November 5, 2024
Hey Y’all,
After all the sound and fury, the shoe leather worn, the flyers sent, miles driven, doors knocked, and the millions of dollars expended, Election Day is finally here. Many the hearts are broken on election days (mine among them). I’m not going to dwell at length on the election this morning.
I would like to thank all the candidates for their willingness to get involved, to put their lives on hold and their reputations on the line in order to run for office. They’re all winners in my book. But, they won’t all be taking office in January. Lest anyone think the world as they know it has come to an end because their candidate was defeated, I’d offer the quote below from ‘All the Kings’s Men’ by Robert Penn Warren. This novel won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1946. It’s still a good read. I’ve always liked this quote:
"After a great blow, or crisis, after the first shock and then after the nerves have stopped screaming and twitching, you settle down to the new condition of things and feel that all possibility of change has been used up. You adjust yourself and feel that the new equilibrium is for eternity. After the death of Judge Irwin, after I got back to the city, I felt that way. I felt that a story was over, that what had been begun a long time back had been played out, that the lemon had been squeezed dry. But if anything is certain it is that no story is ever over, for the story which we think is over is only a chapter in a story which will not be over, and it isn't the game that is over, it is just an inning, and that game has a lot more than nine innings. When the game stops it will be called on account of darkness. But it is a long day."
Meanwhile, we have another great Hometown Helena lined up for this week. We’ll get an update from our friends at the Lewis and Clark County Library. Also, you may recall Senator Tester mentioning the ’Tech Hub’ when he came to Hometown a few weeks ago. We’re going to learn more about it this Thursday morning. Tom McGree, from Ascent Bank, suggested this program awhile back, even before we were certain that Montana’s application for this competitive grant would be successful (Thanks Tom).
Well, successful it was. So this week Todd O'Hair CEO of the Montana Chamber of Commerce and Mary Craigle from the State of Montana Department of Commerce are going to join us to discuss the Tech Hub. My understanding is that Mary was instrumental in developing Montana's application for Tech Hub. I believe Todd may bring some additional folks from the State Chamber as well.
I confess my ignorance on what this means for Helena and/or Montana. However, according to the Montana Chamber of Commerce's notice of July 2, 2024 —
Today, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced that Montana’s Headwaters Tech Hub will receive $41 million from the Regional Technology and Innovation Hub Program. This funding confirms the State as a global leader in smart photonic sensing systems and their deployment into industry sectors critical to U.S. national and economic security. EDA awarded a total of $504 million to only twelve Tech Hubs across the nation out of more than 300 initial applications. The award is the successful outcome of the team’s application package submitted in late February.
Please plan to join us at Hometown Helena this week to learn more about the Tech Hub and the L&C Library. C'mon down to Helena College from 7-8 am, or Zoom into the meeting, courtesy of Aja Rail and the fine people at Pinion Global, Inc.
Jim Smith
406-949-1002
NO MEETING 
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