Bozeman Build #32

Howdy makers of Montana

Happy early October and welcome back to the Bozeman Build Report covering trade related activities happening in Montana. Today we’re covering University system enrollment, football, downtown restoration, hotel fire in big Sky, rest stop rezoning, best Bozeman beer, Montana manufacturing updates, USFS hiring 2025 hiring pause, high pressure water rates in Billings, new Helena apartments, “lambscapes”, new stream gauges, Stillwater data breach, grants to incentivize Montana international sales, sweat equity housing program, snowmobiles on the move, highway landing strips, and Fort Peck Dam. Thanks again for tuning in and please enjoy the next 5 minutes covering what Montana is made of.

Keep the saw sharp and tell us what your working on,

Daniel

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When, what, and who is the Bozeman Build? The BB is a 1x/week free email newsletter delivered every Monday morning focused on mountain West trades with an emphasis on Montana. We are not a financial or building advisors.

Bozeman and Montana Trade Pulse

Bozeman trade pulse

Fall 2024 MSU Student enrollment is up slightly from last year. This Fall, total student enrollment is 17,144 while Fall 23 total student enrollment was 16,978. - MSU Registrar's Enrollment Reports

Bozeman Gallatin survived a wild 35-27 victory over Bozeman Friday night at Van Winkle Stadium. - Montana Sports

Sep 26, 2024 - BOZEMAN, Mont. – Main Street is seeing more redevelopment and historic preservation as developer Randy Scully works on restoring the Cooper Black building, one of Bozeman's oldest brick buildings. - Montana Right Now

Sep 27, 2024 - BIG SKY, Mont. – A fire broke out at the One and Only Hotel, which is currently under construction. - Montana Right Now

Sep27th 2024 - On Tuesday, Bozeman City Commissioners approved an application to change the zoning of a parcel of land on 19th Avenue where there was once a rest stop. A representative for the developer said the master site plan for the lot will include two commercial buildings, one of which will be a fast-food restaurant. - NBC MT

Streamline Bus is updating our Transit Development Plan and we want to hear from you! - steeringstreamlinebus.com

Bozeman MT Project Portal

No new projects this week

Best Beer in Bozeman?

Shine hosted “Battle of the Beers” over the weekend with 8 breweries pouring 2 beers per brewery.

• Best Beer went to the Lick Creek Latte Stout - Apres Brewing

• Best Brewery went to Sawdust + Steel!

Montana trade pulse

September 2024 Montana Manufacturing News Report- Montana Manufacturing Extension

Last week the U.S. Forest Service held an employee-wide phone call to announce that it will not be hiring any seasonal workers outside of wildfire in 2025. - Patrol and Reddit

Billings residents have been experiencing unexpectedly high water bills in recent months. Read about this at KULR or Reddit.

MISSOULA – Enrollment at the University of Montana’s flagship, four-year campus is up nearly 6% this fall. When including Missoula College, total enrollment at UM is up nearly 5%, marking the largest year-over-year jump in 15 years. - UMT News

Sep 24 2024 - HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte today joined United Housing Partners to break ground on the Twin Creek Apartments in Helena. The Twin Creek Apartments on Helena’s east side are estimated to be constructed over the next 18 months and will include 72 units of one-, two-, and three-bedroom homes. - Commerce MT

Sep 24, 2024 - ABSAROKEE — For the last 53 years, Susan Leaverton of Absarokee has been behind the loom, creating works of art out of fabrics. -KTVQ

Sep. 24, 2024 - HELENA - DNRC Expands Montana Stream Gage Network The funding from the 2023 legislative session allowed the DNRC stream gage network to expand to a total of 76 real-time gages, moving Montana closer to the goal of 100 -state operated stream gages. As of mid-September, 23 new gages have been installed with an additional 13 planned for installation over the coming year. - DNRC

Sep 26, 2024 - A group of current and former Sibanye Stillwater Mining employees are seeking a class-action lawsuit against the company over a data breach this summer that affected more than 7,000 employees. - KTVQ

Sep 26 2024 - HELENA, Mont. – The Montana Department of Commerce announced today that $900,000 of federal grant funding is available to help small Montana businesses accelerate and grow international sales. The U.S. Small Business Administration funding is administered through Commerce’s State Trade Expansion Program. - Commerce MT

Sep 27, 2024 - Great Falls - The families participating in the Owner Built Homes program through NeighborWorks Great Falls are making significant progress on their journey to homeownership, working together to build their 10 new homes. Through the program, funded by USDA’s Mutual Self-Help program, 10 families dedicate about 30 hours a week building each other's homes, earning “sweat equity” over the year-long build, resulting in a substantially lower mortgage payment. - KZBK

MDT News

20240924-073250 | Nighttime Inspections Of Orange Street Underpass

Transportation watch

In eastern Montana East Bound Hwy 200 and Hwy 2, noticed 3 of these giant dump truck beds.

Tis the season for power sports dealers to stock up on sleds. Noticed over 7 fully loaded flatbeds with BRP (which is Ski Doo and Can Am) and Arctic Cat sleds being shipped across the State of Montana.

MT Mailboxes

Road closure for airplane landing

Commodities

Covering volatility, building materials, and commodities of the Northern Rockies prices as of gathered from tradingeconomics.com

Volatility

• US natural gas futures surged nearly 5% to $2.9/MMBtu, the highest in three months, as Hurricane Helene hit the Southeast, prompting Gulf of Mexico producers to cut output and leaving millions without power across Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. Natty was up over 19% last week.

• Copper futures traded around $4.6 per pound on Friday and were set to gain about 7% last week as China implemented various stimulus measures to support economic growth, boosting the demand outlook in the world’s largest copper consumer.

• Aluminum futures rose to $2,560 per tonne in late September, its highest in over three months, and tracking the strong momentum for other base metals as fresh economic stimulus from China supported the demand outlook for key industrial metals.

Building Materials

Northern Rockies Ag

Weather

Cooler Fall like temperatures ahead this week. Sunday/Monday to be a bit breezy across the State of Montana, dry outlook throughout the week.

Based on the CPC 3 month outlook, the weather service is calling for above normal precipitation for the months Oct-Dec throughout Western MT, Idaho panhandle, OR, and WA.

Excited for winter? Found this channel on Youtube hosted by Tom Tomer who specializes in Rockies weather, snow forecasting, and more. He posts weekly weather updates.

History of the week

This video, produced in 1990, captures the construction of Fort Peck Dam, the northernmost of the six main stem dams on the Missouri River.

Have a great week and please share what you’re working on,

Daniel

bozemanbuild.com & blockbiome.com