Innovative Thinking – TheMinotVoice.com

Minnesota company is finding success building apartment homes on an assembly line

by: Josh Wolsky | February 16, 2023

There are a lot of ways to deliver more affordable housing into our communities, and one Minnesota company, Rise Modular, is doing it through efficiency of design and construction. They build modular apartment buildings that are built in a factory, shipped to the location, and assembled on site. Get the full story on innovation in

Read & Share sourced from: Star Tribune

Iowa City ’embracing innovation’ in 3D-printed affordable housing

by: Josh Wolsky | February 11, 2023

Housing costs are a common topic these days where ever you look. Places with low costs of living are easier on their people and attractive to outsiders, too. But how does a place deliver it? Well, in Iowa, they’re investing in innovation. And that means 3-D printing — for houses. There’s no telling yet if

Read & Share sourced from: Cedar Rapids Gazette

A New Bill in Washington State Would Reduce Unneeded Packaging and Other Recycling News

by: Josh Wolsky | February 3, 2023

The state of Washington has some of the highest recycling rates in the country, but usage is on the decline and landfills are still filling up. But they aren’t one to ignore the problem. And a new law is proposing a new approach — shift the waste stream burden from consumers to producers. It’s a

Read & Share sourced from: Route Fifty

Build Montana program receives national recognition as it continues to grow

by: Josh Wolsky | January 15, 2023

What do you do if you’ve got a demand for a particular skill but not enough people to do it? If you’re the Montana Equipment Dealer’s Association, you partner with private companies and a public school district and start training kids. In this case, the pilot project was for heavy equipment operators, and the success

Read & Share sourced from: Billings Gazette

A Swiss company says it has pulled CO2 out of the atmosphere and stored it underground

by: Josh Wolsky | January 14, 2023

The thing about North Dakota’s energy production — it’s carbon intensive. We pull it from the earth, burn it, and release it into the atmosphere. That’s why environmentalists are down on coal and oil. But what if we had a method for capturing that carbon from the atmosphere and putting it back underground? Well, the

Read & Share sourced from: The Verge

Summer fun is blowing up in Brandon

by: Josh Wolsky | June 12, 2019

Is the future of outdoor water recreation inflated? This year in Brandon, the answer is yes. Check out this story from the Brandon Sun (pictures included) that shows one neighboring city’s new approach to summer water recreation. Cover image credit goes to Tim Smith of the Brandon Sun.

Read & Share sourced from: Brandon Sun

Economic tax incentives being used to advance research and reduce emissions in Bakken

by: Josh Wolsky | April 30, 2019

What do you do with a byproduct of the coal power generating industry that’s bad for the environment? In North Dakota, the goal is to use it to enhance the recovery of oil. And when that oil comes out, producers will enjoy an exemption from oil production taxes. Luke Geiver writing with North American Shale

Read & Share sourced from: North American Shale Magazine

Teams searching for cheap way to stop algae blooms, with $10 million prize on the line

by: Josh Wolsky | July 17, 2018

You have an efficient, cost-effective way to remove phosphorous from freshwater bodies? If so, you may want to enter it into an innovation competition sponsored The Everglades Foundation in Florida. The prize: $10,000,000. Whether North or South, algae blooms are an increasing problem and one of the primary contributors is phosphorus-rich runoff that feeds the

Read & Share sourced from: NPR

Public engagement in local decisions evolving rapidly on the shoulders of technology

by: Josh Wolsky | July 17, 2018

How do we awaken citizens from their apathy and get them engaged with the decisions being made in their communities? One town in Colorado made an investment in technology, trashed the traditional model that only allowed input at live meetings, and catered to the lives of their citizens. The result is a cross-section of public

Read & Share sourced from: Strong Towns

Physics can explain human innovation and enlightenment

by: Josh Wolsky | July 2, 2018

Have you ever had an object in your way but because it was always there or because you were used to where it sat, you walked around it? Or imagine a large obstruction being removed from a fast flowing river; everything is different after the object is removed. This is the foundation of the flow-theory

Read & Share sourced from: Quartz

Minnesota power company looks to study big battery concept in South Dakota

by: Josh Wolsky | June 26, 2018

One of the downsides of wind energy is there are times when it produces power that it isn’t demanded. That creates a storage problem. A Minnesota-based power company is looking to store that energy by pumping Missouri River water uphill where it can later be released for hydro-electric power generation. The Fargo Forum has the story

Read & Share sourced from: InForum

A small town in Iceland created a “levitating” crosswalk to slow traffic

by: Josh Wolsky | February 23, 2018

What do you get when place value on pedestrian safety and innovative design? It’s easier just to watch the video below.

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Small Town Reclaims Former Mental Hospital as Arts Haven

by: Josh Wolsky | November 29, 2017

What do you do with a giant unused hospital? If Trinity’s plan to build new on the South side of Minot takes shape, that’s an issue we’ll be dealing with as a community. Here’s an idea from not that far away that suggests a creative use may be in order.

Read & Share sourced from: Wall Street Journal

N.D. farmers Vertically Integrating with Investments in East Coast Restaurants

by: Josh Wolsky | November 29, 2017

How do you make a product or a company more profitable? There are lots of ways including reducing costs through innovative practices, creating a differentiated product that commands a higher price. And there’s also vertical integration — the method of getting control of the supply chain and middlemen that separate a raw product from the

Read & Share sourced from: Philly.com

Public servants to go on blind coffee dates for innovation

by: Josh Wolsky | October 31, 2017

What does innovation in government look like? In Victoria, Australia, it’s as simple as going for coffee. What matters is who is doing the going, and when it’s two public servants who typically live in separate silos, the results can be transformative. The exciting part for those living in Victoria is this is just one

Read & Share sourced from: The Mandarin

A Remote Chinese Province Uses Its Climate To Grow A Big-Data Industry

by: Josh Wolsky | October 30, 2017

What does a Southwest China have in common with North Dakota? A cool climate, cheap energy, and a steady wind. Why should we care? Because the Guizhou province of China has built a data storage industry around their natural assets. As we take up the conversation about building a sustainable economy here in Minot, perhaps we

Read & Share sourced from: NPR