Welcome to MEDA Online News

Welcome to MEDA Online News. The purpose of this webpage is to serve as a communication link within the MEDA membership. It is to be a member-to-member site to inform MEDA Members as to news within our organization. Let’s keep it simple: MEDA will send you an email to let you know when articles have been updated. If you would like to submit an article, an idea, a comment—please do. Let’s keep in touch and keep our network strong. Previous editions: January 2006; February 2006;    March 2006;   April 2006;
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MARCH 2007


CRDC Update: In last month's newsletter, it was reported that every CRDC had been invited to receive training on the Montana Means Business web portal. In order to train even more individuals the Governor's Office of Economic Development is offering ten one hour classes to be held the week of March 12th. Over 30 people are registered to date. If you are interested in this training (all you need is a phone and high speed connection) contact the MEDA office. CRDCs and everyone working in the economic development field can now use the information for the purpose of business retention and recruitment. The site is in the process of being moved to a state server, but you can check it out at http://www.gcs-research.net/mmbdev.

MEDA Membership Update: Thanks to each of you that have sent in your 2007 MEDA dues. For those of you not yet paid, you can pay your MEDA dues online or via check. New members in February included: Carolyn Keller, Grant Writer/Planner for Gateway Economic Development District; Melissa Kramer, Economic Development Coordinator for Stillwater County; and Debbie Swanson, Executive Director for Two Rivers Economic Growth.  
Print the MEDA Membership Directory.     

Grant and Funding Opportunities:
The community development specialists at Big Sky Economic Development Authority will present a free introductory workshop about the grant-seeking process on Wednesday, March 14th, from 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. in the Big Sky EDA conference center located on the first floor of Granite Tower, 222 North 32nd Street in downtown Billings. Instructors Patty Nordlund, Community Development Manager, and Dianne Lehm, Community Development Specialist, will help community groups learn the basics of the grants process, types of grants, and who might be eligible for grant funds. Participants will also learn where to search for appropriate funding sources. While there is no fee to attend, pre-registration for the grants workshops is required and seating is limited to 25 attendees per session. Please call Mary Lou or Allison at 256-6871 ext. 100 to reserve your place at the Pre-Grants Workshop on or before Tuesday, March 13.

CDBG Public Facilities Grant Application Guidelines are now on the CDBG Website: http://comdev.mt.gov/CDD_CDBG_PF.asp

TSEP Legislative Update: Marissa Kozel, the Public Information Officer for Montana Department of Commerce, sent an email yesterday stating that a bipartisan bill was introduced to fully fund all TSEP projects ready for construction. Marissa stated, "We recognize that cities and towns have been experiencing a great amount of anxiety relative to the TSEP Program." Hopes are high that all qualifying TSEP projects will be funded. Marissa can be reached at 406.841.2772.

“Planning For Infrastructure Improvements” -- W2ASACT Funding Workshop Spring 2007
Representatives from each of the major state and federal programs that fund infrastructure improvements will discuss their specific requirements. They will also be available to provide you with the opportunity to talk one-on-one about your specific projects and funding needs. Questions? Call (406) 841-2770. Missoula: Wednesday, March 7, 2007, Holiday Inn Parkside, 200 South Pattee Street. Billings: Thursday, March 15, 2007, Hampton Inn, 5110 Southgate Drive.

Working Groups...Are Working!: The MEDA Scholarship, Transportation, BEAR, and Legislative Committee/Working Groups were active in February. The Transportation Working Group is planning its annual get-together with transportation officials and MEDA members, perhaps in conjunction with the 2007 Economic Summit. The MEDA Legislative Committee continues to meet via conference call every Wednesday morning at 7:00am to discuss legislative bills and issues. The Scholarship Committee received and reviewed two applications for the spring scholarship competition. Please see the MEDA BEAR monthly report at http://www.medamembers.org/bear.html. The training held in Kalispell on February 1st was a great success; the Billings team is hosting a training March 1st.

Opportunities For You: Interested in sharpening your professional skills as an economic and community development practitioner? Looking for new tools to place in your economic development tool box? Check these out.

Montana BEAR Report: If you haven't already, get on board Montana's BEAR program! Review the February 2007 report (it even has photos) and learn of progress in initiating this program across the state. Read about the local program updates and learn about the progress of BEAR in Lewistown and Mineral County. According to data entered into the ExecutivePulse software, six counties were active this past month: Silver Bow, Flathead, Ravalli, Missoula, Cascade and Yellowstone. Keep up the great work!

What the Numbers Say: Montana Department of Commerce

Legislative District Census Profiles
     Census Profiles for Legislative Districts, released in January and available from CEIC's web site, include demographic, housing, social and economic statistics. These easy to access eight page Profiles provide an overall look at characteristics of all House and Senate Districts in Montana.
     Also available are concise comparison tables (Geographic Comparison Tables - GCT) in PDF format which allow users to match data district by district for such characteristics employment status and commuting to work, occupation and industry, structural and facility characteristics of housing units, to name a few.
     To access the Profiles and the GCT tables, visit CEIC's State Legislative District web page at http://ceic.mt.gov/stateLegDist.asp. The full data sets for each district (over 200 tables from the 100% file, or approximately 800 tables from the sample file) are available through the U.S. Census Bureau's American FactFinder (AFF) web site.
     For more information, contact CEIC staff at 841-2740 or sockert@mt.gov.


My Turn: This-n-That from the MEDA Office
Two weeks ago, Fran Viereck, Program Manager for JTGP Business Resources Division, MDOC, asked me to send out a brief survey regarding training needs of MEDA Members. About 30 people responded with the following results: #1. Fundamentals of Economic Development (16); #2. Revolving Loan Funds (15); #3. Problem Loan Training (13); Tied for #4: Business Valuation and Acquisition and New Market Tax Credits (11 each); Tied for #5: Business Plans and Entrepreneurs and Mixed-Use Financing (10 each); #6: BEAR (8) and #7: Deal Structuring. I found this response to be very interesting and will be sure the MEDA Conference Agenda Committee has this information in hand when planning future training sessions.

Speaking of future trainings...have you marked your calendar for May 9 - 11 to attend the WEDA/MEDA/EDA Best Practices conference in Cody, Wyoming?

A Success Story....Do you have a story to share? Download the report template and send to MEDA.



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