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Wednesday, 01 September 2010 05:22 |
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 At the 2010 Compete Smart Manufacturing Conference, scheduled for October 7-8 in Billings, you will discover priceless peer perspectives and an eye for opportunity from plant tours, high value breakout sessions and compelling speakers.
Capitalize on opportunities for growth & sustainability in breakout tracks covering essentials like differentiating in new/emerging markets, understanding the global marketplace, gaining from energy efficiencies, exploring government contracting, developing a leadership style that supports a creative, committed team, and more.
Montana World Trade Center will be moderating two panels, including one on the “Ins and Outs of Export Financing”, and another on “Positioning for International Success.”
Whether you're a regular or have never attended before, you will find the Compete Smart Manufacturing Conference a very multi-faceted event with lots of opportunities, great face time with peers and allies, valuable tips, compelling speakers, good food and good company.
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Tuesday, 31 August 2010 04:59 |
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 (Washington, D.C.) – Montana’s senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus announced key leaders in the wind energy industry who will attend his Montana Economic Development Summit in Butte September 13th and 14th. Baucus will bring leaders from General Electric, Horizon, Vestas and Siemens, along with power purchasers such as Pacific Gas and Electric, the administrators of Western Area Power Administration and Bonneville Power Administration and Department of Energy experts to participate in panels exploring the opportunities and challenges in developing wind energy in Montana.
“The potential for wind energy development in Montana is enormous, and with energy development comes good-paying jobs,” Baucus said. “We are bringing the best wind energy experts in the field to Butte, and I’m thrilled to have them in Montana to connect with local businesses who are working to put our great state on the map as a leader in America’s energy future.”
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Tuesday, 31 August 2010 04:46 |
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 HELENA – The Economic Affairs Interim Committee of the legislature will review four bill drafts, including two related to the Montana State Fund, at a Sept. 3 teleconference meeting where public comment will be accepted in Room 102 of the State Capitol. The meeting will start at 10 a.m.
The bill drafts, which were previewed at the committee’s Aug. 19 meeting, address:
- A limit to the number of times medical professionals can violate their contracts with medical assistance programs before their licensing boards are required to take action;
- How the Department of Livestock can use orders;
- Montana State Fund board membership criteria, to include a requirement for a person with executive-level insurance management or financial experience; and
- A choice for the state of Montana to self-insure or obtain coverage through a private insurer or Montana State Fund rather than, as is currently required, obtaining coverage only from Montana State Fund.
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Monday, 30 August 2010 05:19 |
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 MISSOULA ― Nearly 7,400 small businesses in Montana may qualify for a tax credit of up to 35 percent of the health insurance premium they pay for their employees under the new federal health care legislation, according to the latest issue of Montana Business Quarterly.
“For employers wanting to reduce the cost of providing health insurance, the tax credit should ease the burden somewhat,” said Gregg Davis, director of health care industry research at The University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. “But employers should recognize that in some instances, the qualifying premium could be reduced because of caps set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”
Davis co-wrote the article, “The New Health Care Law: Montana’s First Steps,” with Jerry Furniss, a professor in UM’s School of Business Administration.
For the full 35 percent tax credit, qualifying businesses must meet three criteria: They must employ fewer than 10 full-time-equivalent employees, pay average annual wages of less than $25,000 per employee, and pay at least 50 percent of the insurance premium.
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Wednesday, 01 September 2010 05:30 |
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 MISSOULA – Montana high school students across the state can learn to speak, read and write Chinese in an online course offered at no cost by the Confucius Institute at The University of Montana and the Montana Digital Academy.
The course is free of charge to all Montana high school students, including those who attend public, private or home schools. Students can enroll by consulting their school guidance counselor or visiting the Montana Digital Academy website. The registration deadline is Monday, Sept. 20.
This first-ever opportunity is the result of a partnership between UM and the Southwest University of Politics and Law in Chongqing, China. Four talented Chinese-language teachers from SWUPL who are residents at the Confucius Institute will teach the course.
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Tuesday, 31 August 2010 04:53 |
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New Capabilities Expand Consumer Credit Reach, Produce Higher Acceptance Rates for Lenders
 BOZEMAN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Zoot, a leading provider of advanced instant credit decisioning and loan origination solutions, announced the release of zAcquire℠ instant prescreen decisioning solution with Prescreen 3.0 capabilities. Prescreen 3.0 integrates new types of data into the instant prescreen process and provides a more comprehensive evaluation of consumers.
Additional data, when employed in a prescreen environment provides more accurate, predictive and cost effective credit decisions. Lenders are able to grant credit to a greater number of consumers, without changing their risk tolerance, and gain insight regarding the most appropriate credit product to offer. Supplementing traditional credit bureau data with more complete consumer information helps lenders lower their screening costs by ruling out certain credit applicants sooner in the process.
Zoot pioneered the prescreen process in 1992 by helping its clients create the first instant prescreen (or prescreen-of-one) solution in the country. Subsequently, Zoot became the first multi-bureau provider of prescreen-of-one solutions. While these changes revolutionized the industry, the unique issues facing today’s financial market have established the need for the next generation of prescreen capabilities, which the company defines as Prescreen 3.0.
Zoot has partnered with several alternative credit data sources to provide lenders with information that broadens the use and appeal of instant prescreen. More complete background data allows creditors to decision thin file and no file consumers that were not able to be scored previously. As quoted in the July 13, 2010 issue of American Banker Tom Johnson, vice president of product development at Zoot says, "We find that right now in the market there is a hunger for other data and additional intelligence.”
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Monday, 30 August 2010 09:19 |
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 WHAT: Frontier Angels presents A “semester in a day” course on angel investing. Term sheets, valuation, due diligence, negotiation, board service, exits. The curriculum was developed by Mr. Payne ( www.billpayne.com) with the Kauffman Foundation and the Angel Capital Education Foundation.
WHEN: Friday, September 17, 2010 from 8:00am to 5:00pm
WHERE: Hilton Garden Inn Conference Center, North Reserve Street, Missoula, Montana
WHO: Accredited investors who want to be on the ground floor of building the Big Sky Angel Network in Missoula, investors and professionals who work with entrepreneurs who intent is to grow a business and hire employees and need to understand the private capital process.
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Last Updated on Monday, 30 August 2010 09:28 |
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Monday, 30 August 2010 05:12 |
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MSU Billings student teams use experience to put theory into practice
MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES — Senior College of Business student at Montana State University Billings are looking for business owners who need help with their business plans, a project that will not only add value to area businesses, but will provide valuable educational experience for MSU Billings students.
The project is an ongoing effort by Dr. Jennifer Leonard, assistant professor of management at the MSU Billings College of Business, to help students and businesses in the Billings region. Leonard said that students in her Management 488: Business Strategy class use the experience to put classroom theory into practice and showcase student talents.
The work would be done this fall with reports and recommendations issued in December.
This is a great opportunity to help students show how they can become valued employees, said Leonard. Students have experienced success in the past on many levels.
Student teams take ideas or challenges and report back to the businesses or non-profit groups, which can then use them. Last year, students used the class to understanding the feasibility and development of a business plan for a regional fire training facility in the Billings region. In previous years, students have entered business plans into competitions that have won regional and national awards.
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HELENA, /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T* has stated that the timetable for bringing AT&T service to Billings, Great Falls and Montana Rural Service Areas (RSA) 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 has been accelerated and that it expects AT&T service will be available here by the end of 2010 or the beginning of 2011.
