
- New Law Likely to Prompt Boom in Biotech Research, Funding
The new law earmarks $6.3 billion for biomedical research and other programs, and clears the way for the Food and Drug Administration to require less data for drug approvals if the drug is already approved for other conditions.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Canada declares 'high-speed' internet essential for quality of life
The Canadian government wants every citizen to have access to download speeds of at least 50 Mbps
Transportation
- 10 Ways to Search Google for Information That 96% of People Don't Know About
2. Searching using synonyms
- Amazon's Real Future Isn't Drones. It's Self-Driving Trucks
Amazon's genius lies in the global infrastructure it has built to move goods from place to place.
- United to expand Great Falls-to-Chicago flights in 2017
Direct United Airlines flights from Great Falls to Chicago debuted last summer and were a success, so United Airlines decided to expand their frequency next summer, Great Falls Airport Director John Faulkner announced Tuesday.
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