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November 21, 2019 Newsletter
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Montana High Tech News

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Alliance partnership with University of Montana inspires Tech Skills for Tomorrow, promise of future collaboration 

"Last year, members of the UM team gathered with industry employers and community partners at a Montana High Tech Business Alliance roundtable," University of Montana President Seth Bodnar told the attendees at the launch of Tech Skills for Tomorrow at Missoula College on Oct. 28. "The feedback and recommendations we heard helped lead us to more explicitly and actively pursue these four Ps and to more actively rely upon employer input regarding workforce needs." Photo by Ben Allan Smith, via Missoulian

By Katy Spence

Whether you’re on the job or on the battlefield, no amount of classes or training can prepare you for the real deal. University of Montana (UM) President Seth Bodnar knows from experience, both as an administrator in higher education and from being deployed with the U.S. Army’s First Special Forces Group.

“When you were in the combat theater, literally every day, half the techniques and procedures were being updated and shared via secure internet between company commanders about how to adapt IEDs, to combat IEDs and develop new ways to solve problems,” Bodnar said. “It was an unbelievable comparison to spend time in theater and then go back for your next training course, where they’re still teaching the same curriculum that they’ve done for 30 years.”

Bodnar said a similar problem can arise in academia, as curricula can adapt too slowly to address an evolving workscape. 

“By one estimate, over 60 percent of children in elementary school will end up working in completely new types of jobs that do not exist today,” Bodnar said. 

UM launches Tech Skills for Tomorrow

Combined with the fact that around 10,000 Americans are reaching retirement age each day, UM’s administration must partner with Montana businesses to anticipate and address workforce needs, Bodnar told a group of Montana business leaders, investors, and professors at the Oct. 28 launch of Tech Skills for Tomorrow (TST), an initiative aimed to bolster UM’s education and training opportunities.

The initiative sprang out of a conversation that began last year with the MHTBA Missoula meeting in November, Bodnar said, and will focus on four core tenets: programs, partners, pathways, and pipelines. 

“The feedback and recommendations we heard [at the Montana High Tech Business Alliance roundtable] helped lead us to more explicitly and actively pursue these 4 Ps, and to more actively rely upon employer input regarding workforce needs,” Bodnar said.

Working with new partners to develop innovative education and training opportunities for students of all ages will better prepare them to find lucrative work in a changing world. 

UM has already made strides in the pursuit to make students “tomorrow-proof.”

Read more

What do you get out of the Alliance?

Thanks to Kristen Heck, LC Staffing; Leland Johnson, ExcelliMatrix; Parker Tracey, ATP Advisors; Paul Gladen, UM Blackstone LaunchPad; and Les Craig, Next Frontier Capital for sharing with us what they get out of their membership with the Montana High Tech Business Alliance.

Video by Emily Simonson.

Member News:

CTA Architects Engineers becomes Cushing Terrell

Firm’s 80th anniversary inspires name change to celebrate its legacy while looking to the future


Commemorating its 80th anniversary, CTA Architects Engineers is pleased to announce that the firm is changing its name to Cushing Terrell. The name and brand refresh celebrate the firm’s legacy and core values while looking to the future. Founded in Billings, Montana in 1938 by Ralph Cushing and Everett Terrell, the firm was established on a shared belief that integrating architecture, engineering, and design would open the doors for deepened relationships and enhanced creativity. That belief continues to define the firm today.

“At our core, we help people develop solutions through design and the delivery of unique, thoughtful, responsible environments,” President Scott Wilson explains. “It all stems from our mission to invent a better way of living.”

Over the past two decades, Cushing Terrell has grown well beyond its mountain-region roots and expanded across the country, opening offices in Seattle, Washington; Austin, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and New Orleans, Louisiana, among others. Now with 13 offices in six states (and plans to open an Atlanta, Georgia office early next year), and more than 430 team members working in 30-plus disciplines, the firm is well-positioned to meet the demands of a broad spectrum of projects in a rapidly changing world. The firm’s work encompasses a wide range of market sectors, including commercial, government, education, living, healthcare, and retail, as well as specialty services such as advanced refrigeration engineering. Offering the value of a small, local firm backed by large-firm resources, Cushing Terrell was engaged in the design of projects totaling more than $800 million in total construction in 2018.

Read more.

Audience Awards Film Festival 2019 brings award-winning short films and innovation leaders to Missoula

December 5 – 8, Missoula-based global video platform will screen the year’s best short films and spotlight women innovators.


Recognizing Missoula as a hub for technological and cultural innovation, Audience Awards is bringing home its an annual film festival, December 5 – 8 at the Roxy Theater. Previously held in Los Angeles, the Audience Awards Film Festival, a film and innovation festival also known as AudFest, will screen the 100 best short films of the year from its global video platform that receives more than 20,000 short film submissions each year.

The online video platform, headquartered in Missoula, has become considered the curated version of YouTube, where a global audience and professional jury panels select the best short films in Audience Awards’ hosted online film festivals. AudFest will live screen the award-winning short films from its online festivals in 15 diverse genres, including music, dance, romance, LGBTQ, women in film, comedy, environment and impact, adventure, and even horror. Plus, AudFest will offer two free screening blocks for middle and high school students at 4 p.m. on Thursday, December 5 and Friday, December 6.

“Missoula audiences know us through our online platform, but for the first time we’ll get to interact with local followers in person and introduce them to our global filmmaking community and award-winning films,” said Paige Williams, founder and CEO of Audience Awards.

Read the full press release.

See the Innovation Track Schedule and get tickets.

Vision Aerial wins $50K at 2019 Early Stage MT showcase

Shane Beams, founder of Vision Aerial, holds a check for $50,000 at the conclusion of Early Stage Montana Statewide Shocase on November 7. The Bozeman-based company manufactures commercial infrastructure inspection drones and is currently partnered with NorthWestern Energy. Vision Aerial’s production capacity was between $1 and $2 million in annual revenue as of summer 2019, but plans to increase that 2.5x with investment. With an increase in production, Beams said the company anticipates revenue growth of 500-1000 percent in the next ten months. Vision Aerial was a 2019 High-Growth Company to Watch.

DugalHealth, founded by Michael Fox, was named runner-up. DugalHeath's app Dugal Diabetes helps diabetics track and more correctly dose mealtime insulin injections. DugalHealth is also based in Bozeman and was named a 2019 Startup to Watch.

Early Stage MT was sponsored by First Interstate Bank, Frontier Angels, Montana Chamber of Commerce, Missoula Economic Partnership, Montana Ambassadors, K&L Gates, Montana Governor's Office of Economic Development, and Simple Startup.

Photo via Early Stage MT.
Montana High Tech Business Alliance, Prime Labs, C2M Beta: Missoula’s Prime Labs helps scientists keep focus on advancement (Missoula Current)
Montana High Tech Business Alliance, Blackstone LaunchPad at UM: UM opens Innovation Factory to bolster creative thinking, entrepreneurs (Missoula Current)
Cognizant ATG, LumenAd, Missoula Economic Partnership, ALPS, PatientOne: Missoula sets record for job-creation grants; airline passengers see $14M in savings (Missoulian)
AdvicePay: Advisors will be able to automatically sync client information across both platforms, saving time and costs while expediting the payment process (AdvicePay)
PatientOne: Can Do: Housecalls Are Out, Remote Digital Health Care Is In (MTPR)
Apprenticeship: Governor Bullock Highlights Growth in Apprenticeship Opportunities During National Apprenticeship Week (Montana.gov)
Fiber optic internet: Helena business threatens to sue city for delaying fiber-optic project (Helena Independent Record)
Tech education: UM Computer Science Researcher Earns $1.1M Grant for Machine Learning (UMT News)

Upcoming Events:

30 Days of Innovation - Missoula. Nov. 8 - Dec. 13, Missoula. With the launch of UM's Innovation Factory comes a month-long series of events. Highlights of the diverse happenings include everything from a media and art “hackathon” and presentations by female entrepreneurs to the joys of vacuum-sealed sous vide cooking. Learn more and see the full calendar of events.
1 Million Cups Weekly Meeting - Billings. Nov. 28 (may change due to holiday), 8:30 am. “What can we, as a community, do to help you and your startup?” As always, we will feature presentations from 2 startups at different stages in growth and then you’ll have a chance to ask questions and provide feedback through 15-20 minutes of Q&A. Learn more.
1 Million Cups Bi-Weekly Meeting - Missoula. Dec. 4. Meets the first and third Wednesday each month at 9:00 am. Please note the new location will be in the Southgate Mall in the Leonard + Bonnie Hamilton Community Room, located in a hallway near JC Penney, in-between metroPCS and Tradehome. Start your morning with coffee and start your business with 1MC Missoula, a place to percolate your startup. Entrepreneurship runs through it. For more information visit the website or Facebook page.
1 Million Cups Monthly Meeting - Bozeman. Dec. 4. Meets the first Wednesday of the month at 7:30 am at Red Tractor Pizza, Bozeman. Creating conversation around Bozeman startups, business development, and economic growth in the most entrepreneurial state in the nation (plus, coffee). For more information and application to present, visit the website.
1 Million Cups Weekly Meeting - Billings. Dec. 4, 8:30 am. “What can we, as a community, do to help you and your startup?” As always, we will feature presentations from 2 startups at different stages in growth and then you’ll have a chance to ask questions and provide feedback through 15-20 minutes of Q&A. Learn more.
AudFest Film & Innovation Festival - Missoula. Dec. 5-8. Missoula-based Audience Awards invites all women in leadership and those who strive to make a difference to the first-ever Innovation track of the AudFest: Film + Innovation Festival. The track is designed to elevate female and diverse voices through two days of lightning rounds, fireside chats and panels with inspiring female change-makers from the 406 and beyond. More information and the full schedule of films, panels, and gatherings on the website.  
1 Million Cups Bi-Weekly Meeting - Missoula. Dec. 18 (may change due to holiday season). Meets the first and third Wednesday each month at 9:00 am. Please note the new location will be in the Southgate Mall in the Leonard + Bonnie Hamilton Community Room, located in a hallway near JC Penney, in-between metroPCS and Tradehome. Start your morning with coffee and start your business with 1MC Missoula, a place to percolate your startup. Entrepreneurship runs through it. For more information visit the website or Facebook page.
Hellgate Venture Network meeting - Missoula. Dec. 19. HVN facilitates informal networking among entrepreneurs and advisers engaged in building growth businesses in Montana. Learn more on the HVN Facebook page.
2020 Business Days at the Capitol - Helena. Jan. 6 - Jan. 7, 2020. This event brings together business leaders and government officials to talk face-to-face and participate in a variety of educational and networking events. For additional details and to register, go to the website.

Find more events at MontanaBusinessEvents.com.

Past Newsletters: 
11/07/2019 - Photos: Missoula reception at First Interstate Bank; 8 Tips to Land a Tech Job Out of College; UM Innovation Factory on Nov 8; New MHTBA Board Members
10/24/2019 - Meet the Alliance board nominees; Attend the Early Stage MT Showcase in Missoula Nov 7; Techstars Startup Weekend Billings Nov 1-3
10/03/2019 - Goguen launches Montana VC firm Two Bear Capital, aims to raise $100+ million; Neuro-ID FinTech report; Cowboy Cricket Farms expands; ExportMT grants
09/19/2019 - Photos: Kalispell reception with Two Bear Capital hosted by Glacier Bank; Ascent Vision & Bridger Aerospace expanding; MMEC: building mfg workforce
Click to view more past newsletters.
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