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| MATR Newsletter - Fri Jan 26, 2018 |
"If you don’t do it this year, you'll be one year older when you do." Warren Miller
In lieu of flowers which only die, Warren Miller requested any memorial gifts to please benefit the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center in Big Sky, MT. To donate and for more information: http://www.warrenmille ... c.org ---- Great stories from Warren http://www.matr.net/ar ... .html
Montana Department of Commerce
Montana Politics & Legislature
- Why Do People Leave Small Montana Towns, and What Helps Bring Them Back?
The downward population trend and the loss of school-age children and jobs that support families are forcing Choteau and other rural Montana communities to think strategically about confronting and reversing these declines.
Montana World Affairs Council
- Local sales tax a possibility for Billings
The mayor of Billings said he supports a local sales tax because there is a need for building local infrastructure and trail construction is at a stand still. He said the local sales tax would help the city grow.
Dorsey & Whitney LLP
- The Montana World Affairs Council Hosts British Consul General Andrew Whittaker to Discuss Post-Brexit Partnerships - The Grand Challenges
British Consul General Andrew Whittaker, in Missoula with the Montana World Affairs Council for the day, said Brexit doesn't mean the UK will vanish from the global stage. Rather, he said, it's simply searching for a reset button.
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- Keeping Up With Business Immigration Under The New Administration - 1/31 - Webinar
This webinar will address key developments in employment-based immigration since President Trump took office and discuss the changes in immigration law that may lie ahead.
Visit Montana
- 5 Benefits of Teaching Young Children About Entrepreneurship
Kids taught about business early value money and have a better work ethic.
Energy and Climate Change
- Video: Montana Stories With Warren Miller
Warren Miller - 1924-2018 He spent his life lurching from one near disaster to another... - Montana now says goodbye to a great friend.
- Winter Romantic Getaways How to make the most of a romantic getaway to Montana
Whether you're looking for outdoor adventure, a fun night in a lively mountain town or a scenic winter retreat with a warm fireplace, Montana has you covered.
Come Home Montana
- Trump's tariff on imported solar cells could hurt Montana's solar industry, group says
"It's going to increase the cost per panel per watt of an imported solar panel," Valainis said Tuesday. "A large majority of solar panels being used in the U.S. for installation are imported, and this will essentially raise the cost of panels across the board."
- Kentucky Legislature Tries to Shut Down the Sun
House Bill 227 could be a punishing job killer and a potential dagger in the future of Kentucky's solar energy production.
- Big Money Is Getting Into Microgrids
The Carlyle Group will put hundreds of millions of dollars toward owning and operating microgrids, tackling the industry's financing challenges.
MEDA -Montana Economic Developers Association
- Missoula, Bozeman make Top 100 Places to Live list
Missoula ranked 59 and Bozeman took the 96th spot.
- Amid teacher shortage in rural Montana, a 'last resort' hiring option has spiked -- again
Superintendents are using a provision that grants schools an "emergency authorization" when they can't find a correctly licensed teacher.
- Warren Miller - 1924-2018 He spent his life lurching from one near disaster to another... - Montana now says goodbye to a great friend.
As Warren might say: "I'll see you same time, same place next year, only I'll be watching from a different mountaintop."
- Actor Bill Pullman talks new movie and love for Montana in sit down interview
Pullman has ties to Montana since he worked for Shakespeare in the Parks and taught at MSU in the early part of his career; he also owns an estate in Southwest Montana.
- Montana's Teton Pass Ski Resort is up for sale
today, we received this message: "The ski area is currently for sale. No offers yet, and no plan to reopen under current ownership."
Montana Business
- MEDA Registration Now Open - Rockin' it Rural: join us in Dillon, April 26-27 for the MEDA Spring Conference.
Some highlights include: Professional Development Training, Legislative Strategy Update, Cybersecurity, How to Rock it Rural, MEDA Annual Meeting, Walking Tour of Campus and Historic District, Party at Patagonia (with special discount), Outdoor Recreation Economic Development...and...more!
Montana Economic Development
- Counting down the 10 best Montana-made road trip snacks
On the hunt for a snack that also supports Montana? Look no further.
- Video: Something Out Of Nothing - Mamalode - A Montana Success Story
While the audience and contributors of Mamalode have expanded over the years, the conversations continue to take an honest look at the most fundamental emotions parents experience: fear, joy, sadness, humor and heart.
- The Bitcoin Barons: How a marketer and a money launderer sold Montana on digital gold
"We need for the company to come do face-to-face," says Burt Caldwell, the Bonner-Milltown Community Council's secretary. "We think the right thing to do is for the company to come face the community and acknowledge there's an issue."
- Missoula's Synema Studios gets a go-ahead to grow
"We have a booth at South by Southwest this year, and we have a couple of clients that are bringing in decent amounts of money now," he says. "So just the other day I was like, 'Man, it feels like we're on the verge of becoming a real company.'"
- The Montana Chamber of Commerce: The Montana state of business
Today, the Montana business community has reason to be cautiously optimistic, given some recent achievements and unfinished business looking ahead.
Careers
- Where is your community now and where does it want to go? Montana Economic Developers Association Resource Team Assessments
The critical focus is the community. The team of experts suggests ways of accomp lishing the goals of the community.
- Montana is growing, but not proportionately. Here's how rural communities are coping with population decline
What are Montana communities, especially rural ones, doing to respond to this trend? And what could they learn from the experiences of others?
Next Generation Broadband in Montana
- I Used A "Career Map" To Get My Dream Job-Here's How
Sometimes all it takes is some good planning and patience to pull yourself out of a serious job slump.
- In-N-Out managers make $160,000 per year
"In-N-Out is just eons above everybody else,"
Rural Communities
- Time to bridge the broadband gap in Indian Country
65 percent of Montanans living on tribal land have no access to broadband internet. Compare that to only 4 percent of Americans in urban areas who do not have broadband access.
- Expand broadband coverage to close digital divide on Montana's tribal lands
Native Americans on reservations are twice as underserved for broadband access than other rural Americans, and are 16 times more likely to be underserved than their urban counterparts.
- Group Pushes for Broadband Solutions in Rural America
With their focus toward closing the rural connectivity gaps, Connect Americans Now wants to see affordable broadband everywhere by 2022.
Government
- WEBINAR: Rural Information Center-Resources For Rural Communities - 1/31- Online
Mary Louise Reynnells will present an informational webinar on the resource assistance available.
Idaho
- Some States Want to Save Net Neutrality, But Can They?
On Monday, Montana became the first to reinstate some of the rules the FCC repealed. The question of whether states have the right to do that, however, will likely end up in court.
- Rep. Greg Gianforte discusses long-term budget bill, immigration reform
"There is a package of immigration reform, which includes dealing with DACA. We have to do that. But at the same time, if we don't secure the borders and deal with chain migration, which allows immigrants to bring all of their family and friends over, and finally we have to deal with this diversity lottery."
- AT&T wants Congress to draft a net neutrality law. Here's why that's a big deal.
AT&T's legislative campaign aims to head off what many analysts say could be another swing of the regulatory pendulum against broadband providers.
- New York follows Montana's lead on net neutrality
Attorneys general for 21 states and the District of Columbia also have sued to block the repeal of the federal policy, which had banned companies from interfering with web traffic or speeds to favor certain sites or apps.
- This Burger King video is the net neutrality explainer you never knew you needed
Burger King might seem like an unlikely source for a pretty darn good net neutrality explainer, but their new video is just that.
- Montana Senator Steve Daines' 2018 agenda: Forest reforms, border security, attacking meth
"We need to have 100 percent confidence and assurance that we're not allowing terrorists into this nation."
- A Call To Action For Public Lands - All Invited - 2/7 - Missoula, Montana
Come learn how to be an effective advocate for our shared wild lands!
- The new acting director of the National Park Service allowed chopping of protected trees
The new acting head of the National Park Service, Paul Daniel Smith, once let the billionaire owner of the Washington Redskins football team chop down 130 trees on protected park land.
- Tester and Daines both present bills addressing Montana wilderness areas
Both senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines have wilderness-related bills up for hearing on Feb. 7, but their proposals move in opposite directions.
Oregon Business
- More Idaho kids are graduating, but massive teacher shortage looms
"Today's public school budget request reflects the top priority I've heard in conversations around the state from our superintendents, our teachers, our trustees, our business leaders, our parents and many, many more."
Workforce Development
- Fleet, 22-year-old Portlander's startup, raises another $10 million
Fleet has now raised $14 million for technology to help small and midsized businesses ship or import products around the globe.
Wyoming Business
- The Montana Carpenters' Joint Apprenticeship Training Center Opens in Helena
A report from the Montana Department of Labor & Industry report says construction jobs in Montana are expected to grow by more than two and a half percent annually, adding more than 800 jobs every year.
Montana Education/Business Partnerships
- Bracing for a boom, dealing with the bust: Converse County lives by the whims of energy prices
When the price of crude shot over $100 a barrel a few years back, interest in Wyoming's Powder River Basin peaked.
Community
- Why Companies and Universities Should Forge Long-Term Collaborations
Faced with stingier government support of academic research and calls for them to contribute more to their local economies, universities have been more receptive.
Funding and Building your Business
- FOUR New Grant Opportunities
- Informed Citizen Initiative makes media literacy experts available around Montana
We had been promoting the event on our Facebook page, and now we're getting messages from all over the state asking 'Can we get this in our community?'
- UM biz professor Justin Angle launches podcast on "cool people doing awesome things"
He's launched a new podcast aimed at "cool people doing awesome things" in and around Missoula.
Government Technology
- The Seven Qualities of a Great Founding Team
There is a close to zero percent chance that the plan you have today will be the best plan in six months.
- Banks must change the way they hire managers, study says
To fend off "tech usurpers," the report says, financial-services providers need to be hiring differently for management positions
- Business Cards Aren't Dead, They're Just Getting Weirder
A subset of creative networkers and entrepreneurs insist on oddball cards with unusual shapes and materials to stand out with potential clients
- 'The Real-World Guide to Selling Professional Services' by Montana's Tom McMakin and Doug Fletcher
A survival guide for every service professional, this book helps you up your game by schooling you in the secrets of finding, connecting with, and build lasting professional relationships with the clients you want and deserve.
- Recruiting Tech Is Expanding, Unlike Recruiters' Willingness to Use It
"Companies want to hire people who fit the company, not just the role."
- This Is Why Cold Emails Are the Best Business Practice for Entrepreneurs
Don't give up on cold emailing just yet
HACKING AND VIRUS ALERTS
- What's New in Civic Tech: Bloomberg's What Works Cities Honors Best at Using Data to Improve Residents' Lives
The program has selected nine of its participating cities to honor for the quality of work they have done to this point.
Transportation
- Intel tells companies to stop installing patch for security flaw as earnings loom
The patches "may introduce higher than expected reboots and other unpredictable system behavior," wrote Navin Shenoy, general manager for Intel's data center group in a blog posting Monday.
Events
- AAA: Drivers becoming less fearful of self-driving car technology
Americans are starting to lose some of their hesitations when it comes to cars that can drive themselves, a new AAA study released Wednesday finds.
- Drones learn to move through the city like bikes and cars
"This is a computer algorithm that learns to solve complex tasks from a set of 'training examples' that show the drone how to do certain things and cope with some difficult situations, much like children learn from their parents or teachers," says Davide Scaramuzza, Professor for Robotics and Perception at the University of Zurich.
- Is there a map of all car charging stations in Montana?
Is there a single map that shows where they can find either commercial (charge for service) or public (no charge) charging stations in Montana?
- New electric cars in 2018 spark need for more charging stations
With automakers hoping to put tens of thousands of new electric vehicles on American roads this year, the nation's nascent charging system needs to grow up fast.
- Is This the Year Electric Cars Become Exciting? - Podcast
"Electric was so tied up with the notion of green environmentalism that I think it made [buying one] seem like a dutiful kind of thing that you did for the right reasons. But it was boring."-John Paul MacDuffie
- Uber CEO Says Flying Cars Will Take to the US Skies Within 10 Years
Sick of the daily commute by car or train?
- Ford acquires two technology companies, reorganizes mobility team
"We believe transportation done right -- as part of a systems approach -- can bring life back to our cities," Marcy Klevorn, president of Ford Mobility, said in a statement.
- Lidar, Connected Vehicle Data Collection Among Latest Las Vegas Deployments
Las Vegas officials not only booked a booth, they also offered live traffic feeds from what they described as two promising deployments.
- Get Your Team Of Internal Auditors Fully Qualified - IQA AS9100D, 03/13, Kalispell
- SME Lean Bronze/Introduction To Lean, 03/22, Kalispell
- PINT NIGHT A Community Support Night For Non-profits - 1/29 - Bozeman, MT
- UM Student Production - "Business: Made In Montana" - 2/8 - Montana PBS
- SME Lean Bronze: Ten-week Certification Training Bozeman, 03/20, Bozeman
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