In the HBO comedy “Silicon Valley,” one of the characters refers to the famed tech hub as “the cradle of innovation.” To be sure, Silicon Valley has given us the home computer, the iPhone and many other tech innovations.

Yet even some small college towns in the U.S. can lay claim to being cradles of innovation, although on a much smaller scale than Silicon Valley. Without a doubt, the built-in brainpower and resources of a university can be a catalyst for tech startups in small college towns. Not every college town graduates to the level of a mini-Silicon Valley, though.

“College towns are no longer just sleepy hamlets where learning, sports, conversation and partying prevail,” social and economic theorist Richard Florida wrote in 2011 on The Atlantic Cities website. “The rise of the idea-driven, human capital-powered knowledge economy has transformed many of them into economic powerhouses.”

So, which small college towns in the U.S. make the grade as standout tech hubs?

How We Produced This List
Before we answer that question, let’s look at how we compiled the list. We relied primarily on rankings of tech hubs in a 2013 report by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a Kansas City, MO-based nonprofit that promotes entrepreneurship. We also considered rankings of tech hubs by Techie.com, along with other economic accolades, population trends and livability factors.

MORE>>>Sparefoot Blog

Lacey Middlestead is a Montana native and freelance writer currently living in Helena, Mont. She loves meeting new people and helping share their stories. When she’s not busy writing articles for newspapers like the Independent Record and Helena Vigilante, she can usually be found indulging in her second greatest passion–playing in the Montana wilderness. She loves skiing and snowmobiling in the winter and four wheeling, hiking, boating, and riding dirt bikes in the summer. 

My dad reminds me, on almost a weekly basis, that I need to stop growing up. I like to think that holidays like Halloween and Easter reassure him that even at 27 years of age, I still boast quite a bit of childlike innocence.

When I first started attending school at Carroll College in 2005, I figured my childhood days of high-paced Easter egg hunts were over. I mean college is supposed to be a time of diligent studying and planning for one’s future right….not scrambling after plastic eggs like your life depended on the candy inside them? When my first Easter at Carroll rolled around though I received an email announcing Carroll’s annual Easter egg hunt. My jaw dropped and my heart fluttered with anticipation. The tradition could respectably carry on!

I remember hovering by my dorm room window in St. Charles watching students outside polka-dotting the iconic hillside----colorful egg by colorful egg for the hunt later that day. I felt the excitement build inside me.

When it came time for the egg hunt to start, dozens and dozens of students lined up along the base of the hill and waited for the whistle to blow signaling the start. Tightly clutching their baskets/plastic bags/pillow cases, everyone leaned forward like runners primed at the start of a race. The whistle blew and we were off. I must admit I have never seen a group of people move quite as quickly as I did that day. It was like the commencement of the Hunger Games but instead of racing to get the best weapon, the students made a mad dash for the best eggs….the ones with the lucky tickets inside guaranteeing them a prize. The students stampeded up the hill in a flurry. I quickly found out that I didn’t really need anything to put eggs in because I only managed to snag about three or four of them. As soon as I spotted an egg, someone else swooped in and scooped it up before I could get to it.

The egg hunt was over in a matter of 60 seconds, possibly a generous 90 seconds. It was the fastest, most furious egg hunt of my life. But I loved every minute of it.

Although I miss Carroll’s annual egg hunt, I am lucky enough to have parents that continue the tradition for me at their house each year. This year there was not one but six of us “adults” over the age of 18 that participated in the egg hunt. Well, there was also my friend’s three-year-old daughter, Camille, who’s more respectable egg hunting age made the rest of us look rather ridiculous. But we are all young at heart so the hunt commenced.

My dad had the esteemed privilege of hiding the eggs this year. And hide them he did! Unlike Carroll’s hunts, we had to look under rocks and inside bushes to find them. He was instructed to leave some easier ones out though for Camille. My boyfriend, who is notoriously competitive during egg hunts, almost couldn’t stand walking by all of those easily accessible eggs that he knew he had to leave for Camille.

Even though the wind was howled that afternoon and most of our stomachs were loaded down with ham, potatoes and cheesecake from Easter dinner, we diligently hunted until we found all of the eggs. My boyfriend’s younger sister, Holly, found the golden egg with $20 in it. She was especially excited about that since last year big brother rubbed it in her face when he found the golden egg. Camille and I didn’t care much for the money though. We were satisfied to just pop open the eggs and start pillaging all of the candy inside.

At 27 years old, most of my friends are married with kids now. They’re content watching their little ones scurry after Easter eggs while they cheer them on. But me-----well, I’m just happy to keep playing out my youth as long as possible and avoiding the “growing up” piece of life my dad has always warned me about.

THOMPSON FALLS – There are two things that make the annual Sanders County Yard Sale-ing Event work.

One is luring lots of treasure hunters to the county on the last weekend of June to pick through the tens of thousands of items at dozens upon dozens of yard sales, most of them along a 100-mile-plus stretch of Montana Highway 200.

The other is lining up the yard sales.

That effort is on right now, as organizers prepare for the eighth annual countywide yard sale.

MORE >>>http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/organizers-prepare-for-massive-logistics-of-sanders-county-yard-sale/article_9448c7fe-c368-11e3-b45a-001a4bcf887a.html

Angela Jamison is a native Montanan and she grew up in beautiful Bozeman.  I'm the mother of two girls and write a blog about our life here and taking in the simple pleasures of family and food.  http://www.rdeliciouslife.blogspot.com/

The M.

As winter begins to melt into spring, I begin to get the itch.  Green and brown is starting to replace the white on the Bridgers and the "M" is starting to make its appearance.  This means hiking season is upon us.  Every year the itch begins around April…the desire to throw on my hiking boots and get lost in my thoughts on the trail.  This year the desire has heightened for me as I just finished reading "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed.  It's an amazing memoir about a woman who hikes the Pacific Crest Trail from California to Washington.  Reading her adventures has amped up my longing for hiking.  It got me thinking about one of my favorite, simple hikes right here in town….

The M trailhead. Easily one of the most popular in the Bozeman area.  From people who hike it everyday as a part of their workout routine to tourists who have never climbed a hill…all make their way to this visible landmark.  It sits on the side of Baldy for all to see.  People push their way up the steep trail or go the more leisurely route.  It means a lot to many.  Last summer at the top I met an old man sitting on the bench.  It was his 90th time hiking the M.  His friend, who usually hikes with him, couldn't make it that day so now he had one day on him.  You could see it was an ongoing competition.  I never hiked it as a kid.  Hiking wasn't my families thing.  Hiking came to me when friends introduced it to me as a teenager.  I had grown up surrounded by these mountains, but never much ventured in them.  The M was my first hike.  It was this hike that got me hooked.

Hiking can be very social.    Going with friends and chatting your way up the mountain.  Soaking up the fresh air and having the type of conversations where everyone can talk freely.  Something about getting your heart pumping with miles ahead of you and nothing to do but talk opens the lines of communication.  This is why I have been trying to instill a love of hiking into my daughters.  As they grow my hopes are it becomes the perfect setting for those tough conversations.  The kind where not sitting face to face can make it easier and more honest.  Right now these conversations consist of 6 and 8 year old talk- who is their current BFF and why does the dog pant while we hike.  It doesn't matter what the conversation is right now, it's that we are talking.  The person I have put the most miles on with would be my husband.  A city boy through and through, he came to Montana aching to play in the mountains and this only added to my new found love of hiking.  He pushed me to try harder and steeper trails.  To do them with a pack filled with sleeping bags, tents and food so once at the top we could camp.  Together we saw amazing places and grew closer with each conversation on the trail.  Back then we talked about our hopes and dreams, where we would go in life, what we wanted out of it.  To this day when it's just the two of us on a hike we have these same conversations.  Being in our mid-thirties with two kids and careers you would think we were in the middle of doing those things we talked about years ago.  We certainly are, but there are new hopes and dreams that come out on the mountains. 

Hiking can also be very personal.  I have had many a solo hike.  The M being one of the most popular for me.  It's close, easy to get to and because of the amount of traffic it gets it feels safe to be on alone.  On your own the only conversation you can have is with yourself.  Alone, scrambling up the mountain with your thoughts.  I find this a meditative time.  To notice any thoughts that are bothering me, things going on in my life.  I notice them, think them through and leave them on the trail.  I notice thoughts that are making me happy, take in a breath, soak up the view and feel peaceful.  I notice what I'm capable of, pushing myself to the top even when feeling tired.  The feeling of accomplishment, looking down and feeling strong.  The hike down is always the best.  You breathe a little easier.  Your mind cleared.  The mountain air, the quiet of the nature surrounding you, it adds to my ability to slow down and be present. 

The M trail offers so much.  I know some feel it is too busy, but if you take the time you can meet someone new.  Someone who may be seeing it for the first time.  When I sit at the top and overlook our Bozeman, I love to listen to those visiting talk about our town.  Hearing others in awe of it makes you realize how very lucky we are to live here.  You never know who you will see or meet on the trail.  An old friend you haven't seen for years. A family visiting from Australia asking you to take their photo because they're in Montana for the first time.  A group of strangers coming together to sit with a girl who fell on her run down.   Seeing the look of pride in my daughters eyes when they made it to the top for the first time, hiking the whole way on their own.  Yes, the M may get busy and I've never been on it without seeing another hiker, but this is okay.  It is there for all of us to enjoy.  A place to socialize, exercise, meditate…all right in our very own backyard.