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;
May 2006;   June 2006;  July 2006; August 2006; September 2006; October 2006; November 2006; December 2006; January 2007; February 2007; March 2007; April 2007; May 2007; June 2007; July 2007; August 2007;

OCTOBER 2007


CRDC Invitation: CRDC Executive Directors and/or staff are invited to present a brief overview of activities for the MEDA Conference, November 1st and 2nd. Just contact Gloria.


MEDA Membership Update: MEDA gained the following new members in September: Chris Aageson, and Jerry Lamb of the Governor's Office of Economic Development; Dennis Bishop, Baker (SMART); Julie Burke, Main Street Program; Ron de Yong, Director, MT. Dept. of Ag; Sarah Hamlen, MSU ED Northern Rocky Mountain RC&D; Pierre Martineu, West Yellowstone; Eric Stern, Chief Legal Council, Governor's Office. Welcome to MEDA!

And...have you noticed all of the changes in the Governor's Office of Economic Development? Emily Sirota and her husband moved to Denver where she will return to get her master’s degree and he will be closer to his family; Pat Wise, with over 20 years experience, will be handling workforce issues in her place. Tom Kaiserski transferred to Montana Department of Commerce to lead the new Energy Development and Promotion program; Chris Aageson (formerly with Montana Dept. of Agriculture) will replace Tom. Major Robinson, who worked with Indian economic development, went to work as the Interim Coordinator of Indian Affairs, but will eventually return to the Northern Cheyenne; Jerry Lamb, who has a business degree and an MBA form UM, will take over Major’s work in Indian economic development. With those 3 changes, the GOED staff is restored to the full seven positions (the other four are: Evan; Pam Cote, Deputy; Jon Thompson, Office manager; and Eric Stern, Energy & Ambassador activity).  
Print the MEDA Membership Directory.     

Grant and Funding Opportunities:

The Forest Service Woody Biomass Grant RFP just hit the streets. The deadline is Nov 2. If you have questions, contact Scott Bell, Rural Community Assistance Coordinator R1/R4 USDA Forest Service, (801) 625-5259, sbell@fs.fed.us Get the application package at: www.fpl.fs.fed.us/tmu under the 2008 Woody Biomass Utilization Grant.

A message from John Guthmiller: When promoting the renewable energy program, particularly the energy efficiency part of the program, the following information may be of help. To apply for a grant on an energy efficiency project, the applicant must have an energy audit. They can get this from their power supplier or the entity listed below. Additional information on the Renewable Energy/Energy Efficiency Grant and Guarantee program can be found on the website www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/farmbill Contact John Guthmiller, Business Cooperative Programs Director, 406-585-2540, for more information.


Working Groups...Are Working!:
Take advantage of the research these groups are doing - learn from what they are learning as chances are you are dealing with the same issues.

Housing   The MEDA Housing Working Group met on September 10th via conference call. Plans are in the works for a face-to-face workshop on Tuesday, November 20, in Great Falls, 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. An agenda and location will soon be forthcoming. The following ACTION Committee Facilitators were chosen/selected/volunteered: Housing - Charlie Wright, Public Policy - Sheila Rice, Communication - Christa McClure. The next conference call is set for Tuesday, October 9th at 4:00pm. New resource links have been added to the MEDA Housing Working Group and minutes are available at http://www.medamembers.org/housing.html


All Working Groups   All working groups are invited to make a presentation during the November 1st and 2nd MEDA Fall Conference. This is your opportunity to share with your colleagues what your working group has learned and accomplished.

BEAR  Please see the paragraph below.


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.

(Article from MATR Newsletter)- University of Montana Continuing Education and the Office for Civic Engagement have teamed up to sponsor an online five-course program in nonprofit administration in 2007-08. The courses are directed toward nonprofit professionals and interested students. Titles include Strategic Planning, Grantwriting, Building an Effective Nonprofit Board, Fundraising and Financial Management. Each course is six weeks long and will be conducted entirely online. Students who complete all five courses receive a Certificate of Completion in Nonprofit Administration. The fee for each course is $100 for members of the Montana Nonprofit Association and $125 for nonmembers. There is a 10 percent discount for students who register at the same time for all five courses. Students who wish to receive one UM undergraduate or graduate credit will be charged an additional $135 fee for each course. For a schedule and descriptions of classes or to register for the program, visit http://www.umt.edu/ce.

Conference set Nov. 9 on biofuels for Montana ag producers.Summary: Montana producers interested in assessing how biofuels will impact their farm or ranch's bottom-line can attend the "Biofuels: Boom or Bust for Montana Producers?" conference Nov. 9 in Bozeman. Contact: Joel B. Schumacher (406) 994-6637 or jschumacher@montana.edu

Montana History Conference and 2007 Statewide Preservation Workshop, Oct 18-20 in Helena. For more information or to register go on-line at www.montanahistoricalsociety.org, or call 1-406-444-2696.


MONTANA BEAR Report: Learn what is new in your region with the statewide Montana BEAR Program.

Please review the progress of the statewide Montana BEAR program by reading the monthly report. The MEDA BEAR Working Group is scheduled for a conference call on November 7th at 10:00am.

According to data entered into the ExecutivePulse software, 17 business visits were conducted in the month of September. The leading Outreach Specialist was Melissa Kramer with three visits, followed by Tom Gorman with two. Great work, everyone!


The Montana 2006 Population Estimates are now available. Visit http://www.ceic.mt.gov/EstimatesStatePop.asp and review highlights of population change, state population and rankings, and density and population distribution change maps.

To view more detailed data by state or county, visit CEIC's estimates web page at http://ceic.mt.gov/EstimatesCntyPop.asp. If you have any questions or need assistance accessing the data, please contact CEIC state at (406) 841-2740 or Susan Ockert.

My Turn: This-n-That from the MEDA Office
Registrations are rolling in for the fast approaching MEDA IEDC Training and Conference. Rooms at the Best Western Heritage Inn will be released October 5th - so call in your reservation today at 406.761.1900. Here are two FAQ's I am getting regarding the training: The official answer is "yes." Unofficially, as it is Halloween night and some parents need to get home to be with their children, if you stay as long as possible for that session, you will be able to sneak out before 3:00pm.

The answer is "yes". IEDC will review your previous work experience and apply it accordingly. For example, perhaps you worked for a Chamber of Commerce, or in Community Development, or for a non-profit. IEDC will consider similar work experience toward your five year requirement.

The bottom line is, you will not want to miss this opportunity to become a Certified Economic Developer.

A Success Story....

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



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