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| MATR Newsletter - Tue Dec 20, 2011 |
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I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody. -- Bill Cosby
Montana Department of Commerce
Montana Department of Transportation
- Financial Assistance for Montana Exporters Available Through Montana Department of Commerce
The SBA awarded MDOC's Office of International Trade and Relations a one-year grant of $307,849 to provide financial assistance to qualified Montana small businesses for their promotional efforts in beginning to export or expanding exports into new markets.
- Season's Greetings from the Montana SBDC!
2011 was a very successful year for the SBDC; our regional service centers met and exceeded their SBA goals and milestones and produced some impressive numbers.
PrintingForLess
- DBE Needs Assessment
Please take 5 minutes and complete this Survey for the Department of Transportation's Disadvantage Business Enterprise (DBE) Program....
21st Century Education Initiative - "You Should Care..."
- The sweet tooth of marketing
Rather than throwing out the gooey goodies to get your piece of the holiday spending pie, why not bake a hearty loaf your customers can really digest.
Great Falls Development Authority
- Pre-K winners for Race to the Top contest: Will they spur broader reform?
Education officials hope the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge will spark widespread reform of programs that serve the youngest children - parallel to changes that have been seen in K-12 in response to the initial $4 billion Race to the Top competition.
Visit Montana
- Is a certified kitchen needed in Great Falls, Montana?
The Great Falls Development Authority http://www.gfdevelopment.org/ is conducting a market survey to assess the demand and need for establishing a certified kitchen processing facility and/or mobile equipment and/or a system to share existing equipment among businesses in the Great Falls area.
Come Home Montana
- Montana revamps its winter tourism promotion
"For over 50 years I've traveled the world with my skis and camera, producing hundreds of ski movies. One winter I was filming here in Montana and I gave up traveling forever. ... I could live anywhere in the world, and I choose to live here in Montana." Warren Miller
Come Home Utah
- Philipsburg, Montana's generosity earns segment on NBC's 'Today Show'
"The story really isn't about me and my daughter; we are just two examples of the things that make this community great."
- Please Read - Be Safe This Holiday
I beg all of you please do not drive distracted.
Montana Business
- Provo and Ogden among best in nation for 'starting over'
"It really is a fun time in Provo right now."
Montana Economic Development
- Gun owners pay top dollar for Polson, Montana's woodworker's custom creations - S&S Plus and Montana Custom Guns
Kelly Clairmont said there are maybe 100 people in the United States who do it for a living. "And four of them are right here in Polson."
- 3 Rivers CEO: 'Fiber is the future'
When you replace all that copper with wire, service quality is better; you get much faster broadband speeds. You can offer IP TV. It's just good all around, it's where we need to be to position ourselves.
- Billings companies busy supporting Bakken oil boom
Some 50 Billings businesses are busy answering the calls from 350 oil companies hungry for workers, trucks, pipe and more, so they can keep pumping crude out of Eastern Montana and western North Dakota.
- Startups needed to create jobs: Bozeman, Montana's Elixiter in on ground floor of online marketing
"All my customers are outside Montana. It's a good mix of national companies and international companies that are outside the region," Hull said. "We're bringing in new business."
- Hi-tech businesses the future: UM supplies pool of well-educated employees to Missoula, Montana's Terraechos
Philp is proud of what TerraEchos and GCS have done already to help put Missoula on the high-tech sector's map. "I think we've added value to the Missoula economy by being an innovation engine," Philp said. "I really, really, really believe if the water level rises for my company, and other companies, we all rise together. So if the water level rises, my boat floats higher, your boat floats higher."
- Montana Economy: Outlook 2012
This is an excellent compilation of stories on business throughout Montana.
- Senator Baucus' Montana Jobs Economic Engine: Butte's Pioneer Technical Services
Pioneer Technical Services is currently hiring and has a proven track record of recruiting talented graduates from Montana Tech and has offices in Butte, Anaconda, Helena, Billings and a new office in Missoula along with having recently acquired a geotechnical firm in Belgrade.
- Blue Marble Biomaterials - Missoula biochemical research fueled by ancient algae
"We concentrate on making things worth between $5,000 and $6,000 a kilogram."
- Mead from Hidden Legends Winery puts Victor, Montana winery on map
"The online business has really picked up," Schultz said. "It happened suddenly on Nov. 4 - that's what made us look around."
Regional Economic Development
- Montana economy: New data show increasing emphasis on education, training - Montana Economy: Outlook 2012
One hard-to-dispute fact has emerged: A Montanan who has high levels of education and training has more job security, personal wealth and employment options than his neighbor with less schooling and skills.
Business Plan Forums
- In the game of tax breaks for companies to stay, states play at their risk
"One of the unintended consequences of this whole thing is you are going to see a lot more midsize businesses feeling like they're getting screwed by the state," said Brent Pollina. "They're carrying the tax burden. The state doesn't care about them at all."
- States' incentives carry few strings
States rarely have accurate measures of how many jobs such programs create, but they are discovering that many such programs fail to live up to their billing.
Careers
- Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest open for 2012 entries
Since its inception in 2004, more than 2,000 entries have been received and more than $1 million in cash and in-kind prizes has been awarded. Contest categories are Advanced Manufacturing, Business Services, Information Technology and Life Sciences.
Funding and Building your Business
- Three Rules for Following Up After a Job Interview
How you follow up is as critical as following up in the first place.
- Sharpen skills in new job-hunting era
"It is tempting to blame it on the economy, but it is wise to preserve the possibility in the back of our mind that maybe the techniques we are using work well in good times but don't work well in hard times."
- Everyone should write a resume of failure
"I can promise you that it will be one of the most powerful exercises in self-examination that you've ever done. It's something to look forward to."
Montana Education Excellence
- How To Build a "Lifestyle Business" with 30 Million Visitors Per Month: The wikiHow Story
wikiHow http://www.wikihow.com/ , which, as the name implies, is a crowdsourced encyclopedia of instructional articles on everything from how to kiss to how to perform CPR on a dog. (As it turns out, those are pretty much the same thing.)
- Finding Venture Cap Intelligence With The MoneyTree Report
Here's a quick tip for individuals who are conducting venture capital intelligence research.
- Red Flags To Avoid When Talking About Competitors
The best responses always require a combination of street smarts, confidence, humility, and honesty. Investors are often just checking to see how you tackle hard questions.
- SBA Names Winners in Small Business Mobile Apps Challenge
The competition and resulting seven "apps" are meant to put new and useful web tools at the fingertips of growing entrepreneurs.
Regional Business
- Montanans brainstorm new names for two-year colleges
The College!Now Rebranding Summit featured lots of brainstorming on names but reached no conclusions. The ideas generated will be discussed with students around the state in January and February, before recommendations are sent to the Board of Regents.
- Gazette opinion: Rename Montana's Colleges of Technology to reflect 21st century mission
"It was unanimous that 'college of technology' has to go." John Cech, deputy commissioner for 2-year education
- At Boeing's request - University of Montana-Helena may double aviation program
"I could run two complete programs and double the output in every one of the programs here -- if I had the students."
- Bozeman High's new class teaches engineering skills
They're reinventing wheels at Bozeman High School.
- Montana needs to improve 2-year schools
Two-year colleges aren't a popular option in Montana. Only 25 percent of Montana college students are in two-year institutions, compared with a national average of 46 percent.
Universities and Economic Development
- Report says western states are edging toward recovery
The West is recovering faster than the nation as a whole, but employment across the region remained far below pre-recession levels and the housing market showed few signs of improvement, according to an economic report released Dec. 15.
Idaho Business
- U of M begins $25M 'breakthrough' startups initiative
During the regents meeting Slottow praised U-M's investment office for "really working through this breakthrough project and fund" and said the school will "start investing as soon as we can."
North Dakota Business and Economic Development
- Idaho's economy perks up
After months of wading through a recessionary mud pit, Idaho's economy is showing faint signs of pulling itself out of the mire.
- New York's biggest yogurt maker breaks ground on Idaho plant
The new plant will create about 400 jobs.
Utah Business
- The Bank of North Dakota eyed by cash-hungry politicians
How does the country's only state-owned bank work?
Utah Economic Development
- Utah's The American Academy is helping high school dropouts drop back in
"Most [dropouts] are extremely bright and extremely capable. But there was some drastic event in their life that caused them not to be able to attend school."
Wyoming Business
- 'Spinning In' and 'Spinning Out': Industry Partnerships the focus of USU Technology Commercialization
"We seek good science and good solutions that have a relevant place in the market. It's a program in which everybody wins -- especially the taxpayer,"
Education
- Wyoming's economic outlook is generally positive
"We're going to be in the energy business for a long time."
- Wyoming educators: More to solution than just accountability
"We have an opportunity to accomplish something grand for Wyoming students, educators and citizens by creating a comprehensive, cohesive framework of education -- not just accountability."
Other Economies
- College student entrepreneurship is on the rise
"The hunger to do something we're passionate about, rather than going out and getting a job that pays well but doesn't speak to a certain purpose, defines our generation."
Connectivity & Communications
- Investment Board acts to attract more venture capitalists
"We believe the current venture environment offers an unprecedented opportunity to access top-tier funds and invest into a climate with favorable valuations."
Energy and Climate Change
- How to Master Facebook Timeline in 5 Quick Minutes
Tell Your Life Story: How to Add Past Events
- Montana's delegation must protect Internet freedom
I urge Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester and Rep. Denny Rehberg to oppose the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) legislation. This legislation is an infringement on free speech and legal due process.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Let there be LEDs
What started it all remains close to our hearts. Edison's incandescent revolutionized our lives, but much like the flickering candle the incandescent bulb has succumbed to the winds of change. "That's the nature of technology, right? It has a lifetime, a start and an end," said DiLaura. "It's time to end it."
- How to build a better wind farm
A turbine only ten inches high is helping researchers understand how hills, valleys, and tower placement can affect the productivity of onshore wind farms.
Cool Stuff That's Coming
- Awkward holiday photos
From bad Santas and costumed pets to matching outfits and questionable poses, here are some of the most awkward holiday photos of all time.
Non-Profit News
- The Internet Gets Physical
"This is computational behavioral economics. We're part of a whole new science here."
The Creative and Cultural Economy
- If You Think Making Money is Hard, Try a Non-Profit
Here are the common reasons I hear that make starting and running a non-profit actually more difficult than starting and running a conventional business:
- "When the Woods Were Wild, True Stories from the Mountains of Montana"
Almost four decades later, Hawkins is a well-known guide and outfitter in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and Western Montana.
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