Former Class of 2009 MSU Bobcat Defensive Back David Taylor has started a new company called "Godly Creation Clothing".  His line features tees, tanks, sweaters and more. David is a native of Galveston, Texas. He created the line after suffering the loss of his mother to cancer. David reestablished himself within his religious beliefs and found the power and strength to overcome his depression and create something positive from his loss. That strength led him to design his own logo and start his own clothing line. "God is Always Good" is the flagship logo and tagline. He uses this line to donate all proceeds to The Houston Hospice Organization. He chose this facility due to its great work helping those in the midst of their own courageous battle. David's line can be found at Justus Downtown in Downtown Bozeman or online www.godlycreationsclothing.com

To carry the line or follow up with David Taylor at Phone: 1 713 352-9998 or email: godlycreationsclothing@yahoo.com

DropTrip, a crowdsourced shipping platform, launches its web-based, mobile friendly platform. The startup seeks to fill the void not currently being met by traditional shipping methods. Similar to Airbnb and Uber, DropTrip uses a business model that revolves around the monetization of underused resources like time, labor, and space.

The DropTrip platform is a safe, reliable, and extremely efficient shipping infrastructure based on utilizing excess capacity in vehicles already on the road. DropTrip Shippers and Travelers work together to solve complex and expensive shipping challenges. Shippers can count on a trusted DropTrip Traveler to pick up and hand-deliver their goods. All eligible shipments are insured, and both parties control the schedule and confirm delivery before the Traveler is paid. The Travelers make money for trips they are already taking by offering up cargo space to help Shippers transport their goods from point A to point B. To date, the DropTrip network has shipped over $25,000 in goods for individuals and businesses.

DropTrip is led by CEO Doug Warner, one of the first employees at software company RightNow Technologies, which was acquired by Oracle Corp. in 2012 for $1.5 billion. “The DropTrip platform solves the often costly and time-prohibitive challenges associated with intrastate and tri-state shipping,” said Warner. “Starting in Montana is strategic because the population is heavily dispersed. If you think about it, everyone has done a DropTrip before; that is, carried or picked up something for someone when they’ve taken a trip. We’re helping businesses and individuals streamline that process.”

DropTrip takes safety seriously, and they have gone to great lengths to create the most secure and reliable network. Every member is highly vetted, and peace of mind comes in the form of up to $5,000 of insurance for each eligible shipment and a $1 million liability insurance policy for the Traveler. “Businesses and consumers are adopting the DropTrip platform as an alternative shipping method, particularly for harder-to-ship items. It saves Shippers considerable time and money, and the Travelers love making extra cash for a trip they are already taking. Our platform is being used for everything from art or food to computers, baby strollers, and everything in between,” said Nathan Williams, VP of Marketing.

DropTrip’s mission is to empower and connect communities, starting in Montana, and growing into a global platform that everyone, everywhere can use directly from their mobile device.

Currently, the DropTrip platform is web-based and usable on any smart phone with web access. A DropTrip app for iOS and Android is in development, slated for release in the near future.  



About DropTrip

DropTrip is the first crowdsourced shipping solution born out of the need to strengthen the connection between rural and urban communities. DropTrip is a safe, reliable, and extremely efficient shipping platform based on monetizing excess capacity in vehicles already on the road. Shippers and Travelers work together to solve complex and expensive shipping challenges for both businesses and consumers. DropTrip is changing the way people, businesses, and communities around the world ship and receive the stuff they want.

Save money shipping. Make money traveling.

Printingforless.com (PFL), a leading marketing company, is opening a new software development and marketing office in Bozeman, MT on July 1, 2015.  The new office is the third location for the expanding company, and will draw on the wealth of local talent in Bozeman. PFL’s Bozeman office will be located in 2,400 square feet at 45 Discovery Drive, space previously occupied by RightNow Technologies.  

“Every evolution and advancement we’ve ever had has been driven by our customers. Today they are demanding new technology solutions that combine digital and tangible products. This new space will give us the room to grow our software development and marketing teams to support these initiatives,” says CEO Andrew Field.  “We are excited to tap the excellent talent pool of professionals in both software development and marketing as we continue to better serve our customers. “

Greg Gianforte, RightNow Technologies founder and Chair of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance also commented on PFL’s expansion. “I’m thrilled that PrintingForLess.com is expanding to Bozeman. Montana needs more high-paying jobs. PFL is a great example of the growth potential for Montana companies that leverage the unmatched Montana work ethic and ingenuity. I applaud PFL for creating this opportunity for Bozemanites, and the signal this growth sends to the rest of Montana.”

PFL is a Marketing Technology company providing business solutions that improve marketing effectiveness. The company’s latest technology solutions enable customers to create and optimize integrated, multi-channel customer journeys using their Marketing Automation platforms.
PFL employs 200+ employees in manufacturing, sales, marketing and software development, and has been creating a great place to work in a great place to live for 18 years.

Visit the PFL.com Career Opportunities page to view current openings.  http://www.printingforless.com/employment.html

A team of Montana State University researchers and community partners has been awarded a three-year, $220,000 grant to help Montana beef producers and meat processors and increase the use of local beef in Montana’s schools and communities.

The grant, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Western Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, is intended to increase the availability and consumption of local beef in Montana’s schools and communities and help improve Montana beef producers’ and meat processors’ viability and sustainability. It is also intended to discern which “beef to school” methods are most sustainable for producers, processors and schools.

The team is led by Carmen Byker Shanks, assistant professor in the MSU Department of Health and Human Development.

In Montana and nationally, producers and consumers are beginning to see social, environmental and economic benefits from local procurement efforts that link ranchers and local beef processors with schools in their community and region, according to Byker Shanks. She added that the ‘beef to school’ efforts involve support of local beef from a variety of people, including producers, processors, and foodservices and students at K-12 schools.



“Beef to school efforts can increase the sustainability and viability of local and regional food systems,” Byker Shanks said. “The recently published 2015 dietary guidelines for Americans highlights that beef production has a potentially large impact on the environment. In Montana and beyond, it is important to support beef production through efforts such as beef to school programs. Beef to school programs have the potential to reduce the need for transportation, packaging, and other inputs; increase access to local food; provide farmers an additional market for their beef; enhance community food literacy and connections to local agriculture; keep money circulating in local economies; and possibly utilize cattle that are grass-fed.”

Byker Shanks noted that the Montana Beef to School Coalition – a group formed in 2012 that includes a range of representatives, from school foodservice to meat processors and producers to food and agricultural organizations and agencies – has identified four items that are needed to grow beef to school programs in the state. Those items include identifying current successful models of beef to school efforts, analyzing the capacity and motivations of beef producers and meat processors to fill the demand for local beef, an availability of resources about how to make beef to school efforts economically and nutritionally viable for schools, and implementing strategies to include beef to school programming at schools.

To address these needs, researchers will conduct comprehensive case studies of current beef to school efforts to identify the benefits, challenges, best practices and gaps that exist for beef to school procurement models, Byker Shanks said. Additionally, the team will examine how local beef is utilized in schools and evaluate student acceptance and preference of local versus non-local beef.

Researchers will then use this information to evaluate the larger Montana beef to school market by developing and testing evaluation tools, analyzing characteristics of beef to school supply chain issues, and assessing capacity and needs for slaughter, processing and storage facilities.

“As schools and ranchers in Montana are beginning to work together to bring local beef into schools, the results have been mixed: some procurement models seem successful for all parties involved, while others have faced significant barriers in making beef to school programs viable,” Byker Shanks said “These evaluation results will help create solutions to overcoming barriers to optimizing beef to school efforts.”

The researchers will also develop extensive outreach, educational and promotional materials for multiple groups, including K-12 students and teachers, university students, producers and school foodservice programs. Outreach efforts will also include both in-person trainings and webinars for school foodservice, producers and processors.

“The tools and findings of this project will give Montana’s producers, processors and schools the resources they need to form productive, sustainable procurement relationships,” Byker Shanks said, adding that those resources will be applicable to other stakeholders, as well. “Additionally, this project will foster partnerships among producers, processors and other stakeholders, garnering long-term interest and investment in local and regional beef markets as well as the sustainable production and marketing of other local and regional meat products.”

In addition to Byker Shanks, others involved with the project include Thomas Bass and Joel Schumacher of MSU Extension, Karla Buck of Bear Paw Meats, Katie Halloran of National Center for Appropriate Technology, Jennifer Montague of Kalispell Public Schools Foodservice, Garl Germann of Montana Meats, Jeremy Plummer of Lower Valley Processing, John Polacik of Park High School Foodservice, Aubree Roth of Montana Team Nutrition and members of the Montana Beef to School Coalition.

For more information, contact Byker Shanks at Carmen.byker@montana.edu or visit the Montana Beef to School Coalition’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/beef2school or its Twitter account at https://twitter.com/mtbeeftoschool.

Follow this link for more info and to register your child! http://vergetheater.com/education/summer-programs

Improv
When: Mon. July 13th-Thurs. July 17th from 12-3pm. Performance Demo Thurs. July 13th 5-6:30pm

Who: Kids entering grades 3-5

Teacher: Paige Johnson

Cost: $130
During the fun workshop, your child will learn the basics of Improv and practice skills such as active listening, communication, collaboration, and concentration all while having fun and making new friends.  The Improv technique allows students to explore their imaginations together and will ultimately culminate in a show full of fun and hilarious games!    

Musical Theater
When: Mon. August 10th-Thurs. August 13th from 12-3pm. Performance Demo, Thurs. August 13th 5-6:30pm

Who: Kids entering grades 3-5

Teacher: Erin Roberg

Cost: $130
You know your kid is a star so here's the perfect opportunity for them to shine.  Our Musical Theater classes take the best of Broadway and Disney's big stage numbers. This summer's workshop will present selections from "Shrek the Musical!" At Verge we put the spotlight on all of our students. Ensemble casting is a must so that every child has the chance to strut their stuff!

The Artists’ Gallery in the Emerson Cultural Center will feature the work of Peggy Kohler and Matt Piedalue during the month of July.  The show will include a Featured Artist Reception where you can meet the artists and share a glass of wine.
 
MACK's art reflects her Alaskan upbringing, love of the West, Mountains and Water. All of her art is bright and whimsical, seeking the positive and often a good laugh.  Most of her work focuses on characters who are multi-ethnic to represent the world family we all belong to and are loosely based on Yup'ic Eskimo masks from her childhood, as well as ethnic influences from around the world and the American West/Northwest. MACK is always looking to pay tribute to the under-represented, putting their attributes on full and joyful display!
 
Matt Piedalue is a potter who makes art because he doesn’t know how not to. He enjoys offering his own handmade, meaningful alternative to mass-produced foreign ceramics.  Piedalue’s aesthetic has been heavily influenced by historical pottery, nature, science fiction and comic books. He uses sculptural methods to twist many of his pots into fantastically organic, plant or creature-like objects. Piedalue feels a child-like fascination in the ability to manipulate clay and create physical things that he has never seen before.
 
Come see the artwork and meet its makers at the Featured Artist Reception in The Artists’ Gallery, Friday, July 10th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

The 2015 Sweet Pea Festival is excited to announce this year’s t-shirt and poster contest winners. We would like to thank everyone that participated in the contest and encourage participation next year.

This year’s adult T-shirt contest winner is Brittany Wade a Bozeman high school Junior. Wade recently began experimenting with graphic design and now is seriously considering Graphic Design as a college degree and possibly a career.
Elsa Austin, a second grader at Morning Star Elementary won this year’s Children’s T-shirt contest.  A photograph she saw of sweet pea flowers weaving through a fence inspired Elsa’s winning entry. She also enjoys leather working, painting and drawing. Elsa is looking forward to being involved with this year’s Children’s Sweet Pea Run and Parade.



The 2015 Sweet Pea poster contest winner is Anica Lees. Graduating from MSU in 2008, Anica always carried an enigmatic artistic energy. She perused a degree in Art Education and Metalsmithing and has done work including jewelry retail at Alara, art gallery assistance at Planet Bronze, and cake decorator at Elle’s Belles Bakery. Most recently, Anica has attained a decade-long dream of owning a private art studio, under the name Montana Meddle Studio.

Look out for these amazing designs on this year’s Sweet Pea Festival merchandise. Merchandise can be pre-purchased at various outlets start July 5th as well as at this year’s festival.

ABOUT SWEET PEA FESTIVAL:
The Sweet Pea Festival is a three-day festival of the arts held in Bozeman, Montana, since 1978. This year’s Festival dates are August 7, 8, and 9. The event includes everything from dynamic music to children’s activities and a beer and wine garden featuring Montana microbrews. Sweet Pea is committed to its mission of “promoting and cultivating the arts.”

United in Light is a place where all draft horse breeds are rescued from slaughter and are brought to United in Light, Inc. to retire and live out the rest of their lives. Our Annual Fundraiser The Mane Event, is around the corner!

This year it will be Saturday, August 29th @ PARK COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS!
Last year we sold out on tickets & had to find a larger venue in case we have rain :).
We are in great need of Sponsors for the event and
Fine Arts & Items for our Live & Silent Auction!!
Can you help?

We will be in Bozeman running down main street this Friday!

Contact us via email at  unitedinlight@mac.com
For Tickets & more information on the Event: www.gotdraft.net

Thirty books have been selected as finalists in ten categories for the ninth annual High Plains Book Awards. Twenty-four different publishers from Canada and the US were represented in this year’s competition. Of the 34 finalists, 13 are from Montana, (a record number!) and six are from Canada.
 
Three authors are finalists in two categories: Bryce Andrews, Badluck Way: A Year on the Ragged Edge of the West, finalist in First Book and Nonfiction; Carrie LaSeur, finalist in Woman Writer and Fiction; and Canadian Dave Margoshes is a finalist as editor for Wilf Perreault: In the Alley/Dans la Ruelle, and as a writer for his short story collection, God Telling a Joke and Other Stories.
 
One of the finalists is a past High Plains Book Award winner, Shann Ray’s book American Masculine won two awards in 2012 for Short Stories and First Book. This year his poetry collection Balefire is a finalist.
 
The 2015 finalists include:
 
Fiction – Craig Johnson, Any Other Name; Carrie La Seur, The Home Place; Laura Pritchett, Stars Go Blue
 
Nonfiction – Jerome A. Greene - American Carnage: Wounded Knee, 1890; Bryce Andrews - Badluck Way: A Year on the Ragged Edge of the West; H. Alan Day and Lynn Wiese Sneyd - The Horse Lover: A Cowboy's Quest to Save the Wild Mustangs; Ken Egan Jr. - Montana 1864: Indians, Emigrants, and Gold in the Territorial Year
 
Poetry – Shann Ray- Balefire; Erin Belieu - Slant Six; Ted Kooser - Splitting an Order
 
First Book – Bryce Andrews - Badluck Way: A Year on the Ragged Edge of the West; Mary Beth Baptiste - Altitude Adjustment: A Quest for Love, Home, and Meaning in the Tetons; Kristen Inbody and Erin Madison - Montana State Parks: Complete Guide and Travel Companion
 
Woman Writer – Carrie La Seur - The Home Place, Julene Bair - The Ogallala Road: A Memoir of Love and Reckoning; Vicki Tapia - Somebody Stole My Iron: A Family Memoir of Dementia
 
Art & Photography – Larry Len Peterson - Charles M. Russell: Photographing the Legend; Steven Gnam - Crown of the Continent: The Wildest Rockies; Wilf Perreault (artist), Dave Margoshes (editor) and Timothy Long (contributor), Wilf Perreault: In the Alley/Dans La Ruelle; Jennifer Bottomly O'Looney and Kirby Lambert - Montana's Charlie Russell: Art in the Collection of the Montana Historical Society
 
Short Stories – Dave Margoshes - God Telling a Joke and Other Stories; Rolli – I am Currently Working on a Novel; Jamie Lisa Forbes - The Widow Smalls and Other Stories
 
Young Adult Book –  Brenda Baker - Camp Outlook; Lynn Boughey & Peter Earnest - Harry Potter and the Art of Spying; Regine Haensel - Queen of Fire
 
 
Children’s Book – the late Cheryl Chad- Back to Batoche; Jean Freeman - Do Trees Sneeze?; Sandra Dallas - Red  Berries, White Clouds, Blue Sky
 
Culinary – Carole Sullivan - Gatherings: Friends and Recipes from Montana's Mustang Kitchen; Amy Jo Ehman - Out of Old Saskatchewan Kitchens; Seabring Davis - A Taste of Montana
 
Over 200 books were nominated for the 2015 High Plains Book Awards. All the nominated books were read and evaluated by community volunteers in the first round of the selection process. The finalist books in each category will be judged by writers who have significant connections to the High Plains region, many who have won in the particular category he or she will judge.
 
The Billings Public Library Board established the High Plains Book Awards in 2006 to recognize regional authors and/or literary works that examine and reflect life on the High Plains including the states of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
 
Winners in each category will receive a $500 cash prize at the Awards Banquet on Saturday, October 3, 2015 at the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings, Montana. Single tickets and tables may be purchased for the banquet. The Awards Banquet is a signature event of the Billings Public Library. More information can be found at highplainsbookawards.org.
 
The High Plains Book Awards Banquet is held in conjunction with the 2015 High Plains BookFest. Writer’s Voice director Corby Skinner is coordinating the readings and events for the High Plains BookFest. He can be contacted at corby@skinnerbenoit.com.