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


The CRDC Spotlight is on Bear Paw Development Corporation , which has for over thirty-five years worked hard to serve the economic and community development needs of those who live and work in Liberty, Hill, Blaine, Choteau and Phillips Counties.

When asked how Bear Paw has utilized its CRDC funding, Executive Director Paul Tuss said it has put it to work to support dwindling funds with the Montana Ag Innovation Center network. CRDC funding ensures the retention of Coordinator Brandi Beecher, so that Bear Paw can continue to work on value added ag projects in the five county region. CRDC funds are also used for professional development training for staff members and will be used in the near future to become fully engaged in the state's BEAR program.

Paul mentioned Bear Paw has been very active supporting and coordinating two massive water projects that reach far beyond the Bear Paw borders. One is the Rocky Boy's North Central Regional Water System which just broke ground on August 31st. Bear Paw has worked on this project for over ten years. It is located on the Tiber Reservoir in southern Liberty County and will provide drinking water to a large section of Montana. Annemarie Robinson is the Coordinator for the project and works with a partnership including Rocky Boy's and a number of off reservation communities and water systems.

The second project is the St. Mary Working Group, coordinated by Brandi Beecher. Brandi is working with a host of partners including the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and congressional representatives to find answers and funding for badly needed diversion repairs. The diversion was constructed by the BLM 100 years ago and could cost at least 120 million to repair. A US Senate Hearing was held in Havre on September 1st to address the issue.

MEDA Membership Update: MEDA is currently 209 members strong. New members for the month of August: Gene Buxcel (Dawson County EDC) and Curt Dykstra of Belgrade. Welcome to MEDA!  
      Print the MEDA Membership Directory.  

Grant and Funding Opportunities:
The 2006 CDBG Grant Administration Manual in now available on the web. This is a terrific document, loaded with grant guidelines, descriptions and "how to's."

The National Science Foundation has released its latest SBIR/STTR solicitation, with the following major topic areas: Bio technology (BT) Information Technology (IT) Electronics (EL) Emerging Opportunities (EO) Proposals are due Dec. 4, 2006 (5:00 p.m. local time).

Working Groups...Are Working!: Three MEDA Working Groups are actively involved in planning the 2006 MEDA Fall Conference. As transportation, technology and energy are critical issues in Montana, these working groups will put together panels or presentations for MEDA's membership. As during the Spring Conference, each working group will be given time to update the membership on activities and discussions ongoing within a particular working group. The Workforce and Education Working Group as well as the Value Added Ag Working Group have been active in drafting bills for the 2007 legislature. The Legislative Committee met August 23rd and is planning a conference call September 8th. In addition, the Native American Economic Development Partnership has been working on it's MEDA conference presentation. The Scholarship Committee has decided upon Fall 2007 Rick Jones Memorial Awards and will announce the winners at the conference.

Training Opportunities: Interested in sharpening your professional skills as an economic and community development practitioner? Here are some outstanding training opportunities.